- Video shows vigil at Temple Beth EL, attacks on Israel, prayers for the Jewish community
- Rabbi Jonathan Klein spoke at a vigil on Tuesday night, leading prayers and songs for the Jewish community, following Hamas attacks in Israel over the weekend.
The Bakersfield Jewish community gathered for an evening of prayer and solidarity after Hamas attacked Israel on Saturday.
Sounds of prayers uplifted at the Temple Beth EL Bakersfield on Tuesday night brought comfort to some.
“How do we make sense of this, how do we understand why every periodic time, they come to kill us, so it’s very hard on the psyche,” Rabbi Jonathan Klein said.
Tuesday's vigil was a local effort to show support and comfort for the Jewish people after Hamas attacked Israel on Saturday.
That day marked the end of annual cycle of public Torah readings, a Jewish holiday Simchat Torah.
“On that day when we’re celebrating the gift of Torah, which really means the gift of a blueprint for how to create a fair society," Klein explained. "That’s the day when Hamas breaches our land, sea, and air."
The Israeli embassy reports close to 3,500 people injured with the death toll now rising to over 1000 people, at least 14 of the dead were Americans.
“When these numbers turn into people, that’s really hard to come to terms with. It’s not numbers. it’s people that are dying,” Laura Russinsky, a member of the Temple Beth EL said.
Russinsky grew up at the Temple Beth EL.
She returned to home wishing she’d be back at the temple on better terms.
She tells me she has a friend serving in the Israel Defense Forces, and she wants to do what she can to help here.
“Coming to synagogue and seeing some many other communities joining my synagogue and synagogues around the nation supporting Israel. It makes me feel like I’m doing something by being here,” Russinsky said.
Elected officials, community members, and Jewish people in Bakersfield came together to pray and sing.
Rabbi Klein shared messages of hope and peace a midst the frustration.
“We want you to value us, but we also want you to remember that human beings are, just like as Anne Frank said, people are still good at heart, despite the evils we see around us,” Klein shared.
With hundreds dead and thousands injured, Rabbi Klein encourages the community to donate to support those in Israel.
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