Israel’s 9/11 – The View From the Pulpit: Rabbis Address the War’s Impact on Their Communities

Hamas’ devastating attack of Oct. 7, killing 1,200 Israelis and others and taking some 240 hostages, shocked Jewish communities around the world as they dealt with the loss of friends and family members. The responses of some non-Jewish neighbors, including expressions of support for Hamas and refusal to acknowledge horrors such as sexual assaults inflicted on Israelis, have added to the pain even as synagogues have rallied to support Israel. Four congregational rabbis — David-Seth Kirshner of Temple Emanu-El in Closter, New Jersey, Loren Filson Lapidus of The Temple in Atlanta, Adam Starr of Congregation Ohr HaTorah in Atlanta, and Bruno Fiszon of Metz, France — join CIE’s 13th weekly webinar on the war to speak about how their communities have responded and been affected by the events of the past three months. Ken Stein, CIE’s president and an Emory University emeritus professor of Middle East history and political science, moderates the discussion Jan. 10.