Williamsville, N.Y. (WBEN) - Over the weekend, following the high holiday of Sukkot, the Israeli and Palestinian conflict reached horrific and unprecedented new heights as the Hamas conducted a large-scale missile attack on the people of Israel, leaving over a thousand dead, over one hundred innocent civilians captured and thousands injured.
With the death toll continuing to rise and a sudden war rapidly escalating, Rabbi Alex Lazarus-Klein of the Congregation Shir Shalom in Williamsville shared the thoughts and concerns of his synagogue and the Western New York Jewish community following this "horrific and unprecedented" tragedy.
"The community is in total and utter shock. This is unprecedented. No one knows how to handle it," Rabbi Lazarus-Klein told WBEN in an interview. "And the connection between Israel [and our community] is very deep. We had a vigil last night [Sunday], impromptu, with over 200 people showing up both in-person and online, and just the emotional angst --- We ask for a show of hands, How many of you have been to Israel? Almost the entire group has been. How many of you have relatives in Israel? At least half the group. How many of you have relatives that are pulled up into the army right now currently, as we speak? And many, many people raise their hands."
The rabbi shared with WBEN that his young nephew will be travelling to Gaza to help aid in saving lives.
"He is 21 years old, wonderful soul. This is his first experience, he will be on the front lines, as a paramedic. His brother is also there, a few years older, he just had a baby, and it is really horrifying to know. I have over 100 family members in Israel, many friends, close friends, relatives, my sister-in-law and her whole family are over there. It's really one of the saddest days that I can think of, a lot of Israelis were comparing it to 9/11, and that's really what it feels like."
As it just happened, the rabbi is unsure of how this attack will impact the Jewish Community here in Western New York going forward.
"We're going to have another major gathering tonight [Monday night] at our Jewish Community Center at six o'clock, and I'm sure we're going to have a large group, not just from the Jewish community, but our friends beyond.
In terms of what's [going to] happen, it will change things. I don't know how. Each time something like this happens, it puts a little wound in our heart and makes things just a little bit harder, and makes us a little bit more resistant and a little bit more troubled by the world. One of the things that's been hard is we haven't always really felt full embrace of our neighbors. This is a terrorist attack on our soil with over now 800 people murdered over 100 that have been taken hostage and over 2500 people seriously injured. It is impossible to really describe the weight of this, every Israeli and every Jew is really touched by this situation."
There have been many pro-Israel and pro-Palestine demonstrations happening across the nation, from New York to San Francisco, some of these demonstrations haven't always been peaceful. We asked Rabbi Lazarus-Klein if there are any safety concerns he has going forward.
"I'm definitely concerned. We have a wonderful relationship with our local law enforcement, we work with them regularly. They have our back and we feel very protected. This is a wonderful area in Western New York. We have never seen what you're describing around the country here. This is not a place of divisions, even if we may disagree with especially our Muslim neighbors in the area, it doesn't mean that we're going to come to blows with them. So I don't, I don't really have that kind of fear, but it's definitely caution."
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