‘It’s a terrible day:’ Local Jewish community reacts to Israel-Iran conflict
Athena Jreij
PALM DESERT, Calif. (KESQ) — As Israel and Iran exchange missiles tonight, local Jewish community members are feeling the weight of the conflict.
“They don’t seem to be able to resolve any of it. I mean, we’re on the brink of all out war,” Marlene Lynn said.
It comes as several local Jewish community members are on a trip in Tel Aviv, and are now spending the night in a bomb shelter.
“They were looking forward to being at Tel Aviv Pride today and it got canceled. They’re getting a dose of what it’s like to be an Israeli and living there where you have a safe room in every apartment,” Rabbi David Novak said.
For some, their frustrations are mounting as Israel is already battling Hamas, with dozens of hostages still in Gaza and over 50,000 Palestinians killed.
“Right now there’s 53 hostages and we think about 23 of them are still alive. I hope that they’re not forgotten while Israel is going after the Iranian nuclear capability,” Rabbi Novak said.
“What has happened with Hamas in Gaza is horrifying beyond words. We don’t see a close end to that in sight,” Rob Bergstein said.
The war on both fronts is a painful reminder for some of the worst parts of history.
“The Holocaust happened so I know it can happen again and the scariest part is it can happen here. Look at all the anti-Semitism that’s going on here in the United States,” Lynn said.
“Our go to is often feeling kind of a knee jerk reaction about, ‘oh, my God, it’s happening again.’ But, I hope that we can look past that and look at peacekeeping efforts,” Adina Lawson said.
As congregation members ring in Shabbat, some say they’ll be leaning on their faith.
“No matter what is happening in the world, if I can come in to Friday night services, I am comforted, and I can go back out into the world,” Bergstein said.