Rabbi’s Commentary

Dear Friend of The Fellowship,

I arrived home in Israel from Brazil to terrible news. Last Wednesday night, four people were killed and more were injured in a deadly shooting at a restaurant in a busy shopping complex in Tel Aviv.

Security camera footage taken inside the restaurant shows a chilling scene, as people practically fall over themselves as they desperately flee from the gunmen – two cousins in suits and ties, prepared for this slaughter as if they were dressed for a formal occasion – who fired indiscriminately into the crowd. And so, what at first seemed like a typical night in Tel Aviv turned into a night of horror.

Here in Israel, each time you hear of another attack, another death, you feel a heavy weight of sadness and loss. No matter how many attacks you have lived to witness, this feeling simply does not go away. And yet, I know we will persevere. The spirit of the Israeli people is strong and resilient, built on a foundation of hope and faith that has endured for many generations.

That strength of spirit was shown in the words of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who after the attacks vowed “determined action by the police, IDF and security agencies to locate all collaborators who took part in this murder.”

My friends, please pray today that those who lost a loved one in the attack last Wednesday will be comforted in their sorrow. Pray for a swift recovery for the injured, and that God will protect all of Israel’s fighting men and women who must put their own lives in danger in the struggle for justice. And let us pray for the day when the culture of blind hatred and intolerance that bred these attacks will be no more, and will be replaced with God’s blessed gift of shalom, peace.

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President and Founder, International Fellowship of Christians and Jews^® of Canada

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