Dear congregants, members of the Jewish community and friends:

Today is a day that will live in infamy.

On this Shabbat and Simchat Torah, the most joyous of Jewish festivals, Hamas launched an inhuman, brutal attack on Israeli civilians.

Thousands of rockets have been fired indiscriminately. Even worse, terrorists infiltrated Israeli towns, villages and kibbutzim, and gunned down men, women, children and babies.
There are reports of Israeli hostages, elderly women and infants among them, who have been kidnapped and taken to Gaza.
 
The number of Israelis killed and wounded is likely to be in the thousands.

I pray that Hezbollah does not join Hamas. In that event, there will be a full-scale regional war.

The days to come will be filled with pain and sorrow. Israel will prevail, but many will lose
their lives, and many others will be maimed and scarred for life.

The attack came a day after the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War and, like then, it appears that Israel was taken by surprise. Like then, the aftermath of these days will be seared in our consciousness.

There will be a time for investigating what went wrong. For now, we pray for the souls of the dead and the full recovery of the wounded. We call on the international community to condemn in the strongest terms the war crimes committed against Israelis. We pray for the well-being of the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces as they seek to bring Hamas terrorists to justice and ensure the safety of Israeli civilians.

May God comfort Zion. May gladness and joy, thanksgiving and the sound of music return quickly to the cities of Israel and the streets of Jerusalem.

Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch