PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Temple Torat Emet on Wednesday night held a solidarity service west of Boynton Beach.
The event brought together about 700 people.
"We're all standing together in solidarity for the people in Israel who unfortunately have been victimized by these horrific tragedies and brutalization which has taken place in Israel over these past few days," Michael Hoffman, the president/CEO of the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County, said.
The event welcomed representatives from the entire community, consisting of different races, backgrounds and religions.
Many of them delivered speeches and messages of hope to those in the audience.
"It says that we have shared values in terms of we all have to combat hatred of all forms, we want to combat antisemitism," Hoffman said. "Most importantly we've all watched the images of what took place in Israel at the hands of Hamas over these past few days. It is absolutely brutal, it is absolutely horrifying, it is absolutely terrorizing, and we don't stand for that."
The event included video messages from people currently in Israel.
The religious leaders and representatives each lit a candle in honor of what the federation says are the 1,200-plus people who have been murdered in Israel, and the 130 hostages being kept captive.
"My niece's family is there, my niece and three of her four 4 kids. In fact the night before Hamas struck they had a new baby in their family," Fran Levine, who attended the event, said.
She said thankfully they don't live close to the border and are safe for now
"Even though they're not so close to the south, what have they been seeing where they're living?" WPTV reporter Joel Lopez asked.
"Well, they're constantly in the safe room and they keep hearing the bombs go off," Levine replied.
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The Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County says in just four days they've raised $2 million plus to support those in Israel through its Israel Emergency Emergency Campaign.
"I have family in Israel, I have friends in Israel and it's hard to reconcile the absolute horror that took place at the hands of Hamas in the past few days," Hoffman said.
The Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County plans to continue to host events of solidarity, as long as there's unrest overseas in Israel.
"What we've seen is that people find comfort being with each other. They find comfort in expressing their commitment to the people in the state of Israel and standing in solidarity with the people and the state of Israel," Hoffman said.
If you'd like to donate to the cause, visit http://www.jewishpb.org/israelfund
