WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — War has broken out in the Middle East after a surprise attack on Israel. It's a conflict the region hasn't seen in 50 years.
"I'm angry," said Rabbi David Kaplan about the attack in Israel. "The horror of this, they're calling this the worst attack against Jewish people since the Holocaust. It's pretty stark when you have 600, 700 civilians deliberately targeted. It's just unthinkable."
We spoke to Kaplan at Congregation Ohav Zedek in Wilkes-Barre. He says he's finding it hard to think about anything other than the war in Israel.
"I'm just devastated emotionally by it. I can't sleep at night. I've been thinking about it, obsessing about it. And I'm distant from this, although I have family who lives in Israel. I'm obviously worried about them. A couple of them will be called up as reservists. I'm concerned about their wellbeing," he explained.
He's not alone. He says the Jewish community in our area is hurting and struggling to wrap their heads around so much hate.
"That there are people who don't have these values, that don't have that light in their souls, that somehow darkness is taking them away from us," he said.
Rabbi Kaplan says he, and other religious leaders, are holding a solidarity rally on Tuesday.
"It's kind of sad in our society, here and everywhere else, that we're so disenfranchised from reality, and then it takes sometimes a horrific situation, hopefully not on this magnitude, of the scale. And it brings people together," he added.
It will take Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center in Kingston.
"I know there's going to be Jewish people, and there's going to be wonderful, wonderful friends from the non-Jewish community coming to stand and show solidarity, both with our community here and especially with Israel," he added.
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