20 | MARCH 21 • 2024
J
N
I
n late January, four local
rabbis — Rabbi Daniel
Schwartz from Temple
Shir Shalom, Rabbi Steven
Rubenstein from Congregation
Beth Ahm, Rabbi Shalom
Kantor from Congregation B’nai
Moshe and Rabbi Harold Loss
from Temple Israel — visited
Israel for a brief but impactful
rabbinic mission on behalf of
their congregations.
Rabbi Schwartz coordinated
the trip and said it had a three-
fold mission — to witness the
atrocities of what happened on
Oct. 7, to bring Israel a message
of solidarity and to continue to
bring awareness back home of
those still being held hostage.
Rabbi Kantor, who has spent
a considerable amount of time
in Israel throughout his life, says
what he experienced on this trip
was different from anything he
had ever seen there.
“It was a subdued Israel. Not
that Israel stopped being Israel,
people were still honking their
horns and racing around on
freeways and going about life,
but in the overall atmosphere,
there was a recognition this was
different,
” he said.
A few colleagues from out
of town joined the four local
rabbis, including Rabbi Benjy
Bar-Lev from New Albany,
Ohio; Rabbi Karen Bodney-
Halasz from Dayton, Ohio;
Rabbi David Weizman from
Clearwater, Florida; and
Rabbi Noah Chertkoff from
Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The fairly short trip, only
three days, had a packed itin-
erary.
The rabbis met with and had
deep conversations with recov-
ering soldiers at Ichilov Hospital
in Tel Aviv. Throughout the trip,
the rabbis made sure to buy sol-
diers lunch and show support
wherever they could.
A greatly impactful stop
took place at Mount Herzl, the
national cemetery in Jerusalem,
where they witnessed a funeral
of a soldier.
At one point, they walked up
to the area recently developed
as a plot for individuals who
died in the war. The rabbis and
their tour guide came across a
woman who was sitting by her
son’s grave and heard her story.
“We sat, listened, hugged and
embraced and let her know that
in her pain, she was not alone,
”
Rabbi Kantor said.
“That is something that will
stay with me,
” Rabbi Rubenstein
added.
They spent some time in
As part of the trip, all the rabbis made a donation to
those in Israel on behalf of their congregations.
Local Rabbis Visit Israel
on Solidarity Trip
DANNY SCHWARTZ SENIOR STAFF REPORTER
OUR COMMUNITY
The rabbis with the family
of a fallen soldier
Nova Music Festival
memorial with a tree
planted for each of the
402 individuals murdered.