4 | OCTOBER 17 • 2024
J
N

‘The People of Israel Stood Tall’

On this past Oct. 7, Jewish Federation
of Detroit President Gary Torgow
addressed more than 4,000 people at
a rally commemorating the horrific
massacre in Israel the year before.
On the anniversary of the tragedy,
Torgow issued a call for strength and
unity — and for faith in the future.
Here are his comments in full. For the
story about the event at Congregation
Shaarey Zedek, please see page 8.
G

ood evening, ladies and
gentlemen.
This is not the speech I
had planned to give tonight.
In recent days,
we have witnessed
despicable acts
of hatred and
antisemitism
directed toward us.
Just this morning,
our Federation
office building was
vandalized with hateful, antisemitic
graffiti.
This was not just an attack on
bricks and mortar. It was an attack
on our entire community — a
hateful attempt to instill fear and
disrupt our sense of safety and
belonging. And it comes at a time
when our hearts are already heavy,
as we commemorate the tragedy in
Israel that began one year ago today.
These acts are meant to shake us.
They are meant to instill fear.
But let me be absolutely clear: We
will not be cowered. We will not be
intimidated. And we will never be
dissuaded from living proud, strong,
vibrant Jewish lives, no matter where
we reside.
The Jewish people have faced
adversity before, and we have always
come through stronger, more united,
and more resilient. And this moment
will be no different.
Hatred will not have the final
word. No act of cowardice — no

graffiti, no broken window — will
ever make us question who we are or
what we stand for. We will continue
to gather, to celebrate, to pray, and to
pass on our traditions to our future
generations with our heads held very
high and our hearts full of hope. We
will not allow these acts of hatred to
define us or dictate the course of our
future.
That is why we are here tonight.

ONE PEOPLE, ONE HEART
Just several days ago, we observed
the holiday of Rosh Hashanah, and
we heard the shofar blasts which
surely moved and uplifted us. The
piercing and indelible sound of the
shofar still reverberates in our minds
and, no doubt, our hearts are still
stirred by its impact.

The renowned 10th-century
leader of Babylonian Jewry, the
brilliant and sage Rabbi Saadia
Gaon, shared with us that one
of the reasons why we sound the
shofar on Rosh Hashanah is to
commemorate the revelation at
Sinai, when our nation received the
Torah. The verse describes that at
Mount Sinai, the shofar sound grew
progressively louder, more intense
and penetrating.
On Rosh Hashanah, as part of our
commitment for the coming year,
we collectively sound the shofar to
recall this event, the day we became
a People, where we received the
blueprint and roadmap by which we
are meant to live.
But there is another element of the
revelation at Sinai that is particularly

noteworthy tonight, as we assemble
to remember and reflect upon the
tragedy that befell our nation on
Oct. 7, and the ensuing war which
continues even now.
The Torah describes how the
Jewish people, all of us, past, present
and future, encamped at the foot
of Mount Sinai. The commentators
tell us the critical feature of that
encampment is described in words
that are as relevant today as they
were then, Ish echad b’lev echad, as
one person with one heart. Everyone
accepted the Torah together, united,
like a tightly knit and loving family.
Just as the Torah itself is
multifaceted, incorporating a
very broad range of messages and
teachings that blend together into
a single entity, likewise, the Jewish
nation are a composite of many
groups with differing opinions and
attitudes, but always woven together
into a single unit. We are, in fact,
a mirror image of the Torah —
the combination of a wide range
of different strands that form an
integrated whole.
It is equally critical that we always
remember, that just as a Torah that is
missing a single letter is considered

Gary Torgow

A COMMUNITY MESSAGE

Part of the massive audience attending the pro-Israel event at Congregation Shaarey Zedek

JOHN HARDWICK

“IN THE FACE OF HATE, WE CHOOSE
HOPE. IN THE FACE OF TERROR, WE
CHOOSE LIFE. AND IN THE FACE OF
DIVISION, WE CHOOSE UNITY.”

— GARY TORGOW