"Do not allow hatred to reign": Twin Cities Rabbi visits Israel amid ongoing conflict
MINNEAPOLIS -- A longtime Rabbi in the Twin Cities just returned from Israel where he heard stories of the war firsthand. He met with survivors and families of hostages as well as prominent government officials.
Rabbi Harold Kravitz now wears a blue ribbon in honor of the hostages as well as an armband that reads "Until they are all here, all of us are there," in Hebrew. He visited Israel for just a day and a half, but describes a life-changing mission.
"As soon as I got there, I understood why I had to be there," Rabbi Kravitz said.
He was among 50 U.S. Jewish community leaders who traveled on the solidarity mission with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
"It's a very frightening thing to think they've been taken by people who would do such horrific atrocities, they are besides themselves," Kravitz said.
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They prayed with the parents of 23-year-old Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a U.S.-Israeli citizen abducted by Hamas militants as a music festival. Kravitz said they also heard stories of survival, including one of a nurse who was separated from her family helping a wounded soldier then was shot multiple times. She is now reunited with her family as she heals.
"We were both in tears and as was her mother who was standing by her," he recalled.
Kravitz is bringing their stories home to Minnesota where he says the community remains on edge.
"We know there's hate directed at Jews, we know there's hate directed at Muslims. And we're in it together in that way and so we have to make sure people in this country are safe and we do not allow hatred to reign," he said.
As the violence continues, Kravitz said he prays for the decades long conflict to end with peace.
"It's terrible, painful to see human suffering. We hope at some point this can be behind us and the work of coexistence and peace building can happen again, and people can do that with great resolve," he said.