At Timberwolves game, Israeli basketball team honors hostages taken by Hamas
MINNEAPOLIS -- A Timberwolves preseason basketball game took on added significance Tuesday.
The Wolves played Maccabi Ra'anana of Israel as the country slides deeper into war.
Josh Fineblum with the Temple of Aaron in St. Paul sang the Israeli national anthem before the game after a moment of silence for Israel.
The anthem is called Hatikvah, which means "The Hope."
"All of the people in the state of Israel are my people, so I feel pain," Fineblum said.
RELATED: Lynx and Wolves host Locker Room Liquidation Sale
About 180 members of the temple's congregation attended the game.
Maccabi players wore warmup shirts with names and faces of hostages taken by Hamas terrorists.
Their shoes said, "I Stand With Israel."
"We're here to support them and support Israel and to love the nation of Israel, and what they mean to us, which is our homeland," Fineblum said.
Maccabi arrived in America before the attacks then decided to stay and keep playing.
"It's hard to be here," said the team's coach, Yehu Orland. "Our hearts and minds are in Israel. We are really worried."
Orland says playing the games on their American tour are a signal to the world of Israel's strength.
"We're going to continue to live," he said. "We're going to continue to represent Israel. Young families need hope. For us, playing over here, maybe [that] is one step forward to hope, that we can give them that."
Timberwolves Coach Chris Finch also spoke before the game about his personal connections to Israel and shared his feelings on the situation there, calling it "heartbreaking."