North Texans with family, friends in Israel grappling with unprecedented attack by Hamas
DALLAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) — What is happening in Israel hits close to home for thousands of North Texans who have friends and family living there.
The Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas says over a thousand people have already signed up to attend a solidarity gathering Tuesday.
On Monday, there were special services at area synagogues and a group of North Texans long-known for its response to disasters has already deployed volunteers to the war zone.
One of those synagogues was the Congregation Anshai Torah in Plano, where the Israeli national anthem opened and closed an evening service.
Many of those who attended, even the Rabbi, have family members in the middle of what became a dangerous and deadly war zone over the weekend.
"It's very close to home," Plano resident Inna Shmerlin said. "[I] have some family in Israel, and just want to show support for my family and just tell them that we love them."
Two of Rabbi Stefan Weinberg's three daughters live in Israel. He says he wanted give his congregation an outlet to express their pain over the killing of hundreds of Jews, the worst mass murder since the Holocaust.
"Israel has never experienced a thing like this," Rabbi Weinberg said. "The pain, the hurt, the frustration, and the anger is so deep with so many people and nobody expected this."
Photos show the Dallas-based relief organization Texas Baptist Men already on the ground in Israel less than 24 hours after the attacks.
The group has 20 volunteers making kosher meals for those displaced by the violence and plans to send 150 more in the coming weeks.
"They're not paid to go over there but they have the love they want to go share with people," said Texas Baptist Men CEO Mickey Lenamon.
For 56 years, the 4,000-member organization has responded to mostly natural disasters, but it recently stored four trailers similar to those in Israel in the event of a Mideast earthquake.
"We will travel with caution and we will not be put in harms way, but it's still an active war zone," Lenamon said.
Nine students, faculty and staff from Dallas Baptist University were in Israel during the attacks, but the group says they only experienced air raid sirens.
They are now trying to leave, with one member of the group telling CBS News Texas that their team is "understandably tired" but that they're in good spirits and looking forward to the long journey home.
Even though the conflict is happening in the Middle East, many Jewish houses of worship and schools in North Texas have added extra security in the wake of the attacks and a community security alert has been issued by the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas.