Group of rabbis depart from Miami International Airport en route to Israel with message of hope
MIAMI — Over a dozen Jewish rabbis departed Sunday from Miami International Airport en route to Israel, traveling to the Mideast to help bring a message of peace to the region two weeks following an attack by Hamas.
CBS News Miami was at the airport as rabbis from across the country departed for Israel with about 15 flying out of MIA and another 15 from California.
Rabbis came from as far away as Chicago, New Orleans and New Jersey to join the group. They said there's so much you can do from afar, but there's even more you can do from over there.
While these rabbis are separated by hundreds of miles, when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, they said it was a message to Jews around the world.
"Our enemies don't differentiate between different levels of observance, religiosity, and so on and so forth," Rabbi Ruvi New of East Boca Raton said. "They look at a Jew they see simply a Jew, and that's the way we need to see each other."
So, these Chabad rabbis created a group chat.
"And people started to respond, 'let's make a solidarity mission to Israel'," said Rabbi Schneur Kaplan of Fort Lauderdale's Downtown Jewish Center. "We put it together in a few days."
With them, they brought duffle bags full of supplies including sweaters, Camelbacks, headlights, raincoats, and more.
These rabbis said there was nothing they could do to fully prepare themselves for the stories they were about to hear.
"Just hearing the stories on TV, are so shocking," said Rabbi Yossie Nemas of Chabad of New Orleans. "Obviously, we're gonna be there for them, and first thing you got to really listen."
But, their goal is to bring a message of hope.
"This is a trip about bringing comfort to those families who are grieving, to try and bring strength to those families who are hoping for their loved ones to be returned to them very, very soon, and to visit the soldiers if we can, on the front lines," Rabbi Schneur Kaplan said.
They said a prayer before they took off.
In total, they said they're bringing with them about $2 million in donations and supplies for all those in Israel.
