19 January 2024
TOPEKA (KSNT) – A rabbi from a local synagogue shares why his most recent trip to Israel was different than all the other times he’s visited.
Rabbi Samuel Stern with Temple Beth Sholom in west Topeka, returned to the United States from Israel in the last week. He traveled to Israel on a four-day solidarity mission trip with 16 other rabbis from the United States and Canada.
“What we saw was a very sanitized version, but I will say it was still soul crushing,” Stern said. “It was really sad. It was really terrible, but we saw things, again, that were worthy of lifting up.”
Stern and the other rabbis traveled to Israel to support those enduring the war between Israel and Hamas, fostering both comradery and solidarity.
He recounted his experiences through photos at the synagogue Thursday evening.
Even after meeting the Israel’s President Isaac Herzog, Rabbi Stern said there was one thing in particular that struck him during the course of this trip.
“I’ve never seen a country more united,” Stern said. “This country, which was very much at odds within itself for many, many months leading up to October 7 is really rallied around one cause.”
Many of those in Israel, to Stern’s amazement, weren’t rallying around the government or even the army, they were rallying around each other. He said he saw busses and signs covered with the phrase ‘Together we will win’, written in Hebrew.
Even as the war between Israel and Hamas rages on, Stern says the people he spoke to in Israel were more concerned about antisemitism in American rather than themselves. Upon returning stateside, Stern wants people to know how much those in Israel appreciate the support coming from so many Americans.
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