MISSOULA — The terrorist organization Hamas launched an all-out attack from Gaza on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and as of Tuesday, the death toll climbed to over 1,600.
"It's unimaginable what they're going through," Missoula Rabbi Chezky Vogel told MTN News. "There’s layers and layers. There’s the hostages, the wounded, the dead, the missing," Rabbi Vogel explained.
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"If you speak to anyone in Israel, a population of that size, such a small country, everyone you speak to knows somebody that’s been affected," Rabbi Vogel shared. He urges people, even though they may be as far as an ocean away, to reach out and check on others they know who have been impacted.
Rabbi Vogel shared that he spoke with someone there recently.
"He said, ‘We’re strong, we’re supporting each other, we’re fighting. We need the Jewish people outside of Israel to be strong for us. Not to give into frustration and anger, not to despair, to support us and be strong for us’.”
The Chabad Jewish Center of Missoula held a vigil on Tuesday evening to bring the community — Jews and non-Jews — together to grieve and pray for friends, relatives, and everyone else caught in the crossfire.
The Israel Defense Forces have mobilized over 300,000 reserves as the fighting continued.
