Tears flow in Michigan synagogue as mourners call for Hamas to release Israeli hostages

Niraj Warikoo, Detroit Free Press
Updated ·4 min read
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As people entered Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills on Tuesday night for a community vigil, each was given a flyer bearing the name and image of an individual who was taken hostage last month during Hamas' attack on Israel.

Near the end of the service — with the theme "Bring Them Home" — to remember the roughly 240 hostages, the name of each was read aloud as a piano softly played. Attendees were asked to rise from their seat when the name on their flyer was recited. Slowly, the crowd at the Jewish center began to stand in support.

Held one month after Hamas' attack on Oct. 7, the 90-minute vigil at the synagogue was a moving ceremony with tears and sorrow, but also showed the community's determination to unify and persevere following the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust. At the entrance of each pew was a basket of blue ribbons with pins that worshippers picked up to place in remembrance of the hostages. On the left were rows of empty seats, each with a photo of a hostage.

"Ariel Bibas, 4 years old," read one of them, describing him as an Israeli-Argentinian boy kidnapped by Hamas. Speakers called for unity, saying it was one of the keys to Jewish survival over centuries of persecution. About 1,000 attended the service as Farmington Hills police patrolled around the Jewish center.

Itamar Grife, of the Shinshinim, looks on with tears in his eyes as they read the names of hostages taken by Hamas during the Jewish community gathering at Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023.
Itamar Grife, of the Shinshinim, looks on with tears in his eyes as they read the names of hostages taken by Hamas during the Jewish community gathering at Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023.

"We are the chosen people, but it is because we have chosen to be a family," Rabbi Aaron Bergman of Adat Shalom told those who attended the vigil organized by local Jewish groups. "We have chosen to celebrate each other's joy and feel each other's pain. ... We have chosen to embrace life and never rejoice in anyone's death. ... We have chosen to never forget those held captive and those who wait for them to come home safely. We have chosen to always stand with our people, wherever they are."

The crowd then stood for a moment of silence.

Gary Torgow, president of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and chair of the board at Huntington Bank, said the Jewish people have historically been successful when unified. He said the Jewish community in metro Detroit has raised almost $28 million to help people in Israel.

"These crimes against humanity were directed toward our own brothers and sisters," Torgow said. "And we mourn and we cry and we suffer along with them because they are truly our family. And we are united in strength, in our grief and our resolve, to stand together as a nation."

The event featured the emotional testimony of Aya Margalit, a Texas woman who had recently lived in Israel near the Gaza border. She said she knew some of the people who were taken hostage during the attack. As Margalit spoke, photos of some like Erez Kalderon, 12, were shown on a screen as she recalled their personalities, breaking down in tears at times. Some in the crowd wept as she spoke.

"That heaven," she said, describing the lives of the Israelis on a kibbutz that was attacked, "turned into hell."

Aya Margalit, of Dallas, remembers the 23 members of her community is Israel that have been taken by Hamas during a Jewish community gathering at Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023.
Aya Margalit, of Dallas, remembers the 23 members of her community is Israel that have been taken by Hamas during a Jewish community gathering at Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023.

The event is one of several ways Jewish people in metro Detroit have responded to the Israeli-Hamas conflict. Next week, on Nov. 14, some in Michigan are headed to Washington D.C. at the National Mall for a pro-Israel rally, said local leaders. Similar events have been taking place in local Arab American communities, including a vigil Wednesday night in Dearborn to remember Palestinians killed.

Shimon Levy, of Detroit, spoke to the crowd in Farmington Hills about going back to serve in the Israeli military after the Oct. 7 attack. He said he served at a command center, describing the Israeli Defense Forces as "one of the most moral, law-abiding militaries in the world."

He also talked about rising antisemitism, telling Jews: "Do not hide your Judaism, do not be intimidated."

He said that while there is growing anti-Jewish sentiment, unlike in the past, "we have power" now.

Shimon Levy sings the Hatikvah during a Jewish community gathering at Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills, on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023.
Shimon Levy sings the Hatikvah during a Jewish community gathering at Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills, on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023.

The vigil included musical interludes with the Michigan Board of Cantors, including the Israeli national anthem and a song titled: "Yih'yeh Tov," meaning "It will be OK."

"We are not victims," Levy said. "We are victors."

Contact Niraj Warikoo: nwarikoo@freepress.com, Facebook.com/nwarikoo or X @nwarikoo

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Jewish groups hold vigil in Michigan synagogue for Israeli hostages