'We're grieving': Phoenix-area Jewish community reflects on Hamas' attack on Israel
When Pinchas Allouche was a teenager in Jerusalem, he was late catching the bus back home on Feb. 25, 1996. Only 20 minutes would pass when Allouche would learn the bus had been destroyed by a bomb that left 23 dead and 49 injured. The Palestinian militant group Hamas later took credit for the slaughter.
Now head rabbi at Scottsdale’s Congregation Beth Tefillah, 44-year-old Allouche is closely following events in Israel after Hamas led a surprise attack this past weekend. As of Monday, 900 were killed in Israel — up to 11 U.S. citizens were victims. Another 130 or more have been held hostage by Hamas. Allouche’s 20-year-old son, Ysrael, is on the frontline as an Israeli Defense Forces soldier after the country formally declared war.
The carnage, including Saturday's massacre of 260 civilian music festivalgoers in the Israeli desert, is leaving Allouche haunted by the motives of the group whose actions almost cost him his life nearly 27 years ago.
"Here is a terrorist organization that wishes for the destruction of Jews and of Israel," Allouche said in an interview with The Arizona Republic. "It's just pure evil. But that has been their mission, and unfortunately, this time, has carried it out with quite a devastating impact."
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Lawrence Bell, who has a doctorate in history from Ohio State University and specializes in Jewish history in Arizona, noted Hamas struck during three consequential events: the Shabbat day of rest, the Jewish holiday of Sukkot and a day past the 50th anniversary of the Arab-Israeli conflict known as the Yom Kippur War or the Ramadan War.
"We're hurt. We're grieving," Bell told The Republic of those slain in Israel, while also acknowledging the conflict’s death toll in Gaza, which had reached 680 by Monday afternoon.
Bell last visited Israel in 2009, impressed at what he said was a coexistence of the three Abrahamic religions — Judaism, Christianity and Islam. He emphasized that Jewish people will continue staking a claim to Israel.
"(Israel) has always been our homeland," Bell said.
Phoenix-area resident Rachel Hoffer is a board chair of the North American council of the Jewish Agency for Israel, which she said is carrying out emergency financial assistance to Israelis in the areas hardest hit during the attacks. Those interested in making donations can visit jafina.org.
Hoffer frequently visits the country and her husband arrived Monday after taking a trip there. She is slated to travel there in two weeks. With family still there, she said she is "shaken" by the violence overwhelming the country.
"There are parents that are facing their worst nightmare seeing their children taken as hostages, losing children, having no idea where they are," said Hoffer, a mother of three, in an interview with The Republic. "Everyone is in, really, a state of shock."
Meanwhile, Allouche, the Scottsdale rabbi, said he spoke on Monday morning with his son, Ysrael, and gathered that the IDF soldier and his unit were in high morale. He also spoke with another of his sons, a 22-year-old Israel resident who is managing to stay safe with his wife.
"We are determined to not just sit back and be passive but to pray, to act to do good and to increase our own light so that this darkness can be expelled," Allouche said. "We have faith in God. And we also have faith that we will be victorious, that goodness will prevail."
Reach breaking news reporter Jose R. Gonzalez at jose.gonzalez@gannett.com or on X, formerly Twitter @jrgzztx.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix-area Jewish community reflects on attack on Israel
