The events that have taken place in the last 36 hours in Israel are absolutely shocking and horrifying and the numbers of Jewish people killed are staggering. My heart is so heavy and I'm thinking of how many Jewish families that have been torn to pieces and of the many hostages that are in captivity at the moment. These are so many precious lives that have been, similar to pogroms of old, just massacred. Our own COO Rabbi Matt Rosenberg’s first cousins were shot at point blank range inside their home shielding their child who survived. Somehow, people around the world, and I'm sure on the very campuses that we operate on, are justifying these actions as legitimate. I strongly encourage you to communicate to your community how very wrong they are. Our team has been very active on our campuses around North America and we are there for our students to help with any issues they are facing on campus.

I think it's important that we all acknowledge that these groups are not just Israel’s enemies, but the Jewish people’s enemies and need to be regarded as such. Whether or not you agree with Israel’s actions on a regular basis, we as a Jewish community always respect people’s decisions and feelings even if they are different from ours. The State of Israel is extremely complex and at times, hard to understand. But our focus and worry at the moment should be with our fellow Jews in Israel who have, in the hundreds, been raped, murdered and taken hostage. There is no escaping the fact that these are our Jewish brothers and sisters. We should all take refuge in our Jewish community worldwide that is somehow still fighting with each other, but I know deep down that at times like this, when our enemies are working so hard to tear us apart, that we are united at the seams and can't be broken.

If you would like me to recommend an organization in Israel to donate to that is directly helping the victims please let me know.