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Oahu Jews added their individual prayers for peace to the pleas of world leaders calling for a truce in the escalating violence between Palestinians and Israelis in the Mideast. Local Jews pray
for ‘peaceful Jerusalem
for all people’By Mary Adamski
Star-Bulletin"May we have a peaceful Jerusalem for all people and creeds," was the wish written on a card last night. It was one of dozens of prayers tied to the decorated tent on the grounds of Temple Emanu-El as the congregation began Sukkot, the Festival of Booths, in which outdoor festivities relive the days when ancient Israelites lived in the wilderness.
As usual, children cut out paper decorations and women wove lau hala ornaments for the booth.
But this year, Rabbi Avi Magid asked the crowd to add their peace prayers to the decorations. "This is a Hawaii version of the Wailing Wall," he said, referring to the Jerusalem site where devout Jews tuck prayers into crevices. He asked the crowd of about 100 people to envision the frond-draped tent as "a virtual sukkah (booth) of peace that covers the whole world."
The crowd recited prayers including "Blessed is God who spreads a covering of peace on us, on Israel and on the city of Jerusalem."
Later, when the crowd moved away to the nearby picnic and rain started blurring the writing, teen-agers Jenna Amberg-Johnson and Rebecca Grekin peeked at the cards. They said they have watched televised reports about the Mideast clash with their parents.
"I feel related to it. It's my culture," said Grekin.
Amberg-Johnson said, "They are just fighting over land; so superficial, the reason." The girls said they wonder what it's like to be in Israel for this Sukkot, usually a lighthearted seven-day holiday with picnics, parties and sometimes camp-outs.
Cards written by their elders were thoughtful and poignant:
"Give us the tolerance to continue the journey to peace from generation to generation."
"Please bring peace to Israel, especially to our sister and her family there."
"Please protect us all and let our children grow up in a world without war."
Rabbi Morris Goldfarb, 86, resident scholar at the temple, said: "I'm fearful of the future. It is a very sad, tragic moment where they were so close to reaching some peaceful resolution.
"There is no way to have true peace with all the compromises that have been made. But there was an opportunity that could have led to cessation of hostilities for a while."
Goldfarb acknowledged that there have been times during the years of conflict when Israel was at fault. But he didn't agree with some critics who blame the current conflict on the visit to a Jerusalem shrine, holy to Muslims as well as Jews, by Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon.
"Sharon consulted with the Palestinian security chief, and he was assured there would be no trouble as long as he didn't go into the mosque." It was a day later that Palestinians marched in reaction, he said. "It was really an organized riot. And Israel gave them the guns."
"We've lived through a lot of wanderings," Goldfarb said. "Jews have always been prisoners of hope."