SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — For an estimated 100,000 Jewish people who live in the greater Phoenix area, the recent terrorist attacks by Hamas are both heartbreaking and personal.
The Jewish faithful consider Israel their Biblical homeland. They make pilgrimages to Israel, and some even leave the U.S. to join the Israeli military.
20-year-old Yisrael Allouche is one of them. His father is a Scottsdale rabbi who oversees Congregation Beth Tefillah, a synagogue made up of about 600 families.
“Sunday was a rough day, perhaps one of the roughest we’ve had,” said Rabbi Pinchas Allouche, a father of ten. Yisrael is his second oldest.
“His spirit is very strong and his peers are staying very strong,” he said. “On the other hand, he’s not sleeping much and he’s risking his life at every moment.”
Yisrael is a so-called “lone soldier,” who at 18 joined the Israeli army even though he was not living there.
“He has told us repeatedly he feels this connection and love to the brothers and sisters and wants to help them the best way possible,” Pinchas said, referring to his son Yisrael.
As a soldier, Yisrael is serving as a sniper on the Gaza border. He grew up playing high school football and embracing the outdoors.
The terrorist attacks on Israel were felt by every worshipper in the pews of the Scottsdale synagogue.
“The way we see ourselves (globally) is that we are one family,” Allouche said.
Unlike past conflicts, this one is different, Allouche said.
“We’re are talking about hundreds, if not God forbid, thousands of casualties,” Allouche said. “So the magnitude is deeper and greater.”
On Monday, a few members of the congregation were at the synagogue where they watched videos of Hamas terrorists killing, raping and kidnapping innocent Israelis. Many Jewish people are torn between feelings of grief, revenge and political blame.
The rabbi said this is not a time for politics.
“I don’t speak politics, ever,” he said. “There will be a time for others to speak, to analyze, to finger point. Now is not that time. Right now, the Israeli defense will do what they have to do to eradicate this evil.”
Allouche said instead of casting blame, he hopes people will point fingers at themselves.
“I think we, instead of speaking politics, should be speaking how we can increase our own light in this world to expel darkness. How to be better with one another. How to be kinder with people.”
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