Home

In the Heartrending Wake of 10/7

It was Simchat Torah, but it felt like Purim in that the whole Jewish World was upside-down.  On that day, the terrorist group Hamas murdered 1200 Israelis, some tortured and raped.  Hundreds were taken hostages back into Gaza and most remain there still. We at BTEE, hold Israel in our prayers as the Jewish homeland still reels in the wake of the single worse day of Jewish loss since the Shoah.

We are once again reminded that there is such cruelty and dehumanization in the world and yet we refuse to succumb to those forces. Despite the uptick of antisemitism around the world since that day, BTEE remains united in the Jewish mission of a world with greater: Peace, Justice, Hope, Equality and Freedom. We pray and labor for the universal truths within these values.  We do so not just for Israel and for our fellow Jews locally and around the world, but for all good people of every faith and creed. This includes the innocent Palestinians in Gaza  who are very much included in our prayers.

"May we see the day when war and bloodshed cease, when a great peace will embrace the whole world.
Then nation will not threaten nation, and the human family will not again know war.
For all who live on earth shall realize that we have not come into being to hate or to destroy.
We have come into being to praise, to labor, and to love…” - A Prayer for Peace, Siddur Lev Shalem