- Michael Balaban
President & CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia
This Sunday, April 7, marks six months since Hamas invaded Israel and indiscriminately slaughtered, raped and stole innocent civilians. That is six months of IDF soldiers being slain in battle, six months of displacement with a surging mental health crisis, and six months of hostages as young as a year old - injured, abused and terrified – being held in captivity.
And just as day one, I am angry and I am hurting.
But through this mourning and strife, I am also immensely grateful for the pillar of support that our Greater Philadelphia community has been during these six months. With every changing phase of this war, our community has been a bedrock, giving generously of time, money and strength.
Since Oct. 7, we have raised over $15.7 million for emergency relief efforts. We came out in the thousands to vigils and rallies of support and solidarity for Israel, including the record-breaking National March for Israel in November. We demanded that the hostages be released, and we have never stopped demanding that since, and never will until they are safely returned.
As antisemitism is rising alarmingly here at home, we have increased local security trainings, stepped up meetings calling on our representatives to advocate for our safety and worked to combat the spread of disinformation. And we will continue to do this.
And as the war continues, we have shifted our focus to supporting those in Israel through the collective, long-lasting trauma of this ordeal and to restabilizing the country's economy for when this conflict does eventually end.
Because it will end, and although we do not know when, we do know this: our Greater Philadelphia community will stand by Israel through it all, just as we have been doing.
It has been a long, grief-filled six months, and it will continue to be as this war wages on. But I gain strength each time our voices join together in prayer, each time we join hands and hearts and refuse to give up hope.
May we shout it from the rooftops of this city: Am Yisrael Chai!
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