TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — On Monday, Aaron Greenberg was at the Jewish Community Center praying and singing for peace for the war in Israel.
He’s no stranger to war in Israel, having lived there for almost eight years.
“I lived through a lot of war while I was living in Israel. We had the Lebanon War. I survived terror attacks. I fought against terror,” he said.
He said the war highlights how people can’t take anything for granted. He has family in Israel that he hasn’t heard from and a friend whose elderly family member was kidnapped.
“We are a nation of God. We will come through this a stronger nation,” he said. “We are a strong nation. We are a alive nation.”
Strength was a common feeling amongst the people at the solidarity gathering for Israel on Monday, people of all different kinds of faith coming together. Local and state leaders also joined in solidarity.
Johanna Shlomovich, the head of school at the Tucson Hebrew Academy was also in attendance, singing a lullaby from her childhood in front of a crowd of hundreds of people.
“We talk about each other as each other’s brothers and sisters. We are one family, the Jewish people,” Shlomovich said.
Hearing the prayers and songs, she was reminded about her family in the northern part of Israel. She said she wishes she could be with them and would get on a plane right away if she could.
“Our family’s terrified and they’re sending their children back into war,” she said. “We don’t live to be afraid.”
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Andrew Christiansen is a reporter for KGUN 9. Before joining the team, Andrew reported in Corpus Christi, Texas for KRIS6 News, Action 10 News and guest reported in Spanish for Telemundo Corpus Christi. Share your story ideas with Andrew by emailing andrew.christiansen@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
