By Lea Kahn, Packet Media Group
Rabbi Eric Wisnia and several members of East Windsor Township’s Congregation Beth Chaim were walking back to their Jerusalem hotel room from dinner July 8 when they heard the piercing sound of a siren.
They looked at one another, thinking that it was the sound of the subway train approaching them. But glancing around, they saw the Israelis looking with horror at one another. That piercing sound was an air raid siren.
The Beth Chaim visitors, along with the Israelis, quickly moved to a shelter.
"That was my first experience living in the line of fire with Hamas," Rabbi Wisnia said Monday night.
The rabbi, who returned home with congregation members Sunday, spoke to about 450 people who filled the sanctuary at Adath Israel Congregation in Lawreence. They had gathered for a pro-Israel rally, sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Princeton Mercer Bucks, that also featured ministers from Christian denominations.
Hamas has been firing rockets into Israel for the past two weeks. The latest round of fighting between the two sides was triggered by the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers last month, and the kidnapping and murder of a Palestinian youth a few days later.
The number of casualties on the Israeli side has been small — nothing like six million casualties, Rabbi Wisnia said in a reference to the Holocaust. The Israelis are hardy and they can take it, he said, but "it’s getting out of hand, folks."
Rabbi Wisnia questioned "how many more dead Jews will it take" for the world to take the latest round of attacks seriously. The Israeli casualties have been limited, thanks to the Iron Dome missile defense system in place in Israel, he said.
"This is sick. There is no point to it," Rabbi Wisnia said.
Hamas is an "evil organization" that is holding Gaza residents hostage and puts those civilians in harm’s way. It has put a rocket base next to a school, he said.
"We can no longer let Hamas shoot missiles at Israel with impunity. It must stop," Rabbi Wisnia said.
The rabbi pointed out that during a brief cease-fire, terrorists ran out of tunnels that had been dug between Gaza and Israel. They wanted to kill or kidnap Israelis. Hamas does not want to negotiate, he said.
Paraphrasing the late Israeli prime minister Golda Meir, Rabbi Wisnia said that peace will come only when Hamas learns to love their children more than they hate Israelis. But until then, Hamas must be taken down, no matter what it costs, he said.
While Rabbi Wisnia shared his brief experience with Hamas, Elad Strohmayer — Israel’s deputy consul general, stationed in Philadelphia — told the group that his family lives in Israel and must deal with it constantly. When he has called them, he has heard the sirens in the background.
Mr. Strohmayer said his brother is a veteran of several Israeli military missions, but "he has never seen anything like this. They are so determined to kill us (that) we have no choice (but to defend ourselves). We are determined to be alive. We have chosen life. We cherish life."
There is no nation in the world that would sit still while rockets are being lobbed at it, he said. When terrorists try to infiltrate Israel, "it is not our right, it is our obligation to defend ourselves" from the enemy, he said. And that enemy is Hamas, he said.
Support for Israel at the rally was not limited to the rabbi and Mr. Strohmayer. Several Christian ministers were quick to offer their support for Israel at the rally. The refrain that ran through their remarks was simple — "I stand for Israel."
The Rev. Patrick McDonnell of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Hightstown said that through his contact with Rabbi Wisnia and Rabbi Jay Kornsgold of East Windsor Township’s Beth El Synagogue, he has become more familiar with Judaism.
St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church has hosted Holocaust survivors, as well as "hidden children" — Jews who were protected by Christians during the Holocaust — who have spoken to church members, Rev.McDonnell said.
"Israel wants peace, not war. The people in Gaza want peace, not war. The people who want war must be exorcised. I stand for Israel," the Rev. McDonnell said.
The Rev. Bernard Fowler of Mount Olivet Baptist Church in Hightstown and Evangelist Ron Nelson, associate minister of the Princeton Church of Christ in Princeton, also spoke in support of Israel. It is a nation that the United States needs to support because it is an ally, Rev. Nelson said.
Satya Dosapati of the Hindu Human Rights Watch and the Human Rights Coalition Against Radical Islam stood up on the dais and also told the attendees that "we have to stop this madness." It doesn’t matter what the religion is — people are dying, he said.
"What we are saying to Israel is, ‘Here we are,’" said Mark Merkovitz, president of the Jewish Federation of Princeton Mercer Bucks. "It can’t be just tonight. It has to be tomorrow and the next day and the next week and the next month."
And then, as the 450 attendees stood up as one, several cantors — including Larry Brandspeigel of Beth El Synagogue in East Windsor Township and Adrienne Rubin of Temple Micah in Lawrence — led them in singing Hatikvah, which is the Israeli national anthem.

