INDIANAPOLIS – Many Jewish Hoosiers are renewing their call for support following an Iranian missile attack on Israel Tuesday.
The attack comes just one day before the start of the Jewish New Year, or Rosh Hashanah, which marks the beginning of the faith’s High Holy Days.
“This has been a very difficult day for the Jewish community,” said Marc Swatez, the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis.
Iranian missile strikes lit up the skies and sent shockwaves through Israel. The attack touches a nerve with many Jewish Hoosiers.
“For us, this is a very personal thing,” Swatez said. “Jews here in Indianapolis, we have deep relationships with the people of Israel. This isn’t happening in some far-away community. This is happening to people we know, our friends, our families, our loved ones.”
While war wages on halfway across the globe, Swatez said it feels much closer because he, like many other Jewish Hoosiers, has friends in Israel.
“While I was speaking to them, sirens went off,” he described. “And one of them said this was the first time they’ve ever heard a siren in their village. They normally live in an area that’s considered very, very safe even though it was in northern Israel.”
Watching these attacks unfold can even be hard for a parent, like Greg Maurer whose daughter lives in Israel.
“My daughter Sophie, my eldest child, had a lifelong dream to make her life in Israel,” he said.
Mauer keeps in touch with his daughter on a daily basis. On Tuesday, he said Sophie went to visit friends while attacks were underway.
“Her friends live a bus ride away,” he described. “And the bus had to pull over so they could all go into a ditch and cover their heads when the sirens went off.”
This missile barrage was just the latest chapter of a conflict that’s been on the mind of many Jews since the Hamas terror attacks in Israel nearly a year ago on Oct. 7. While many are hoping for peace, they know a difficult path likely still lies ahead.
“We stand by the right to defend themselves and protect themselves,” said David Sklar, the executive director of the Indianapolis Jewish Community Relations Council. “And while we all hope the conflict ends, we need to make sure it ends in a way that provides for the safety and security of Israeli citizens.”
Until that peace arrives, Jewish faith members are calling for continued support.
“This is a larger war,” Maurer described. “[It’s] not just Israel and Hezbollah, but this is Iran versus Western civilization. And anybody who is an American and stands by the Western ideals that have sustained this world for so long, should take this personally and understand this is our fight.”
