AUSTIN (Nexstar) — More than 7,000 miles away from Texas, Israelis grieved the more than 1,200 lives lost and prayed for the return of the hostages still in Gaza. And for many Jewish Texans, the pain is all too close to home.
There are just about a thousand Jewish families in the Austin area, Shalom Austin’s Rabbi Daniel Septimus said, and nearly all of them know someone personally impacted by the violence one year ago.
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“This is personal on a number of levels,” he said. “We’re a small people… so when one thing happens to us, regardless of where it happens, whether it happens here in Austin, Texas and Israel or anywhere around the world, we feel it.”
His community held a memorial service at the Dell Jewish Community Center Monday night. Earlier, Septimus joined Gov. Greg Abbott as he urged Texans to remember the seven Americans still held hostage in Gaza: Edan Alexander, Itay Chen, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Gadi Haggai, Judith Weinstein Haggai, Omer Neutra and Keith Siegel.