Massive prayer service for Israel held on Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights
NEW YORK -- The impact from the war in Israel has been felt deeply here in New York.
Thousands of people turned out for a prayer service in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, on Monday night.
Jewish leaders planned the massive service in a matter of hours. The streets later reopened, but the leaders told CBS New York the past three days have been so painful for so many, the people needed a place to come together and pray.
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The masses shut down Eastern Parkway, shoulder to shoulder in prayer for Israel.
"Everyone in the community has a relative that either lives in Israel or knows someone who has been affected by this directly," Rabbi Motti Seligson said.
"One siren, two sirens, speakers are blasting. They're saying everyone get in the basement in the bomb shelters," a man named Shmuli said.
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Shmuli and his five children came to Monday night's vigil straight from the airport after flying home from Jerusalem, where they had gone for the holidays.
"We're jet lagged. We haven't slept in three days, but we're here to support the Jews in Israel," Shmuli said.
He said the streets of Jerusalem were barren when he left, a ghost of the city he knew.
"Trying to explain to little kids what's going on, that's the worst. I have a daughter who is 10 years old, an 8-year-old son and they know they have an uncle in the Israeli army who is being called up to reserve. They kept asking, 'Is he going in yet? Is he in war? What's gonna be with him? And I try to explain, 'Don't worry, he's gonna be okay. He's trying to protect us,'" Shmuli said.
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Hours earlier, Mayor Eric Adams lit candles in Golda Meir Square in Midtown.
"Yes, I stand with Israel. Yes, I stand with the Jewish community. But most importantly, I stand with humanity," Adams said.
Around him, dozens of demonstrators waved Israeli flags.
"I have a lot of friends serving on the front lines, all called up either from Brooklyn, Manhattan or already there in Israel," said Nathan Marcus of Brooklyn.
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Danielle Farage said she is in constant communication with her family abroad.
"They are sheltering in place, going back and forth to bomb shelters scared for their lives, and I'm scared for their lives as well," Farage said.
At both gatherings, a heavy police presence patrolled on the ground and above.
For many with ties to the Middle East, a new reality is now setting in.
"Israel is gonna be different from now on and it's a reality we just gonna have to get used to," said Itay Milner, spokesman for the Israeli Consulate in New York.
CBS New York asked the rabbi from the Chabad in Crown Heights what he tells people who ask him how they can help. He said he tells them to pray and to do mitzvahs, acts of kindness.
