Rabbi Paul Freedman of the Jewish Agency\'s Department of Education [whose son was in the Sbarro restaurant at the time of blast and sustained no injuries] encouraged Diaspora Jews to continue to visit Israel, and participate in Israel study programs: \"We here in Jerusalem and all over Israel are picking up our normal lives, as we must. We are strong, we are united, and we are confident that you, our brother and sisters around the world, will make your voices heard, your support felt in the world forums, and - not less important - will let your faces be seen on the streets of our cities, in our countryside, in our places of learning, and in our homes.\"
Rabbi Avi Weiss, head of the grass-roots pro-Israel group Amcha [a member of his group was wounded in the blast] told Arutz-7 today, \"The test of commitment to Israel is not played out when things are going well. The test of love is: Am I there when things are not going as well? And it\'s precisely at this time that I would hope that our love of Israel is such that people are running to Israel rather than from Israel.\" Rabbi Weiss appreciates that every family has to make its own decision, and he doesn\'t judge any family for any decision. \"Am Yisrael, the Jewish people, is my family. And as I would run to my family even if they are in some danger, so too, do I think that real love of the Jewish people - if we\'re really teaching it as a function of family - is the kind of love where people at this point should in fact be running to come here.\" He says this is his most important teaching in his 30 years of the rabbinate. Rabbi Weiss adds that he is not sure that a person is safer in Chicago, Baltimore, or New York than in Israel. Regarding the US reaction, the American rabbi criticized Collin Powell for urging \"both sides\" to exercise restraint. Rabbi Weiss says that by equating Arab violence with Israel\'s self-defense, the US is abetting terrorism. He says the equivalence is \"absurd.\"
Rabbi Avi Weiss, head of the grass-roots pro-Israel group Amcha [a member of his group was wounded in the blast] told Arutz-7 today, \"The test of commitment to Israel is not played out when things are going well. The test of love is: Am I there when things are not going as well? And it\'s precisely at this time that I would hope that our love of Israel is such that people are running to Israel rather than from Israel.\" Rabbi Weiss appreciates that every family has to make its own decision, and he doesn\'t judge any family for any decision. \"Am Yisrael, the Jewish people, is my family. And as I would run to my family even if they are in some danger, so too, do I think that real love of the Jewish people - if we\'re really teaching it as a function of family - is the kind of love where people at this point should in fact be running to come here.\" He says this is his most important teaching in his 30 years of the rabbinate. Rabbi Weiss adds that he is not sure that a person is safer in Chicago, Baltimore, or New York than in Israel. Regarding the US reaction, the American rabbi criticized Collin Powell for urging \"both sides\" to exercise restraint. Rabbi Weiss says that by equating Arab violence with Israel\'s self-defense, the US is abetting terrorism. He says the equivalence is \"absurd.\"