Hearts Go Out to Jews in Peril 

By Amy Sacks and Emily Gest
Daily News Writers
http://www.mostnewyork.com/2002-04-22/News_and_Views/
City_Beat/a-148470.asp

Tens of thousands of Orthodox Jews gathered in lower Manhattan 
yesterday to pray for the safety and security of Jews in Israel 
and around the world.

Rabbi Syshe Heshel reads from Book of Psalms during 90-minute 
service in lower Manhattan yesterday. Beginning at Hanover 
Square and stretching for nine blocks down Water St., Jews lined 
the street davening — praying as they bobbed back and forth. 
The service, organized by a coalition of Jewish groups, was 
broadcast simultaneously in synagogues in 30 cities across 
the country.

According to custom, the men, clad in long coats and hats, and 
the women, wearing long skirts and covering their hair, were 
separated. They all faced east, toward Jerusalem.

By custom, Orthodox men wore hats and long coats.  

"Political demonstrations have their place, but for Jews who 
are facing danger, this has been the response forever," 
said Chanie Friedman, a representative of the Manhattan-based
Agudath Israel of America.

"In times of pain and danger, Jews come together to pray," 
Friedman said.

Empowered by Prayers

Rabbi Syshe Heshel, kosher supervision rabbi for the Orthodox 
Union, ascended a podium to lead the 90-minute service by 
reading from the Book of Psalms. The passages were selected 
to reflect the traditional Jewish response in times of distress.

"Our most powerful weapon is our prayers," said Leah Bald, 63, 
of Brooklyn, who attended the service with her twin sister, 
Rachael Sultan. "By praying, God should give us the right 
answer and find a way to make peace."

"We mourn the loss of life of the many, many victims of terror 
across the world and [in] the land of Israel," said 
Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, executive vice president of 
the Orthodox Union, an international union of 1,000 Orthodox 
synagogues.

Also yesterday, about five dozen Jews demonstrated for an 
hour outside the Palestine Liberation Organization's E. 65th St. 
area headquarters in support of Bronx Democratic City 
Councilman Oliver Koppell's resolution to shutter them.

"The Palestinian Authority is a terrorist organization," said 
Rabbi Avi Weiss, national president of the Coalition for 
Jewish Concerns-Amcha. "As long as that office is here, it's 
nothing more than a terrorist cell."

Original Publication Date: 4/22/02