Oak Park Jewish community concerned for safety of loved ones in Israel – and locally

Oak Park's Jewish community concerned for loved ones in Israel

And they are not alone — the City of Oak Park is stepping up security on foot patrols, protecting synagogues and online monitoring of any threats.

OAK PARK, Mich. (FOX 2) - The war between Israel and Hamas — has left more than 1800 dead across both sides and thousands injured.

For Rabbi Shaya Katz with Young Israel in Oak Park, his heart, is filled with pain.

"My brother lives there, my brother and his wife and three girls, I’ve got cousins there, I’ve got friends there," he said. "I study there for two years. A lot of my friends over there or not only still in Israel, but fighting in the army."

It’s the case for many members of Metro Detroit’s Jewish community — people have friends, family and loved ones being drawn into a bloody conflict thousands of miles away

"It’s hard for me to, it’s hard for me to sit here, thousands of miles away and see my friends who I sat next to her now going and fighting on my behalf, on the Jewish people's behalf," he said. "And that only motivates you to do as much as you can."

For this community, it means coming together through prayer, study, and camaraderie.

"When things like this happen, we really hunker down and be there for each other," he said.

And they are not alone — the City of Oak Park is stepping up security on foot patrols, protecting synagogues and online monitoring of any threats.

"There’s no question that our community is on higher alert than others," said City Manager Erik Tungate.

Tungate says Oak Park is home to around 30,000 people. About 37 percent of the population are Jewish.

The community has not received any additional threats since the war began over the weekend, but it's important to be proactive and ensure the local Jewish community is both safe and supported, he said.

"Just keeping it very close communication with members of Hatzalah (Jewish volunteer emergency medical service) and the members of the Jewish community and other members of the city to it affects all of us," he said.

Rabbi Katz says the additional resources are a blessing during these troubling times.

"This is not just a war about Israel. It’s not even just a war about Jews," he said. "It’s from my perspective it’s a war about righteousness and evil."