Photos, Video: Dovber Hechtman
Thousands of people in New York City’s Times Square viewed an empty Shabbat table set for 224 people across Duffy Square between 45th and 47th streets today, symbolizing the 224 hostages being held captive by the terrorist group Hamas.
Hamas terrorists abducted over 200 innocent civilians, including infants and Holocaust survivors. The group of victims includes men, women and children of all ages. They are Argentinians, Germans, Americans, French, Russians, and Israelis.
The installation by the Israeli-American Council (IAC) and other Jewish organizations also featured several relatives of hostages speaking about their plight. IAC is seeking to raise global awareness and generate public pressure to secure the hostages’ safe release. One week ago, IAC led a huge rally in Times Square with thousands of people and featuring 15 giant billboards spotlighting the faces and names of hostages.
Thousands of people today viewed the Shabbat table installation as well and heard speakers including the hostage family members demand the hostages be freed.
A similar event will take place Friday in Brooklyn at the Brooklyn Museum near Crown Heights.
A fully set Shabbos table with over 200 empty chairs will be set up at the Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway at 2:20 PM, to bring awareness and demand the hostages immediate return.
The event is taking place in Brooklyn, in front of the landmark Brooklyn Museum and is being organized by a group of local Jewish residents.
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What a world
For what?!
What a waste of time and space.
What exactly does this accomplish?
One extra kapital tehillim or Torah learning would have done far more than all those hours wasted on utter pr nonsense.
But you do you.
Yidden are hurting and expressing their imoi anoichi betsoro, and all you can do is mock them? Your arrogance isn’t helping the hostages spiritually in any shape or form
I highly doubt anyone read your comment and changed their mind. Maybe while this was being set up, the organizers were saying Tehillim the entire time? This may have attracted Jews and given them an opportunity to lay Tefillin? This may have inspired people to fill their tables this Shabbos with guests? The latter did just that for me. I invited someone extra to my Shabbos table realizing how many will be missing at their families. Each have their way of combating evil, their isn’t one path leading to the truth. If you believe there is, you’re likely not in… Read more »
Peple are trying to do wjat they can! If your helping is saying tehilim them sya tehhilim.Everyone does what they can do!!!
You shppuldbe ashamed of yourself!!!!! What a beautiful thing this is!!!!
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Put your resources in pressuring the Israeli government or to give into terrorism. It’s like no one realizes that the Israeli government is the responsible party to end this. Instead let’s go make statement and accomplish nothing. Maybe we’ll get some crocodile tears from some people…..
no one is shedding crockadile tears!! The pnly one doing that is you!
If you have better ideas, go ahead and do them.
This is a beautiful initiative that brings attention, to the world, and to Hashem that we need them back. And serves as an inspiration to the beauty of shabbos.