President Reuven Rivlin was guest of honor on Friday morning 29 Kislev in New York City, at a special Chanukah event entitled “Shevet Achim Gam Yachad” (Brothers Sitting Together), which brought together representatives of the Orthodox, Reform, and Conservative streams of Judaism.

Speaking at the event with President Rivlin were; Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, executive vice president emeritus of the Orthodox Union; Rabbi Rick Jacobs, head of the Union for Reform Judaism; and Rabbi Steven Wernick, chief executive of the New United Synagogue for Conservative Judaism.

The President said, “As much as I am happy to be here it is also with a heavy heart. These are difficult days and our thoughts are with the injured and the families who have lost loved ones in the wave of terror that has struck in Israel and around the world. I pray that we will soon know better days.”

The President stressed the need for unity throughout the people of Israel and said, “It is important that we remember – not only on Chanukah – that we are all family, all with a love for Israel, that simple love for all the Jewish People; all its groups and streams.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photo: Kobi Gideon-GPO)