Special prayers for Israel read out at city synagogues

Since Iran’s attack on Israel four days ago, prayers are being held at all synagogues in Pune to pray for the safety of Israelis. “There have been prayers which were written very specific for Israel and the Israel Defence Forces (IDF),” said Yosef Nowgaonkar, secretary, Succath Shelomo Synagogue. The prayers were published in Israel and were distributed to all the synagogues. “Everyone is very concerned about the war and about the people. My sister-in-law, my brother-in-law and a lot of other relatives are there. So we are worried about their well-being and pray that no harm comes to them. We all in our mind pray that we don’t have a war and we don’t see anything bad happening,” added Nowgaonkar.

Four days ago Iran launched an aerial attack on Israel using “more than 300 threats” including cruise and ballistic missiles, rockets, and explosive drones, the IDF said.

Iran said the attacks were a response to the Israeli air strikes on its diplomatic premises in Damascus, Syria, on April 2, in which 13 people, including a senior Iranian military general, were killed. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had vowed revenge.

Pune has a sizable Jew population. According to the 2011 census, there are about 4,650 Indian Jews — 53% of whom live in Maharashtra.