Members of the Broward Central Synagogue community in Tel Aviv, Israel on June 12 [credit: Rabbi Uriel Romano].
Forty-three members of a Coral Springs synagogue community find themselves stranded in Israel as the Jewish state wages war with Iran.
Rabbi Uriel Romano of Broward Central Synagogue, a new institution created from the merger of Temple Beth Orr in Coral Springs and Temple Kol Ami Emanu-El in Plantation, was leading what was supposed to be a weeklong mission of solidarity and volunteer service when Israel launched preemptive strikes on Iranian nuclear targets on June 12.
At 3 a.m. on June 13, two days after the group arrived in Tel Aviv, their mission was “suddenly grounded, hotels locked down, plans erased,” Romano said. Israel closed its airspace to commercial flights until further notice — an unprecedented move that left the group unable to fly home as scheduled.
With Tel Aviv’s civilian centers a primary target for Iran, the group evacuated to Jerusalem. They are currently staying in a hotel with a below-ground bomb shelter, which also serves as the property’s synagogue.
The group’s members have taken cover there several times amid waves of deadly ballistic missile attacks from Iran — strikes on civilian centers that have killed at least 14 Israelis and injured more than 435, Israeli officials said.
“We came here to try to and give something back to the people of Israel and the State of Israel after October 7,” Romano told Coral Springs Talk by phone from Jerusalem Sunday, referencing the 2023 Hamas-led terror attacks that killed some 1,200 people in Israel and were backed by Iran.
“We are all a little bit afraid, but we have hope, we have strength, we have each other, we have God, we have the IDF, and we have the resilience of the Jewish people,” the rabbi added in a video message.
The congregants in Israel range in age from 18 to 50 and include parents and children, as well as the synagogue’s CEO and president. The group had planned to work on Israeli farms decimated by Hamas on October 7, and support soldiers in areas affected by the ongoing war in Gaza.
Rabbi Uriel Romano in Tel Aviv the morning of Israel’s preemptive strike [Facebook].
They are participating in a volunteer program organized by Birthright Israel to help Israel in the wake of the October 7 attacks.
“We need to be within 10 minutes of a shelter at all times due to the threat of ballistic and sonic missiles from Iran,” Romano said.
On the bus from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem last week, the group sang ‘Am Yisrael Chai’ and ‘Kol Ha’Olam Kulo,’ “not because we felt joyful, but so the music could lead us there,” Romano wrote in a social media post.
“Minutes before reaching our hotel, word came: the immediate shelter-in-place order was lifted. A gift. We stepped onto Ben Yehuda Street and later Mahaneh Yehuda with twin emotions — gratitude for a freedom we hadn’t expected and caution that it could vanish just as quickly.”
The group had planned to celebrate Shabbat in the Old City of Jerusalem, entering through Jaffa Gate and praying at the Western Wall — the holiest site in Judaism. But the entire Old City remains on lockdown with its gates closed to non-residents.
Members of the Broward Central Synagogue community pictured as they celebrated Shabbat in Jerusalem [credit: Rabbi Uriel Romano].
Still, the congregants made the most of their night. As the sun set, they gathered in a valley outside Jerusalem’s city walls and welcomed Shabbat with song and prayer, the rabbi said.
“It was peaceful and powerful,” Romano wrote on social media.
Soon, Israel’s siren alert system sounded, giving the delegation 10 minutes to reach the nearest shelter amid incoming Iranian missile fire. They rushed to a parking garage before sirens again rang out, sending them to their hotel’s bomb shelter.
“We ended Shabbat with a meal and Havdalah [a ceremony marking the end of Shabbat] praying for a peaceful night ahead — or, at least, a safe one,” Romano wrote.
The group has frequently witnessed Iranian missiles blazing through the sky during their stay, said the rabbi. Amid the realities of war, the mood of Romano’s flock reflects a complex mix of emotions.
“There are people who are calm and just taking it all in. And there are people who are very scared and crying and homesick,” Romano said. “We are living minute by minute, trying to smile and to be strong for others.”
The rabbi said the group supports Israel’s mission to take out Iran’s nuclear program, which Israel says was on the cusp of completing a nuclear bomb with which it could target Israel.
Iran is led by its Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who, with his government of Islamist clerics, has for decades vowed to destroy Israel and wipe out all Jews living there. Iran also provides financial backing and weapons to Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis in Yemen with which to attack Israel, according to the Israeli and U.S. governments.
Romano said he is working to keep morale up among the synagogue’s members.
“Sometimes you need to be strong for others, like a teacher for their students. That’s a rabbi for their members, too,” said the rabbi, who is missing his wife and three kids back in Broward.
“It’s a tough time for me, too, but I try to do my best and to sing and to pray and to be with our members.”
The group continues to hold prayers and maintain routines as best they can while waiting for the situation to stabilize enough for safe passage home.
“I tell them we need to live with uncertainty,” Romano said. “It could be a few days, one week, two weeks, but we are getting home.”
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