Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

Articles written by Father Gabriel Rochelle


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  • Why Israel matters to me, even if I'm not Jewish

    Father Gabriel Rochelle, JNS.org|Nov 14, 2014

    I was thrilled as a young boy to watch the rebirth of Israel. I knew of the Holocaust; pictures of people suffering and dead in the camps sent shivers up my spine. I celebrated with Jewish friends in Philadelphia when Israeli independence was declared in 1948. But it wasn’t the same, really, because I’m not Jewish. For Jews, supporting Israel was choosing life over death, but I did not feel that. I did not have that personal stake. My grandparents did not come to the U.S. because of repression or persecution. They came for economic advantage. M... Full story