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Click here to watch live and join the worldwide Jewish community in prayer.
Today is the Fast of Esther, a day to commemorate the prayer and fasting of the Jewish community in ancient Persia when our ancestors were threatened with annihilation (Esther 4:16).
In our own day, the Jewish people in Israel and around the world are enduring very difficult times, facing enemies who seek to destroy us.
Calls have gone out across the international Jewish community to increase our prayers today, to ask G-d to protect our brothers and sisters in Israel, the soldiers who are defending our homeland, the hostages still held in Gaza, and the thousands of injured and displaced families in Israel.
There will be a Global Hour of Jewish Unity, broadcast live from Jerusalem, starting at 10:30 am Eastern today (Watch it here.) The Hour of Unity will end with the recital of the Shema prayer at 11:30 am Eastern. (Text, transliteration, and translation of the Shema are here.)
May our prayers be answered for peace and safety for our brothers and sisters in Israel and everywhere.
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