Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, the rabbi of the local council of Efrat and founder of Ohr Torah Stone, calls on US Jews to immigrate to Israel in the wake of the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre.
"As a rabbi in America, I always called on American Jews to immigrate to Israel and hundreds of families immigrated to Israel," said Rabbi Riskin, who immigrated to Israel himself. "I'm convinced that in the end there'll be no Jew who won't understand that his real home is here in Israel.
"I don't want them to make aliyah because of anti-Semitism," Rabbi Riskin clarified, "because they'll understand it's a better [place]. Efrat's much better and nicer. I hope the situation there won't be worse and they'll be forced to make aliyah quickly, but in the meantime they're in a state of caution. I don't say this is the end of American Jewry, but there's a message of danger now.
"I very much respect and like President Trump. He's a good president for the US and Israel. He said yesterday clearly that there should be people with weapons in every synagogue and every meeting so that if there are crazy people they can be stopped immediately."
"It's important that the shooter receive the death penalty. It must be clear that such anti-Semitism isn't accepted in America, and therefore it's important that the person who did it receive the death penalty. Maybe in Israel too they will learn from this and will also give the death penalty. When someone comes to kill you, you rise and kill him first.
"American Jewry isn't the only one that has to defend itself. It's a serious problem all over the world. In England, the situation is very acute, and especially if Corbyn is elected prime minister. In France there's a very frightening phenomenon. Thank G-d, we have the State of Israel and the Jews have a place to go."
Rabbi Riskin said that "the people of Israel are hated by the nations of the world because the nations understand only aggression and when there's a need for justice, and a nation that says that power isn't important but compassion, then those people hate it and see it as a danger.
"We're at a time when the people see that we're becoming stronger and more blessed. We're now a real force in the Middle East, and the people who want the opposite morality understand this. The aggressiveness and not the people who express their kindness and mercy [are the problem], and that's part of anti-Semitism today
