NYT Publishes Moving Account of Service for Giffords

David Streeter — January 11, 2011 – 11:12 am | Congress | Democrats Comments (1) Add a comment

On Sunday, The New York Times published a very moving account of a special healing service held at Representative Gabrielle Giffords’ (D-AZ) home synagogue. The Times wrote:

‘Why, why, why, why?’ Naomi Present, the daughter of the rabbi, cried out from the back.

More than 100 people crowded into a special healing service Sunday morning for Representative Gabrielle Giffords at Congregation Chaverim, where she was married three years ago, for a tearful ceremony. Ms. Giffords’s rabbi, friends and admirers gathered to pray for a swift recovery and to honor a woman many described as an inspiration.

If the shooting in Tucson on Saturday of 20 people, including Ms. Giffords, shook the entire nation, it hit this city’s Jewish community especially hard, most of all those who belong to Ms. Gifford’s small Reform temple, hidden among tall cactuses on a quiet suburban street.

And:

Rabbi Stephanie Aaron, the leader of Congregation Chaverim, has been Ms. Giffords’s friend and spiritual adviser.

‘In Jewish practice, we have an idea of repairing the world,’ Rabbi Aaron said. Ms. Giffords, she added, ‘was very active in doing that work and being a pursuer of justice.’

From the temple’s bimah on Sunday, Rabbi Aaron tried to console her congregation with songs and testaments to the strength of ‘Gabby,’ as she is known.

The congregants put their arms around one another’s shoulders, swaying back and forth in song. ‘She made such a difference in our Tucson community,’ Rabbi Aaron said. She asked the congregation to hold her ‘radiant smile’ in their minds.

Giffords, those who were murdered and injured, and their families all remain in our thoughts and prayers.

Below is Giffords’ name in Hebrew, for those who wish to add her to their mishaberach (prayer for healing) list.

 חברת גבריאל גיפורדס 

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