Father of Lakewood rabbi killed in synagogue attack

LAKEWOOD, N.J. (WPVI) -- There's sadness in Lakewood where the Jewish community is grieving for Rabbi Mosheh Twersky.

He was one of the four rabbis killed inside a Jerusalem synagogue by attackers wielding meat cleavers and knives.

His son Raphael Twersky, who is also a rabbi, lives in a Lakewood apartment and got the news in the middle of the night.

"I walked into the apartment and he was just crying, sobbing. He was standing there with his wife, the children were all sleeping," Meir Lichtenstein of Lakewood Emergency Management said.

"From there we worked on getting his tickets and passport and everything in place expeditiously to get the son on a plane immediately to Israel," Mayor Menashe Miller said.

At Temple Emanuel in Cherry Hill there were prayers Tuesday. Congregants and their rabbis are horrified that Palestinians would attack Jews inside a synagogue.

"This is not about religion, this is not about God, this is not about the sanctity of human life, this is pure hatred," Rabbi Larry Sernovitz of Temple Emanuel said.

"To go into a place of worship and do what they did was just inexcusable," congregant Rhoda Abrams said.

"We love each other and our country and they look at us like we are animals," congregant Sherry Berman Robinson said.

Every synagogue has an eternal light above the ark where the sacred Torahs are kept.

The rabbis at Temple Emanuel say when they arrived Tuesday morning, for the first time in years the light had gone out. They think it's connected to the bloodshed in Israel.

"I believe in signs and symbols and I feel it's out today and it has to be replaced because our light, our joy, is so diminished," Rabbi Jerry David said.