WESTPORT — Several hundred people gathered Sunday evening at Jesup Green for a “Bring Them Home” vigil for Israelis taken hostage by Hamas.

The interfaith gathering was somber, hopeful, even joyful at times.

People streamed toward the green, the heart of Westport, holding hands, carrying Israeli flags, even draping themselves in them.

“It is a blessing to be gathered with you here tonight,” said the Rev. Heather Sinclair of the United Methodist Church of Westport and Weston.

“So often we come together on this piece of ground to gather for play, for protest, we gather in joy and in sorrow,” she said. “We gather together to seek comfort and reassurance, and the support of each other.”

“And we do that again this evening,” Sinclair said. “We come carrying in our hearts sadness, grief, anger, fear and frustration. We bring our stories, our opinions, our faith, our calls to action.”

“And as we gather, we hold in our hearts our loved ones, family, and friends,” she said. “We hold in our hearts hostages, and soldiers, mothers and children, strangers and neighbors alike.”

“We are here to stand together for Israel, for peace, for each other, as neighbors and friends,” Sinclair said. “So let us hold each other close in this time and in these days, but treat each other with kindness, with compassion, and let us keep hope in our hearts.”

Rabbi Michael Friedman of Temple Israel thanked Sinclair, and the other community leaders there, including First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker, Police Chief Foti Koskinas, state Sen. Ceci Maher, D-26, and state Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, D-136, for being present.

“We are here this evening to be a light in the darkness,” Friedman said. “As we, the Jewish people have always been since the call of our prophet Isaiah.

“This evening, we demonstrate our commitment to the over 200 hostages still held in Gaza, and we show our strength of support for the state of Israel, which we love,” he said. “And most importantly we do all of that together as one.”

“Today we gather in solidarity and with prayer for our brethren in Israel and for the welfare of our hostages,” said Rabbi Yehuda Leib Kantor of Chabad of Westport.

“We gather to confront evil. We gather to share and spread light and force that at its core can and will overpower the overwhelming darkness that is engulfing Israel,” Kantor said.

“Peace in the Holy Land has been shattered,” he said. “A nation has been brutalized. Yet there is only one guiding light that has always led us out of the deepest places of darkness and despair, it’s the pro-active mission of creating and spreading life. It is the unyielding and absolute discernment of good versus evil. We do so with strength, we do so with brazenness, we do so with pride. We do so with so many friend here of all faith.”

“Thank you all for being here,” Kantor said. “You probably can’t imagine how much it means to us, and in turn how much it energizes us to do the God-given mission to being a light unto the nations.”

Staples High School senior Ethan Walmark led the crowd in singing the national anthem,

The program ended with a benediction from Sinclair, which was followed by an unplanned period of silence. Those gathered didn’t seem ready for the moment, the collective mood, to end just yet.

Several people in the crowd began singing, “Am Yisrael Chai,” (The people of Israel live).

Others soon joined in, and the rabbis as well, clapping and singing. Those of other faiths clapped along, as best they could.

“We’re all basking in this, beautiful feeling of togetherness, and solidarity, and friendship, which is beautiful,” Friedman said. “So, I will invite us to drink this in, before we all head back to our homes …”

The crowd then sang “Oseh Shalom.”

Thane Grauel grew up in Westport and has been a journalist in Fairfield County and beyond for 35 years. Reach him at editor@westportjournal.com. Learn more about us here.