At 5:30 last Thursday morning, Miriam and Moshe Moskovitz, who together run the Chabad Lubavitch center in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, awoke to a call from a congregant, alerting them that the city was under bombardment. Dovid Margolin describes the scenes that followed:
[Miriam] Moskovitz opened her window and heard the first explosions of artillery and the acrid smell of burning that have become the new reality of life in many places throughout Ukraine.
Shortly afterwards, Rabbi Moskovitz went to the massive, domed Choral Synagogue [where he officiates] expecting to pray alone, but found more than 30 men waiting for the services to begin. A ninety-five-year-old regular was there too, and when Moskovitz asked him why he hadn’t remained at home the man answered: “Where else should I be now if not the synagogue?”
In a video taken at services that morning, congregants can be heard singing a prayer that translates, “May the Holy Temple be rebuilt swiftly in our days, and may You grant us a portion of your Torah.”
Read more on Chabad.org: https://www.chabad.org/news/article_cdo/aid/5416109/jewish/Jews-of-Ukraine-Pray-for-Peace-as-Massive-Invasion-Commences.htm