two us families trapped in Gaza just came home hanen okal a mom from Union New Jersey and her three kids and a family of three from Massachusetts an aid worker from New Jersey Maha albana was also able to leave Gaza meanwhile the House of Representatives led by new speaker Mike Johnson passed a$ 14.3 billion Aid bill for Israel that did not include President Biden's key initiatives like humanitarian support for those in Gaza aid for Ukraine and funds to to increase security with China and Mexico that bill is Dead on Arrival in the Senate and the White House says the GOP plan fails to meet the urgency of the moment and would have devastating implications for our safety and alliances in the years ahead US Secretary of State Anthony blinkin met with Israel's defense minister today urging a pause of the fighting in Gaza to allow for more humanitarian Aid that request was denied as Israel has reiterated it will not pause until hostages held by Hamas are released the leader of Hezbollah spoke today for the first time since the start of the war indicating that conflict between Hezbollah and Israel could escalate if Israel doesn't stop its attacks on the Gaza Strip and while that conflict is nowhere near resolution here at home a rabbi and an Imam in Ridgewood are demonstrating that peace is possible even when there's disagreement Ted Goldberg spoke to them about how they're urging their communities to come together in the midst of so much tragedy we are fortunate to call the United States our home where we live in peace safety and freedom amongst our diverse faiths ethnicities and viewpoints a rabbi and an Imam in Ridgewood joined forces today hoping to unite Jewish people and Muslims we recognize the pain and suffering of all those affected in our community by the crisis in the Middle East the war between Israel and Hamas has sparked Pro protests and renewed fears of bigoted attacks against Jews and Muslims Rabbi David fine and Imam Mahmud Hamza haven't gotten swept up in Anger since they've been friends for 15 years and live a block apart in Ridgewood we see each other all the time M seen my children grow up we build a relationship you know we feel like we are live in the same neighborhood where brothers and sisters we care about each other we have the same dreams fine and Hamza hope the Jewish and Muslim communities can agree on peace and understanding going forward there are many significant things that we don't agree on but we agree that we pray for for peace and we agree that we are friends and we're not fighting with each other while we may disagree on political and other issues we are all bound by a common decency as neighbors and As Americans we urge our fellow citizens to remember that what unites us is far greater than what divides Ides us fine and Hamza say it's important for Jewish and Islamic communities around New Jersey to engage in dialogue about sensitive subjects even if it leads to people disagreeing with each other maybe especially if they lead to disagreement I say you know this is going to hurt he say mm okay we're open-minded to listen to each other to try to understand each other's feelings and we realize that we're not going to agree on everything dialogue is hearing each other not yelling at each other uh that's the model for uh what education is what being neighbors are communities need to come together peoples need to come together uh war is when dialogue fails and occasionally dialogue can succeed sometimes even we change our minds with experience with living together we can we might change our minds and you know it's just we have to be able to respect each other and understand our differences and take it from there Ridgewood has avoided large-scale anti-Semitism and islamophobia this rabbi any Mom hope to keep it that way even if it leads to an argument sometimes in Ridgewood I'm Ted Goldberg NJ Spotlight News [Music]