Jews Come Together for Troops, Israel : Rallies: About 700 people show up at a community center in Garden Grove to show their support. Elsewhere in the county, groups join in the national Prayer for Peace.

A rally for U.S. troops and Israel drew about 700 people Sunday to the Jewish Community Center of Central Orange County in Garden Grove, including a cross-section of political, religious and civic leaders.

“It is with a heavy heart that we join today to support our President, our courageous fighting forces and the unbelievably mature restraint of the tiny state of Israel,” said Rabbi Bernard King, of Shir Ha-Ma Alot Harbor Reform Temple in Newport Beach.

King said half his congregation supported sanctions rather than war until hostilities began. “War is never a football game or Nintendo video. War is hell. . . . Yet there are moments when war becomes a tragic necessity--the Gulf War is such a moment. Stopping Hitler was one, stopping Saddam is another.”

King was among more than a dozen speakers who urged solidarity with Israel, applauding its restraint in not using military force in the regional conflict and expressing gratitude to U.S. troops.

“We want as a Jewish community to show our support of the troops and that we will welcome them (home) as heroes of this country and not as in Vietnam,” said Mali Leitner, president of the community center and a native of Israel.

Also speaking to the group were Rep. William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton) and Orange County Supervisors Gaddi H. Vasquez, Harriett M. Wieder and Roger R. Stanton.

Participants waved American and Israeli flags and held signs saying: “Dear Saddam, This Scud’s for You,” “Destroy the Despot” and “Never Again,”--a reference to the holocaust. Booths were set up where people could try on Israeli gas masks, perform ancient prayers for the safety of Israel and buy Girl Scout cookies that will be sent directly to the troops.

Becky Stein, 9, said it felt “scary” to wear a gas mask. “And it gets foggy.”

But Tzippy Greenwalk, 8, said it felt good. “My cousins (in Tel Aviv) are wearing gas masks, and I wanted to know how it felt.”

Some complained that the Jewish Federation of Orange County did not join in sponsoring the rally. “The American Jewish Community should stand up,” said Marc Leitner, “and not make the mistake of 40 years ago when Jews were being gassed in Europe.”

But Jerry Werksman, a spokesman for the federation, a fund-raising and umbrella organization for Jewish groups, said, “To compare this to the holocaust is outrageous and divisive and unnecessary.”

Federation officials said a rally might be better timed if and when Israel entered the conflict, he said.

“Since Israel and the U.S. have the same goals, at this point we can rally as Americans rather than as Jews.”

Sunday was also a day of Prayer for Peace, declared earlier in the week by President Bush. While Bush and his wife, Barbara, prayed at a chapel service at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Md., the Rev. Robert H. Schuller hosted U.S. Atty. Gen. Dick Thornburgh at televised services at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove.

Thornburgh said government leaders feel a “great deal of confidence” during the crisis as a result of the deliberate, confident nature of Bush himself.

He said every Cabinet meeting opens with a prayer, and while “some of us have to fumble around a bit,” the prayers enable the leaders to “know the Lord’s will and carry it forward.”

Schuller called war a “heart-wrenching dilemma for the Christian.” However, he exhorted his followers not to “let the war get in you” and warned against prejudice and discrimination against Arabs and Muslims.

Acknowledging the difficulty of “loving” Saddam Hussein, he suggested they “shoot” God’s love through them to him. He asked the congregation to stand, raise one palm, and “shoot” with the other hand.

He prayed that God “work in the brain of Saddam Hussein,” lead him to retreat from an unjust situation and hasten the end of the war.

The service concluded with the national anthem and the raising of a 90-foot American flag.

At a smaller service Sunday evening at the Victory Outreach Church in Orange, about 200 people dedicated an “Operation Desert Peace” prayer wall, which will be used to hang pictures of loved ones in the military.

“This wall is a way to pick up spirit,” said Loui Magallon, 22, of Corona, whose cousin is in Saudi Arabia with the Marines. “It’s where you can come and stare at the wall and know that you’re not alone.”

Participants in the service said that for both military personnel overseas and their friends and relatives waiting at home, religion and faith offer an important way to make it through these times of worry. A prayer service will be held at the church every Sunday at 6 p.m.

“Our country was founded on prayers, and even the dollar bill says ‘In God We Trust,’ and this is our way of supporting the men and women abroad,” said Sylvia Leal, 27, of Orange, whose younger brother is with the Marines in the Gulf.

Times staff writer Lily Dizon contributed to this report.