Soon after I made Havdalla last Saturday evening, I received a text from a community member informing me of the attack on a Jewish House of Worship in Texas. My adrenalin turned on as once again a Jewish institution was under attack on the holy day of Shabbat.
Lots of concerned people started texting me and messaging me throughout the evening as the events unfolded.
As for me, I had a small Bar Mitzvah to attend in Brighton, but even there we said a prayer for the hostages and hoped that we would hear good news very soon.
When we finally heard that the hostages had been extricated unharmed, I let out a sigh of relief, like I am sure so many others did who had been watching and following this event as it unfolded through the evening hours. An event that could have had a very tragic ending, ended up with no innocent casualties with the help of G-d and some very dedicated and professional law enforcement agencies.
As the days passed we heard more details of what happened and realized just what a miracle and how lucky we all were.
Certainly, this caused many to shudder at the thought of yet another attack on a Jewish institution which unfortunately has happened to often over the last few years.
Of course, at Hebrew School the next day, we added some extra security measures and had extra security on hand, out of an abundance of caution. Chief Nix of the Sudbury Police Department reached out to have a chat and discuss things and we did what we needed to secure the property.
Yet besides all of that, inside the building the biggest pushback to this event was happening as the holiday of Tu Bshevat was being celebrated in a joyful and meaningful way by dozens of students (you can see lots of pictures here).
The children had no idea of the turmoil that some of the adults carries and blissfully enjoyed squeezing oranges, doing arts and crafts, writing letters for the Western Wall and enjoying so much more, as they learned about the New Year for the Trees and some lessons that it meant to them and humanity as a whole.
The smiles, the songs, the learning, and the music together with a determination to continue to celebrate with our faith and traditions, were and will continue to be the ultimate response to those who attempt to instill fear through their terror and hate.
I was happy to see the FBI and then many others call out this attack for what it was, an ugly antisemitic attack and heartened by the many condemnations from so many leaders from across the board.
On a local level, I was very grateful and appreciative to have Chief Nix reach out on behalf of Law Enforcement as he did to the other Jewish Temples in the area, and to have heard from the Chair of the Select Board of Sudbury, Jennifer Roberts who wrote a letter on behalf of her fellow Board Members, expressing their condemnation of the attack and solidarity with the Jewish community. I have also been in touch with the other Jewish clergy in the area, as we coordinate closely as we work on responses to these issues.
Of course, we take security very seriously and to that end we work with local law enforcement, Jewish Security agencies and hire professional security for events. We also have a team of dedicated personnel, who have undergone training, who help do their part in making sure that our center is secure as well as open and welcoming for all our events and programs.
After some consultation with others, some additional practical steps will be introduced to how we do things to make our center secure.
The goal though, will continue to remain, to grow, celebrate, learn and make the world be the beautiful place it can be while never letting any fear derail the way we live our lives.
One of the beautiful things that was apparent to see last Saturday night and Sunday morning, was the widespread unity among the Jewish people, as people stopped what they were doing wherever they were, and said a prayer and shared the hope that this would end peacefully.
Ironically in the portion of the week, we read about one of the greatest moments of unity that the Jews ever experienced as they stood at the foot of Mount Sinai, awaiting the moment that they would receive the Torah from G-d Almighty.
It is a reminder that one of the critical pillars of our strength is in our unity and solidarity with one another. In the end of the day it is this that will empower us to succeed in our mission in living a life of Jewish values, improving the world around us, and passing it on to our children and to the future generations.
Shabbat Shalom & Good Shabbos
Yisroel