Clergy condemns shooting
Calif. synagogue attack seen as part of a ‘disturbing’ increase in anti-Semitism
This weekend’s shooting at a synagogue in California continues what one local religious organization called the “disturbing” trend of attacks on Jews and places of worship around the world.
Local religious leaders condemned a Saturday shooting at Chabad of Poway near San Diego, Calif., that killed one and injured three others. The shooting is being investigated as a hate crime and occurred on the last day of Passover.
Leaders at Congregation B’nai Israel in Bridgeport said they were “deeply saddened and pained” by the shooting.
“Jews and people of all faiths should be able to enter their synagogues and houses of worship without fear of deadly violence and hate,” read a Facebook post from the synagogue. “We will do all we can to pray for those killed and injured in this terrible incident.”
Saturday’s shooting came six months after 11 people were killed in a massacre at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue. That attack was the deadliest on the Jewish community in the United States.
“There is little doubt that once again we are reminded of the troubling and heartbreaking rise in anti-Semitism and hate locally and worldwide,” Diane Sloyer, CEO of the United Jewish Federation of Stamford, New Canaan and Darien, said in a statement. “It is also a result of and inevitable outcome of the language of hate that has become all too familiar in our society and has resulted in similar attacks on Jews, Muslims and Christians worldwide.”
The shooting also comes about a week after more than 250 people were killed on Easter Sunday in bombings at churches and hotels in Sri Lanka. Last month, 50 people were gunned down at two mosques in New Zealand. In 2015, nine people were shot and killed at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C.
This trend of gun violence in places of worship is “disturbing,” the Jewish Federation of Western Connecticut said.
“We stand with Chabad of Poway and our hearts are broken,” the organization said on Facebook.
Local synagogues heightened security in the wake of the October shooting in Pittsburgh. “This is an attack on all of us,” Rabbi Joseph I. Eisenbach, who leads Chabad Lubavitch of Northwest CT in Litchfield, said in an email.
Congregation B’nai Israel in Bridgeport asked the city’s police department to be at the synagogue’s religious school hours on Sunday.
In the wake of these recent assaults, local leaders need to stand against hatred, the Anti-Defamation League of Connecticut said.
“This shooting is a reminder of the enduring virulence of antiSemitism,” the organization said in a statement. “It must serve as a call to action for us as a society to deal once and for all with this hate. People of all faiths should not have to live in fear of going to their house of worship.”
The Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven is holding an event at 1 p.m. May 5 to honor victims of the Holocaust and the shootings in Pittsburgh and Poway.
“We are alarmed by the escalating string of attacks on houses of worship and the continued, increasing tide of anti-Semitic and hate incidents overall,” read a release issued Sunday by the Federation. “All places of worship for all faiths should be prayerful, peaceful and free from violence.”
At 5 p.m. Sunday, the United Jewish Federation of Stamford, New Canaan and Darien also planned an event to combat hate and honor Holocaust Remembrance Day
“We remain committed to fighting hate and will rededicate ourselves to building understanding, tolerance and care for our neighbors,” Sloyer said.
The Muslim Coalition of Connecticut also condemned the latest attack.
“We offer our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of the slain, and we pray for those who were injured,” the coalition said in a statement. “We stand firmly in solidarity with the Jewish community in Poway and throughout our nation.”
Police are investigating a claim the shooter made in an online manifesto that he set fire last month to a mosque in Escondido, Calif.
That claim demonstrated “how racist ideology threatens diverse communities,” the Muslim Coalition of Connecticut said.
The Muslim community has also been under attack locally and around the country recently.
⏩ Rabbi says gun ‘miraculously jammed’ in Calif. synagogue attack. A7
On Friday, a man deliberately drove into pedestrians in Sunnyvale, Calif., because he thought some of them were Muslim. The FBI is also investigating after a man threatened last month to burn Muhammad Islamic Center of Greater Hartford, according to WNPR.
“The Muslim Coalition of Connecticut calls on all people to stand together to oppose hatred and violence against any group of people and urges the redoubling of efforts to promote knowledge, understanding, and respect for all,” the organization said.
Eisenbach encouraged the community to light Shabbat candles on Friday in honor of Lori GilbertKaye, who was killed in the shooting. The synagogue is offering free Shabbat Candle Lighting kits to all. Those interested should contact office@chabadNW.org with their name and address for a free kit to be mailed.
“Let's cover the entire Northwest CT and let us bring light and love into the world to combat this senseless darkness and evil,” Eisenbach said.