{"id":38168,"date":"2022-01-28T01:59:09","date_gmt":"2022-01-28T09:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=38168"},"modified":"2022-01-27T17:34:42","modified_gmt":"2022-01-28T01:34:42","slug":"rabbi-talks-of-healing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2022\/01\/28\/rabbi-talks-of-healing\/","title":{"rendered":"Rabbi talks of healing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clockwise from top left: Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker of Congregation Beth Israel in Texas speaks with the Anti-Defamation League\u2019s Cheryl Drazin, Jonathan Greenblatt and Deb Leipzig. (screenshot)<\/em><\/p>\n

Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker was bustling around Congregation Beth Israel, in the Dallas suburb of Colleyville, Tex., getting ready for Shabbat morning services. There was a knock on the synagogue\u2019s door and the rabbi welcomed a stranger who was looking for shelter from the unusually cold morning. Cytron-Walker prepared the man a cup of tea and made conversation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were no initial red flags,\u201d the rabbi recalled Jan. 20, in an Anti-Defamation League web event that included the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The man exhibited no signs that he would be a danger, said Cytron-Walker.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sense of nervousness, the darting around, those kinds of things that you might expect,\u201d were absent, said the rabbi. \u201cHe was calm, he was appreciative, he was able to talk with me all the way throughout, look me in the eye.\u2026 I didn\u2019t have a lot of suspicions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The unexpected guest was, of course, Malik Faisal Akram, an armed British man who would take the rabbi and three congregants hostage in an 11-hour standoff on Jan. 15. In the end, for all the responders mobilized and crisis negotiators assembled, the incident ended when the rabbi threw a chair at the attacker and the four hostages escaped.<\/p>\n

Cytron-Walker explained how he put together the man\u2019s motivations by listening to his rantings and the conversations he was having by phone. Akram was seeking the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a convicted terrorist known as Lady Al Qaeda, who is incarcerated in an American prison not far from Beth Israel synagogue. The hostage-taker apparently subscribed to antisemitic ideas, including the belief that the United States would do whatever was necessary to save the lives of Jewish hostages and that pressure by Jews could lead to his demands being met. At some point, Akram became aware of Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, senior rabbi at Central Synagogue in New York City, and demanded to speak with her during the incident.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know how or why he chose her exactly, other than the fact that he thought that she was the most influential rabbi,\u201d said Cytron-Walker. \u201cAnd I was thinking, this guy really believes that Jews control the world.\u2026 I tried to explain to him to the best of my ability that it doesn\u2019t work that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rabbi credited law enforcement for their response, and spoke at length about the security preparations that synagogues and other Jewish institutions take, with the support of groups like UJA Federations, the Anti-Defamation League, the Secure Community Network and the FBI.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a security plan in place,\u201d said Cytron-Walker. \u201cAll of it was helpful, and yet, one of the things that we are aware of is that no matter how good the plan is, no matter how good the security is, these kinds of things can still happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christopher Wray, director of the FBI, expressed solidarity with not just those immediately affected by the incident but the entire Jewish community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand all too well that these kinds of attacks are terrifying and that they are not only terrifying to the individuals directly and physically involved, they are also terrifying for all the members of Congregation Beth Israel and, really, for the entire Jewish community, many of whom understandably worry about other threats still out there,\u201d Wray said. \u201cOur joint terrorism task forces across the country will continue to investigate why this individual specifically targeted Congregation Beth Israel on their day of worship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neither Wray, nor any other individual on the livestream, addressed remarks by the FBI\u2019s special agent in charge of the case. As the hostage-taking in the synagogue was unfolding, Matthew DeSarno told media that the assailant was \u201csingularly focused on one issue, and it was not specifically related to the Jewish community, but we are continuing to work to find motive.\u201d His remarks have been condemned as erasing the antisemitic motivations of the terrorist.<\/p>\n

While none of the hostages was physically harmed, Cytron-Walker spoke of the emotional recovery that he, the other hostages and the broader community are undergoing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be one step at a time for us,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are doing the best we can to heal. We\u2019re going to have services on Shabbat evening, we\u2019re going to have services on Shabbat morning, we\u2019re going to have religious school on Sunday and we already had a beautiful healing service on Monday night that was so meaningful \u2013 to actually see people, to be able to hug people.\u2026 But it\u2019s one step at a time.\u2026 I\u2019m getting the care that I need. I\u2019m trying to make sure that I take care of my family and, at the same time, one of those pieces that we\u2019re going to have to get past is that sense of fear.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was something traumatic that happened within the congregation,\u201d he continued, \u201cand we know that it\u2019s not just our congregation that feels a sense of fear. It\u2019s something that a lot of people and a lot of Jewish people in particular, our people, are living with.\u2026 We want to be able to go to services and pray and be together because one of the most important things is to be with one another within that sense of community. That\u2019s needed right now more than anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive officer of the Anti-Defamation League, moderated the online event.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clockwise from top left: Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker of Congregation Beth Israel in Texas speaks with the Anti-Defamation League\u2019s Cheryl Drazin, Jonathan Greenblatt and Deb Leipzig. (screenshot) Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker was bustling around Congregation Beth Israel, in the Dallas suburb of Colleyville, Tex., getting ready for Shabbat morning services. There was a knock on the synagogue\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38169,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[5998,1129,801,21190,21189,2945,1774,21188],"class_list":["post-38168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-adl","tag-anti-defamation-league","tag-antisemitism","tag-charlie-cytron-walker","tag-hostage-taking","tag-security","tag-terrorism","tag-texas"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}