Page Text: By Sharon Lurye, Uptown Messenger |
January 21, 2022
The attack Saturday (Jan. 15) on a synagogue near Fort Worth, Texas, where four people were taken hostage, reverberated across the American Jewish community and heightened concerns about safety and security. Those concerns are particularly acute in Uptown New Orleans, the home not only of two synagogues, Temple Sinai and Touro Synagogue, but also of Tulane University’s Hillel and Chabad houses and the Jewish Community Center.
“What we know, and have known for generations, is that it takes courage to walk through the world as a Jew, and it takes strength to deny those who would harm us the power over our humanity that they seek,” Touro Synagogue posted on its Facebook page after the hostage incident in Texas. “We will continue to be proud of who we are, and we will continue to love others for who they are.”
“We pray for peace for all of those families of all of those who were affected. We pray for the day when we’ll beat our swords into plowshares, our spears into pruning hooks, when none will make us afraid,” said Rabbi Daniel Sherman in a video message to his congregation, referencing words from the Jewish prophet Isaiah.