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Are We Giving Our Children a Religion of Fear?
R
school and during the week,
ecently, synagogue sanc-
when those children attended
tuaries around the com-
day school, among the warm
munity and across the
faces of the clergy or the educa-
country were full as a response
tor or the teachers gathering to
to the horrible tragedy that
welcome their children were the
occurred in Pittsburgh. It was
faces of security teams.
the right response to the shoot-
Rabbi Aaron
Throughout the country,
ing that injured us all. It was an
Starr
because of the act of terrorism
appropriate reaction to the mur-
in Pittsburgh and because of
ders of our brothers and sisters,
the rising culture of hatred and gun
to the shattering of Tree of Life’s sacred
space … and for many of us, to the vio- violence throughout the nation, our
children are learning to come to “for-
lation of our sense of security.
tress-synagogues” to gain knowledge
To my knowledge, in the history of
and skills for a religion that could, it
America, only two synagogues have
might seem to those parents and chil-
suffered the experience of gun violence
dren, cost them their lives.
in their sanctuaries. Pittsburgh’s Tree
Given our reaction to Pittsburgh,
of Life was the second; in 1966, our
then, I cannot help but wonder: Will
beloved Congregation Shaarey Zedek
our anxiety and our fear deprive our
of Southfield became the first when
children and grandchildren of the
a young congregant murdered Rabbi
relationship to God, the rootedness in
Morris Adler on the bimah during a
history and the intimacy of community
Shabbat morning bar mitzvah. Since
then, the safety of our synagogue family that Judaism offers?
That is to say, by coming to the
has been, is and will continue to be our
synagogue or temple only to mourn
highest priority.
recent or historical tragedies, are we
The Shabbat after the shooting,
denying our children and grandchil-
throughout the U.S., many children,
dren a Judaism that will comfort them,
too, attended services because of
give them strength and sustain them
the murders. There, in synagogue,
through the midst of future crises, be
they heard and saw the presence of
those personal, communal or national?
“increased security.” On Sunday, when
In our own desperation to protect
those same children attended religious
Arthur M. Horwitz
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and in our lack of desire to observe, are
we raising our children and grandchil-
dren to fear their Judaism … and thus
to run from it?
Our reaction to the events in
Pittsburgh cannot only be adding secu-
rity to protect ourselves and talking
with our children about the threat of
anti-Semitism. Our response to the
murders and the fear must not be par-
ticipating in one Solidarity Shabbat
but skipping every Sabbath until Rosh
Hashanah.
Instead, after a Shabbat of solidarity
and in the face of rising anti-Semitism
around the world and in America, too,
we must show our children and grand-
children that the faith and the practice
of Judaism continue to be a path toward
meaning and purpose in this world —
that the traditions, laws and ethics of
our people grant us a most meaningful
life of inspiration and transformation,
of gratitude, obligation and joy.
We must bring our children to
Shabbat services not only after major
acts of anti-Semitism or in commemo-
ration of them, but, instead, we should
bring those children frequently, so that
they can experience the joy, the celebra-
tion, the spirituality, the timelessness
and the community that is Judaism.
We must practice our Judaism joyful-
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ly and knowledgably at home as well so
that our kids experience as much of the
Jewish “get to’s” as they do the Jewish
“cannots.” For example, we “get to” turn
off computers, TV and video games in
order to have fun with family, friends
and community. We “get to” eat deli-
cious food, decorate our homes, sing
and learn in celebration of Shabbat and
holidays.
We must give them the depth and
breadth of Jewish life so that when the
next tragedy occurs — not if, but when
— they have a religious and communal
sanctuary to which they can turn.
During the Solidarity Shabbat at
Congregation Shaarey Zedek, we pro-
claimed and then sang Am Yisrael Chai:
The Jewish People live and endure. This
Shabbat, and every Shabbat, let us show
the anti-Semites … and, more impor-
tantly, our kids, that this is true.
This Shabbat, and every Shabbat,
even more important than responding
to anti-Semitism, let us show our chil-
dren, our grandchildren and ourselves
that Jewish living is joyful living, is
meaningful living, is purposeful living.
I’ll see you at the synagogue. ■
Aaron Starr is a rabbi at Congregation Shaarey
Zedek in Southfield.
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