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service when she heard 
ranting and shouting. She was 
shocked to learn her rabbi 
and three congregants were 
being held hostage. 
 “During the ordeal, I 
thought, if I was ever in such 
a situation, [Rabbi Charlie] 
would be the person I would 
want with me because he’s 
such a calming presence,” she 
tells the JN. “
After learning 
the details since they escaped, 
I feel certain that he is the 
reason they all survived.” 
The recent incident hit 
close to home not only 
because of Cytron-Walker’s 
local ties — his Michigan 
family includes his mother, 
brother, sister and extended 
family — but also because a 
terrorist disrupted a sacred 

community on a sacred day 
in a sacred space, Starr says. 
He says he hopes people are 
moved to do something more 
in their Jewish journey as a 
result of recent events and 
that each Shabbat service 
will bring more people 
in attendance, whether 
physically or online. 
“Our response to 
antisemitism has not 
changed,” Starr explains. “The 
best response to antisemitism 
is to do our utmost to protect 
Jewish lives, including 
supporting the State of Israel, 
and also to live meaningful, 
committed Jewish lives in 
which we find joy, pride and 
blessing in our Judaism.”
In addition to all the 
agencies working behind the 

scenes, Michigan’s Jewish 
community leapt into action 
Jan. 15 as word of the crisis 
spread. “The Talmud tells 
us every Jew is responsible 
for one another,” Starr says. 
“
And the Torah tells us to 
love our neighbors as we love 
ourselves. I think if you merge 
those two ideas, you have the 
community that we have, that 
truly cares and supports each 
other when we need it most.” 
Local rabbis and Jewish 
agency leaders mobilized 
quickly to offer Cytron-
Walker’s Michigan family 
support as the situation 
unfolded. 
Hearing the news in 
Texas, Rabbi 
Mark Miller of 
Temple Beth El 
in Bloomfield 
Township 
immediately 
reached out to 
Cytron-Walker’s 
sister, a congregant. He met 
her brother when Miller was a 
rabbi in Houston. 
“From the start, my goal 
was just to be supportive in 

JCRC/AJC 
Receives 
Interfaith Support 

STACY GITTLEMAN
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Rabbi Asher Lopatin, executive 
director of Detroit’s Jewish 
Community Relations Council/
American Jewish Congress 
(JCRC/AJC), said that in the 
days following 
the Jan. 15 terror 
attack, there was a 
great outpouring of 
statements of sup-
port by community 
leaders and lead-
ers of other faith 
groups, including 
Christians, Muslims 
and Hindus — all condemning 
the terror attack. 
 They referred to the incident 
as antisemitic, and several 
lauded Rabbi Charlie Cytron-
Walker for his leadership and 
bravery. 
 They also expressed grati-
tude that the hostages survived 
physically unharmed.
Lopatin said the terror attack 
occurring on the Shabbat of 
Martin Luther King Jr. weekend 
made it even more jarring. Yet, 
he said he could feel the love 
and support of the wider com-
munity as he spent the week-
end participating in events to 
mark the holiday. 
He went to synagogue 
Sunday morning and then on 
to an interfaith church service 
with the Coalition for Black 
and Jewish Unity at Greater 
New Mount Moriah Missionary 
Baptist Church in Detroit. 
The service was led by Rev. 
Kenneth Flowers with par-
ticipation from local Jewish 
clergy. Lopatin said he felt 
the embrace and support of 
Detroit’s Black community. 
“Rev. Flowers spoke about 
how concerned he had been 
and praised the Lord for the 
release of the hostages,” 
Lopatin said. “The Jewish com-
munity is strong … but we do 
need that love and embrace.”

“A RABBI, BY HIS OR HER NATURE, 
HAS TO BE COURAGEOUS IN 

WAYS LARGE AND SMALL.”

— RABBI AARON STARR

Rabbi 
Asher 
Lopatin 

NY JEWISH WEEK

Rabbi Mark 
Miller

TEMPLE BETH EL

Rabbi Charlie 
Cytron-Walker with 
congregants at 
Congregation Beth 
Israel in Colleyville, 
Texas. 

