The price we pay for synagogue safety

As soon as I learned of the attack at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, I texted the senior rabbi, Rabbi Paul Yedwab, a close friend, with the words, "Are you OK?" He responded, "I am. Still waiting for confirmation that everyone else is." Thank God, no innocent lives, including the nursery school children, were harmed, and the heroic security guard who protected them is recovering from his injuries.

Even before the recent attack, which followed similar incidents in Jackson, Mississippi, Toronto and elsewhere, Temple Sinai of Roslyn was already spending a fortune on security to protect and fortify our synagogue. Now Jewish leaders across the country are even more frightened, and deeply dismayed.

The West Bloomfield attacker was a resident of Dearborn Heights. Its mayor, Mo Baydoun, issued a statement condemning the attack, but also appeared to justify it by noting that the assailant "had lost several members of his family in an Israeli attack on their home in Lebanon." Media reports indicated that the attacker's brother was a Hezbollah officer, a legitimate military target under international law. The tragic loss of innocent life in war, especially the death of a child, is an immeasurable horror. Nonetheless, one might reasonably wonder why a combatant would place his family, including a child, in harm's way by remaining with them. But that debate is beside the point. The real question is far simpler: What does a war thousands of miles away have to do with toddlers in a synagogue nursery school in suburban Michigan?

Yet that is precisely the dispiriting reality the American Jewish community now faces: a rising number of attacks on synagogues, Jewish schools and community centers, accompanied by commentators and public officials who too often rationalize or contextualize the violence. One wonders what a commentator on GB News in Britain meant when she referred to Temple Israel as an "Israeli temple." Did she mean to imply that a synagogue in Michigan was somehow a legitimate military target?

For American Jews, these are not abstract questions. Across the United States, Jewish institutions now resemble fortified compounds. Security cameras, guards, reinforced doors and windows, regular active-shooter training for preschool teachers, and almost-daily coordination with police have become routine features of synagogue life. The price we pay goes well beyond the financial. There is an enormous emotional and psychological cost as well.

But we Jews are a resilient community, and a deeply patriotic people. Our detractors want to unsettle us and make us feel as if we don't belong in this country. But their attacks do not deter us; they strengthen our resolve. We will continue to gather for prayer, continue to teach our children our songs, celebrations and history, continue to seek dialogue and friendship with our neighbors, and keep striving to bring healing to our broken world.

My community prays for peace for Iran, Israel and the entire blood-soaked Middle East. We pray for an end to violence, and for all children to laugh and play free from terror and war.

But as Americans, we must assert that violence against American Jews is never a legitimate response to anger at an overseas war. It is, simply put, antisemitism. Politicians, media voices, academics and civil leaders must condemn such hatred unequivocally. A society that tolerates bigotry against any minority not only loses its moral core. It becomes a danger to every minority.

This guest essay reflects the views of Rabbi Michael A. White, senior rabbi of Temple Sinai of Roslyn.