Seeking Light in the Growing Darkness

Congregation Beth Israel, Colleyville, Texas

Without question, the explosive growth of anti-Semitism - both real and rhetorical - over the past several years, should have civilized people of all races and places extremely concerned . . . to say the least. Ghastly homicidal events have taken place at Jewish houses of worship in Europe and America, while anti-Semitic, neo-Nazi websites have become an increasing “fact of life” on social media and the “Dark Web.” Saturday’s scene at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas was, thankfully, different; all four Jewish hostages escaped unharmed after a more than 10-hour stand-off. The combined actions of many law enforcement and anti-terrorism agencies - including the FBI and both local and Texas State police - did a textbook job of bringing a potentially tragic event to a successful conclusion.

Much has been written - and rightfully so - about the bravery, level-headedness and ultimately, the modesty, of Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, who somehow held it all together and even garnered words of respect from the terrorist holding him and the three congregants hostage. It was the rabbi who granted Malik Faisal Akram entrance to the synagogue during Shabbat services, when the 44-year old British citizen explained that he was homeless, and looking for a place of shelter on a particularly cold North Texas morning. Hearing his accent, Rabbi Charlie gave him a cup of tea. Once a mensch, always a mensch. At one point Rabbi Charlie - at Akram’s request - called a well-known rabbi in New York City so that the suspect could talk about Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani with a PhD in neuroscience (ironically, from Brandeis University) who is currently serving an 86-year federal prison sentence in Fort Worth after being found guilty of attempted murder and other charges in an assault on US officers in Afghanistan. Akram told the rabbi in New York that Siddiqui was framed and was thus demanding her release.

As I write this account, little additional information has been released, save that British authorities have detained two teenagers in southern Manchester on Sunday evening who "remain in custody for questioning," according to a statement from the Greater Manchester Police. Multiple law enforcement sources in the U.S. told ABC News that the teens are the children of the alleged hostage-taker.

Both President Biden and British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss described the hostage-taking as an “act of terrorism,” Secretary Truss taking it a step further, adding that it was also “an act of anti-Semitism.” When Matthew DeSarno, the FBI Special Agent in Charge told reporters “the Texas synagogue hostage taker’s demands were specifically focused on issues not connected to the Jewish community,” it raised a storm of protest by Kenneth Marcus, the founder and chairman of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and former assistant U.S. secretary of education for civil rights in the Trump Administration. He disagreed wholeheartedly with DeSarno’s characterization, telling Fox News Digital that “. . . the FBI got it wrong. Failure of the FBI to understand this is something of a pattern with law enforcement in the United States and frankly in Europe. It seems that time after time, we see law enforcement officials fail to understand when an anti-Semitic incident occurs, even when it’s entirely obvious, and sometimes the results of that are tragic. This time, fortunately, they have not been . . . , If the law enforcement community doesn’t understand what’s going on, they’re not going to be able to address the fallout from this,” he added. “This was not a mere slip-up. It is symptomatic of a widespread failure with law enforcement to understand the problems of antisemitism [sic] and anti-Zionism,” Marcus said.

According to one of the hostages, Akram went off on several anti-Jewish, anti-Israel diatribes, sounding more and more delusional as the hours wore on. So it would appear that the FBI’s DeSarno spoke before thoroughly debriefing the hostages.

Besides the fact that everything turned out for the best in Colleyville, there are other bits of light that have received next to no coverage. In the “thank our lucky stars” column, Rabbi Charlie credited security training that his suburban Ft. Worth congregation has received over the years for “getting him and the other three hostages through the ordeal.” Then too, there is the very nature of the good people of North Texas. In a op-ed piece in this morning’s Dallas Morning News entitled “What we can learn from Colleyville synagogue terror attack,” the editors urged its readers to “Remember Congregation Beth Israel’s welcoming courage versus the anger of the attacker.”

The piece continues:

Moments like this give all of us so much to think about as the emotions settle, as we catch our breath and consider what was and what could have been, and as we think about why these sorts of terrible things ever happen.

There is an important contrast that it draws out. We are so quick today to make enemies of those with whom we differ politically. We see everywhere around us the belittlement and dehumanization of people who think differently, act differently, love differently, worship differently.

We should stop. We should take a moment like this to calculate the difference between something with which we strongly disagree and that which is truly horrible and terrible and deserves the name evil because it would steal innocent lives for its own ends.

The fact that a Jewish synagogue was targeted is a reminder of how an entire people have been scapegoated and demonized throughout history. It can happen again, and we must not let it.

Even as we think about these things, there is also an opportunity to reflect on what is good.

There were two kinds of people at Congregation Beth Israel. One was angry, ranting and threatening violence. The others had opened their arms and their hearts and called the stranger in from the cold.

I am sure there are plenty of people who find the sentiment expressed in this op-ed to be overly treacly; like something out of an old Andy Hardy movie. “But the world’s still overflowing with anti-Semites and terrorists,” they say . . . and of course, they are correct. But what they do not know is that people coming together despite their religious, political or ethnic differences can make a tremendous difference . . . and bring light to the gloom. In the area where one finds Congregation Beth Israel, there exists a commitment - call it a passion - for people to meet and treat one another as brothers and sisters. Their religious leaders sit together in common council, seeking to provide their congregants . . . whether Jewish or Muslim, Catholic or Protestant, Hindu or Bahai . . . with a sense of solidarity and respect.

After all the murder and mayhem at synagogues in Pittsburgh and Poway, anti-Semitic graffiti at a Tucson synagogue, desecration of synagogues in the Bronx in the spring, leaflets claiming that COVID is a conspiracy foist upon an unsuspecting Christian nation by a cabal of Jewish doctors and scientists — or worse, arson at an Austin, Texas, synagogue this fall, we Jews have to think twice before attending shul - frequently entering through a side door. It has long been a tradition that when Jews travel abroad, even the most secular amongst us - we seek out a local synagogue - whether we be in Istanbul, Amsterdam, Lisbon or Lyons - just to spend a bit of time with our landsleit (Yiddish for, broadly speaking, “kinsmen”). Nowadays, there is no need to ask for an address . . . all one need do is seek out an area where there are armed guards outside a building with a Star of David. It’s gotten to that point; both abroad and in the United States. Yes, anti-Semitism has gotten that bad.

An anti-Semitic Screed Circulated to the People of Greensboro, N.C.

So what can be done? For one, here in the United States, the Senate can finally get around to confirming Dr. Deborah Lipstadt, professor of modern Jewish history and Holocaust studies at Emory University to become the State Department special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism abroad. Despite being nominated to this ambassadorial position by President Biden last July, it has been held up by Republican members of the Foreign Relations Committee. Why? According to the Committee’s ranking minority member, Idaho Republican James Risch, the nomination is being held up while committee members pour over Professor Lipstadt’s Tweets. According to Committee Chair, New Jersey Democrat Robert Menendez, “The minority has refused to grant her a hearing, apparently because there is some concern about her tweets calling out the use of anti-Semitic tropes. Let’s think about that [for] a minute. We don’t want the person nominated to advance our global efforts against anti-Semitism to call out anti-Semitism? I sincerely hope that’s not the position of the minority.” (It should be noted that Committee members Marco Rubio (FL), Rand Paul (KY), Ted Cruz (TX) and Ron Johnson (WI) have all joined in on holding up Dr. Lipstadt’s nomination. Keeping that post empty is simply not in our national security interests.

The Senate can and should also pass Nevada Senator Jackie Rosen’s bill which would increase the appropriation for the U.S. State Department’s Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism by 25% (currently, it is a paltry $5 million).

These two simple acts - confirming Dr. Lipstadt’s ambassadorship and passing Senator Rosen’s heightened appropriation - could shed a tiny glimmer of light onto a situation which is becoming more and more sepulchral with every passing month.

Bringing light where there is darkness is terribly difficult, but absolutely essential if we are to survive.

Do remember on the Martin Luthor King, Jr., day of remembrance two of his most prophetic truths:

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”