Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

After Texas synagogue attack, Lipstadt urges Jews: Go to shul this weekend

Deborah E. Lipstadt, President Biden’s nominee to serve as the State Department’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, is calling for Jews to attend shul this weekend in light of the Colleyville synagogue hostage crisis.

Her remarks echo a similar call from Jewish leaders after the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting in October 2018.

The weekend after that mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue, Jews across the country responded to the exhortation to show up to services in an act of solidarity, and in affirmation of the strength of Jewish tradition. Praying outside the Tree of Life, Rabbi Sam Weinberg, principal of the Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh, told CNN, “Six days after, right here, the most horrible and terrible thing happened, we can still come together as a people and recover a little bit of the peace of Shabbat.”

“It is not radical to say that going to services, whether to converse with God or with the neighbors you see only once a week, should not be an act of courage,” Lipstadt wrote in a New York Times guest essay on Tuesday. “And yet this weekend we were once again reminded that it can be precisely that.”

Lipstadt highlighted that each incident of violence or aggression that takes place at a synagogue is “felt by Jews far beyond the confines of that specific community.” Since the shooting in Pittsburgh, she wrote, the main entrance to her synagogue has remained locked because, she was told, “it can’t be made secure.”

“You won’t find wide-open doors at any synagogue in Europe or North America,” she wrote.

For Lipstadt, that’s part of why showing up to shul in the face of rising antisemitism is so important. Yes, she wrote, she hears that Jews, shaken and exhausted, are “contemplating going underground.” But she stressed that “resiliency is part of the Jewish DNA.”

“We are not OK,” she wrote. “But we will bounce back.”

She added: “We are standing tall and we are standing straight. But we are checking for the exits.”

The Texas attack has reignited debate over the ongoing delay in Lipstadt’s confirmation. Republicans have prevented the Senate from holding a confirmation hearing or a vote on her nomination, which was submitted last July.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.