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Texas rabbi warns against fear: ‘I continue to wear my yarmulke proudly’
The Texas rabbi who survived a hostage-taking at his synagogue last Shabbat said Thursday he wears a yarmulke everywhere he goes in his North Texas community, but that others should choose for themselves whether to make their Jewishness visibly obvious. “People need to do what they’re good with,” said Charlie Cytron-Walker. “I get a lot…
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Louis Sneh, survivor of ‘train to nowhere,’ dies at 94
Louis Sneh, who survived Auschwitz to become a successful businessman, a great-grandfather and a tireless activist for Holocaust commemoration, died Jan. 16 at the age of 94. Sneh, who died at his home in Santa Monica, Calif., cheated death many times in his life. Raised in the Hungarian village of Mezőkovácsháza, he was 16 years…
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Exclusive: Rabbi at center of Texas hostage standoff resigned in fall after board voted not to renew contract
'I love you and I love this congregation,' the rabbi said
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U.K. Jews, already under tight security, say the Texas synagogue attack is not a cause for panic
LONDON, England – As American Jews are grappling with how to maximize security measures, concerned about their safety, Jewish leaders in the United Kingdom are cautioning against panic in the aftermath of Saturday’s attack at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas. “I don’t think the fact of anti-Jewish terrorism came as a shock to anyone,”…
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After Texas synagogue siege, rabbis wonder: welcome the stranger, or lock the doors?
For some American rabbis, 'being a fortress is not in the cards.'
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‘Now it is an imperative:’ Synagogue hostage-taking prompts a hard look at security
Once the hostages at Beth Israel were safe, Jews turned their attention to every other synagogue — and Jewish community center, day school and camp. Just how secure are they? And what should be done to make them safer? Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, the spiritual leader of the Texas synagogue, said he drew on security training…
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‘We needed all the prayers’: Hero rabbi leads first service after escaping hostage crisis
SOUTHLAKE, Texas – Like many rabbis, Charlie Cytron-Walker has presided over plenty of solidarity services around crises and tragedies. But the one he led Monday night from the pulpit of an evangelical megachurch in this Dallas suburb was different. This time, the packed sanctuary was praying for Cytron-Walker himself – one of several people held…
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As MLK Day and Tu B’Shvat coincide, a ‘really special’ opportunity to pursue justice
On March 29, 1968, less than a week before his assassination, Martin Luther King Jr. went to Memphis to support a strike by Black sanitation workers who were exposed to hazardous chemicals and dirty air and water on a daily basis — far more often than their white counterparts, and for far less pay. That…
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Texas rabbi details standoff: Gunman ‘literally thought that Jews control the world’
COLLEYVILLE, Texas — During the nearly 11 hours he was held hostage inside Congregation Beth Israel on Saturday, Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker focused on what he’d learned in security workshops — “Do whatever you have to do to get out,” he said — and on making sure that the gunman saw him and the three other…
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Texas synagogue attack ignites debate over delay in confirmation of special envoy on antisemitism
In the wake of Saturday’s attack at the Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, a debate is brewing among Jewish American groups about whether the incident — which the FBI deemed as a terrorist attack — should be treated as domestic terrorism or as a global antisemitic attack. At the heart of the conversation is…
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Near Texas synagogue, a ‘bubble’ is pierced by attack
COLLEYVILLE, Texas – Lisa Bain Grossman, who lives next door to Congregation Beth Israel, had a sign on her front lawn Sunday that read “Love” with a Star of David in place of the “o.” Grossman said she had made the sign back in 2018, when 11 people were shot dead during Shabbat services at…
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