Chicago LGBT Synagogue Was Alleged Target of Explosive Packages
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
A gay and lesbian synagogue in Chicago was a target of explosive-laden packages from Yemen intercepted by authorities over the weekend, The Wall Street Journal has reported. Or Chadash, a 100-member congregation whose web site identifies it as “the Chicagoland synagogue serving lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transsexual Jews, their families, friends and loved ones,” is housed within the Reform temple Emanuel Congregation on the shores of Lake Michigan. A children’s day school also shares the space.
“We’re rather puzzled at how a little congregation like ours would get on the radar as a target for somebody,” Rabbi Larry Edwards told the Journal. “I’m hoping for more information.”
Or Chadash held its Shabbat services as usual, albeit with heightened security, co-president Lili Kornbloom told YnetNews. “We are continuing as usual but with added vigilance,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Journal reports that Congregation Emanuel’s web site had received 83 hits in one day from someone in Egypt. “I think we’re interesting, but not that interesting,” Rabbi Michael Zedek said. Still, he hadn’t bothered notifying authorities about the Egyptian fan as of this weekend. “We are planning on sharing it,” he told the Journal.
Rabbi Zedek’s Saturday sermon alluded to the plot, the Journal said. “Every so often, religious fanaticism will rear its ugly head,” he said. “It is alas the case that we live in a dangerous world…but we cannot simply get used to it.”
In an interview with the Ottawa Citizen, Rabbi Edwards expressed a slightly more sanguine sentiment. “We are a small congregation and I would describe the reaction as one of determination not to let this get to us.”
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
