January 27, 2025
Dear Congregants,
Yesterday morning, Oheb Shalom hosted a program organized by its Israel Engagement Committee featuring an IDF Search & Rescue unit. A group of anti-Israel protesters caught wind of the event and protested outside the synagogue. The protesters blocked Oheb’s driveway, spray painted graffiti on the driveway, and yelled slurs at congregants entering the building. Due to Oheb’s security protocol and the swift response of law enforcement, at no point was anyone in physical danger and the featured program proceeded without interruption. After the protesters dispersed, a caring neighbor washed the graffiti away.
We may live in different townships and affiliate with different synagogues, but we are one people – am echad – and the fate of one of us is the fate of all of us. It could just as easily have been our community targeted. I quickly reached out to Rabbi Treu to extend CBI’s support in a number of concrete ways. Over the coming days, similar expressions of support will be offered from our president to theirs and from our executive director to theirs.
Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, timed to coincide with the date of the liberation of Auschwitz. Eighty years on, Jews remain the target and victims of so much intolerance, hatred, and violence. What’s more, Holocaust remembrance has been inverted and manipulated by the likes of yesterday’s protesters who claim that we – the victims of the Nazis – have become Nazis ourselves. It is repugnant and infuriating, and we have been enduring the impact of this moral and historical violation and lie relentlessly for 15-months. Enough is enough.
Intimidation will not deter us from feeling immense pride in our core identity, pride in our values, pride as a people connected to the land and the State of Israel. This is a critical time to reinvest in our Jewish community. Renew your synagogue membership, attend our programs and services, contribute to the greater Jewish community locally and in Israel, support our work, and be courageous in your individual roles as ambassadors of our peoplehood and history. In this way, we honor all those who perished in the Shoah.
Like Oheb, we are confident that our security protocols are effective to meet the challenges of the day. We thank our security committee, our local law enforcement, our political leaders, and all those who serve and protect our sacred house of worship.
Rabbi Ari Isenberg
