(Jewish Group) Your sympathy isn't enough to stop anti-Semitism [View all]

[Behind the Aegis]

Everything was going well until I checked my phone. I had just finished teaching Sunday school at a synagogue in Evanston, Illinois, and was on the bus that would take me back to my apartment on the far north side of Chicago. It was a beautiful day. Sukkot would start in the evening. And then I opened Facebook and found a succession of horrifying posts.

Temple Emanuel, the synagogue I used to teach at in my hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan, had been vandalized some time late Saturday night or Sunday morning. The posts from former co-workers were vague at first and referenced “messages of hate” that were posted on the main doors — the same doors children use when they come to religious school on Sunday mornings.

I tried very hard not to throw up on the bus. I made it to the train station and took the train to the campus library, where I studied for several hours trying not to feverishly check my phone for updates.

The Grand Rapids Jewish community is small, which has its challenges (especially when it’s time to do Passover shopping and families are split between traveling to kosher grocery stores in Detroit and Chicago). Fortunately it’s also extremely close-knit. The Reform and Conservative congregations and the Chabad House frequently collaborate on community events, and everyone goes to each other’s simchas (celebrations).

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