AS I SEE IT
It was fire and brimstone at its finest. It looked more like a pep rally than a vigil, except the 11 yahrzeit candles placed right in front of the podium made it crystal clear why we were assembled. Approximately 3,000 people gathered at Kehilath Israel Synagogue Monday night for the Kansas City Community Vigil, two days after 11 Jews were gunned down in their Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, synagogue during Shabbat services, to tell the world that our “hearts were broken,” “our sense of security was shattered” and — by far the most important message of the evening — HATE WILL NOT WIN.
I left the vigil wondering whether this was how it felt attending rallies supporting civil rights in the 1960s, only in reverse. Back then, Jews supported the black community. This time, blacks and Muslims and Catholics and Christians were all in one place supporting the Jews. My friend Ellen Portnoy was a greeter at the door. On her blog Monday night she described the attendees as people “wearing crosses and Jewish stars, turbans and the collars of minister and priests. There were Hindus, Buddhists — every religion, every color, every community was there.” Politicians showed up — Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer, U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder and U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, a preacher and longtime friend of the Jewish community. Candidate Sharice Davids was there as well.
Many of the city’s most respected clergy were there as well, including the Rev. Adam Hamilton of Church of the Resurrection, the Rev. Joseph Arsenault on behalf of Archbishop Joseph Nauman, and the Rev. Rodney Williams of the NAACP. Akhtar Chaundry, a member of the Muslim Jewish Advisory Council, also spoke.
No one in that room needed a reminder about the shootings in 2014 at the Jewish Community Campus and Village Shalom, which killed two Methodists and a Catholic. Yet Mindy Corporon, who lost her father and son that day, was in attendance to show her support. So was Sunayana Dumala, whose husband was killed in a hate crime a little more than a year ago in Olathe simply because of the color of his skin. Community activist Alvin Brooks, whose life’s work has been to fight hate, was also in attendance.
Last but not least, the rabbinical community was there in full force, led by Rabbinical Association President and Congregation Kol Ami Rabbi Doug Alpert. By my count, every congregation and Jewish organization in town was represented in one way or another.
Never has an hour gone so quickly as I listened to speaker after speaker passionately state again and again and again: We stand with the Jewish community and there is no place for hate. I counted at least seven standing ovations — at a vigil!
The Jews in the crowd were awed by the support they were being shown. Before it even started, Gavi Geller, the new executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Bureau|American Jewish Committee, told NBC Action News, “Knowing that it’s not just Jews who care when Jews are attacked is huge.” She is right.
Early in the program, Jewish Federation President and CEO Dr. Helene Lotman stated, “We are making a statement. We are saying we will not give in to fear. We will draw each other close. Stand taller. Speak louder. We are proud to be Jewish.”
Rev. Hamilton inspired us to have the courage to speak up when someone “says something you know is not right.”
“(Have) the courage to say, ‘I’m with that person and when you speak poorly of them, you speak poorly of me,’” he said. “Stand with your brothers and sisters whoever they may be who are being oppressed, teased, picked on, bullied or abused. You came here to say we are with you and I’m going to say we are with you.”
Rev. Cleaver agreed with Rev. Hamilton, pointing out that silence right now sounds a bit like complicity.
“There is a time to keep silent,” Rev. Cleaver said. “But my friends, this ain’t it.”
While anti-Semitism and racial bigotry are more prevalent today than they’ve been in decades, Rev. Cleaver said these people cannot stop us from doing anything because we are people of God.
“We’re still going to worship,” he said. “We’re still going to pray. We are still going to come together. We’re still going to love America. We’re still going to help others. No matter what they do, they can’t stop us. We are Americans and we stand proud to be with other Americans,” he said, drawing cheers from the crowd.
As he voiced his support for the Jewish people, the Muslim representative Chaudry recalled when a Jewish man voiced his support for Muslims at a 2017 rally in Kansas City protesting the immigration policies of the Trump administration. That man was Rabbi Alpert.
On that day Rabbi Alpert said, “Rest assured, if Muslims are ever required to register in this country as we Jews once were compelled to do, then meet Muslim Rabbi Doug Alpert.”
To the crowd Monday night Chaudry stated, “Tonight, we are all Jews.”
He added, “Anti-Semitism was wrong 2,000 years back. It is wrong today. There is no place in our society for anti-Semitism. It belongs in the dust bin of history.”
Sickened by this latest round of senseless violence, the NAACP’s Rev. Williams jabbed at politicians.
“America is living in a season of perpetual hate and evil,” he said. “This attack is one of many attacks that has been grounded in racism and anti-Semitism that could have been avoided if we had political leaders who would stand up to those who threaten us.”
He suggested it was time for us to fight back with “the strength of our unity to bring down the forces of white supremacy and hate” and vote like never before. Rev. Williams noted this was a fight for every person who had ever been under attack simply because “you dared to be who God has chosen you to be.”
And he repeated the call for solidarity with one another.
“I say to the Jewish community . . . we are standing here with you just as you were with us in Selma.”
We were also reminded of some news that was overshadowed last week, perhaps by politics or the fact that there is so much gun violence today we don’t always pay attention. Maurice Stallard and Vickie Jones were shot in Kentucky at a grocery store by a man who allegedly tried to enter a predominantly black church nearby but was unable to enter. It is being investigated as a hate crime.
And let’s not forget the 13 pipe bombs that a Florida man, obsessed with President Donald Trump’s enemies, had sent to leading liberals and Democrats, some of whom were Jewish.
As the vigil drew to a close, Rabbi Albert said, “It feels good to be unified. It feels good to be together.” The rabbi returned us to the reason we gathered, to pray and honor the 11 good “neshamas, good souls, whose lives were tragically taken away.”
Before the event began and as people entered the building, they had the opportunity to make cards of support for the Jewish community in Pittsburgh. As my friend Ellen eloquently said in her blog: “We in Kansas know of this as our world was shattered almost four years ago when the JCC and the Village Shalom were the sites of hate killings. We returned the love that we felt when communities across the world reached out to us. We know how important those notes can be.”
I applaud those who organized this in such a short time — Federation, JCRB|AJC and Rabbinical Association of Greater Kansas City — and K.I. for being gracious hosts. Security was visible and welcomed. My bag was searched as I entered.
Comments after the event were all positive. This one echoed the sentiments of many: “What an amazing outpouring of love and support from diverse sectors of the KC community at large. My faith that good people exist has been renewed. Thank you, Kansas City.”
We came together as an interfaith community, and honored – as Jews – those whose lives were lost. We sang the Mi Shebeirach prayer for healing. We watched as candles were lit in remembrance of the 11 Jews who died at Tree of Life — Or L’Simcha Congregation in Pittsburgh. We said Kaddish and we prayed for peace by singing “Oseh Shalom.” I walked away feeling inspired, and, as KU Chabad would say, reJewvinated.
“May the One who makes peace on high, make peace for us, for all Israel, and for all who dwell on earth. And let us say, Amen.”
