Texas Christians, Muslims, Jews Pray For Congregation Beth Israel As Community Recovers From Hostage Event
Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker paused as he gave opening remarks in a Healing Service, thanking the community for their support after the hostage event. Still image from the Facebook livestream.
Christian, Jewish, Muslim, atheist and other community members gathered Monday night in the sanctuary of White’s Chapel United Methodist Church in Southlake, Texas, and rose in a sustained standing ovation for Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker — just two days after the rabbi and three others were held hostage in the much smaller sanctuary of Congregation Beth Israel in neighboring Colleyville.
As Cytron-Walker concluded the healing service an hour later, they rose yet again. (You can watch the service on Facebook here.)
The rabbi told The New York Times he assumed the man wanted a warm place on a cold day, so he made him a cup of tea. Not long after, he heard the click of his gun. Thousands watched what had begun as a livestream of Shabbat services while the man held the four at gunpoint for nearly 11 hours. One was released in the afternoon, and the others escaped that night, physically uninjured. NBC News reported that the gunman was shot by the FBI hostage rescue team.
The Associated Press reported that the hostage taker, British citizen Malik Faisal Akram, had demanded the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani woman imprisoned for life nearby on charges of attempted killings of U.S. service members in Afghanistan. Her jailing sparked protests in Pakistan, and many of her supporters believe she was caught unfairly in the war on terror.
In opening remarks, Cytron-Walker, known in the affluent Fort Worth suburb and in interfaith organizations throughout the region as Rabbi Charlie, expressed gratitude to members of those organizations, first responders, law enforcement, “political leaders of all parties ... and everyone throughout the world who’s been with us on the journey with well wishes, kindness, compassion.
“A huge thank you to three amazing individuals who joined me Shabbat morning to pray in person — somehow, together, we made it through that traumatic ordeal,” the rabbi said. “So thanks to the source of blessing for redeeming us.”
Cantors and song leaders from area synagogues led those gathered in Hebrew and English.
“Sing it with me — Christians get ready to learn some Hebrew,” one leader with a guitar told the audience.
Prayers were read by past presidents of Congregation Beth Israel, a Reform Jewish community, including founder Anna Salton Eisen. Earlier, she told the Christian Chronicle the rabbi has had “a very strong commitment to interfaith relationships.” He and his congregation were major organizers of Peace Together, an annual walk that includes mosques, synagogues and churches.
“We started it after Charlottesville,” Eisen said. “If neo-Nazis could walk for hate, we could walk for peace.”
The author and daughter of Holocaust survivors said the peace walk was just one of the things Cytron-Walker has been involved in, and “those relationships were evident during the hostage siege, where area ministers, pastors and imams gathered and kept vigils and supported family and waited for the hostages to be freed.”
With more than 4,500 viewers on a Facebook live feed joining several hundred in the sanctuary, Cytron-Walker began and ended the service with words from Martin Luther King Jr.: “Without love, there is no reason to know anyone, for love will in the end connect us to our neighbors, our children and our hearts.”
While prayers were read and songs were sung, Cytron-Walker sat in a row of 11 on the stage, visibly moved — even with a mask. He touched his hand to his heart as the cantor sang, “We pray for healing for our nation, for the land, every person. ... Oh, please, heal us now. Heal us now. Heal us now.”
In his reflections, the rabbi again expressed gratitude.
“I’ve led or helped lead too many of these services,” he said. “I’ve mourned at too many vigils — for Jews, for Muslims, for Christians and more, so many more people. And I’m so grateful, so unbelievably grateful that tonight — that unlike every other service like this that I have done — tonight we will not be saying our traditional prayer for mourning. No one will sing kaddish for me, or for any of us, this evening.”
Consistent with his commitment to interfaith cooperation and healing, the rabbi spoke of a Mishna teaching shared by Jews and Muslims: “To save a life is to save a world, and to destroy a life is to destroy a world. This coming together of diverse people with a goal of healing ... all of us who are horrified by the terror we endured — this is a lifesaving and world-saving endeavor.”
And he again recalled words of King: “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.”
“If we live that value,” Cytron-Walker said, “and make it an integral part of our lives each and every day, we might have a lot more friends that we disagree with, that we don’t see eye to eye with, but we’ll have a lot fewer enemies.”
Cheryl Mann Bacon served for 20 years as chair of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at Abilene Christian University in Texas. In retirement, she is enjoying freelance writing and consulting, especially with churches.