Saturday is Sabbath for the Jewish faith, a time for rest and for prayer. Instead, it turned into a day of mourning for people attending synagogue in the Detroit area.
“I’m terrified by, my kids there safety is our number one priority and they come to preschool they go to synagogue for services and anytime we step into one of these buildings we have to make sure our kids are safe,” said Jackie Issner, whose children attend preschools at Temple Beth El in Bloomfield Hills.
People attending Temple Beth El say they were told security will be increased as a precaution.
“You still just want to make sure that they are doing enough and I don’t know that you can ever be really sure that that is happening,” said Sara Lipson who attends Temple Beth El.
Security is also being re-examined at Temple Emanu El in Oak Park.
“You still just want to make sure that they are doing enough and I don’t know that you can ever be really sure that that is happening,” said Rabbi Matthew Zerwekh.
David Kurzmann with Jewish Federation of Metro Detroit says they too will look at how to better protect people.
“Of course anytime something like this happens you go back you look at your protocol and you make sure that everything is in line and we will be doing that,” said Kurzmann.
Kurzmann says today is not only a day of mourning for the jewish community, but for the entire nation.
“We are strong, we’re resilient, we should continue to go about our live and be proud of our community and celebrate our faith,” said Kurzmann.
The Jewish Federation of Metro Detroit send 7 Action News the following statement:
With an extremely heavy heart we are monitoring the news of this morning's shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of the victims and their loved ones. Jewish Detroit is grieving for our fellow Jews in Pittsburgh, and for all the victims of this horrifying tragedy.
Our Community Service officers, working closely with local and national law enforcement entities, are following this situation very closely and continuing to remain vigilant in providing for the safety of our community.
In addition to the Jewish victims, we want to acknowledge the Pittsburgh police officers who were shot. We are extremely grateful to the police responders for their response., as well as to our local law enforcement agencies that work very closely with our Community Security team to keep our buildings and campuses safe.
