Bullet holes at Temple Emanu-El cause for deep concern
SAN DIEGO – The report of the discovery of two bullet holes in a wall of Temple Emanu-El, apparently fired from College Avenue, has prompted the regional chapter of the Anti-Defamation League to offer a $3,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the perpetrators.
Before I say anything else, let me offer my sympathy to the members of Temple Emanu-El, who can’t help but be a little nervous when attending services. There’s reason as well for the students at the Reform congregation’s religious school as well as at the Community Jewish High School to be concerned.
We’re reassured that the San Diego Police Department is taking this incident seriously. As of now, it is not known when the bullets were fired, nor who might be responsible for the shooting. So little is known that the police even are reluctant to declare this to be a “hate crime,” although from my point of view, it is difficult to imagine what else it could be.
Especially when we remember the recent shooting at Chabad of Poway, at which Lori Gilbert Kaye was killed, and Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein and two members of his congregation were wounded, the bullet holes at Temple Emanu-El are a grave reminder to the entire Jewish community – across the religious spectrum – that anti-Semites have become increasingly emboldened in our gun-loving society to use the objects of their affection against us Jews.
Rabbi Devorah Marcus of Temple Emanu-El
Rabbi Devorah Marcus of Temple Emanu-El shared these thoughts to her congregants:
“I offer you the same words of comfort and strength that I offered following Tree of Life [in Pittsburgh] and Poway Chabad – the greatest testament to our values and our future generations is to choose to be courageous in the face of our fear; to choose to continue to live our Jewish lives undeterred by those who would seek to terrorize us into obscurity and anonymity.
“The blessing of this moment is that this incident has allowed us to have a real-time review of our policies, practices and protocols. We are already deep into the process of reflection, review, and learning. We are working with our partners in law-enforcement and the ADL to learn from this moment and make our security procedures ever better, ever stronger. My prayer is that this learning and growth will be for naught and that, God-willing, we will never need to use our experience. Alas, this is not the world we live in. In the end, we cannot choose what happens to us, we can only choose how we will respond.”
Obviously, all Jewish institutions need to review their security procedures. Many, unfortunately, without financial help, won’t be able to implement all the physical safety precautions that experts recommend, such as having locked gates that members can open with pass cards; having security personnel visibly present, and drilling both adults and children on procedures to be followed in the event that an active shooter is successful penetrating the premises.
Of course, the problem goes deeper than taking such measures. Some of us believe that stricter background checks will help keep guns out of the hands of people with mental problems or with demonstrated violent tendencies. I’m all for that. I go further, however; I believe that military style automatic weapons, capable of firing multiple shots in seconds, should be banned. Similarly, I believe it should be illegal to modify weapons to bump up their killing capacity.
This, to my mind, is an important issue to which we should pay attention in the upcoming elections. We should learn how the candidates plan to vote on gun control legislation.
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Please help us with our election questionnaire
Speaking of the elections, San Diego Jewish World plans to compile questionnaires on issues of direct impact to the Jewish community, and to send them to candidates for federal, state, and local elections. We are compiling those lists of questions now, and would welcome the input of our readers.
What questions directly affecting the Jewish community as a community would you like the candidates to answer? Please send me your suggestions via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com
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In Memory of Gracia Molina Enriquez de Pick
There will be a memorial service tomorrow for Gracia Molina Enriquez de Pick, who died at age 91 on August 11 in Tequisquiapan, Mexico. Pick not only was a leader in San Diego’s Latino community, she also served as an informal liaison between that community and our own Jewish community. She had converted to Judaism about the time of her marriage to Richard Pick, a Sears executive who worked in Mexico.
The celebration of her life will be held at 5 p.m., Friday, August 30, at the Women’s Museum of California, which is located in Liberty Station at 2730 Historic Decatur Road #103. Pick, who had been active in a variety of social causes, was inducted into the museum’s Hall of Fame in 2003>>
Among those who will remember Pick at the event will be former California State Senator Christine Kehoe, former County Democratic Chair Maureen Steiner, former Grossmont College Academic Senate President Sue Gonda, and Sandra Serrano Sewell, a former National President of La Comision Femenil Mexican Nacional (National Mexican Feminist Commission).
I would like to add my own personal comments about Gracia, whose first name, I believe, suggested the way in which she treated other people – always with grace. I knew her as someone to whom I could inquire about happenings both in Democratic party politics and among activists of the many social causes with which she proudly associated herself.
She left his earth having accomplished that to which all of us who believe in Tikkun Olam aspire: She helped improve the world, however and whenever she could.
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Remembering Rabbi William M. Kramer
I’ve named this column “Our Shtetl San Diego” in memory and with great appreciation for Rabbi William Kramer of Los Angeles, who wrote a column called “My Shtetl California” for the Jewish Heritage newspaper chain with which I had the honor of being associated for many year. Kramer, a Reform rabbi who looked like a Chasid, was a lover of art and of California history, having helped to found with Norton Stern the quarterly journal that became known as Western States Jewish History.
He was a man who never feared to take an unpopular stand – if he felt he was right. An example of his courage was his decision to officiate at the intermarriage between the black actor, Sammy Davis Jr., who had converted to Judaism and Swedish actress May Britt in 1960. At the time, more than 20 states had laws on the books forbidding marriage between Black and White partners.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com