A few congregants contacted Rabbi Hannah Spiro expressing the desire to gather, mourn and process their feelings following the fatal shooting of two Israeli Embassy aides outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., on May 21.
Spiro, the rabbi at D.C.’s Hill Havurah, has arranged a Friday evening vigil in honor of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, the two victims of the museum shooting. Nearly 130 community members registered to attend, according to Spiro.
“I feel like this is a need that a lot of people have,” Spiro told Washington Jewish Week.
On Wednesday night, a gunman fired at Lischinsky and Milgrim, a young couple who was attending an event organized by the American Jewish Committee at the Capital Jewish Museum. AJC hosted a virtual vigil Friday morning for members of the global Jewish community.
“American Jewish Committee (AJC) and Jews around the world have been left completely shaken by this week’s devastating events in Washington, D.C., where two members of the Israeli diplomatic community … were shot and killed after leaving an AJC gathering for young professionals,” a statement from the AJC read.
“We are heartbroken by the murders of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, and send our sincere condolences to their families and friends,” a statement from the Capital Jewish Museum read. “May they, and all who grieve this devastating loss, be comforted by their communities.”
“The D.C. community has been reeling with grief and shock at the unbearable loss of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky,” a statement by Bob Budoff and Ron Halber of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington read.
They’re not alone. Located roughly a 20-minute drive from the nation’s capital, members of Kol Ami: Northern Virginia Reconstructionist Community are also mourning the loss of the young couple.
“It’s very much on our minds,” Rabbi Gilah Langner said in an interview. “On the Listserv, people have shared poems. One of our members wrote a poem about this and other prayers have been written and information about vigils. … There’s been a constant conversation about it in the congregation.”
Langner added that she hopes the Kol Ami community can come together and work through complex emotions as a group.
At the Hill Havurah vigil, where some local interfaith partners plan to show their support, Spiro said she will address the D.C. Jewish community’s collective grief and offer a space for attendees to process their pain, anger and fear.
“[Lischinsky and Milgrim] were at the beginning of their adult lives, building a life together — it’s just devastating,” she said. “I feel like we’re mourning a lot right now and we’re also obviously feeling really scared and unsafe.”
Some of the vigil’s attendees had been at AJC’s young professionals’ event on Wednesday night where the shooting took place. Many in the community are saddened by the shooter’s actions.
“It’s so painfully ironic and horrible to me that the shooter said, ‘Free Palestine,’” Spiro said. “He had a poster in his window that said, ‘Ceasefire.’ He did the opposite of cease-fire. He fired [at] our people. He took two more lives; did nothing to free Palestine while Palestinians in Gaza are still dying and now there are two more people added to the death count here in D.C.”
Many have pointed out that Lischinsky and Milgrim had been striving toward a better future between Israel and the Palestinians.
“Sarah and Yaron … demonstrated wisdom and compassion well beyond their years, working to foster respect and understanding between Israelis and Palestinians to help achieve an elusive peace,” Budoff and Halber wrote in the statement.
Through the community vigil, Spiro hopes to honor the victims’ memories and “fight the terror that we’ve been subjected to.”
Some community members are fearful, given that the shooting took place outside a Jewish museum during an event hosted by a Jewish organization.
Rabbi Hyim Shafner of D.C.’s Kesher Israel Congregation spoke to CNN’s Laura Coates about attending a May 22 vigil in front of the White House, where he asked his congregants and community members how they were feeling in light of the recent incident.
“People are worried. People are afraid,” Shafner said on CNN.
A Kesher Israel congregant had called Shafner’s wife that morning, asking if she should send her child to preschool that day: “‘It’s at the [Jewish community center] and I’m worried.’”
“What does it mean to be in a country built on religious freedom and be afraid?” Shafner asked on air.
The JCRC statement emphasized the importance of not being overridden with fear.
“We will never let violence or hatred prevent us from leading open and proud Jewish lives. Our schools, synagogues, community centers, and other institutions are central to our lives and identities,” Budoff and Halber wrote. “We must continue to participate fully and meaningfully while living our Jewish values — even and especially when our hearts are heavy.”
