| Translate This News In |
|---|
In the aftermath of the horrific experience, the Texas rabbi who hurled a chair at a shooter to assist himself and two people to survive a hostage crisis conducted a prayer session.
Only two days after a gunman kidnapped Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker and two other congregants at the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, the rabbi led a service to “put this terrible event behind us and be thankful for a satisfactory outcome,” according to a Facebook post on the synagogue’s page.
Cytron-Walker, who was welcomed with cheers at the start of the ceremony, spoke briefly, thanking law enforcement, first responders, clergy, political leaders, and people all around the world for their help. He then resumed the ceremony by highlighting the Earth’s beauty as well as its harshness.
“God, I wish to sense your presence not just today, but every day,” the rabbi remarked. “I don’t claim to understand your methods.”
He thanked the “three incredible folks” who were with him at the synagogue on Saturday for getting him through the horrible incident.
“Only a handful of us are doing well right now,” he said. “We’ll make it through.”
At the start of the service, Cytron-Walker was greeted with applause. He replied briefly, thanking law enforcement, first responders, clergy, political leaders, and people all across the world for their help.
Congregants assembled for the healing ceremony, many wearing masks and sitting in rows many seats apart. Several others grabbed the stage to sing Hebrew prayer tunes.
Cytron-Walker also alluded to Martin Luther King Jr., referencing civil rights advocates on his birthday.
“There’s no purpose to know somebody if there’s no love,” Cytron-Walker explained. “Because love, in the end, will connect us to our neighbors, our children, and our hearts.”
The rabbi was setting for Shabbat services on Saturday when the suspect, 44-year-old British citizen Malik Faisal Akram, knocked on the temple’s window. The Rabbi invited Akram in for tea, and during the Shabbat service, which was joined by only a few people, he heard the click of a rifle. He and three other male attendees were taken prisoner at first, but Akram liberated one of them.
