Leslie Green remembers clearly finding out about the shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Saturday that left 11 people dead and six others wounded.
“I just sat in front of the computer just with my mouth hanging open,” Green said. “I couldn’t believe it.”
Her rabbi at the Congregation of Beth Israel Synagogue in Corpus Christi had a similar reaction.
“I was just sickened and horrified by the whole thing,” Rabbi Ilan Emanuel said.
Emanuel and Green both blame a rise in anti-Semitism for the attack in Pittsburgh and other attacks on Jewish facilities around the world.
“There is undoubtedly a worldwide spike in anti-Semitism,” Rabbi Emanuel said. “There has definitely been a rise in anti-Semitism in attacks on synagogues, attacks on Jewish communities, defacing of cemeteries and physical attacks.”
The attacks have Green concerned about security while she and her family attend synagogue services.
“I am worried.” she said. “I’m a Jewish mother, so I was born to worry.”
Despite those concerns, Rabbi Emanuel is confident in his synagogue’s security.
“We already have security, regular security,” he said. “We’re certainly going to be looking at our security procedures to see what else we can reasonably do to ensure everybody’s safety which is of course our primary concern.”
