We at Temple Israel are beyond horrified and heartbroken at the killing of two young people last night outside the Capital Jewish Museum, where they’d just attended an American Jewish Committee event for young Jewish professionals and diplomats.

Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, 28, who worked at the Israel Embassy in DC were both dedicated to peacebuilding efforts. They were planning to get engaged next week on a trip to Jerusalem. Yaron described himself as an “ardent believer” in the Abraham Accords and advocated “for interfaith dialogue and intercultural understanding.” Sarah grew up in the suburbs of Kansas City and was a teen when a white supremacist killed three people in Jewish institutions there.  She then told a news outlet, “I worry about going to my synagogue and now I have to worry about safety at my school and that shouldn’t be a thing”

The sole suspect. A 30-year-old from Chicago is in custody shouted, “Free Palestine” and “I did it for Gaza” after confessing. Israeli President Isaac Herzog said, “This is a despicable act of hatred, of antisemitism, which has claimed the lives of two young employees of the Israeli embassy.”

Antisemitic hate leads to antisemitic violence. We must continue to speak out against increasingly normalized bigotry that fuels such violent terror. This antisemitism undermines the very fabric of our democracy, nurturing distrust and normalizing extremism and violence – an making all people less safe.

Our hearts are with their families, and all impacted by this tragedy and the ongoing acts of violent bigotry here, in the Middle East and around the world. May Sarah and Yaron’s memories ever be for a blessing – and let us heed this as another call to action to respond to antisemitism and prejudice wherever it exists.

Rabbi David Gelfand Cantor Irena Altshul

Rabbi Melissa Buyer-Witman      Rabbi Peter Young