Jews in Texas already in hiding from neo-Nazis; high holiday service to be held at a secret location
Jews in Texas are already in hiding from neo-Nazis, high holiday service to be held at a secret location
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In @Newsweek: As Trump downplays evil of nazis, synagogues are finding secret locations 2 hold services out of fear.
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BY STEVE RUSSELL ON 9/19/17 AT 8:00 AM
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Denmark and Germany and Charlottesville, Virginia form the backdrop for a document circulating in a Jewish congregation in Texas whose name will be redacted to preserve what little safety there is in anonymity:
We are about one week away from the High Holy Days and would like to remind you all about the procedures to be followed for attending the Services.
{Name Redacted's} High Holy Day guest policy allows members to bring guests. The only requirement is that guests be accompanied by the member(s) who invited them or that prior arrangements be made. (Email holydays@{redacted} so a guest pass can be provided.) Guests will be asked to provide their names and addresses on a sign-in sheet.
Upon arrival, as you enter the corridor leading to the {redacted} and {redacted} rooms on the 2nd floor of the {building}, you will encounter a Greeting Table. Please be prepared to show your Name Tag or the High Holy Day Pass that you can access by Clicking Here. After printing the pass, be sure to enter your name(s) on the pass and the name(s) of any guest(s) accompanying you. If your guests arrive without you, please ensure that they have a Guest Pass.
If you arrive without either of the documents, the Greeter will ask your name and check it off on the roster. If you are accompanied by guests, please identify them to the Greeter so their names and address(es) can be recorded. This procedure will be repeated for each service. There will be a security guard positioned close to the Greeter's table.
{Effusive gratitude for cooperation redacted.}
{Name Redacted} does not publish the location of its services, just the schedule and an email address if more information is desired. If your guests will arrive separately, please be sure they know where the services are being held.
The President of the United States claims its not possible to apportion the blame for deaths and injuries at a neo-Nazi rally between those neo-Nazis and the people who gathered to oppose the rebirth of Nazi ideology. That, too, has consequences.
shenmue
(38,506 posts)gopiscrap
(23,765 posts)catrose
(5,073 posts)that she's afraid to attend services this year.
I keep wondering how non-Jews can support Jews at this time of year. Any ideas?
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)I don't blame them. The Nazis are full of arrogance and are out for blood. There's no way to protect against domestic terrorism.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)Hortensis
(58,785 posts)Red Pest
(288 posts)I always go to high holiday services. I have gone to services in Los Angeles, CA; Oakland, CA; Madison, WI; Narragansett, RI; Goteborg, Sweden; and Sydney, Australia. In all these places, I have never felt afraid. I still don't feel afraid at my synagogue in Narragansett, RI.
Of course, all these congregations take one precautionary measure: they all hire security. Most hire off-duty police officers to stand outside the synagogue during high holiday services. The officers get lots of "thank you's" and smiles from all who attend services.
Perhaps the little fingered vulgarian could attend Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur services with his daughter & son-in-law. He might get something out of the intense introspection during the days of awe. But I suppose that is asking for much too much.
In any case, no one should ever feel like they have to attend services secretly. We are not secret Jews in Spain during the Inquisition. We are not Jews hiding in a secret room in Amsterdam in 1940-1944. We are not Jews trying to stay alive in a concentration camp. We are Americans - guaranteed the right to worship (or not to worship) freely and openly. Get up! Stand up! Fight for your rights! Fight for all our rights! Resist!
L'shana tova to all.
George II
(67,782 posts)JDC
(10,133 posts)Ccarmona
(1,180 posts)And by going into hiding, theyre propping up their message and giving in to them.
Stonepounder
(4,033 posts)Words cannot express my sorrow for the USA and what it has become under der Trumpenfuhrer. For almost 80 years we have been asking how Hitler could have come to power. Now we are seeing first-hand how a country dissolves into Nazism/Fascism.
area51
(11,920 posts)GD it!
Solly Mack
(90,787 posts)Behind the Aegis
(53,987 posts)Nazis start #GastheSynagogue in reaction to St. Louis Jews Shielding Protestors from Police
"When protesters were caged in by an abusive police force, the Central Reform Congregation of St. Louis served as a model to all congregations and opened their doors to protect them.
The people of St. Louis took to the streets in response to the acquittal of ex-cop Jason Stockley for the murder of Anthony Lamar Smith. Stockley, when engaged on a police chase of Smith was recorded premeditating his killing of Smith.
Police responded to protests with unhinged violence. Here is a video of at least 40 militarized forces attacking an elderly woman with a shield, then overrunning her and others under them. Rather than administering first aid, they continue to overrun her and eventually force her up for detainment.
The synagogue itself made sure we knew this was no fluke. Theyre here for radical hospitality. The Synagogue is also known for protecting protesters after the Ferguson verdict for the killing of Michael Brown.
***
And as if we needed to be reminded that our liberation as Jews is tied to the liberation of all Black and brown people on the front lines of white supremacism, the Nazis weighed in too.
This time with a #GastheSynagogue campaign invoking gas chambers in Nazi concentration camps:
MosheFeingold
(3,051 posts)Shula have long been a target for whackos, long before the current troubles.
As always, the primary and overwhelming threat comes from radical Islamists.
This concern is distantly followed by radical Christians (and just crazy people) that interrupt services to tell us about the Nazarene or to spout nonsensical conspiracy theories. (You can't have a good conspiracy without the Jooos.)
Third are political agitators who blame all Jews for whatever they have decided Israel has done. This is more of a college campus thing. (This group often has, usually unknowingly, group no 1 among its number.)
Nazis are a distant fourth. A growing concern, but not nearly as significant as no 1.