From the Liveblog of
Sunday, January 16, 2022
Texas synagogue gunman spoke twice to Rabbi Angela Buchdahl during hostage crisis
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
Among the details that trickled out of Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, while the rabbi and three congregants were being held hostage yesterday, was the fact that a New York rabbi had been conscripted into negotiations.
That rabbi was Angela Buchdahl, senior rabbi at Central Synagogue and a leading figure in Reform Judaism. Buchdahl has confirmed her involvement to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and said she spoke twice to the attacker, whose identity has not yet been made public.
“I can confirm that the gunman reached out to me twice yesterday by phone,” Buchdahl writes in an email. “We are about to share a note with the congregation just confirming that. Other than that for security reasons I cannot share more.”
It is unclear why Buchdahl wound up on the phone during the 11-hour standoff.
The Times of Israel Community.