Orlando rabbis describe ‘devastated’ community
Local Jewish community waits to hear if it lost members in Sunday’s massacre at city’s Pulse night club
NEW YORK – Rabbi Rick Sherwin of Orlando’s Congregation Beth Am just got off the phone with the parents of a young teen in his congregation. He wanted to make sure the teen had his cell phone number in case he needed to talk.
It was one of several calls Sherwin made Sunday to LGBT congregants after 29-year-old Omar Saddiqui Mateen, after declaring his support for Islamic State, killed 50 and injured 53 at Pulse, a gay night club in downtown Orlando.
Sherwin’s synagogue was the first in Orlando to perform same-sex marriages and, like many synagogues in the city, has strong ties to the LGBT community.
“We are all just devastated,” Sherwin said in a telephone interview with The Times of Israel. “When someone attacks Jews we are all just devastated, and so we understand what it means to be a part of a minority. When one member of a community is injured we know every member is touched.”
Sherwin said that after Shavuot services ended this morning, many of his congregants left to join the long lines of those waiting to donate blood. As temperatures hit 93 degrees Fahrenheit (34 Celsius), many congregants donated water and food to those waiting in lines that snaked around city blocks.
With blood donations at capacity, many of those waiting in line were urged to return in the next few days.
Rabbi Steven Engel of Orlando’s Congregation of Reform Judaism said his congregation, too, was reeling from the attack.
“There is a lot of shock in the congregation. We have a very big LGBT community and as of right now it’s very unclear whether anyone in our congregation was killed, hurt or directly affected,” Engel said in a telephone interview.
As they wait for news, many CRJ congregants also donated blood, Engel said.
Engel is one of three hosts of interfaith radio show “The Three Wise Guys.” Earlier in the day, Engel spoke with his fellow hosts, Rev. Bryan G. Fulwider and Imam Muhammad Musri. They plan to host an event together that will address the attack.
The whole community is mobilized, and it’s important the Jewish community is there in the difficult days and weeks to come, Sherwin said.
“We can donate our ears. That’s be best thing we can do right now,” he said.
