Wisconsin - Jews seek ways to help Sikhs after Milwaukee shooting
Almost as soon as she heard the news about a deadly
shooting at a Sikh temple near Milwaukee, Elana Kahn-Oren’s phone started
ringing.
As director of the Jewish Community Relations Council at
the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, Kahn-Oren fielded call after call from
concerned area Jews asking what they could do to help.
“We have to make sure to be respectful of the Sikh
community and to make sure that we find appropriate avenues to express that
support,” Kahn-Oren told JTA.
A day after Sunday's shooting, the federation was
offering counseling services, had opened a mailbox to receive donations for
assisting with the financial needs of the victims and their families, and was
in talks with the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee to figure out a
way to bring religious leaders together for an interfaith prayer service.
“Coming together after events like these reaffirms the
values of the community,” Kahn-Oren said. "This goes against our moral
fiber.”
The assailant killed six people, including the president
of the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, in Oak Creek, before being shot dead by
police. On Monday, police identified the shooter as Wade M. Page, a U.S. Army
veteran with ties to white supremacist groups.
Jacob Herber of Congregation Beth Israel said the
Milwaukee synagogue’s weekday minyan would be holding a moment of silence to
commemorate and express solidarity with the victims, just as the minyan does
when Jews are attacked around the world.
“Unfortunately, because we have experienced through much
of our history bigotry, hatred and anti-Semitism, this event is very acute for
us in its pain,” Herber said. “That’s why I think we feel not only the
obligation but the real personal, profound emotion of wanting to reach out to
the Sikh community.”
Linda Holifield, executive director of Congregation
Shalom in Milwaukee, said the shooter’s targeting of a place of worship was
particularly upsetting.
“When one place of worship is targeted, it suggests then
that any place of worship could be a target,” she said.
Tom Heinen, executive director of the Interfaith
Conference of Greater Milwaukee, said the tragedy has really hit home because
of the tight-knit nature of the community in Milwaukee.
“Milwaukee is in many respects a large village where many
people of many faiths are interconnected personally, professionally and
socially,” he said. “At a time like this, we need to come together as a
community to reassert our common values and to comfort those who have suffered
grievous losses.”
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