How will we memorialize the 24 who were massacred at two Istanbul synagogues on Saturday, Nov. 15?
What will we do as a community or as individuals? What will our rabbis do or say this Shabbat? How will be respond as Jews and as Americans to this relentless slaughter of innocents, Jewish and non-Jewish, at the hands of terrorists?
Those are among the questions that have occurred to us as we deal with the deaths of people who were killed while praying at the Turkish synagogues. Some of them were attending a bar mitzvah.
As Jews, we are particularly horrified. The bombings too closely resemble the pogroms that plagued our people for centuries. And the Istanbul attacks, in particular, are all too reminiscent of the notorious “Night of Broken Glass,” whose 65th anniversary we marked earlier this month.
When will it end? We cannot allow the words “never again” to turn into a hollow objective, instead of an imperative.
More immediately, our task as Jews and as Americans is to come to the aid of those whose lives will forever be marred by the Nov. 15 attacks.
First, we urge our rabbis to talk about the Istanbul slaughter in their synagogues this Shabbat, rallying their congregants.
Second, as individuals we can make donations to rebuild both Turkish synagogues. We can’t allow terrorists to chase Jews into hiding after destroying their places of worship.
Third, we urge Jewish institutions in our community, especially all of our federations, to collect money to help those who were wounded as well as the families of the bereaved, some of people in desperate need. At the same time, the federations could also collect for the rebuilding of the two synagogues. Just as we pitched in when arson struck three Sacramento shuls in 1999, we cannot forget our extended Jewish family abroad.
And finally, just as we continue to honor the memories of those who died in the Holocaust — not just through monuments but through photos, films, art and writings — we must also ensure that those who died in Turkey will not be forgotten.
There are photo exhibits that demand to be mounted, stories that need to be told, memories that must be kept alive.
It’s time we begin to do that, not only for the Turks who were killed at the two synagogues but for those innocents in Israel or elsewhere killed in suicide bombings or wanton attacks. When we read their stories, see their pictures, those victims become part of our extended family, moving us to do something in their memory.
No matter what, we just cannot ignore the deaths of the worshippers. It brings back too many memories.