#ShowUpForShabbat this weekend at Congregation Kneseth Israel
Congregation Kneseth Israel, 330 Division St. in Elgin, will be participating in a national program, #ShowUpForShabbat, to mark the anniversary of the murders of 11 Jews at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.
This initiative is organized by American Jewish Committee (AJC) and paralleled by Jewish Federation of North America in #PauseforPittsburgh.
"Jews have a tradition of marking the yearly anniversary of someone's death, called a yahrzeit. This weekend is the yahrzeit of these 11 individuals who were killed for no other reason than they were Jews. It is important to pause, to remember and to act," said Rabbi Margaret Frisch Klein
"In Elgin we have been very fortunate with our neighbors, good partners in Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Kingdom Advancement Center, the rest of the Coalition of Elgin Religious Leaders and the Elgin Police Department. The EPD has been so kind that when there was a recent attack in Germany, on Yom Kippur, there were two squad cars in our parking lot before we were even there."
Nonetheless, Jews around the country are concerned about rising anti-semitism. A new national survey by AJC was just released confirming those fears: www.ajc.org/AntisemitismSurvey2019.
The Elgin Police Department will be present for both services in order to thank them. Congregation Kneseth Israel hopes that they will be joined by others in the community as a sign of support and solidarity.
Services are at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25, and 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 26. Please use the parking lot door.
For additional information, contact Congregation Kneseth Israel, (847) 741-5656.