SPOKANE, Wash – Rabbi Tamar Malino from Temple Beth Shalom says her congregation, like many across the United States, is strongly connected to those in Israel, and many congregation members are checking in on loved ones.
“We just are trying to hold tight to one another and hold each other up and once a very difficult time,” said Rabbi Malino,
According to Rabbi Malino, anti-semitism continues to “increase” in the United States, causing some of her congregation to feel a heightened sense of anxiety, “I think that all of our Jewish communities here feel extra vulnerable, knowing what’s going on in Israel and knowing the potential for things to get more difficult for us here as well.”
For Malino, as a Rabbi, she was called to service. Although the events of the last week have been tumultuous and difficult for her, she says supporting her congregation has enabled her to work through her own emotions.
“One of the ways that I deal with my own emotions, is to help other people. Some of my own emotionality around it helps me understand what people are going through,” said Rabbi Malino.
With a difficult road ahead for her community, she says these attacks are not new, “we’ve survived it before, and we’ll survive it again, but it doesn’t make it any easier to experience at the moment.”
