Safe spaces?: US houses of worship increase security after shootings
DEEPA BHARATH and LUIS ANDRES HENAO, of Associated Press, report on how some faith leaders are increasingly looking to security amid a string of high-profile mass shootings in the US…
Essay: Dilemma for houses of worship – openness or safety?
In an article published on Religion News Service, editor and author BETH KISSILEFF and Episcopalian rector and author ROSALINA C HUGHES look at the challenge for houses of worship of maintaining humaneness and treating others with compassion, while keeping ourselves and others safe…
US synagogues forced to balance welcoming the stranger with protecting their own
RNS The rabbi offered the man at the synagogue door a warm place to stay and a cup of tea. But the gesture, seen by most Jews as a commandment to welcome the stranger and offer hospitality, is now under severe strain. Law enforcement officers process the scene in front of the Congregation Beth Israel […]
As rabbi was held hostage in Texas synagogue, interfaith colleagues gathered to help end the standoff
RNS If there’s a word that comes up repeatedly when friends discuss Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, the rabbi who was taken hostage with three others at his Reform synagogue Saturday, it’s “kind.” “Kind doesn’t begin to cover it,” said Lindsey Weiss, who attended Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, since she was 11. “He’s the nicest […]