Solihull's Rabbi has issued a powerful and defiant message in the wake of the stabbings in Golders Green, London on Wednesday. Rabbi Yehuda Pink, who leads the Solihull and District Hebrew Congregation, shared how there is a real fear within the Jewish community following the attack.
Community Impact
The Rabbi reported that multiple people in his congregation were friends of those affected by the stabbings in London earlier this week. He told BirminghamLive: "When you hear about these knife attacks or arson attacks, people do get worried about, well, maybe it could be us next. That is a fear."
Message of Resilience
While the Rabbi acknowledged a change in the level of fear in the general community, he explained it is crucial to continue channeling 'goodness instead of focusing on the hate.' He stated: "Everybody's feeling low at the moment and worries, but at the same time if we go around emphasising the worry and the fret and how dreadful it is - it sort of becomes a self perpetuating cycle."
"We need to worry about what we need to do. We need to be good citizens, we need to be good people, we need to keep doing what the mandate for Jewish people [is], which is being a light to the world, doing good, doing kindness, rather than focusing on all the people who hate us," the Rabbi said.
Security Measures
He added: "We've just actually spent £20,000 improving the security of our synagogue and community centre. We have eight food security fences, 24 hour monitored CCTV, intruder alarms and everything else, which is dreadful. We'd love our building to be open to all, all day, all night without having to have all of that."
The Rabbi went on: "We're not naïve. We're well aware of the threat and the situation and yes, indeed, there are people who are worried. There are people who have stopped coming to events, but we try to focus on the positive and remind people, I guess if you want to say, [of] the English attitude, the spirit of the Blitz, keep going."
Defiant Stance
"If someone drives down the road and calls me an effing Jew, which unfortunately happens too often, you know, if I jump out of my skin, they're all happy. If I continue as if nothing's happened, they'll get all frustrated," he said.
Sharing his message for the community, the Rabbi added: "The message I give to the community is business as usual, keep going. We're taking it seriously, we have precautions in place, but we're not going to let that impact on our life. We're not cancelling events. We're not stopping doing what we need to do, and we're certainly not going to reply with hate and a hateful rhetoric because that's just sinking to the level of those that are attempting to demonise us."
