NEW YORK – In response to Sunday’s tragic shooting at the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, Wisc., near Milwaukee, Julie Schonfeld released the following statement:
A week ago on Tishah B’av, the Jewish people commemorated the destruction of our holy Temple. Our sages taught us that the destruction occurred because of senseless hatred. Unfortunately, such hatred still exists in our world. The Rabbinical Assembly expresses its horror, sadness and outrage in solidarity with the Sikh community of greater Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and around the world, in the wake of Sunday’s shooting that killed six of its worshipers and wounded several others.
Our tradition teaches that all human beings are created in the image of God and contain within them a spark of the divine. We must all grow to recognize the part of the divine in every human being and work together to end senseless hatred in our world.