PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland police increased patrols around local Jewish centers this weekend after another deadly attack at a synagogue, this time on Saturday near San Diego, California.
On Sunday, Senior Rabbi Michael Cahana at Congregation Beth Israel (CBI) told KGW he is grateful for their presence as a sense of comfort. He said he had already heard from Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and feels supported by the community.
It comes on Mitzvah Day at Beth Israel, an annual event at CBI where congregants volunteer their time on projects that help others, from serving brunch and packing meals for the hungry to sorting donated clothes and making quilts for those in need.
The day honors both tikkum olam (fixing the world) and tzedakah (giving to charity).
"The word Mitzvah means commandment. It’s a responsibility," Rabbi Cahana said. "I think many people tend to think of Mitzvah as a good deed, but a good dead is an optional thing, whenever you want to. Mitzvah is our responsibility and as Jews we feel we have responsibility to give back to the community."
On Sunday, more than 300 congregants volunteered their time in the wake of another tragedy in the Jewish community.
"The easiest thing to do and a natural thing to do is hide when you see an attack that’s happened on the Jewish community," Rabbi Cahana said. "But I think the strength of this community we go forward. We stand with courage."
Associate Rabbi Rachel Joseph was worried the attack Saturday in California would, understandably, keep people home and away from the CBI synagogue.
"Especially when this tragedy strikes again in our sacred space," Rabbi Joseph said. "To think that people were going to stay home and not be able to engage because they were scared is one of the most heartbreaking things you can think of as a human being, as a Jew, as a religious leader. That it would be an act of courage to come to your house of worship. An act of courage to bring your family to volunteer to heal this world, to make this world a better place. It is devastating."
Turnout on Mitzvah Day was even better than expected.
"Contrary to my concern, people showed up for one another and that’s the power of community and that’s ultimately why we’re here and why this is so important," she said.
Shira Fogel and Marty Lefkowitz brought their two children to CBI Sunday to help feed the hungry.
"It teaches the kids to serve others. Just makes everybody feel good. Like we're contributing in the world," Fogel said.
Volunteers at Mitzvah Day at Beth Israel in Portland
Giving back to the community is something they try to do all year but make it a point to emphasize Mitzvah Day.
"It's important for us to be out in the community and be visible," Lefkowitz said. "We're here to serve others and that's part of our faith."
Despite the congregation’s perseverance, Saturday's deadly shooting in California is the difficult reality for religious leaders — that places of worship have become an increasingly common target for violence in the US and around the world.
"People in their sanctuaries are being attacked and I think everybody really needs to stand and say this can’t be. It doesn’t have to be your own faith group, but when churches are bombed in Sri Lanka it’s painful to us. When mosques are shot at, it’s painful to us," Rabbi Cahana said.
"It should be painful to all of us because we all have our places of sanctuary whether they be religious spaces or secular spaces. We have a right to safety and we do that really by not letting ourselves be divided but standing together in a sense of pride and joyfulness."
The rabbi who was injured in Poway, California called on others to spread love in the face of evil. And that's how this Jewish community continues to move forward.
"Hope is the essence of who we are as Jews and that means putting one foot in front of the other and continuing to do good in the face of evil," Rabbi Joseph said. "And just working so hard to not let that overtake us."