Latest news with #BoulderJewishCommunityCenter
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Yahoo
Boulder Jewish Festival adding extra security one week after Pearl Street attack
DENVER (KDVR) — One week after the attack in Boulder, the Jewish community in town is set to host its biggest event of the year, the annual Jewish Festival. Things may look a little different this year, with a much larger police presence expected. Friends hunt storms in Colorado on Friday This year is the 30th anniversary of the Jewish Festival in Boulder. While there was discussion about the festival even happening and how it can be kept safe, community leaders decided the 30th iteration of the event is the most important one yet. 'It's always been called the best Sunday in June,' said Jonathan Lev, executive director of the Boulder Jewish Community Center. A day of Jewish celebration is now coming only a week after a day of Jewish pain. 'The attacks on last Sunday put into question whether that festival was possible,' said Lev. Lev called it a 'long, short time' that they had to decide on whether the festival was even possible. Three factors played into keeping it going: the first was immediately apparent when talking to community members. 'The Jewish community really needed this festival and needed an opportunity to come together,' he said. The second factor was coming together safely. The festival averages 10,000 to 15,000 people a year, and he expects that total to be significantly higher this year. Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn said on Thursday that those kinds of crowds will require more of his staff. 'You will see a large police presence,' said Redfearn. 'You will see our partner agencies, you will see us there ready to protect that event to ensure that people can grieve and recover from this attack safely and peacefully.' He said just being there isn't enough, though, and asks for community help as well. 'We need all eyes and ears out there to help look for things that may not be right and let us know so we can address them,' said Redfearn. With safety settled, the final factor was including the organization Run for Their Lives as part of the festivities, which will now be a focal point of the day. Pothole that formed in under 30 minutes causes backups on I-70: CDOT 'All three of those things came together in a beautiful way,' said Lev. A beautiful way, he said, to provide necessary healing. 'We need to be able to both have Jewish joy and experience our Jewish pain together,' said Lev. The Jewish Festival will be on Pearl Street Mall between 13th Street and 14th Street this Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'Horrifying' Boulder attack comes amid rise in antisemitic crimes, Gaza tensions
A fiery assault targeting a group gathered to support Israeli hostages has rocked Boulder, Colorado, less than two weeks after two Israeli Embassy staff members were brazenly shot to death in Washington, DC, amid a rise in antisemitism incidents across the United States. Authorities on June 2 were investigating what the FBI called a "targeted terror attack" after a man a day earlier flung incendiary devices into the crowd and shouted "Free Palestine," setting eight people on fire. A suspect, identified by authorities as Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, was taken into custody. The violence erupted near a walk to remember the remaining Israeli captives in Gaza abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. The victims, ages 52 to 88, had injuries ranging from serious to minor, authorities said. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said the attack appeared to be a "hate crime given the group that was targeted." Weiser said the group meets weekly at the Pearl Street Mall in downtown Boulder to urge the release of the hostages held in Gaza. The gathering June 1 fell on the Jewish holiday of Shavuot. The attack comes at a time when tensions globally and in the United States have smoldered over the war between Israel and Hamas. After the Israeli Embassy slayings, embassies across the globe heightened security. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a prominent Jewish Democrat, condemned the Boulder attack in a post on X. "This is horrifying, and this cannot continue. We must stand up to antisemitism." Colorado Gov. Jared Polis also blasted the incident as a "heinous act of terror. Hate-filled acts of any kind are unacceptable." In a statement on social media, the Boulder Jewish Community Center said it was in touch with law enforcement about the Jewish community in the city, noting that safety is the "highest priority." "We are saddened and heartbroken to learn that an incendiary device was thrown at walkers at the Run for Their Lives walk on Pearl Street as they were raising awareness for the hostages still held in Gaza," the Boulder Jewish Community Center said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed solidarity with the victims who were attacked "simply because they were Jews. " On May 21, Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and his girlfriend Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, were gunned down in Washington as they exited the Capital Jewish Museum about a mile from the White House. Elias Rodriguez, 31, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and was also facing several firearms charges and counts of killing foreign officials. Authorities said that the attack is being investigated as a hate and terrorism crime. Yechiel Leiter, Israeli ambassador to the United States, said the two victims killed were a "young couple about to be engaged." And just days after that shooting, a dual U.S. and German citizen was arrested in New York on charges of attempting to firebomb a branch office of the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, authorities said. Colorado attack: Videos show chaotic scene after man set members of Boulder's Jewish community on fire Reports of incidents of antisemitism have continued to rise for a second year in a row, according to an annual report released by the Anti-Defamation League in April. ADL researchers counted 9,354 incidents of antisemitic assault, harassment, and vandalism across the country in 2024 − a 5% increase from 2023, which was also a record-breaking year. The number of incidents was the highest since the ADL started tracking antisemitism data in 1979. Israel's actions in Gaza, in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack − which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw 251 taken as hostages into Gaza − has led to inflamed tensions throughout the United States. It also comes at a time when the Trump administration has detained pro-Palestinian protesters without charges and halted funding to certain U.S. universities that have been sites of Gaza protests. Israel's campaign has devastated much of Gaza, killing over 54,000 Palestinians and destroying most buildings. Contributing: Will Carless, Thao Nguyen, John Bacon and Reuters This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Boulder, Colorado, attack comes amid inflamed Gaza tensions
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Their synagogue taught them to build peace. An antisemitic attack is testing their resilience
Fifteen minutes outside of downtown Boulder, Colorado, sandwiched between a golf course and a marsh, is Congregation Bonai Shalom. In Hebrew, bonai shalom means 'builders of peace,' and the congregation welcomes both Jews and non-Jews to participate in all aspects of the community. But that peace was shattered when an antisemitic attack at an event in support of hostages in Gaza left six members of the congregation injured, including one woman who was a Holocaust survivor. The attack, the latest in a wave of antisemitic violence that has stretched from coast to coast, has further horrified the Jewish community. 'The fact that in 2025 someone can just literally try to burn Jews to death on the streets of Boulder, Colorado, is shocking,' Congregation Bonai Shalom Rabbi Marc Soloway said. 'We're grieving.' Six others were injured in the firebombing attack. Some suffered severe burns. The suspected attacker, Mohamed Soliman, has been charged with hate crime and attempted murder. The emotional trauma is 'immense,' Soloway said. 'I still feel ripples,' he said, telling CNN's Erica Hill the whole Jewish community is 'traumatized.' One congregant is 'touch-and-go' with horrific burns all over her body, Soloway said. The attack, he added, brought back 'horrendous memories' of our own Jewish history. Barbara Steinmetz, who escaped the Holocaust as a child, was one of the congregants injured in Sunday's attack. Steinmetz said her family fled Europe in the 1940s, according to the CU Independent, the student news website for the University of Colorado Boulder. Her father, she said, applied for asylum to countless countries before the Dominican Republic accepted them. The family immigrated to the United States years later, and she moved to Boulder in 2006. Steinmetz was honored by the Boulder Jewish Community Center in 2020 for creating positive change throughout Boulder County. Jonathan Lev, executive director at the Boulder Jewish Community Center, said the victims were pillars who helped build the community. 'They bring to life what Jewish life can be,' he said. After what happened on Sunday, he said, 'how could you not be scared?' The shock traveled to Pittsburgh, where Michael Bernstein, chair of the board for the Tree of Life, said it felt all too familiar — and brought back recent memories. In 2018, a gunman killed 11 worshippers and wounded six others at the Tree of Life Synagogue. It was the deadliest-ever attack on Jewish people in the United States. 'The hearts of our community, I know, are aching right now,' Bernstein told CNN's Bianna Golodryga. 'We know what happens when an attack like this shatters a community.' The Boulder Jewish Community Center, just down the road from Congregation Bonai Shalom, is hosting a community vigil Wednesday night. 'Healing begins with coming together in community,' a joint statement from leaders in the Boulder Jewish community said. 'We're resilient,' Soloway added. 'We're here for each other, and we'll get through it.' He said peaceful walks for the Israeli hostages in Gaza, like the one his congregants were participating in on Sunday, should continue. Congregation Bonai Shalom's calendar is packed with summer events. There are shabbat services and bar mitzvahs. On Thursday, there's a conversation about immigration scheduled. A poetry and reflection meeting is planned for the end of the month. A Boulder Jewish Festival will still take place on Sunday despite the attack. We are 'taking steps to reimagine the event in a way that helps our community heal and feels grounded in the reality' of the attack, the Boulder Jewish community's statement said. Continuing to celebrate the Jewish community and traditions is part of the healing process, said Maggie Feinstein, the director of a healing partnership founded in Pittsburgh after the Tree of Life shooting. She encouraged those affected by the attacks to lean into Jewish joy and ritual. 'Don't shy away from that, even though that was what somebody tries to tear apart,' Feinstein said. 'If we stop the ritual of joy, then it's hard to be resilient.' Lev, the Boulder Jewish Community Center executive director, said the community is choosing to respond to the grief and threat with 'love, connection and community.' Soloway said he and his congregation have received 'outpourings of love from other faith partners.' 'They're here for us, we're here for each other,' he said. His congregation already had an event planned for Friday before Sunday's attack. The session, planned before the attack, is timely. Reverend Pedro Senhorinha Silva, Soloway's friend, is scheduled to lead a reflection called 'Joy Comes in the Morning.' The session, the congregation said, will explore how to hold grief in one hand and joy in the other. CNN's Alisha Ebrahimji and Shimon Prokupecz contributed to this report.
CNN
04-06-2025
- General
- CNN
Their synagogue taught them to build peace. Then an antisemitic attack hit
Race & ethnicityFacebookTweetLink Follow Fifteen minutes outside of downtown Boulder, Colorado, sandwiched between a golf course and a marsh, is Congregation Bonai Shalom. In Hebrew, bonai shalom means 'builders of peace,' and the congregation welcomes both Jews and non-Jews to participate in all aspects of the community. But that peace was shattered when an antisemitic attack at an event in support of hostages in Gaza left six members of the congregation injured, including one woman who was a Holocaust survivor. The attack, the latest in a wave of antisemitic violence that has stretched from coast to coast, has further horrified the Jewish community. 'The fact that in 2025 someone can just literally try to burn Jews to death on the streets of Boulder, Colorado, is shocking,' Congregation Bonai Shalom Rabbi Marc Soloway said. 'We're grieving.' Six others were injured in the firebombing attack. Some suffered severe burns. The suspected attacker, Mohamed Soliman, has been charged with hate crime and attempted murder. The emotional trauma is 'immense,' Soloway said. 'I still feel ripples,' he said, telling CNN's Erica Hill the whole Jewish community is 'traumatized.' One congregant is 'touch-and-go' with horrific burns all over her body, Soloway said. The attack, he added, brought back 'horrendous memories' of our own Jewish history. Barbara Steinmetz, who escaped the Holocaust as a child, was one of the congregants injured in Sunday's attack. Steinmetz said her family fled Europe in the 1940s, according to the CU Independent, the student news website for the University of Colorado Boulder. Her father, she said, applied for asylum to countless countries before the Dominican Republic accepted them. The family immigrated to the United States years later, and she moved to Boulder in 2006. Steinmetz was honored by the Boulder Jewish Community Center in 2020 for creating positive change throughout Boulder County. Jonathan Lev, executive director at the Boulder Jewish Community Center, said the victims were pillars who helped build the community. 'They bring to life what Jewish life can be,' he said. After what happened on Sunday, he said, 'how could you not be scared?' The shock traveled to Pittsburgh, where Michael Bernstein, chair of the board for the Tree of Life, said it felt all too familiar — and brought back recent memories. In 2018, a gunman killed 11 worshippers and wounded six others at the Tree of Life Synagogue. It was the deadliest-ever attack on Jewish people in the United States. 'The hearts of our community, I know, are aching right now,' Bernstein told CNN's Bianna Golodryga. 'We know what happens when an attack like this shatters a community.' The Boulder Jewish Community Center, just down the road from Congregation Bonai Shalom, is hosting a community vigil Wednesday night. 'Healing begins with coming together in community,' a joint statement from leaders in the Boulder Jewish community said. 'We're resilient,' Soloway added. 'We're here for each other, and we'll get through it.' He said peaceful walks for the Israeli hostages in Gaza, like the one his congregants were participating in on Sunday, should continue. Congregation Bonai Shalom's calendar is packed with summer events. There are shabbat services and bar mitzvahs. On Thursday, there's a conversation about immigration scheduled. A poetry and reflection meeting is planned for the end of the month. A Boulder Jewish Festival will still take place on Sunday despite the attack. We are 'taking steps to reimagine the event in a way that helps our community heal and feels grounded in the reality' of the attack, the Boulder Jewish community's statement said. Continuing to celebrate the Jewish community and traditions is part of the healing process, said Maggie Feinstein, the director of a healing partnership founded in Pittsburgh after the Tree of Life shooting. She encouraged those affected by the attacks to lean into Jewish joy and ritual. 'Don't shy away from that, even though that was what somebody tries to tear apart,' Feinstein said. 'If we stop the ritual of joy, then it's hard to be resilient.' Lev, the Boulder Jewish Community Center executive director, said the community is choosing to respond to the grief and threat with 'love, connection and community.' Soloway said he and his congregation have received 'outpourings of love from other faith partners.' 'They're here for us, we're here for each other,' he said. His congregation already had an event planned for Friday before Sunday's attack. The session, planned before the attack, is timely. Reverend Pedro Senhorinha Silva, Soloway's friend, is scheduled to lead a reflection called 'Joy Comes in the Morning.' The session, the congregation said, will explore how to hold grief in one hand and joy in the other. CNN's Alisha Ebrahimji and Shimon Prokupecz contributed to this report.
CNN
04-06-2025
- General
- CNN
Their synagogue taught them to build peace. Then an antisemitic attack hit
Fifteen minutes outside of downtown Boulder, Colorado, sandwiched between a golf course and a marsh, is Congregation Bonai Shalom. In Hebrew, bonai shalom means 'builders of peace,' and the congregation welcomes both Jews and non-Jews to participate in all aspects of the community. But that peace was shattered when an antisemitic attack at an event in support of hostages in Gaza left six members of the congregation injured, including one woman who was a Holocaust survivor. The attack, the latest in a wave of antisemitic violence that has stretched from coast to coast, has further horrified the Jewish community. 'The fact that in 2025 someone can just literally try to burn Jews to death on the streets of Boulder, Colorado, is shocking,' Congregation Bonai Shalom Rabbi Marc Soloway said. 'We're grieving.' Six others were injured in the firebombing attack. Some suffered severe burns. The suspected attacker, Mohamed Soliman, has been charged with hate crime and attempted murder. The emotional trauma is 'immense,' Soloway said. 'I still feel ripples,' he said, telling CNN's Erica Hill the whole Jewish community is 'traumatized.' One congregant is 'touch-and-go' with horrific burns all over her body, Soloway said. The attack, he added, brought back 'horrendous memories' of our own Jewish history. Barbara Steinmetz, who escaped the Holocaust as a child, was one of the congregants injured in Sunday's attack. Steinmetz said her family fled Europe in the 1940s, according to the CU Independent, the student news website for the University of Colorado Boulder. Her father, she said, applied for asylum to countless countries before the Dominican Republic accepted them. The family immigrated to the United States years later, and she moved to Boulder in 2006. Steinmetz was honored by the Boulder Jewish Community Center in 2020 for creating positive change throughout Boulder County. Jonathan Lev, executive director at the Boulder Jewish Community Center, said the victims were pillars who helped build the community. 'They bring to life what Jewish life can be,' he said. After what happened on Sunday, he said, 'how could you not be scared?' The shock traveled to Pittsburgh, where Michael Bernstein, chair of the board for the Tree of Life, said it felt all too familiar — and brought back recent memories. In 2018, a gunman killed 11 worshippers and wounded six others at the Tree of Life Synagogue. It was the deadliest-ever attack on Jewish people in the United States. 'The hearts of our community, I know, are aching right now,' Bernstein told CNN's Bianna Golodryga. 'We know what happens when an attack like this shatters a community.' The Boulder Jewish Community Center, just down the road from Congregation Bonai Shalom, is hosting a community vigil Wednesday night. 'Healing begins with coming together in community,' a joint statement from leaders in the Boulder Jewish community said. 'We're resilient,' Soloway added. 'We're here for each other, and we'll get through it.' He said peaceful walks for the Israeli hostages in Gaza, like the one his congregants were participating in on Sunday, should continue. Congregation Bonai Shalom's calendar is packed with summer events. There are shabbat services and bar mitzvahs. On Thursday, there's a conversation about immigration scheduled. A poetry and reflection meeting is planned for the end of the month. A Boulder Jewish Festival will still take place on Sunday despite the attack. We are 'taking steps to reimagine the event in a way that helps our community heal and feels grounded in the reality' of the attack, the Boulder Jewish community's statement said. Continuing to celebrate the Jewish community and traditions is part of the healing process, said Maggie Feinstein, the director of a healing partnership founded in Pittsburgh after the Tree of Life shooting. She encouraged those affected by the attacks to lean into Jewish joy and ritual. 'Don't shy away from that, even though that was what somebody tries to tear apart,' Feinstein said. 'If we stop the ritual of joy, then it's hard to be resilient.' Lev, the Boulder Jewish Community Center executive director, said the community is choosing to respond to the grief and threat with 'love, connection and community.' Soloway said he and his congregation have received 'outpourings of love from other faith partners.' 'They're here for us, we're here for each other,' he said. His congregation already had an event planned for Friday before Sunday's attack. The session, planned before the attack, is timely. Reverend Pedro Senhorinha Silva, Soloway's friend, is scheduled to lead a reflection called 'Joy Comes in the Morning.' The session, the congregation said, will explore how to hold grief in one hand and joy in the other. CNN's Alisha Ebrahimji and Shimon Prokupecz contributed to this report.
