The distance between Kol Rinah and the site of the antisemitic hate crime in Clayton on Aug. 5 is a mere 350 yards. That proximity was on the mind of Rabbi Noah Arnow when he spoke to a group of 180 members of the community on Monday, Aug. 11, at the synagogue.
“This is in our neighborhood,” Arnow said. “This was also an attack in some way on the Jewish community and as the local synagogue we felt like we had to do something. This is too big to not do anything about it.”
Along with leaders of the Jewish community and non-Jewish clergy from neighboring churches, Arnow helped organize the event, “Standing Together: A Gathering for Healing and Hope” on Monday, Aug. 11. He said the goal was to stress to the Jewish community that it is not alone.
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“The St. Louis community and the Clayton community are united in standing together,” Arnow said. “When an attack like this happens, people feel alone, isolated, afraid. And having not just our congregation come together, having the Clayton community come together, having interfaith leaders come together, and law enforcement here as well, really makes all of us feel like none of us are alone, like we are all in this together.”
Bridget McAndrew, mayor of Clayton, said the incident took everyone by surprise because Clayton doesn’t have a lot of experience with violent crime.
“For something like this to happen makes people feel more concerned and certainly, puts people on edge,” McAndrew said. “Today, we’re coming together. It’s not just the Jewish community, but it’s people of all different faiths. What’s most important is while we might disagree about things that are happening in our community, in our country, throughout the world, ultimately, our similarities are far more extensive than what our differences are.
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“It’s so important for us to come together and unite, and make sure that people understand that regardless of how you differ, violence is never the answer,” she added. “This is not acceptable. It’s not acceptable in Clayton and not acceptable anywhere.”
Captain Al Thuet has worked for the Clayton Police Department for 24 years. Thuet is a familiar face at Kol Rinah, where he often assists with the congregation’s security detail. Along with the FBI and other law enforcement support, he said while he couldn’t discuss any details of the investigation, that there was still much work to do to apprehend those responsible for the attack.
“When I got the phone call, I was shocked,” Thuet said. “It is such a terrible incident that occurred. One of the great things to see is how well the community has come together. And honestly to our police department as well. We have gotten a lot of support during this investigation. And the community has been wonderful.”
