It is a pattern of the interfaith community to come together at times like this. An attack on any of us is an attack on all of us.

On January 15, a gunman took four hostages, including Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, at congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas. After 11 hours, with the help of an FBI team, the situation resolved without physical harm to the four hostages. The emotional fallout is much harder to assess. A group of faith leaders, law enforcement officials, and FBI gathered for a press conference at the offices of Harris County DA Kim Ogg.

While the majority of worshippers of every faith experience freedom of religion in the U.S, hate crimes are on the rise. Muslim also experience vandalism, threats and violence, but according to the FBI, half of all hate crimes are perpetrated against the Jewish community.

In 2018, the ADL report 1,879 anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S, an increase of 5% over 2017. 2018 saw the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history. In October, 11 Jewish worshippers were massacred at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh by a white supremacist. Our group gathered arm-in-arm, as a sign of solidarity.

Arm-in arm at an interfaith press conference in 2018 at Congregation Beth Israel. Rabbi Davíd Lyon is at center, to my right.

We cannot stop the rain from falling, but we can stand together when it does. And we must.

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

— Martin Luther King, Jr.