Blog

This past Shabbat, we were relieved when the hostage situation at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas ended with the Rabbi and congregants leaving their synagogue physically unharmed. Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, a classmate and friend of Rabbi Amy and Rabbi Michael, modeled remarkable bravery and calm. Yet, this incident was a reminder that hate, violence, and intolerance of any kind are antithetical to our beliefs as Jews, and we are cognizant of the fear and ripple effect that horrific actions such as these can generate throughout our community.

As always, the safety of our members, children, and guests is our utmost priority. Over the past few years, Temple Israel has taken the necessary precautions, so that if a situation similar to this would ever occur, we would be as prepared as possible.

Here are a few of the current safety and security measures that we have in place to keep our community safe:

• We've utilized grant money awarded through Homeland Security to update our security systems throughout the Temple building and the Jack & Ellen Deutsch Family Education Center, including new cameras, door locks, and key card entry systems.
• We've put our core staff through intensive intruder training so that they are better able to identify and manage situations such as these.
• We've partnered with the Jewish Federation of St. Louis to implement our Emergency Notification System, which allows us to notify community leadership within moments of identifying a possible situation, as well as to notify and update staff and Education Center parents.
• We have a local police officer who lives on Temple Israel grounds to monitor the safety of our campus.

In addition, we hire highly trained security officers for all of our Shabbat services, Temple events, educational and social programming, and during Religious School hours.

Your family is our family, and we will continue to do everything in our power to ensure that you feel as safe in the Temple and school buildings as you would in your own home. If you have any questions about security and safety at Temple Israel, please do not hesitate to reach out to Rachel Wallis Andreasson, Executive Director, at randreasson@ti-stl.org or 314-548-9743. The Rabbis are also available for anyone who has concerns or questions, or who just want to talk.

Louise Losos, President
Rachel Wallis Andreasson, Executive Director
Rabbi Amy Feder
Rabbi Michael Alper
Lesley Goldenberg, Director of Family Education