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Colleyville Synagogue Hostage Crisis
On January 15, 2022, Malik Akram, a 44-year-old British Pakistani armed with a pistol, took four people hostage in the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, United States, during a Sabbath service. Hostage negotiations ensued, during which Akram demanded the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani national and alleged al-Qaeda operative imprisoned in nearby Fort Worth for attempted murder and other crimes. He released one hostage after six hours, and the remaining three hostages escaped eleven hours into the standoff. Tactical officers from the FBI Hostage Rescue Team subsequently entered the synagogue and fatally shot Akram. Background Congregation Beth Israel Congregation Beth Israel is a Reform Jewish synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, a suburb northeast of Fort Worth in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The congregation was initially a '' chavurah'' established in 1999 with 25 families; a religious school with 75 children was founded shortly afte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antisemitism In The United States
Antisemitism in the United States has existed for centuries. In the United States, most Jewish community relations agencies draw distinctions between antisemitism, which is measured in terms of attitudes and behaviors, and the security and status of American Jews, which are both measured by the occurrence of specific incidents. FBI data shows that in every year since 1991, Jews were the most frequent victims of religiously motivated hate crimes, according to a report which was published by the Anti-Defamation League in 2019. Evidence suggests that the true number of hate crimes against Jews is underreported, as is the case for many other targeted groups. Public opinion surveys paint a mixed picture. According to a survey which was conducted by the Anti-Defamation League in 2019, antisemitism is rejected by a majority of Americans, with 79% of them lauding Jews' cultural contributions to the nation, however, the same poll found that 19% of Americans adhered to the longstanding a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sabbath
In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, commanded by God to be kept as a holy day of rest, as God rested from creation. The practice of observing the Sabbath ( Shabbat) originates in the biblical commandment " Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy". The Sabbath is observed in Judaism, Sabbatarian forms of Christianity (such as many Protestant and Eastern denominations), and Islam. Observances similar to, or descended from, the Sabbath also exist in other religions. The term may be generally used to describe similar weekly observances in other religions. Biblical Sabbath Sabbath (as the verb שָׁבַת֙ ''shabbat'') is first mentioned in the Genesis creation narrative, where the seventh day is set aside as a day of rest (in Hebrew, ''shabbat'') and made holy by God (). Observation and remembrance of Sabbath ( ''shabbat' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) is an international news agency and wire service, founded in 1917, serving Jewish community newspapers and media around the world as well as non-Jewish press, with about 70 syndication clients listed on its web site. Editorial policy The JTA is a not-for-profit corporation governed by an independent board of directors. It claims no allegiance to any specific branch of Judaism or political viewpoint. "We respect the many Jewish and Israel advocacy organizations out there, but JTA has a different mission — to provide readers and clients with balanced and dependable reporting", wrote JTA editor-in-chief and CEO and publisher Ami Eden. He gave as an example of the JTA's coverage of the ''Mavi Marmara'' activist ship. JTA is an affiliate of 70 Faces Media, a not-for-profit American media company. Other sites under the 70 Faces Media company include Kveller, ''Alma'', and Nosher. History The JTA was founded on February 6, 1917, by Jacob Landau ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lansing, Michigan
Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The population of its metropolitan statistical area ( MSA) was 541,297 at the 2020 census, the third largest in the state after metropolitan Detroit and Grand Rapids. It was named the new state capital of Michigan in 1847, ten years after Michigan became a state. The Lansing metropolitan area, colloquially referred to as "Mid-Michigan", is an important center for educational, cultural, governmental, commercial, and industrial functions. Neighboring East Lansing is home to Michigan State University, a public research university with an enrollment of more than 50,000. The area features two medical schools, one veterinary school, two nursing schools, and two law schools. It is the site of the Mic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charlie Cytron-Walker
Charlie Cytron-Walker is an American rabbi. As of 2022, he is the rabbi at Temple Emanuel in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He is a former rabbi at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas and was held captive during the Colleyville synagogue hostage crisis. Early life and education Cytron-Walker was born in Lansing, Michigan. He earned a B.A. in social sciences in May 1998 from the University of Michigan. From 1989 to 1999, Cytron-Walker was a senior ambassador for Focus: HOPE in Detroit. He was the assistant director of the Amherst Survival Center from 1999 to 2001. While there, he coordinated volunteers for the soup kitchen and store, counseled, and worked as an event organizer. Cytron-Walker completed an M.A. in Hebrew Letters at the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati in June 2005. He interned at the Temple Sholom in Cincinnati from the fall of 2004 to the spring of 2006. Cytron-Walker was ordained as a rabbi in May 2006. Career ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chavurah
A ''chavurah'' or ''chaburah'' (חבורה Hebrew: "fellowship", plural ''chavurot'') is a small group of like-minded Jews who assemble for the purposes of facilitating Shabbat and holiday prayer services, sharing communal experiences such as lifecycle events, or Jewish learning. ''Chavurot'' usually provide autonomous alternatives to established Jewish institutions and Jewish denominations. Many chavurot place an emphasis on egalitarianism in the broad sense (of which gender egalitarianism is one piece), depending on participation by the entire community rather than top-down direction by clergy. Origins The first chavurah in the United States was formed in September 1960 in Whittier, California. However, most chavurot in America had their origins in the North American Jewish counter-cultural trends of the late 1960s and early 1970s. During this period, groups of young rabbis, academics, and political activists founded experimental chavurot for prayer and study, in reaction t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Dallas Morning News
''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''The Galveston County Daily News, Galveston Daily News'', of Galveston, Texas. Historically, and to the present day, it is the most prominent newspaper in Dallas. Today it has one of the 20 largest paid circulations in the United States. Throughout the 1990s and as recently as 2010, the paper has won nine Pulitzer Prizes for reporting and photography, George Polk Awards for education reporting and regional reporting, and an Overseas Press Club award for photography. The company has its headquarters in downtown Dallas. History ''The Dallas Morning News'' was founded in 1885 as a spin-off of the ''Galveston Daily News'' by Alfred Horatio Belo. In 1926, the Belo family sold a majority interest in the paper to its longtime publisher, George Dealey. By ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex
The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, officially designated Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, is a conurbated metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Texas encompassing 11 counties and anchored by the major cities of Dallas and Fort Worth. It is the economic and cultural hub of North Texas. Residents of the area also refer to it as DFW (airport code), or the Metroplex. The Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area's population was 7,637,387 according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2020 census, making it the most populous metropolitan area in both Texas and the Southern United States, the fourth-largest in the U.S., and the tenth-largest in the Americas. In 2016, the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex had the highest annual population growth in the United States. The metropolitan region's economy, also referred to as Silicon Prairie, is primarily based on banking, commerce, insurance, telecommunications, tec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous search for truth and knowledge, which is closely intertwined with human reason and not limited to the theophany at Mount Sinai. A highly liberal strand of Judaism, it is characterized by lessened stress on ritual and personal observance, regarding '' halakha'' (Jewish law) as non-binding and the individual Jew as autonomous, and great openness to external influences and progressive values. The origins of Reform Judaism lie in 19th-century Germany, where Rabbi Abraham Geiger and his associates formulated its early principles. Since the 1970s, the movement has adopted a policy of inclusiveness and acceptance, inviting as many as possible to partake in its communities rather than adhering to strict theoretical clarity. It is strongly identifi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
FBI Hostage Rescue Team
The Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) is the elite tactical unit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The HRT was formed to provide a full-time federal law enforcement tactical capability to respond to major terrorist incidents throughout the United States. Today, the HRT performs a number of tactical law enforcement and national security functions in high-risk environments and conditions and has deployed overseas, including with military Joint Special Operations Command units. The HRT, along with the Crisis Negotiation Unit (CNU), the SWAT Operations Unit that manages the field office SWAT program, and the Tactical Helicopter Unit (THU), comprise the Tactical Section of the FBI's Critical Incident Response Group (CIRG). The Hostage Rescue Team was founded in 1982 by Danny Coulson, former Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI, and completed its final certification exercise in October 1983. It was originally composed of 50 operators, later increased to over 140. History Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Attempted Murder
Attempted murder is a crime of attempt in various jurisdictions. Canada Section 239 of the ''Criminal Code'' makes attempted murder punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment. If a gun is used, the minimum sentence is four, five or seven years, dependent on prior convictions and relation to organized crime. United Kingdom England and Wales In English criminal law, attempted murder is the crime of simultaneously preparing to commit an unlawful killing and having a specific intention to cause the death of a human being under the Queen's Peace. The phrase "more than merely preparatory" is specified by the Criminal Attempts Act 1981 to denote the fact that preparation for a crime by itself does not constitute an "attempted crime". In England and Wales, as an " attempt", attempted murder is an offence under section 1(1) of the Criminal Attempts Act 1981 and is an indictable offence which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment (the same as the mandatory sentence fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the List of cities in Texas by population, fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the List of United States cities by population, 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Texas, Wise. According to a 2022 United States census estimate, Fort Worth's population was 958,692. Fort Worth is the city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area, which is the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth most populous metropolitan area in the United States. The city of Fort Worth was established in 1849 as an army outpost on a bluff overlooking the Trinity River (Texas), Trinity River. Fort Worth has historically been a center of the Texas Longhorn cattle trade. It still embraces its Western heritage and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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