Jewish institutions in the Chicago area are focused on safety following the fatal shootings Wednesday evening of two Israeli Embassy aides outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. and the arrest hours later of a Chicago man who was named as a suspect.
A spokeswoman for the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, which is located in Skokie, said Thursday morning that security is paramount.
“The safety of staff and guests is of foremost importance,” said Janet Weiss. “We are always working in close coordination with local and state law enforcement and security professionals.”
The museum was open as usual on Thursday.
In a Facebook message posted Thursday, museum officials recognized the two embassy employees who were killed, Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky.
The Facebook post stated: “The Illinois Holocaust Museum mourns the senseless murder of two staff members. … Our hearts go out to their families, the Israeli community, and all affected by this horrific act. We stand united against antisemitism and violence against Jews in all forms and reject the normalization of hate and violence as unacceptable.”
Yossi Brackman, who serves as rabbi at the Rohr Chabad Center at the University of Chicago, said he didn’t want to get into details of any increased security measures but noted that security is an ever-present concern.
“I don’t really have much to share, but we’re always vigilant and take security very seriously,” he said.
“I’m very concerned when there is senseless violence in the name of political activism,” Brackman said. “This is very worrying to me, and it should be worrying to all Americans. It’s very troubling.”
Rabbi Avremel Hershkovich, who coordinates security for Lubavitch Chabad of Illinois, an organization that runs community centers and provides other services at more than 50 locations in the Chicago area, and is part of a larger international Jewish organization, said he’d been in touch with the Chicago Police Department about increased security.
Hershkovich said he sent an email Thursday morning to members letting them know he’d requested extra attention.
“This incident really hits close to home for us in Illinois and the local community here in Chicago because the (suspected shooter) actually lived right next door in Albany Park, where there’s a lot of Jewish people walking around openly Jewish, and it’s shaken us to the core,” Hershkovich told the Sun-Times.
“Our hearts are broken,” he said. “As Jews, as Americans and as human beings, we mourn the innocent lives that were lost. Our response to any darkness is to always bring more light … acts of goodness and kindness. It’s not just a message, it’s our mission.”
Lonnie Nasatir, president of the Jewish United Fund of Chicago, said the shootings have put people in a heightened state of awareness.
“We were already in a constant state of alert, but I think it’s safe to say we are on more of an alert than even before,” said Nasatir.
“Neighborhood police districts in Chicago have been nothing but responsive in the last 24 hours,” he said.
“We don’t want people to not be active in Jewish life, we need to be strong, to persevere and not let the bad guys win, so to speak,” he said.