Responding to the Synagogue Attack in Colleyville, Texas: For Jewish Educational Settings

This mini-lesson is designed to be adaptable. You can use the activities in sequence or choose a selection best suited to your classroom. It includes:

• 2 activities 
• 2 extension activities
• Recommended articles for exploring this topic

Self-reflection is important preparation for facilitating emotionally challenging conversations. As educators, we have to make time to process our own feelings and become aware of the way our own identities and experiences shape our perspectives. Read the “Start with Yourself” section on page 2 of our Fostering Civil Discourse guide. Then reflect on the following questions:

• How have you been affected by the events of the past week? What emotions does the news of the hostage situation at Congregation Beth Israel of Colleyville, Texas, raise for you? What questions are you grappling with? How might your own personal identity and experiences impact your response?
• As you enter the conversation with your students, how will you take into account your students’ Jewish identities and how your students may have personally experienced antisemitism?

Consider the ways in which your own students may have been impacted by the recent news. What support might your students need and what resources in your school, including counselors and social workers, could help provide this support?

Before discussing the news from Texas, it is important to revisit with students any class contract you have created together to ensure that the classroom is a safe and brave space for difficult conversations. If you have not created a class contract, plan to begin with a brief contracting activity before discussing the news.

Share with students a summary of what happened at Congregation Beth Israel of Colleyville, Texas, from a trusted news source. This Washington Post article provides a detailed account of the events. Either read the article together as a class or give students time to read it privately. ¹

Allow time for students to name what stands out to them from this news story or in other news of this past weekend events and then to process and reflect, perhaps writing in their journals and then sharing some thoughts with a partner. You might use the following writing prompts:

• The synagogue attack in Colleyville, Texas, is disturbing and painful to learn about. It prompts us to ask many questions, some of which may not have an answer. What questions does this event raise for you? What feelings does it provoke?
• How do you see this event affecting people in your home, in your school, and in your community?

After students have had some time to write privately in their journals, have them read “It’s a Courageous Thing to Do.”

After students have had time to read this passage, you might ask them to share some of their thoughts using the Think, Pair, Share strategy. Or, if you do not think students are ready for sharing their thoughts verbally, you can ask them to add a comment about one or more questions to a graffiti board. Students can then volunteer to share thoughts and observations after reading through the variety of responses.

Acknowledge that these are heavy conversations about difficult topics and remind students that the individual and collective choices we make can move us toward creating a more compassionate and tolerant world. Bring closure to the conversation by reading the following quote by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks: 

I am proud to be part of a people who, though scarred and traumatised, never lost their humour or their faith, their ability to laugh at present troubles and still believe in ultimate redemption; who saw human history as a journey, and never stopped traveling and searching. ²  

• 1Note: The Washington Post provides a limited number of free articles per month, so you should ensure that your students have access to this article or find a different article from a trusted news source.
• 2Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, “Why I Am a Jew” (transcript), The Office of Rabbi Sacks website.

The lesson The Roots and Impact of Antisemitism from our unit Teaching Holocaust and Human Behavior focuses on the question, “What is antisemitism, and how has it impacted Jews in the past and today?”

For further exploration of this topic, refer to our online resources.

These resources help guide lessons about how each of us can help to bring about a more humane, just, and compassionate world and build a more inclusive democracy. The readings below have particular resonance right now. Used singly or together, they can help students consider the values, tools, and actions that protect human rights, establish a sense of safety and dignity, and strengthen communities.

• Not in Our Town: Residents of Billings, Montana, banded together to stand up to racist and antisemitic violence in their town: Intolerance, hatred, and violence test the strength of a community. How the members of a community respond is one measure of its citizens' commitment to democracy. This reading includes a companion video and lesson plan.
• Talking About Religion: Eboo Patel, founder of Interfaith Youth Core, talks about his failure to respond to antisemitism in high school and how this experience of being a bystander informed his commitment to pluralism.
• Walking with the Wind: Congressman and activist John Lewis tells a story from his childhood to explore how we can work together to create a better world:
  “. . . America itself felt as if it might burst at the seams—so much tension, so many storms. But the people of conscience never left the house. They never ran away. They stayed, they came together, and they did the best they could, clasping hands and moving toward the corner of the house that was the weakest.”