Austin's oldest Jewish congregation marks 2 years since hate-fueled arson

Lori Adelman’s outlook in the two years since the arson attack has wavered almost daily.

It started with a late-evening phone call on Halloween night in 2021, a day before her and her husband’s wedding anniversary. The message: the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue — her synagogue — was inexplicably on fire.

The attack, carried out by a teenage college student, shook members of Austin’s oldest Jewish congregation and scorched the nearly 60-year-old sanctuary in the Shoal Creek neighborhood. In the weeks and months afterward, though the flames were long extinguished, Adelman felt the event was casting a shadow over other parts of her life.

“There are parts of the day where I am just petty and upset that my anniversary got taken from me,” Adelman, who was president of the synagogue at the time of the fire, said in an interview. “That happens that part of the day, and then, later in the day, I’ll be just overwhelmed and grateful we got through it and that we are OK.”

Members of the congregation, including Adelman, gathered Wednesday evening to mark two years since the hate-fueled blaze at the synagogue. Packing into their new transitional sanctuary, they joined together in song and thanked local and federal first responders who were dispatched to the fire that night in 2021.

Afterward, congregation leadership discussed what the path forward could look like as the community embarks on reimagining its worship space. What will become of the old sanctuary, which has remained closed, with yellow caution tape sealing the entrance, remains to be seen, said Jake Cohen, the congregation’s executive director.

The group heard from speakers, including City Council Member Alison Alter, a member of the congregation, about the fraught nature of their current moment, especially as the war between Israel and the militant Palestinian group Hamas has heated up overseas. The long-standing conflict has drawn renewed attention after Hamas’ attacks against Israel on Oct. 7 left about 1,400 people dead and 200 others taken hostage.

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The conflict has some members on edge, as many have family and friends in Israel, Cohen said, adding that he has an uncle, aunt and five cousins — one of which was likely "in a tank somewhere" — overseas.

"That's a really scary thing when you don't know what's going to happen to your family," Cohen said in an interview. "We pray for peace for Israel; we pray for peace for Palestinians; we pray for peace in the country."

In addition, the federal arson case against Franklin Barrett Sechriest could come to a close later this month.

Days after the fire, Austin arson investigators arrested the then-18-year-old student — who investigators later found had filled journals with a slew of antisemitic statements — on suspicion of arson, a first-degree felony. As he remained in custody, a federal grand jury empaneled in Austin handed up a three-count indictment in March 2022, charging him with damaging religious property, use of fire to commit a federal crime and arson.

Sechriest, now 20, pleaded guilty to two of the federal charges — the arson and damage to religious property charges — during a brief court hearing in April. Court records show a sentencing hearing is scheduled at Austin’s downtown federal courthouse on Nov. 29, when he could face up to 20 years in prison. Judge David Ezra of the Western District Court of Texas is presiding over the case.

Cohen said the presence of local law enforcement and security at the synagogue has become more common since the arson. They’ve moved to beef up security measures as well, he said, in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks against Israel.

Regardless, the Wednesday gathering drew scores of congregation members and even some from outside of it. Among the latter was Garry Brown, who said he was drawn to the event after seeing how the Jewish community — and Austin at large — came together after the fire. That fellowship, he said, goes beyond Congregation Beth Israel’s walls.

“If we all belong, we all belong,” said Brown, 60. “That's really everybody: Palestinian, Muslim, Christian, Jewish, gay, straight and (transgender). Everybody.”

Others, including Sarah Holland, the current synagogue president, hope the gathering will serve as a turning point for the congregation, allowing members to move past the past two turbulent years and look forward to a kinder future. "We're excited to turn the corner and begin to focus on rebuilding," she said.

Adelman, the former synagogue president, said it means she can reclaim her wedding anniversary.

"Today was a good day," she said.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin's Congregation Beth Israel gathers 2 years after synagogue arson