Rabbi in Texas synagogue hostage situation grew up in Lansing
Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, a Lansing native and a University of Michigan graduate, was among the four hostages freed from a Dallas-area synagogue after an 11-hour standoff on Saturday.
Cytron-Walker has led Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas since 2006, according to the synagogue's website. He is the congregation's first full-time rabbi.
"I am thankful and filled with appreciation for all of the vigils and prayers and love and support, all of the law enforcement and first responders who cared for us, all of the security training that helped save us," Cytron-Walker wrote on Facebook Sunday morning. "I am grateful for my family. I am grateful for the CBI Community, the Jewish Community, the Human Community. I am grateful that we made it out. I am grateful to be alive."
Before taking on his role at Beth Israel in Texas, Cytron-Walker served congregations in Ishpeming, Michigan, Fort Walton Beach, Florida, and Cincinnati, Ohio.
Cytron-Walker graduated from Lansing's J.W. Sexton High School in 1994, according to a post on the school's alumni page, and grew up attending Congregation Shaarey Zedek in East Lansing, which is currently led by Rabbi Amy Bigman. His mother, Judy Walker, is still a member there.
"I met him when he was a high school student. He was involved with the youth group here at Shaarey Zedek, and I was a brand new rabbi in the Detroit area working with youth group students," Bigman said. "He's a great colleague and a wonderful man, a really good person in every sense of the word."
When Bigman heard the news that Cytron-Walker was involved in the hostage situation she was shocked and immediately got in touch with his family. She spent time with Cytron-Walker's mother during the ordeal and said that Walker was doing as well as could be expected on Sunday.
Congregation Shaarey Zedek was relieved upon hearing the news that the hostages were released Saturday night.
"I appreciate and am grateful to my colleagues, the priests and ministers, the imam that reached out to me yesterday, and we just continue to put one foot in front of the other and continue to work for better understanding between the people of various religious faiths," Bigman said. "This just reminds us about how important it is for us to get to know each other and respect each other."
Synagogues across the country are on high alert following yesterday's events, though the FBI and Congregation Beth Israel have not tied them to antisemitism.
“We know that a situation of this magnitude could increase the concern many of us live with on a day-to-day basis due to antisemitism,” President of Congregation Beth Isreal Michael Finfer said in a press release. “It is important to note that this was a random act of violence. Indeed, there was a one in a million chance that the gunman picked our congregation. Further, the FBI is confirming that the attacker appeared to be working alone.”
Still, Bigman said that Congregation Shaarey Zedek has been putting security measures in place for years because of events like this. "We'll continue to evaluate and assess based on what we now know from this situation," she said.
Cytron-Walker praised the security training he and his congregation have received for his and the other hostages' survival.
“We are alive today because of that education. I encourage all Jewish congregations, religious groups, schools, and others to participate in active shooter and security courses," he said in a press release. “In the last hour of our hostage crisis, the gunman became increasingly belligerent and threatening... Without the instruction we received, we would not have been prepared to act and flee when the situation presented itself."
Cytron-Walker has worked to bring a sense of spirituality, compassion and learning into the lives of his north-Texas congregation, according to the rabbi's biography posted on the Congregation Beth Israel website. The father of two is active in his community outside the synagogue, as well, and has developed positive relationships with local school districts and organized interfaith gatherings including National Day of Prayer events and a memorial service on the tenth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
"He loves finding a connection with people of every age and strives to carry forward the [Congregation Beth Israel] tradition of welcoming all who enter into our congregation, from interfaith families to LGBT individuals and families to those seeking to find a spiritual home in Judaism," his biography says.
The hostage situation began on Saturday morning while the synagogue was live-streaming a service on Facebook. The suspect, who the FBI has now identified as 44-year-old British citizen Malik Faisal Akram, claimed to have weapons and explosives, according to multiple news reports. All hostages made it out of the synagogue alive, but the suspect is dead.
Contact reporter Elena Durnbaugh at (517) 231-9501 or edurnbaugh@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ElenaDurnbaugh.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Rabbi in Texas synagogue hostage situation grew up in Lansing
