A St. Paul rabbi's son survived the Brown University shooting. Then came the Australia Hanukkah attack
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Rabbi Adam Stock Spilker got a text from his son Eiden on Saturday afternoon reading: “I am safe in case you hear anything.” Spilker, the senior rabbi at Mount Zion Temple in St. Paul, had not yet heard the news of a mass shooting at Brown University, where his son graduated from and now works.
As news unfolded, Spilker soon learned that his son was in the same building where the mass shooting took place. Two people were killed, and nine others were injured. Eiden was working on a project and was going to take a break and go to the bathroom. Instead Eiden decided to push through. Had he gone to the bathroom, Spilker said he may have been caught in the crossfire. Instead, Eiden was able to safely evacuate.
“My body actually knows more than my mind and starts shaking, thinking of like, where but for the grace of God, and thank God, Eiden is okay,” Spilker told MPR News host Catherine Richert.
Less than 12 hours later, a new crisis. The U.S. woke up Sunday to the news of a mass shooting in Australia targeting a Hanukkah celebration. Two gunmen killed 15 people and injured at least 42 more.
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As Spilker was encouraging his son to go to counseling the university was providing, the rabbi was now turning to counsel his own congregation.
That morning of the Australia mass shooting, Mount Zion Temple held a conversation about antisemitism after Oct. 7, 2023, the Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent war.
“We were literally gathering to think about what this world looks like. It hit very close to home,” said Spilker.
An annual report on global antisemitism from Tel Aviv University finds that antisemitic attacks have increased dramatically since the war in Gaza began, though the numbers declined slightly last year from a peak reached immediately after the start of the war.
For Spilker, security for his congregation has been top-of-mind long before the war, in fact in light of the Australia attack the synagogue won’t be making any changes. The Jewish Community Relations Council provides security to Mount Zion and the greater Jewish community and also works with the FBI. But for Spilker, physical security at his congregation doesn’t always translate to peace-of-mind after an antisemitic attack like in Australia. Spilker turned to the Torah to described what he calls “generalized fear.”
“There's a word in Genesis, that is fear that is a dread that we don't know where it's coming from, and that's the worst kind of fear,” explained Spilker, “because it can lead to people doing things that they shouldn't be doing, to reacting, overreacting, that is one of the challenges.”
In light of the pain some in his community may feel, Spilker will work to help his congregation celebrate Hanukkah, which focuses on finding light in the darkness.
