From Staff Reports

Hundreds, young and old and in-between, gathered inside the overcrowded Congregation Beth Israel, an Asheville synagogue, and prayed for the safety of Israel and its people and to mourn a collective loss on the night of Oct. 12. 

The synagogue’s doors were locked for security purposes during the gathering. 

Speakers at the Asheville synagogue also included several Israelis living in the city, as well as those with friends and relatives caught in the crossfire, according to an Oct. 12 report by Asheville television station WLOS (News 13).

“I think we really needed a moment to come together as a whole community to be able to hear one another,” Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer was quoted as saying by News 13.

The TV station added that “singing, praying, hugging and crying reverberated inside Congregation Beth Israel as the Asheville Jewish community came together as a large group for the first time since the war in Israel began last weekend (Oct. 7).

“In a sign of the times, armed off-duty Asheville police officers guarded the locked door to the synagogue.

“News 13 cameras were asked to remain outside during the event because synagogue officials fielded more than 100 texts, calls and emails from locals fearful they would be singled out.”

Manheimer then was quoted as telling News 13 the following: 

“We need to be very careful. You can see tonight we have a lot of security. Personally, it can be scary. We live in a country where things can happen almost seemingly randomly, and, when you layer on a conflict like this feeling of antisemitism that someone might harbor and act on, it can be a very dangerous situation.”

The TV station added, “The synagogue increased security following the Wednesday (Oct. 11) arrest of Michael Toone... (A story on Toone’s arrest appears to the right of this story.)

In an apparent reference to Toone’s arrest, Mitchell Levine, the rabbi at Congregation Beth Israel, said. “We’ve had added reasons to be paying attention, and we are.”

Meanwhile, Asheville Detective Capt. Joseph Silberman told News 13, “This is the first confirmed anti-Semitic rhetoric in Asheville (since the war), that I am aware of, but there has been a heightened awareness and sensitivity to anything that might happen.”

After noting the many concerns among members of the Jewish community around Asheville, News 13 concluded its report by noting that, “however, Toone’s arrest did not keep away a crowd.”