Boulder Haver Calls for Action Against Gun Violence Following Deadly School Shooting

It is with gut wrenching sorrow that we come together – again – to express outrage and deep concern for the continued gun violence in our country, especially that committed against children.

Our sympathies and prayers go out to the families of those who were gunned down this week at Oxford High School in suburban Detroit.

In just five short minutes, a 15-year-old student shot a total of 11 people, killing four students: Hana St. Juliana, 14; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Justin Shilling, 17; and Tate Myre, 16.

As we mourn with the families and try to re-bandage our own wounds still raw from the King Soopers mass shooting nine months ago, we extend our immense gratitude to the sheriff’s deputy and security guards who quickly disarmed the young shooter, preventing him from using the seven bullets left in the gun, and taking him into custody.

Although the Oxford High School shooting is the deadliest on school property in the United States this year, it is not the first, or second, or even 20^th. According to Education Week, an organization that tracks these gruesome events, Tuesday’s shooting marks the 28^th of its kind in 2021. In November alone, there were four shootings on school property, including one at Hinkley High School in Aurora, Colorado that injured three students.

The use of guns to commit egregious acts of violence in this country continues to rise. That is why Haver, the Rabbinic Council of Boulder, has joined Colorado Faith Communities to End Gun Violence. Jewish tradition obligates us to defend the weak and the vulnerable, to prevent bloodshed, not to stand idly by while our neighbor’s blood is spilled and, above all else, to sanctify and preserve every human life.

To that end, we hope you will join our efforts to create a community that only knows peace, respects different perspectives, and holds space for compassion. As we mourn the loss of these four teens and remember the 9^th anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting, please consider making an end-of-year charitable contribution to organizations whose mission is to end gun violence.

L’Shalom,

Haver, the Rabbinic Council of Boulder

Rabbi Deborah Bronstein, Rabbi Emerita Congregation Har HaShem

Rabbi Ori Har DiGenarro, Conscious Learning Community

Rabbi Tirzah Firestone, Rabbi Emerita Congregation Nevei Kodesh

Morah Yehudis Fishman, Community Educator

Rabbi Ruth Gelfarb, Congregation Har HaShem

Rabbi Sarah Bracha Gershuny, Community Rabbi

Rabbi Lynne Goldsmith, Adventure Judaism

Rabbi Fred Greene, Congregation Har HaShem

Rabbi Jamie Korngold, Adventure Judaism

Rabbi Charna Rosenholtz, Director-Shulchan.net

Rabbi Alan Shavit-Lonstein, Adventure Judaism

Rabbi Marc Soloway, Congregation Bonai Shalom

Rabbi Diane Tiferet Lakein, Community Rabbi