Contact: Max Rosenblum or Rachel Landman
202.387.2800 | news@rac.org
Washington, D.C., March 28, 2016 – In response to yesterday’s terrorist attack in Lahore, Pakistan, Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, issued the following statement:
We were horrified and heartbroken by yesterday’s terror attack in Lahore, Pakistan that claimed the lives of more than 60 people and injured more than 300. That the Christian families celebrating Easter in Gulshan Iqbal Park, mostly women and children, were the target of this attack by the Taliban is especially painful. As a faith community, we must unite to ensure that all communities, regardless of their religious beliefs, are able to practice and celebrate their faith without fear.
Yesterday’s attack follows a string of terror attacks throughout Africa, Asia and Europe during the month of March. Our Jewish values teach us, "he who takes one life it is as though he has destroyed the universe" (Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5). These recent attacks have claimed too many lives as people engage in the most everyday aspects of life, from gathering in a park, or eating in restaurant, to using public transportation. We cannot let the terror that the perpetrators seek to spread fill our world. As we express our deepest condolences to those impacted by this tragic attack, let us unite in a shared commitment to freedom, compassion, and understanding.
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The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism is the Washington office of the Union for Reform Judaism, whose nearly 900 congregations across North America encompass 1.5 million Reform Jews, and the Central Conference of American Rabbis, whose membership includes more than 2,000 Reform rabbis. Visit www.rac.org for more.
