Gun Totin’ Rabbis

September 8, 2009 · Filed Under Baum's Blog 

Okay, now some rabbis have taken it to a whole new level.  Check out this video which shows rabbis learning to shoot guns and defend their congregations against potential attackers.

Unfortunately, synagogue safety is a very serious matter and there absolutely should be safety procedures.  At big events, there should probably be a police officer or other trained security official.  But, I say let those professionals do what they do best and let the rabbis do what we do best.

I need to go write my Rosh Hashanah sermon, so I won’t say more about this here.  But, to hear more about it, click here to listen to this brief podcast from my colleague, Rabbi Robert Barr.


Comments

One Response to “Gun Totin’ Rabbis”

  1. Cynthia Tyler Says:

    Since I grew up with a military Dad, who shot on
    a Naval District Pistol Team, and I myself earned
    a Varsity letter in marksmanship on the university
    rifle team, and we had several cops in the family,
    I am probably a lot more comfortable with this
    scenario than many others would be. Rabbi Baum has
    a great point of view, that each should perform the task for which each is best trained. And I would rather have a professional, experienced policeman, or hey – a Mossad! – protecting me at
    services. But I applaud the very serious efforts
    of these men: 100 hours of training is enough for
    lessons to really start taking effect, and become
    invaluable in a crisis situation. And Rabbi-cop Moskowitz is a really cute guy! The question becomes, ‘How much should we depend on others to
    defend us? At what expense? What are we doing to
    protect ourselves?’ If I am not for me…..

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