Clergy Response to Shooting at Club Q

We are horrified by the news of the shooting over the weekend at Club Q, an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs. Once again, bigotry and hated combined with easy access to military grade weapons (authorities report that the attacker used an AR-15 style rifle) has resulted in the deaths of 5 innocent people, injuries to a dozen more, and lasting trauma for an entire community. We deplore the culture of mass shootings that has normalized this type of terrible violence in our society. Tragically, the United States continues to lead the developed world in the heart-breaking statistic of homicide by firearm.

We reaffirm our dedication to LGBTQ+ inclusion in our Stephen Wise Temple and Schools community and beyond and long for the day when no one will be ostracized, hated, or targeted on account of gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, religion, or creed.

May the families of the victims be comforted, may those injured know refuah shleima (complete healing), and may incidents like this, through our work and action, soon become a distant memory.

The Clergy of Stephen Wise Temple and Schools


With Thanksgiving approaching, this week’s Daily Kavanot will focus upon Jewish themes of gratitude that may help inform the contemporary Thanksgiving celebration.

“After the ingathering from your threshing floor and your vat, you shall hold the Feast of Booths for seven days. You shall rejoice in your festival, you and your son and daughter, your servants, the [family of the] Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow in your communities.”

—Deuteronomy 16:13-14

The oldest recorded Thanksgiving feast, held sometime between September and November in the Plymouth Colony in 1621, was remarkably different from the modern Thanksgiving. The celebration, according to participant Edward Winslow, lasted three days and included eating, games, and military exercises, as well as diplomacy between the Puritans and members of the Wampanoag tribe. Together, they celebrated the Puritans’ first harvest in the New World, brought to fruition through the generous farming guidance provided by the Wampanoag.

Much like the Jewish festival of Sukkot, this Thanksgiving feast celebrated the harvest over several days and offered thanks for the opportunity to eat from the earth. Also like the Jewish festival of Sukkot, this Thanksgiving feast celebrated the receipt of guests, as the Wampanoag welcomed the Puritan newcomers to the Americas.

Unfortunately, the history that unfolded after that first Thanksgiving—the arrival of European immigrants and colonization ultimately resulted in disease and bloodshed that devastated the Native American population—undercuts what made that first celebration possible: the Wampanoags’ generosity. Having already lost an estimated 2/3 of their population to a disease brought by previous European arrivals, the Wampanoag could have easily let the Puritans starve. Instead, their acts of selflessness—teaching these strangers how to live off the land and how to survive in a completely new environment—reinforces the idea, also celebrated in our Torah, that gratitude is meaningless unless it is accompanied by a sincere offer to share one’s bounty with those in need. It should be noted that the peace treaty signed between the Wampanoag and this group of settlers was the only one between Native Americans and English colonists to be honored throughout the lives of all who signed it.

This Thanksgiving, how will we fulfill our tradition’s reminder that a grateful heart must be accompanied by a giving spirit?

—Rabbi Josh Knobel