Vigil held for rabbi with Boston ties killed in Jerusalem synagogue attack

(MyFoxBoston.com) -- A vigil was held for one of the four Israeli rabbis killed in a synagogue attack in Jerusalem in Brookline Tuesday night.

Earlier Tuesday, two Palestinians attacked approximately 30 worshipers inside a synagogue with knives, axes, and guns. Police shot and killed the two attackers. Two officers were hurt in the shootout. One of those officers was killed.

 The rabbis killed in the attack were identified as Rabbi Aryeh Kopinsky, 43, Rabbi Shmuel Goldberg, 58, Rabbi Calman Levine, 50, and Rabbi Moshe Twersky, 59. According to the Israeli Consulate, eight additional victims are being treated in Jerusalem hospital.

Twersky, the first victim to be named in the attack, was the oldest son of renowned rabbi and author Rabbi Yitzhak (Isadore) Twersky of Boston. Isadore Twersky was also a renowned professor and founding director of the Center for Jewish Studies at Harvard.

A vigil for Twersky was held Tuesday evening at the Maimonides School on Philbrick Road in Brookline, a school Twersky's grandfather founded. Twersky graduated from the school in 1973.

Israel is vowing harsh retaliation for the attack. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered that the homes of the two attackers be demolished and is calling Palestine's response "insufficient."

Brookline Police confirmed to FOX 25 that they are increasing patrols in the area of all synagogues.

President Obama delivered a statement following the attack.

"I strongly condemn today's terrorist attack on worshipers at a synagogue in Jerusalem, which killed four innocent people, including U.S. citizens Aryeh Kupinsky, Cary William Levine, and Mosheh Twersky, and injured several more," Obama said.

"There is and can be no justification for such attacks against innocent civilians. The thoughts and prayers of the American people are with the victims and families of all those who were killed and injured in this horrific attack and in other recent violence. At this sensitive moment in Jerusalem, it is all the more important for Israeli and Palestinian leaders and ordinary citizens to work cooperatively together to lower tensions, reject violence, and seek a path forward towards peace."


Robert M. Beren, the current director of the Center for Jewish Studies at Harvard and colleague of the late Isadore Twersky,  released a statement on Tuesday regarding Rabbi Moshe Twersky's death, saying that the CJS community was "heartbroken at the news of this unspeakable sacrilegious cruelty."

Twersky was also a graduate of Brookline's Maimonides School. The school released a statement Tuesday morning.

"We mourn the loss of our 1973 graduate, Rabbi Mosheh Twersky, murdered by terrorists in Jerusalem."

This was the deadliest attack in Jerusalem in years. Prior to this, tensions in the area seemed to ease following a meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister and Secretary of State John Kerry. That meeting was focused on Israel and Palestine working together to prevent such attacks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Twitter Tuesday morning that they will respond with a heavy hand to this ambush. The Palestinian President also condemned the attack.

Congressman Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA) also released a statement following the attack.

"We are painfully saddened at the loss of Rabbi Mosheh Twersky, Rabbi Aryeh Kopinsky, Rabbi Calman Levine, and Rabbi Avraham Goldberg who were brutally murdered during morning prayers today at Kehilat Bnei Torah in West Jerusalem," Lynch wrote. "These young Rabbis were men of peace who dedicated their lives to the service of others and the dignity of life itself. Our prayers also go out to the members of the Jewish community in Greater Boston who share a special connection with the Twersky family. Their loss affects us all."

The Consul General of Israel to New England Yehuda Yaakov released a statement on the attack, calling it “unacceptable” that innocent Jews can be “so brutally slaughtered or attacked” while praying.”

"I express my sincere condolences to the families of the victims. I would also like to express my condolences to the Boston community - the Jewish community, the Harvard community, and the greater Boston community - on the personal loss of Rabbi Twersky. Our prayers are with you all," Yaakov said.

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