Dear Seattle Community,

Today, we mourn the young couple, Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, who were murdered last night in Washington D.C., outside the Capital Jewish Museum, after attending an American Jewish Committee (AJC) event. 

Our Federation and our local Jewish community know all too well the impact of deadly, antisemitic violence. The pain does not stop with those directly attacked. The trauma and heartbreak move out in concentric circles, rippling across an extended community.

Sarah and Yaron were staff members at the Israeli embassy. Reports that they were to be engaged next week make this brazen act of violence all the more heartbreaking.

While news reports have focused on the fact that they were Israeli embassy staff, to be clear: two people—one of them an American Jew from Kansas—were killed after attending a Jewish community event, outside a Jewish museum, in 2025, in the United States. For many in the Jewish community, this is an actualization of our worst fears for Jewish safety coming true. Antisemitism and antisemitic rhetoric have escalated precipitously in recent years to historic levels. When rhetoric against Jews is tolerated and normalized in society, it can lead to violence like what we saw last night.

We know many are deeply shaken by last night’s attack in our nation’s capital; SAFE Washington, the Federation’s security team, is collaborating closely with law enforcement to ensure local safety and security and there are no known local threats at this time.  

I have heard from many in our community this morning, sharing feelings of pain, sadness, anger, and fear. As I stayed up too late last night watching the news and reading more this morning, I felt all of those emotions and more. The event that AJC put on last night was just like the events many of us attend regularly, and Sarah and Yaron could have been any of us walking out after a night of being together in community.

There are those who are already using this horrific shooting to further divide the Jewish community. Our natural inclination from the anger and pain these murders bring up may be to pull apart from one another and put up walls. Instead, I encourage our community to see if it is possible to open up space for one another and to find common ground as a Jewish community. Sit a bit closer and seek out meaningful ways to support one another and move through this grief together. 

As a Jewish people we frequently tell the stories of our people’s persecution throughout history. However, time and time again that persecution has been followed by even greater resilience. As we head into Shabbat tomorrow, I hope each of us can find ways to be together and remember the resiliency that has been a hallmark of Jewish identity. May we work to make that again the story of our people, even as we live through more difficult times.

Let us collectively extend our hearts to all those affected and to the families and loved ones of Sarah and Yaron. May their memories be for a blessing, and may their loved ones be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.

Wishing our community an early Shabbat shalom,