Gay Synagogue "Vigilant" In Wake Of Terror Plot Rumors

Members of Congregation Or Chadash, 5959 N. Sheridan Rd., were notified Oct. 29 that their synagogue, which mainly serves GLBT members, might have been one of two Jewish places of worship targeted in an alleged terrorist plot.

Government officials announced Friday that two packages intercepted late last week while en route from Yemen to the U.S. contained explosives and were addressed to two Chicago Jewish organizations.

One parcel was found in a UPS plane at East Midlands Airport near Nottingham, England, while another was discovered in a FedEx plane in Dubai. President Obama said Friday that the plot had posed a "credible terrorist threat" to the United States.

Government officials as of Oct. 31 had not announced who the intended organizations actually were, but information began to circulate two days earlier that Or Chadash might have been one of them.

Laurence Edwards, Or Chadash's rabbi, said that a Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago official had informed him over the weekend that Or Chadash was one of four area synagogues being advised to heighten security efforts.

Edwards first heard of the matter Oct. 29, when he received a message from Michael Zedek, rabbi to Emanuel Congregation, which leases space to Or Chadash. Zedek asked Edwards to meet him before a congregational dinner at the synagogue that evening.

Zedek was told by a JUF official that Or Chadash might have been the intended destination of one of the packages. Members of both congregations were informed of the rumor that night.

"The news was greeted with calm bemusement," according to Edwards. "I think our first thought was, "Why someone as small as us?'"

The synagogue has faced protests by Westboro Baptist Church, for example, but Edwards did not see how the small community could come under a foreign terrorist group's radar. "I have never been aware of any possible threat," he said.

Government officials have not yet been in contact with Edwards or anyone at Or Chadash about the matter.

"For me, it's still third-hand knowledge," Edwards said. "I don't have any reason to doubt it, but I haven't seen any of the packing labels yet either."

William Wahler, co-president of Or Chadash, said that he and his co-president were preparing an email message reassuring members that the situation was under control.

"We have to remember that this is just a rumor, first and foremost," Wahler said. "But that doesn't mean that we're not going to be vigilant about this."

Area police have been regularly patrolling Emanuel Congregation's parking lot, and officers on police boats have been keeping an eye on it from the lake, according to Wahler.

"Ironically, there is probably no safer place to pray in Chicago than Emanuel right now," Wahler said.

Wahler added that Or Chadash has received an immense outpouring of support from around the world. Many Chicago Jewish organizations also pledged advice and support.

"One thing I keep saying is that Or Chadash is not marginalized in the Chicago Jewish community," Wahler said. "Our synagogue issues are pretty much the same issues as any other synagogue."

On Oct. 30, British Home Secretary Theresa May suggested that the explosives might have been intended for the cargo planes themselves, not the synagogues.

"The target may have been an aircraft and had it detonated the aircraft could have been brought down," May said, according to New York Times.

John O. Brennan, deputy national security advisor for Homeland Security, also told CBS's Face the Nation that the bombs appeared "designed to be detonated in flight."

Wahler was dubious of that possibility.

"Then why mail it to a gay synagogue in Chicago?" he asked.

But Or Chadash and other Chicago-area synagogues proceeded with business as usual over the weekend. Edwards taught his Sunday morning classes as he does most weeks.

"I keep wondering if there is any way we can spin this into more members," he said, laughing.

"We're just going to watch out for things out of the ordinary," Wahler said. "We can't stop our lives because of this."