December 17, 2012

The International Rabbinic Fellowship, a predominantly American Orthodox rabbinical organization, together with all of our fellow citizens shares in the pain, sorrow, anger and revulsion at the horrific massacre of schoolchildren and their teachers, school psychologist and principal in Newtown, Connecticut.

We express our deepest condolences to the families of the murdered innocents and extend to them our hand in love and support during this time of unimaginable grief and pain. 

We call upon all segments of our diverse society to work harder to rid our country of the scourge of this violence which has been visited upon our classrooms, shopping malls and streets all too frequently. This work will need to include revisiting security procedures, more educational initiatives, greater access to counseling and a general challenge to the culture of violence that so permeates our society. 

We also call upon all members of our communities, and especially our elected officials, to debate, draft, pass and enforce sensible and responsible legislation controlling these deadly weapons and high capacity ammunition and magazines that have the ability to cause so much murder and mayhem within seconds, while maintaining the rights of Americans to legally own firearms for legitimate and lawful purposes.