O pinion
We Were Interrupted. We Were Not Stopped.

BY U.S. REP. SUSAN WILD
ON JAN. 6, 2021, in the midst
of unfolding chaos — the sounds
of gunfire and shattering glass
echoing around me — I made
one of the toughest phone calls of
my life. I FaceTimed my 27-year-
old son and 24-year-old daughter,
Clay and Addie, to see their faces
and to tell them how much I
loved them. While I tried hard
to steady my voice and project
some semblance of confidence, I
had never experienced the kind of
terror I felt in that moment.

Let’s be clear on what took
place last week: Domestic
terrorists — armed with guns,
improvised explosive devices
(IEDs) including pipe bombs and
Molotov cocktails, tear gas and
other weapons — stormed the
United States Capitol and brought
democracy to a halt. Breaching
one layer of security after another,
they reached the doors of the
House chamber — pounding on
the doors and breaking glass to
try to force their way in.

As revealed by the images that
have since been broadcast across
our country and around the
world, a thin line of officers had
to rely on their own bodies and
a makeshift barricade of nearby
furniture to keep the violent mob
from overrunning them and
breaking into the House chamber
— an outcome which, according
to every indication, would have
resulted in a massacre. It’s a
miracle that more people didn’t
lose their lives. As Reuters
journalist Tim Bourg stated,
“I heard at least three different
rioters at the Capitol say that
they hoped to find Vice President
Mike Pence and execute him by
hanging him from a Capitol Hill
tree as a traitor. It was a common
line being repeated. Many more
were just talking about how the
VP should be executed.”
Vice President Pence, Speaker
Nancy Pelosi and the representa-
tives on the floor were escorted
out as the mayhem broke out.

But those of us up in the gallery
found ourselves trapped. Officers
trained their weapons on the
doors behind us. Feeling a sharp
surge of panic as I tried to process
what was happening, I sheltered
under my seat. My colleague
and friend Rep. Jason Crow of
Colorado — a veteran who was
awarded the Bronze Star for
valor in combat — gripped my
hand and assured me that we
would make it out alive.

In the tension of the moment,
I lost track of time.

I couldn’t tell whether five or
30 minutes had passed since the
officers had shouted instructions
to retrieve gas masks under our
seats and start crawling toward
escape on the far side of the
gallery. Finally, we were able to
evacuate under their protection.

Members who had served
in the military and had experi-
ence with gas masks from their
days in combat — Rep. Crow,
Rep. Ruben Gallego and others
— helped civilians adjust the
equipment. With officers leading
the way, we filed out through the
long, labyrinthine hallways of
the Capitol, eventually reaching
our secure location — a large
committee conference room.

We stayed sequestered
in that location for hours as
Capitol Police worked to regain
control and track down all those
who had spread out across the
complex. Photos and videos
captured by resolute journal-
ists show the nature of these
individuals and the ideology that
motivated them: the neo-Nazi
wearing clothing emblazoned
with “Camp Auschwitz” — only
one of myriad anti-Semitic and
racist symbols and paraphernalia
proliferating throughout the
crowd; the nooses left hanging
across the complex, and the
gallows the perpetuators had
set up outside; the Confederate
flags carried inside the Capitol;
the white supremacist “OK”
and Nazi salutes; the phrase
“Murder the media” etched into
one of the Capitol’s doors; acts
of theft, vandalism and desecra-
tion committed in offices and on
the floor of the chamber; and,
most importantly, the violence —
violence resulting in the deaths of
five people and scores of serious
injuries, including the death of
a brave Capitol Police officer,
Officer Brian Sicknick, who died
protecting his country against
those who would betray it.

Those who attacked the
Capitol were not patriots. They
are traitors with blood on their
hands. They must be treated
as such and prosecuted to the
fullest extent of the law.

But to pretend that this
event somehow happened in
a vacuum — the work of the
individuals who participated in
the physical breach alone —
would be profoundly false.

Earlier that same day, after
all, the president had whipped
the crowd into a frenzy, reiter-
ating his false and destructive
claims that the election had been
stolen and telling his supporters
to “walk down to the Capitol”
and saying, “Our country has
had enough. We’re not going to
take it anymore.” “Fight!” he told
them. After lying for months
about the election and the possi-
bility of overturning the results,
the president and those objecting
to the election’s certification in
Congress had led their supporters
to expect an impossible outcome.

When the mob stormed the
Capitol that afternoon, they were
trying to prevent us from doing
our constitutional duty. But late
that night, after midnight and
into the early hours of the next
morning, I was back on the
House floor with my colleagues
to do my duty. Critically,
Congress was interrupted but
not stopped. The will of the
American people prevailed.

I believe we must take
immediate steps to ensure
that this president does not do
further damage to our democ-
racy in the last weeks of his term.

But these immediate steps, while
necessary, are insufficient. Once
this chapter has passed and the
new administration is in place,
my colleagues and I must work
to make our democracy stronger
over the long run, to address the
culture of violence, xenophobia
and intimidation that has taken
root in our society. And, regard-
less of political affiliation, we
must all make clear that what
happened this week will never be
allowed to happen again.

Our country deserves better.

The attack on the Capitol was
an attack on our nation and an
insult to every American. We
must, and we will, rise above it. l
Congresswoman Susan Wild
was the first woman elected to
serve Pennsylvania’s Seventh
Congressional District in the
House of Representatives and
the only Jewish federally elected
Pennsylvania official. The former
Allentown solicitor lives in the
Lehigh Valley.

When the Prayer for the Government Takes on New Meaning
BY RABBI MENACHEM CREDITOR
16 JANUARY 14, 2021
I REMEMBER MANY years
ago feeling ambivalent about the
prayer for the government recited
in synagogues every Shabbat
morning. Were we sanctifying
the policies of an administration?
What of political leaders who
would use religious language
in pursuit of their particular
agendas? I wondered: Isn’t God
bigger than that?
My feelings have changed as
I’ve grown older, but never have I
prayed as deeply for the govern-
ment of the United States as I
did last week, upon witnessing a
violent mob attack our nation’s
capital. Professional journal-
ists and smartphone-wielding
citizens made clear that we were
in dire need of heaven’s help.

On Jan. 6, my children asked
me to explain the inexplicable,
and my response was a worried,
stumbling prayer: Please God,
protect our government’s leaders,
JEWISH EXPONENT
who have been whisked away from
the very heart of America because
of the threat of physical harm.

Regardless of a citizen’s polit-
ical commitments regarding
small government or universal
health care, fiscal conservatism
or foreign policy, the ancient sage
Rabbi Chanina, the deputy high
priest of his day, defined what it
means to pray for the government
when he said: “One should pray
for the welfare of the government,
as were it not for the fear of the
government, every person would
swallow their neighbor alive.” The
violence in Washington, D.C.,
proved him right.

The common good is a
fragile thing, and its preserva-
tion depends upon the collective
stewardship of our leaders. Jewish
history is replete with examples
of how easy it can be for a leader
to incite societal fissures. Just
last week, we read in the Torah
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM