Synagogue's sign promotes gun-violence awareness
Gun-death statistics, as of Feb. 5, displayed at Beth El - The Heights Synagogue.
Temple Israel in Canton, as part of its social justice initiative, developed a program called The Silhouette Project, designed to promote awareness of gun violence. It created a sign, with moveable numbers, to display the ever-increasing number of gun deaths in the U.S.
Beth Wachter, a member of Beth El - The Heights Synagogue, and its social action chair, brought to the board the idea of displaying such a sign.
A decision was made to participate by posting a sign on the synagogue’s lawn, at Desota and Berkley roads, to help bolster awareness of this escalating gun-death crisis.
Beth El encourages other congregations or individuals to consider displaying the sign to help reach other areas within our community.
New tallies are sent out weekly, and daily gun-death counts can also be obtained by scanning the QR code right on the sign. It links to the nonpartisan Gun Violence Archive (www.gunviolencearchive.org), which collects data on the number of deaths, regardless of cause, whether from suicides, mass shootings, officer-involved shootings, or officer deaths.
The 40-inch by 40-inch signs are available from Temple Israel. To get a sign, send a check for $36, payable to Temple Israel, to Temple Israel, 432 30th St. NW, Canton, Ohio, 44709.
Ari Klein and Ditte Wolin
Ari Klein and Ditte Wolin are long time Cleveland Heights residents and members of Beth El - The Heights Synagogue.