From the Frontlines: Terror at Temple Israel in Michigan

"From the Frontlines" is an ADL podcast which brings listeners to the frontline in the battle against antisemitism, hate and extremism through conversations with ADL staff who are living that battle every day.
Picture a Thursday afternoon in the suburbs of Detroit. More than 100 young children are in school at their synagogue when a man rams a truck into the front entrance of that building. He drives it through the doors and down the hallway, opens fire with a rifle, and but for the extraordinary heroism of an armed security team, would have committed one of the worst antisemitic massacres in American history.

That is what happened on March 12, 2026, at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan. One of the largest Reform synagogues in the country, and one of the most beloved Jewish institutions in the Detroit area, became the latest frontline in America's crisis of antisemitism.

This podcast features Elyssa Schmier, ADL's Regional Director in Michigan, and someone for whom this attack was both part of her professional work, but also devastating on the deepest personal level. She is a congregant of Temple Israel,and her husband's family has worshipped at the synagogue for four generations. She offered very powerful reflections on what happened, the impact on the community and where the community is today.
If you wish to donate to help this community in the aftermath of this attack, visit: https://www.temple-israel.org/home.html.
This conversation was recorded in March 2026., shortly after the terror incident occurred.