Rabbi Adam Stock Spilker’s harrowing weekend—with his son narrowly escaping a shooting at Brown University and then waking to news of an attack on Jews in Australia—reveals a disturbing reality that extends far beyond these isolated incidents. These events highlight the precarious intersection between random violence and targeted religious hatred that increasingly defines our modern experience.
What’s particularly striking about Rabbi Spilker’s experience is how it collapses the artificial distance many maintain from tragedy. One moment, violence is something that happens to others; the next, it’s mere feet away from your child. This collapse of distance forces a reckoning with the randomness of violence and the specific targeting that characterizes anti-Semitic attacks.
The Illusion of Safety in Public Spaces
The shooting at Brown University shatters the already fragile notion that educational institutions remain sanctuaries from violence. University campuses—once considered bastions of intellectual safety—have increasingly become targets for mass violence. Since the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007, which claimed 32 lives, we’ve witnessed a disturbing normalization of campus violence.
What’s particularly troubling about the Brown incident is how ordinary the circumstances were. Eiden was simply heading to use a bathroom—a mundane action that nearly placed him directly in a shooter’s path. This randomness echoes the 2023 Michigan State University shooting where students in ordinary spaces—a dining hall and academic building—suddenly found themselves fleeing for their lives.
The psychological impact extends far beyond those directly involved. Rabbi Spilker’s physical reaction—his body
