Detroit Synagogue President Samantha Woll Stabbed to Death

Samantha Woll, 40, board president of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue in Detroit, Michigan, was murdered Saturday, and was found stabbed to death outside her home.

Update: In addition to being a Jewish community leader and a prominent Democratic Party activist, Woll was a co-founder of the Muslim-Jewish Forum of Greater Detroit, an interfaith organization. The forum posted on Facebook: “Sam was one of the dear founders of this forum. She was such a sweet, cheerful, thoughtful soul. May her memory be a blessing.”

The Detroit Free Press reported:

A politically connected Detroit synagogue president was found stabbed dead this morning outside her home in the city’s Lafayette Park neighborhood, east of downtown.

Samantha Woll, 40, led the Isaac Agree Downtown Detroit Synagogue and previously worked for Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin and on the re-election campaign of Attorney General Dana Nessel, both Democrats.

…

“I am shocked, saddened and horrified to learn of Sam’s brutal murder,” Nessel said in a statement. “Sam was as kind a person as I’ve ever known. She was driven by her sincere love of her community, state and country. Sam truly used her faith and activism to create a better place for everyone.”

President Biden spoke out against antisemitism and Islamophobia in an Oval Office address last week:

You know, and here at home, we have to be honest with ourselves. In recent years, too much hate has been given too much oxygen, fueling racism, a rise in antisemitism and Islamicphobia [Islamophobia] right here in America.

It’s also intensified in the wake of recent events that led to the horrific threats and attacks that both shock us and break our hearts.

No motive has yet been identified, but Jewish institutions have been under threat ever since the Palestinian terror group Hamas carried out a massive attack in Israel on October 7, murdering more than 1,200 people.

Breitbart News visited the Isaac Agree synagogue in 2019:

The Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, the last functioning synagogue left in the city of Detroit, is a remnant of a community that began moving to the suburbs even before the tumultuous events of the 1960s. Ten years ago, it was slated to close.

But it was saved by two young Jewish activists who reshuffled the board and renewed the community’s interest in keeping the facility alive.

Today, the synagogue is expanding, and holds regular Sabbath services.

The Detroit area is home to a large Arab population, and a large rally in support of Hamas was held in nearby Dearborn on Oct. 12.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated to reflect a revised number on the death toll from the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel. The Israeli government estimate of 1,400 was revised to around 1,200, according to Reuters.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.