Naropa University, a Buddhist-inspired liberal arts institution in Boulder, Colorado, has issued a public statement condemning a violent attack on Jewish demonstrators that occurred Sunday, 1 June, during the Jewish holiday of Shavuot. The incident, which took place at the Pearl Street Mall in downtown Boulder, left 12 people injured and has been classified by authorities as a hate crime. In his response, Naropa president Chuck Leif noted that the incident has affected all in the community and victims deserve attention as Buddhists seek to reduce suffering everywhere.
The attack targeted participants in a weekly event organized by the group Run For Their Lives, which advocates for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. According to law enforcement officials, 45-year-old Mohamad Sabry Soliman, a resident of Colorado Springs, approached the group dressed as a gardener and threw two Molotov cocktails into the crowd. Authorities later discovered that he had prepared 18 incendiary devices in total and was carrying a backpack sprayer filled with gasoline. Soliman, who sustained burn injuries, was arrested at the scene and has since been charged with attempted murder and a federal hate crime.
In a statement issued Monday, Naropa University President Chuck Lief described the assault as a “violent and anti-Semitic attack” and called for communal healing. “Our Boulder community is faced once again by a torn social fabric and mental anguish that is in need of healing,” Lief wrote. “The victims deserve our focused attention on their suffering and our commitment to create the conditions to bring that suffering to an end.” (Naropa)
The statement in full reads:
Dear Naropa Community,
I am writing to condemn yesterday’s violent and anti-Semitic attack against participants in the peaceful Run For Their Lives rally on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder. Since October 7, 2023, Run For Their Lives has borne witness, nationally, to the women, men, and young people held hostage by Hamas. At least 58 hostages ranging in age from 19 to 85 remain missing.
The attack took place on the very important Jewish holiday of Shavuot, commemorating the receipt of the Jewish people of the Torah, and importantly a time to contemplate the deep mystery of regeneration and new life represented by spring in full flower.
Yesterday’s violence caused direct, serious physical and mental injury to eight older members of our Boulder community; but the impact goes far beyond the injury to those eight and has caused trauma in Boulder and far beyond. In the coming days we will learn more about the perpetrator; but, regardless of the details, he is a man who, clearly consumed by aggression and hatred, invaded the peaceful demonstration which was focused on illuminating the ongoing suffering of the hostages and their families.
Our Boulder community is faced once again by a torn social fabric and mental anguish that is in need of healing. The victims deserve our focused attention on their suffering and our commitment to create the conditions to bring that suffering to an end. That is a priority and the work of a caring society.
Beyond that, we have an opportunity to draw closer as a community, to recognize our inter-dependence and to re-affirm this essential aspiration, rooted in Buddhism but widely applicable:
May all beings be free from suffering and the root of suffering;
May all beings know happiness and the root of happiness;
May all beings live in sympathetic joy, rejoicing in the happiness of others;
May all beings live in equanimity, free from passion, aggression and delusion.
A practice like this, or whatever version you may connect with from another tradition, is among the most important tasks before us.
Naropa was blessed to have had Rabbi Zalman Schachter Shalomi hold our World Wisdom Chair from 1995 to 2004. Reb Zalman was deeply contemplative but endlessly pragmatic. He taught, “I do believe there is more good in the world than evil, but not by much. The task of each person is to help tip the scale. Every life matters immensely, and every well-lived and completed life helps with tikkun olam (healing the world).”
Please don’t wait to care for yourselves in the face of this tragic event; and from that, do whatever you can to extend that care to others who themselves are suffering.
Our dear colleague, Professor Leah Friedman, is working with her Har Hashem community on a healing offering. We will share those details as soon as they are available.
Warm Wishes,
Chuck Lief
President
(Naropa)
Founded in 1974 by Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Naropa University has long served as a center of contemplative education in the United States. It is one of only a handful of accredited institutions in the country rooted in Buddhist principles, and its curriculum integrates Eastern wisdom traditions with Western academic disciplines. Naropa has also maintained a longstanding commitment to interfaith dialogue, notably through the legacy of Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, who worked to foster understanding between Jewish and Buddhist communities.
The city of Boulder, known for its progressive values and diverse religious communities, has a strong Buddhist history. It is home to several Tibetan and Zen centers, including the Boulder Shambhala Center, and has attracted a significant number of practitioners and teachers over the past five decades. Jewish-Buddhist interfaith dialogue has also taken root in the region, fostered by shared interests in contemplative practice and ethical living.
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