ing Sarah Milgrim: Hundreds gather in Overland Park

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (KCTV) - Hundreds of people from across the country gathered at Congregation Beth Torah to honor the life and legacy of Sarah Milgrim. Through music and prayer, the community began the difficult path toward healing.

Those in attendance said nearly 700 people from across the country filled the sanctuary on Tuesday morning.

“We cannot die because our children die. We must find the strength to live even with our shattered hearts. In doing so, we honor her,” said Rabbi Stephanie Kramer, senior rabbi at The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah, “We will work to carry her ion forward. We will hold tight to her memory and her spirit and we because Sarah lived the world is a better place.”

Faith leaders reflected on Milgrim’s early connection to Judaism, saying her journey as a Jewish woman began at Temple B’nai Jehudah Preschool in Overland Park.

“At B’nai Jehudah’s Preschool she took her first steps into Jewish life,” said Rabbi Kramer.

Kramer explained Milgrim continued her Jewish education at Beth Torah through religious school, confirmation, and her first trip to Israel. She helped others feel connected not just to Israel, but to each other.

“Now, as we mourn her, we are left asking impossible questions. Why Sarah? Why hatred? Why anti-semitism?” Kramer said after Milgrim was shot and killed in a double shooting outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. last Wednesday. Milgrim’s boyfriend Yaron Lischinsky was also killed in the shooting.

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Milgrim worked with the Israeli Embassy before she was killed and colleagues spoke about her deep commitment to the people she served.

“Know this, Sarah, your life mattered. It did matter deeply and eternally,” said Israeli Embassy minister Sawson Hasson.

Hasson talked about how Milgrim became a voice for the voiceless and a safe space for families of hostages and victims.

“Perhaps her most difficult and most noble mission was also the one she undertook with the fiercest of conviction. Making sure the world heard the stories of Israeli women who were raped and murdered on October 7,” said Hasson.

Kramer spoke of how Milgrim used her Jewish values as a moral com in her activism and was driven by her ion to understand people from different walks of life.

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“Sarah Milgrim was a light in the world, and she has left her mark on all of us,” she said.

Now as her friends and family try to heal, the overall local Jewish community says it will continue carrying out her vision of making the world a more peaceful place.

“Over time, people will heal but there will always be these scars and what happened this week is going to leave a deep scar on the Kansas City Jewish community forever,” said Jewish Federation president/CEO Jay Lewis.

Milgrim’s family has requested that donations in her memory be made to the Jewish Federation. The organization is partnering with the family to determine how those funds will be used in her honor.

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