Service of Hope for Lauren Spierer Held at Scarsdale Synagogue

Elizabeth, Natalee, Chandra, and now, sadly, Lauren. We all know their awful stories: Stolen from her bed in the middle of the night; a tragic turn over spring break; an internship full of promise then suspicion.

Now it’s a beautiful young woman, a ‘fashionista’ as her friends call her, who went out for a night of fun in a college town only to disappear just before dawn. Lauren Spierer is from Edgemont. She’s one of ours. And no one can find her. And it’s awful.

On Tuesday night, Scarsdale Synagogue held a Service of Hope in honor of Lauren and her family. Rabbis Klein and Gordon and Cantor Becker led the hundreds of friends and neighbors and former classmates in prayer and a chance for the community to join together in this difficult time.

It was a quiet, somber service. There were plenty tears, but no overwhelming displays of grief. That would suggest there is no hope. There still has to be hope for Lauren. “We just want no stone left unturned,” said one of her friends choking up.

“Lauren, we’ll see you at home,” said one woman. What else could be said? That’s what we all want: to wake up from this nightmare and have Lauren at home and happy, enjoying her summer.

The media was also there. The parking lot was filled with satellite trucks and the back wall of the sanctuary was lined with TV cameras from every local network. Once the service concluded the TV reporters gingerly tried to coax some of Lauren’s friends to go on camera to share their feelings. You can’t blame them. It’s their job. It’s the story. And the more it stays in the news the better the chances of someone remembering something, saying something, anything, to bring Lauren back.

Whether we know them personally or not, our hearts ache for the Spierers. It’s our worst fear happening to a neighbor. It’s been frequently reported that Lauren and her mother spoke on the phone every day until the day she went missing. Her mother, Charlene reportedly called out Lauren’s name as she searched for her daughter in the woods near Bloomington, Indiana where she was last seen.

Elizabeth Smart made it home. Let us hope and pray that Lauren Spierer does too.

Read more about the search for Lauren Spierer here.