The chair a Texas Reform rabbi used to throw at a terrorist, momentarily averting his attention and allowing himself and his congregants to escape, is being moved to a museum for posterity.

A teacup used by Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker to serve the terrorist before he took the synagogue hostage is also going to a museum.

The hostage incident occurred on Shabbos, January 15th, Malik Akram, a 44-year-old�British Pakistani�armed with a pistol, took four people�hostage in Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas.

Hostage negotiations�ensued, during which Akram demanded the release of�Aafia Siddiqui, a�Pakistani�national and alleged�al-Qaeda�operative imprisoned in nearby�Fort Worth�for�attempted murder�and other crimes. He released one hostage after six hours, and the remaining three hostages escaped eleven hours into the standoff. Tactical officers from the�FBI Hostage Rescue Team�subsequently entered the synagogue and fatally shot Akram.

The synagogue has now donated the items to the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia for a new exhibit on modern-day antisemitism in America, which will open to the public this spring. The exhibit will be accompanied by a video interview with the rabbi and the three congregants who were held hostage inside his synagogue.

�We look forward to a time when future generations will not endure this Anti-Semitic hatred,� Congregation Beth Israel�s board of directors said in a statement. �The Weitzman Museum will play a large part in allowing the public to visit and learn as well as protect religious freedoms for Jews in America and worldwide.�

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