SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) — South Dakota’s only rabbi first heard about the synagogue shooting from Sioux Falls Police.

Rabbi Mendel Aperlowitz had unplugged from social and news media to observe the Saturday Sabbath.

The police came to his door to tell his shocked family about the shooting in California and to offer Aperlowitz extra security.

Aperlowitz lauds the heroism exhibiting by so many people in the midst of unexpected bloodshed. 

The rabbi quotes a mentor of his that we must “turn grief into action.” All men and women of good will must stand together against these horrific acts, says Aperlowitz.

The rabbi heads the Chabad Jewish Center of South Dakota. He came with his family from back east to minister to the state’s small Jewish population.