In an letter to the Minnesota Daily, former Beth El Synagogue congregant Chuck Turchick argues against the decision to invite former national security advisor and secretary of state Condoleezza Rice to speak as part of the synagogue’s National Speaker Series. Turchick calls on like-minded synagogue members to join members of Tackling Torture at the Top, a committee of Women Against Military Madness, in a protest vigil outside of the St. Louis Park synagogue on Sunday night.

The American Jewish World introduced the controversy in the Sept. 18 edition, with a commentary article by Phil Freshman, a synagogue member who argued against allowing Rice to speak from the Beth El bima. His viewpoint was countered in an article by Tom Sanders, a members of the Beth El board.

The protest vigil, which promises to be peaceful and lawful, is being publicized with a graphic poster, which uses imagery from the infamous prisoner abuse photo taken at the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.