CINCINNATI — It was a tense situation in Colleyville, Texas where four hostages were held for 10 hours in Congregation Beth Israel Synagogue. One of those hostages, Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, is a 2006 graduate of the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati.

One of his classmates, Rabbi Karen Thomashow, said when she found out he was one of the hostages, she became even more worried.

“I was extremely concerned," said Rabbi Thomashow, the president of the Greater Cincinnati Board of Rabbis. "I would have been concerned anyways, obviously. But to know someone makes it that much closer to home.”

Dr. Gary Zola’s was one of Cytron-Walker's teachers at HUC. Zola said Cytron-Walker was a natural leader on campus

“Charlie was liked by everybody," said Zola, the executive director of the American Jewish Archives at HUC. "And Charlie had the ability as a student in classrooms to bring people together as opposed to drive them apart.”

Thomashow said she knew that Cytron-Walker is the type of person that could work through a situation like this.

“If there is anyone who I believe would bring calm cool-headedness and resolve in the moment and for that number of hours, it would absolutely, almost ironically be this colleague, Rabbi Cytron-Walker," Thomashow said.

Rabbi Charlie, as he is known, told CBS Morning News after the ordeal that he saw his chance and threw a chair at his captor before escaping with two others without a shot being fired.

“I burst into tears for the first time during the day. I let it out," Thomashow said. "And it was of course tears of relief and gratitude.”

While it’s a sigh of relief that their friend and former student was safe, they hope that these actions don’t continue toward the Jewish community or anyone else.

“Have all these years that I’ve been teaching things been untrue?" Zola said. "It really troubles me, as I’m sure you can hear.”