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PITTSBURGH – The three congregations that lost 11 members during the shootout at the Tree of Life Synagogue gathered on Saturday while services across the country marked the event with prayers and appeals to inclusion.
Jewish leaders encouraged people of all faiths to attend Shabbat services to show their solidarity in the wake of the worst attack on the Jewish people in US history. Starting Friday night, synagogues traveled to New York synagogues in Los Angeles to express their sorrow and oppose anti-Semitism in what a Rabbi from Pittsburgh called an act of spiritual resistance.
The presence of police officers overseeing the entry of many synagogues recalled the increased security issues. A day earlier, New York State officials had announced that fires had been committed outside the synagogues in a Jewish-majority section of Brooklyn.
In Pittsburgh, Squirrel Hill, a neighborhood of brick stores and houses that is the heart of the Jewish community in the city, people gathered to mourn and move on.
Hundreds of people wearing prayer shawls and yarmulkes filled the vast sanctuary of the Congregation Beth Shalom, flanked by tall stained glass windows. The conservative synagogue, located at the highest point of Squirrel Hill, welcomed members of the Tree of Life, New Light and Dor Hadash congregations who can no longer enter their own shared synagogue because it remains a crime scene.
"We had a week of deep sorrow," said Rabbi Danny Schiff at the start of morning services. "But it is Shabbos, and on Shabbat we come out of our homes of mourning and we come together to pray."
In the cold, rainy rain eight blocks away, more than 100 people gathered on the sidewalk outside the Tree of Life for a vigil and to place more stones and stones. bouquets of cut flowers at the Fortune Memorial which includes a white star of David the 11 faithful killed exactly one week earlier.
Rabbi Chuck Diamond offered prayers to people gathered under umbrellas outside the synagogue of the Tree of Life Saturday.
Photo:
Gene J. Puskar / Associated Press
Rabbi Chuck Diamond, former rabbi of the Tree of Life congregation, prayed to people gathered under umbrellas, recited the names of the victims and said that the unwavering support of various faiths and people of the country had given him hope . "I do not feel hated. I only feel love and comfort, and it's a source of inspiration, "he said.
In the space of a week, the Jewish community of Squirrel Hill has faced 11 heartbreaking trials. In the community, many people who came to the tearful vigil experienced or at least had passing acquaintance with those who died.
Janice Dreshman, 54, dressed in a black jacket with the Pittsburgh Pirates logo, placed prayer beads that she said had been blessed by the Dalai Lama on the memorial of Dr. Jerry Rabinowitz, who She said she knew both as a doctor and a friend. She shared an umbrella with 38-year-old Jenna Chung, and the two comforted each other and shared their phone numbers.
"I think your mother and I will keep in touch," Ms. Dreshman told Ms. Chung's daughter before their separation.
During the vigil, Pittsburgh Police Chief Scott Schubert stood in the middle of an intersection to direct traffic. "I was here last Saturday and I felt the need to be here, one for our officers and for the community," he said. "We are proud of Pittsburgh and we will overcome that together."
Hallie Goldstein, 25, of Squirrel Hill, said she was informed of the shooting while she was in Houston about to board a flight home. She then broke down on the news and she again cried Saturday remembering that one of the people killed, Cecil Rosenthal, had detained her cousin at the baptismal ceremony of her baby. She said that when she learned the names of others, she felt her heart stop.
"It's my community. I've really grown up here, "said Ms. Goldstein, who attended the Hebrew School at Tree of Life. She said that she kept coming back to the corner of the synagogue since the shooting. "I refuse to tell people to stay safe because we should not have to remember to stay safe."
Returning to Beth Shalom, as the service drew to a close, Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, who currently heads the Tree of Life congregation, spoke about the Torah portion of the week, which focused on love, respect and kindness.
He described President Trump's welcome to the tree of life earlier in the week and the need to end the odious rhetoric in politics.
He said he received a hate mail from angry people that he had met with the president, but he responded that the only way to defeat the hatred was to react with welcome and respect.
"You can not fight any hate with more hatred. It just does not work, "said Rabbi Myers. "If we must heal as a community, there is only one way and it is the path of good."
A visitor places a flower on a memorial in front of the synagogue of the Tree of Life on Saturday.
Photo:
Jeff Swensen / Getty Images
Write to Kris Maher at [email protected]
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