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About fifty men shook their arms and swayed, harmonizing in Hebrew under a clouded sky, while police watched and pilgrims laid stones and flowers on the memorials of the 11 murdered faithful. last Saturday. The building is still closed while the police are processing the crime scene.
Many women have also sung, though they have spread, a common separation in the conservative branches of Judaism. Children ran between their parents' legs. A father gently wiped the tears from the cheeks of his teenage son, consoling him gently as the congregation prayed.
At one point, the service was stopped to thank an FBI member who had helped the Chevrah Kadisha, the Jewish organization that helps prepare the bodies for burial. After, the congregation broke up Al Hanisim, a Chanukah song that commemorates the perseverance of the Jews in the face of violent oppression. Although this is not normally part of Shabbat services, no one had to ask why the song was appropriate for singing tonight.
"The Jewish people know, through their history, that even if things look bad, we can always unite, we will always persevere," said Rabbi Sam Weinberg, director of Hillel Academy in Pittsburgh, whose students helped organize the Shabbat service. SMS on Friday.
"Six days later, right here," he continued, pointing to the synagogue of the Tree of Life that stood nearby, "the most horrible and terrible thing happened, we can always gather as a people and find some peace on Shabbat. "
The service closed an emotional day in Pittsburgh, as the city's Jewish community buried the last dead. By nightfall, it seemed that half of Squirrel Hill, the Jewish and historic district of Pittsburgh, was returning home after the Sabbath services, snuggling against the cold.
"A circle nobody wants to be part of"
The last funeral of the 11 Jews killed six days ago took place on Friday. Rose Mallinger, 97, is remembered for her strong will and commitment to Tree of Life.
Under the rising arches of the Rodef Shalom sanctuary, Mallinger's family and friends praised his joie de vivre.
"She was 97, but she was not finished," said Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, head of Mallinger's congregation at Tree of Life / Gold's Simcha. "She had sperm."
Wearing a button commemorating the Charleston Massacre, Manning said that he had gone to Pittsburgh on Friday to offer moral sustenance, show solidarity and "pay for the future" after the great number of Americans who supported his church.
At the Mallinger memorial service, the pastor read Psalm 23 and told the congregation that his church "laments with you, is with you and will always be there with you".
After the service, a long line of mourners waited to talk to Manning, taking him in his arms and thanking him in tears for coming to Pittsburgh.
The Pittsburgh Jews and their community in Charleston share a common and tragic connection, Manning said in a brief interview.
"We are part of a circle that nobody wants to be part of," he said. "What we need to do, today and every day, is to make sure this circle does not expand."
Manning was only one of many people in the world affected by the antisemitic attack last Saturday.
Myers said he received a call from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday. After a brief discussion about the language in which to converse (Myers said they had chosen Hebrew, their "mother tongue"), Netanyahu had told him that Israel was crying with Pittsburgh, Myers said. .
Outside Tree of Life, pilgrims gathered to place flowers and posters on the memorials of the 11 Jews killed by the shooter last Saturday.
Among them were Jody Yoken and her 9-year-old son Ryder from Toronto for a hockey tournament. Yoken said his son, who is attending a Hebrew school in Canada, asked tough questions following Saturday's attack: are we safe? Why do not people like us?
"I tell him that some people have trouble accepting differences," said Yoken, "and that's why we must try to be as accepting as possible towards others."
A global bestowal
The Twitter hashtag #ShowupforShabbat has been in fashion all week, with communities in the United States urging people to visit synagogues and show their support in the aftermath of the attack.
The Jewish community in the United Kingdom is also mobilizing to show solidarity, with leaders urging people to attend religious services on Friday night and Saturday morning.
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