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On the First Shabbat After Pittsburgh Attack, ‘Everyone Is Going to Come to Shul’ On the First Shabbat After Pittsburgh Attack, ‘We’re Here to Be Jewish Together’
(about 4 hours later)
The Jewish Sabbath begins tonight at sunset, just as it does every Friday night. PITTSBURGH — As the sun went down on Friday, they walked into synagogues across the country in solidarity and in grief. Some carried prayer books. Some carried their children. Others carried the memories of friends who had been slaughtered nearly a week earlier in a gunman’s hate-filled rampage at the Tree of Life synagogue.
But this is no ordinary Sabbath. Some were Jews with a strict practice of religious observance. Others typically set foot inside a synagogue only once or twice a year. There were Christians and Muslims, political dignitaries and Hollywood stars, greeting one another with a “Shabbat Shalom” that on this first Sabbath since the killings felt less like a friendly greeting than a plea for a shattered peace.
Less than a week after the Pittsburgh shooting that killed 11 people attending shabbat services, synagogues across the country are expecting packed congregations. “We’re all one family, not just 11 families grieving,” Dr. Mitchell Antin, a regular congregant at Congregation Beth Shalom in Pittsburgh, which was holding regular services as well as private services for two of the congregations at the Tree of Life, where 11 people were killed. “We are all grieving.”
There will be Jews with a strict practice of religious observance, along with those who typically only set foot inside a synagogue once or twice a year. There will be Christians and Muslims, political dignitaries and Hollywood stars. At the Rodef Shalom congregation in Pittsburgh, where three funerals were held over the past week, people fell into weary hugs in the lobby and greeted newcomers.
“There is no RSVP provision for shabbat,” said David Harris, the chief executive of the American Jewish Community, an advocacy group that started the hashtag #ShowUpForShabbat earlier this week. He said millions of people all over the world had pledged to attend services on Friday night or Saturday morning. “I think synagogues are going to be very well attended tonight and I think the rabbis are going to be making special efforts to make everyone feel welcome and supported. “Have you been to a Jewish service before?” an older woman asked one of the many women at the service who were wearing hijabs.
Shabbat candles were lit, songs were sung, and the rabbi spoke of how much “we need one another.” The leader of the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh received a standing ovation, as did Joanne Rogers, the widow of the children’s television host Fred Rogers, whose neighborhood, after all, was Squirrel Hill.
“It’s been confusing for me; I’ve been frightened,” Mrs. Rogers told the congregation. “I have had trouble dealing with the fact that this happened, but I don’t want to give credit to the fact that it happened.
“I want to tell you how wonderful you are,” she said. “How beautiful you are. I love you.”
As the cantor sang, a smaller, private service was taking place nearby in Levy Hall for members of the Tree of Life congregation, whose synagogue was now a crime scene and whose membership was now seven fewer. It was holding its first Shabbat service since last Saturday.
David Harris, the chief executive of the American Jewish Committee, an advocacy group that started the hashtag #ShowUpForShabbat earlier this week, said that millions of people all over the world had pledged to attend services on Friday night or Saturday morning.
“It’s grief, it’s solidarity, it’s anger, all that is motivating people,” Mr. Harris added. “Once you get beyond thoughts and prayers, here’s something tangible you could do: show up.”“It’s grief, it’s solidarity, it’s anger, all that is motivating people,” Mr. Harris added. “Once you get beyond thoughts and prayers, here’s something tangible you could do: show up.”
Mr. Harris said he was taking four European ambassadors with him Friday night to Temple Israel on the Upper East Side in New York.Mr. Harris said he was taking four European ambassadors with him Friday night to Temple Israel on the Upper East Side in New York.
In Pittsburgh, hundreds of people were expected to attend Friday night services at Rodef Shalom, the stately synagogue that hosted three funerals this week for four victims of the shooting. The Israeli consul general from New York and Wasi Mohamed, executive director of the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh, were both expected to attend. Just a few feet away, the Tree of Life congregation will hold its Friday night prayer service in a small chapel inside the Rodef Shalom building. The services, Rabbi Jeffrey Myers said, will only be for its members. In Pittsburgh, hundreds of people attended Friday night services at Rodef Shalom, the stately synagogue that hosted three funerals this week for four victims of the shooting. The Israeli consul general from New York and Wasi Mohamed, executive director of the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh, were both expected. Just a few feet away, the Tree of Life congregation held Friday night prayer service in a small chapel inside the Rodef Shalom building. The services, Rabbi Jeffrey Myers said, were only for its members.
A half-mile from the scene of the massacre, Congregation Beth Shalom is opening its soaring worship space to two of the three congregations attacked inside the Tree of Life synagogue. The services for those two congregations, Dor Hadash and New Light, will follow the synagogue’s regular Friday evening prayers. Rabbi Amy Bardack, who is leading the main service, said that the entire Squirrel Hill community was still incredibly traumatized, and that she was crafting a message that would focus on the value of finding strength and comfort in just being together. At Congregation Beth Shalom, which sits just a half-mile from the scene of the massacre, Rabbi Amy Bardack, who was leading the main service, said that the entire Squirrel Hill community was still incredibly traumatized. She crafted a message that focused on the value of finding strength and comfort in just being together.
“Now is our time to just be,” Rabbi Bardack said. “We’re here to be Jewish together. We’re going to reclaim our sacred spaces.”“Now is our time to just be,” Rabbi Bardack said. “We’re here to be Jewish together. We’re going to reclaim our sacred spaces.”
Synagogues across the country — in Chicago, Denver, Boston — will welcome in visitors. Synagogues across the country — in Chicago, Denver, Boston — welcomed visitors.
“Everyone is going to come to shul, and I don’t say that lightly,” said Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, the chief executive of the Conservative movement’s rabbinical organization.“Everyone is going to come to shul, and I don’t say that lightly,” said Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, the chief executive of the Conservative movement’s rabbinical organization.
Her organization held a conference call with rabbis across the country on Thursday to help them prepare for Friday night. She said she hoped the message they give will be more focused on mourning than security planning. Her organization held a conference call with rabbis across the country on Thursday to help them prepare for Friday night. She said she hoped the message they give would be more focused on mourning than security planning.
“We’re trying to connect people to their own grief,” Rabbi Schonfeld said. “People are very fundamentally shaken as Jews, and they need a way to connect to their highest selves as Jews.”“We’re trying to connect people to their own grief,” Rabbi Schonfeld said. “People are very fundamentally shaken as Jews, and they need a way to connect to their highest selves as Jews.”
She had texted one of her colleagues in Pittsburgh after the attack, and she said he texted back: “Everything is going to change now.”She had texted one of her colleagues in Pittsburgh after the attack, and she said he texted back: “Everything is going to change now.”
She added: “I keep thinking about that. Tragically, this is a watershed moment” for American Judaism. “We’ve never been attacked this way on American soil.”She added: “I keep thinking about that. Tragically, this is a watershed moment” for American Judaism. “We’ve never been attacked this way on American soil.”
Hundreds of worshipers are expected to show up for rooftop prayer services at IKAR, a nondenominational congregation in Los Angeles, where blessings will also be offered by Muslim and Protestant religious leaders. Hundreds of worshipers were expected to show up for rooftop prayer services at IKAR, a nondenominational congregation in Los Angeles, where blessings would also be offered by Muslim and Protestant religious leaders.
“There is a need for people to be together and be together in prayer,” said Rabbi Sharon Brous, who expected twice as many worshipers than usual. “Prayer is an act of protest of the world as it is and sense of yearning of what it could be.” “There is a need for people to be together and be together in prayer,” said Rabbi Sharon Brous, who expected twice as many worshipers as usual. “Prayer is an act of protest of the world as it is and sense of yearning of what it could be.”
There will be singing, as there always is, she said, but there will also be time set aside for people to speak with each other about their own feelings after a week that “really upended our sense of stability and security in this country.” There would be singing, as there always is, she said, but there would also be time set aside for people to speak with each other about their own feelings after a week that “really upended our sense of stability and security in this country.”
Rabbi Brous, a liberal activist who frequently speaks about politics from the pulpit, said she has spent much of the week reading the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s remarks after the 1963 Birmingham church bombing, looking for guidance on what to tell her own congregation. Rabbi Brous, a liberal activist who frequently speaks about politics from the pulpit, said she had spent much of the week reading the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s remarks after the 1963 Birmingham church bombing, looking for guidance on what to tell her own congregation.
“If you fuel hatred and create a culture where people have easy access to guns, eventually that hatred turns deadly,” she said. “That’s something I think we need to speak about very clearly. We have to create a space for both healing and for moral outrage that will lead to action.”“If you fuel hatred and create a culture where people have easy access to guns, eventually that hatred turns deadly,” she said. “That’s something I think we need to speak about very clearly. We have to create a space for both healing and for moral outrage that will lead to action.”
At Temple Sinai, a large Conservative synagogue in Los Angeles, the message will be less political: Roughly half the congregants support President Trump, said Rabbi David Wolpe. At Temple Sinai, a large Conservative synagogue in Los Angeles, the message was to be less political: Roughly half the congregants support President Trump, said Rabbi David Wolpe.
“I’m going to say that if you have an objection of the rhetoric on the one side, you have to be willing to criticize the other side,” he said. “I always get people who want me to scream at the other side, and I want to tell them: please yell at your own side. When I started in the rabbinate 30 years ago, I thought anti-Semitism was my father’s issue, but it’s not going to be mine. And now I am heartbroken this is a serious problem in our country.” “I’m going to say that if you have an objection of the rhetoric on the one side, you have to be willing to criticize the other side,” he said. “I always get people who want me to scream at the other side, and I want to tell them: Please yell at your own side. When I started in the rabbinate 30 years ago, I thought anti-Semitism was my father’s issue, but it’s not going to be mine. And now I am heartbroken this is a serious problem in our country.”
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, which represents the largest stream in American Judaism with about 900 congregations, said that a lot of people have asked him whether this moment would prove to be like Germany in the 1930s, when anti-Semitism began to break through the veneer of acceptance. Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, which represents the largest stream in American Judaism with about 900 congregations, said that a lot of people had asked him whether this moment would prove to be like Germany in the 1930s, when anti-Semitism began to break through the veneer of acceptance.
“I think this is not that moment,” Rabbi Jacobs said. “There was not a wide interfaith community that stood with us and marched in the streets. What we have here is unprecedented — the solidarity of the faith communities, the Muslims, the Christians, the Buddhists, the Sikhs.“I think this is not that moment,” Rabbi Jacobs said. “There was not a wide interfaith community that stood with us and marched in the streets. What we have here is unprecedented — the solidarity of the faith communities, the Muslims, the Christians, the Buddhists, the Sikhs.
“This is a deeper kind of security,” he added. “A security that comes from building an interconnected community that shows up for one another.”“This is a deeper kind of security,” he added. “A security that comes from building an interconnected community that shows up for one another.”
When Jewish cemeteries were desecrated in Philadelphia and St. Louis, he said, Muslims raised money to repair them. And it goes both ways. In Canada, after a mosque was attacked by a gunman in Quebec City, Jews organized human chains to surround mosques across the country in “rings of peace.” Friday night, he said, Muslims and Christians will form human chains around synagogues in Toronto.When Jewish cemeteries were desecrated in Philadelphia and St. Louis, he said, Muslims raised money to repair them. And it goes both ways. In Canada, after a mosque was attacked by a gunman in Quebec City, Jews organized human chains to surround mosques across the country in “rings of peace.” Friday night, he said, Muslims and Christians will form human chains around synagogues in Toronto.