To an audience of more than 2,000 inside Soldiers & Sailors Hall and many more gathering in the damp weather outside, after all the dignitaries had spoken, Rabbi Jeffrey Myers told of his night of restlessness, of wrestling with Scripture.
When he has sleepless nights, he said, he often turns to the Psalms. But there was no night like Saturday night, just hours after Rabbi Myers survived the deadly gunman’s attack on his Tree of Life / Or L’Simcha synagogue in Squirrel Hill.
He thought of the 23rd Psalm: “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.”
“Well God, I want!” he said, his voice reverberating through the hall during Sunday’s interfaith vigil in honor of 11 victims killed and the six wounded Saturday at the Squirrel Hill synagogue building shared by three congregations.
“What I want you can’t give me,” he continued. “You can’t return these 11 beautiful souls. You can’t rewind the clock.”
But Rabbi Myers turned to a later portion of the Psalm, about one’s cup overflowing, and recalled the overflow of phone, email and Facebook messages from around the world, from people of all faiths offering support.
“My cup overflows with love,” he said. “That’s how you defeat hate,” and he called on politicians to lead the way by avoiding hateful rhetoric.
And then he began singing “El Rachamim,” a funeral lament, his voice soaring and at times shaking with the emotion of the previous day and a half following the worst case of anti-Semitic violence in U.S. history.
The Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum vigil Sunday featured a video message from the president of Israel and an in-person message from an Israeli cabinet minister who noted that the massacre occurred shortly before the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht, when Jews and their synagogues were targeted in a mass pogrom in Nazi Germany.
Mayor Bill Peduto, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald and numerous other dignitaries made calls for unity over hatred.
The mayor talked to those gathered about Pittsburgh being a resilient city.
“We lost 11 of our neighbors, and we are here to mourn the way they were taken from us,” Mr. Peduto said. He then addressed the families of the deceased, as well as Pittsburgh’s Jewish community: “We are here for you, because we’re Pittsburghers. And that’s what we do.”
Mr. Peduto talked about taking steps to “eradicate any type of hate” from the city.
“We will drive anti-semitism and the hate of any people back to the basement, on their computer, and away from the open discussions and dialogues around this city, around this state and around this country,” Mr. Peduto said.
Representatives of Christian and Muslim groups also spoke at the vigil.
The Rev. Liddy Barlow, executive minister of Christian Associates of Southwest Pennsylvania, an umbrella group of Christian denominations, noted that the phrase “tree of life” appears at the beginning of the Hebrew Bible and again near the end of the last chapter of the Christian Bible in the “beautiful dream of Eden restored.”
“If that’s what the tree looks like imagine what the neighborhood looks like,” she said. “I think it looks like Squirrel Hill,” pointing to the vast diversity of the “the city of God.”
Wasi Mohamed, executive director of the of Islamic Center of Pittsburgh, said Muslims near and far have contributed more than $70,000 toward a fundraiser for the Jewish community. “We’ll be there” for you,” he said.
Rabbi Cheryl Klein of Dor Hadash, another of the three targeted congregations, spoke in memory of Dr. Jerry Rabinowitz. She said he died “on his way to be of help to others.”
“We will grieve at Dor Hadash for a long time,” she said. “We will pray for those who are clinging to life, and with your support, love and friendship, we will continue to do the work of our people making our community better, brighter and filled with acts of lovingkindness.”
Rabbi Jonathan Perlman of New Light Congregation tearfully spoke of losing three of the “pillars” of the congregation, who were as dedicated to social service outside as they were to religious life inside the synagogue.
“That volunteerism would not be matched,” he said. “That extended beyond the borders of New Light Congregation. To working with the poor, and the hungry and the needy. These three men — they cannot be replaced. But we will not be broken. We will not be ruined by this event.”
SOUND ON “These three men, they cannot be replaced, but we will not be broke. We will not be ruined by this event.” Moving testimony given from the congregation of Tree of Life during an interfaith vigil in North Oakland. @PGVisuals @PittsburghPG pic.twitter.com/EAMxhwqMuP
— Jessie Wardarski (@JKayWardarski) October 28, 2018
Similar sentiments were expressed by the thousands who attended, including many who could not get in the standing-room only hall and listened outside during the rainy afternoon.
Virginia Davidovich traveled from Mount Pleasant Sunday. She did not know any of the victims or the injured. But she has many Jewish friends who she wanted to support by her presence.
“I was just compelled,” she said. “I just could not not come.”
At one point in the service, all clergy were invited to stand on stage. Those standing represented Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths and included men and women of different races.
Outside of the building, Leslie Bullock, 29, of Point Breeze, served up snacks, Starbucks coffee, and hugs at a table with a sign that read “come talk, hug and listen.”
Thousands of mourners, most who stood in the rain because of over crowdness, attended a vigil for the victims of the Tree of Life Synagogue mass shooting at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum. (Michael M. Santiago/Post-Gazette) pic.twitter.com/igyA80uAl1
— Michael M. Santiago (@msantiagophotos) October 28, 2018
“We’re just here to talk to people. We’re here to listen because that’s what people did for us so long again and that’s what we found was really helpful,” she said.
Ms. Bullock graduated from Virginia Tech, where 32 people were killed and 17 injured in a mass shooting in 2007. She also lost in friend in the shooting of WDBJ-TV employees in Roanoke, Va., in 2015.
“People were there for us. We know how these people are feeling now and we just wanted to pay it forward, I guess, in a way,” she said. “I hope people realize that they are not alone and that they are loved.”
Denise Caruso was one who stopped for a hug. “I just feel really sad. I feel like it’s hard to let it out,” she said.
Ms. Caruso is not Jewish and did not know any of the victims. But she felt a need “to be with everybody.” She wanted people to feel supported and loved.
“I just feel like people need to be around each other. I just think it’s really easy to stay isolated with social media and everything being so focused online. It’s not really communication. We need to connect,” she said. “Well, I needed to connect here with people who don’t hate.”
Ms. Caruso said she sent a tweet to Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, Gov. Tom Wolf and others urging them not to let President Donald Trump come to Pittsburgh in the aftermath of the shooting.
“I feel like him coming here would be a slap in the face. He has no compassion, no empathy,” she said. “What good would it do for him to come here? It would only be political.”
Kipp Dawson of Regent Square and Laurie Mulvey of Highland Park embrace outside of Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum before an interfaith community vigil honoring those impacted by the shootings at Tree of Life Synagogue. (Jessie Wardarski/@PittsburghPG) @PGVisuals pic.twitter.com/zvf68KbO8k
— Jessie Wardarski (@JKayWardarski) October 28, 2018
Satpal Singh of the Tri-State Sikh Cultural Society in Monroeville came to show solidarity with those of the Jewish faith — and to “condemn this hatred against any caste or creed,” he said.
By attending, he believes he and others can send a “strong message to those individuals who have a hate in their heart . . . that we are against this brutality. We are loving. We believe in love and peace.”
Rabbi Moishe Mayir Vogel of the Aleph Institute in Squirrel Hill said it was “very encouraging” to see such a tremendous show of support from people outside of the Jewish community.
The thousands gathered together at Soldiers & Sailors National Memorial and Museum sing a blessing of healing during an interfaith vigil held to mourn the shooting victims of the Tree of Life Congregation Sunday evening in North Oakland. @PGVisuals @PittsburghPG pic.twitter.com/MVsMGfkMAj
— Jessie Wardarski (@JKayWardarski) October 28, 2018
There’s a powerful in message in that — “to remember even in our broken moments that we can’t despair, that we are surrounded by a lot of love,” he said.
“A little light will dispel a lot of darkness. We’ve got to do continuously more light and more light and more light. That’s our only response to evil, to darkness, to hatred, to bigotry. Our only response can be bring more light. And the more darkness there is the more light we better bring,” he said.
Mark Belko contributed. Peter Smith: petersmith@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1416; Twitter @PG_PeterSmith.
Scores of clergy surround Rabbi Pearlman of New Light, one of targeted synagogues. "What happened yesterday will not break us." pic.twitter.com/bedHmgcLq0
— Peter Smith (@PG_PeterSmith) October 28, 2018
Thousands gather at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall for a vigil to remember the victims of the mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue. pic.twitter.com/HozoGD3Bqt
— Andrew Rush (@andrewrush) October 28, 2018
Thousands gathering at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall for a vigil to remember the victims of the mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue. pic.twitter.com/uli2psjqHL
— Andrew Rush (@andrewrush) October 28, 2018
First Published: October 28, 2018, 9:13 p.m.
