Amid a drizzly morning in Pittsburgh, on October 27, the Tree of Life Synagogue experienced the most horrific act of antisemitism in recent American history. Uttering “all Jews must die” and armed with an AR-15 and at least three handguns, Robert Bowers commenced a massacre on the congregation, consequently inflicting pain on Jews everywhere.
With 21 guns registered to his name, Bowers despised how Jewish groups like HIAS aid refugees worldwide and help DREAMers (from a myriad of backgrounds) seek a better life in the United States. “HIAS likes to bring invaders in that kill our people. I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I’m going in,” Bowers wrote on Gab, a social network and self-proclaimed free speech haven.
Worshippers had convened for a peaceful Shabbat service and a bris when the gunman stormed the temple in his rampage. Congregants were simply observing their faith and performing a weekly ritual deemed safe and secure in their country.
Putting action to his virulent words, the assailant fired indiscriminately for several minutes at the congregation located in the historic Jewish neighborhood of Squirrel Hill. He went from room to room, from floor to floor, from bris to Shabbat services, ending a total of 11 innocent lives and injuring six.
Painfully, hate crimes like these, especially at places of worship, often translate to mere numbers: 11 Jews in a Pittsburgh synagogue. 26 worshipers at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Six from a Quebec city mosque shooting. Nine in a church in Charleston, S.C. People must remember that these 11 worshippers are more than just statistics, they are people; people who had names, who had families, who had friends, who had histories and who had futures.
Among the 11 were Cecil and David Rosenthal, “inseparable brothers and extraordinary men” according to Pennsylvania’s ACHIEVA, which “supports and empowers people with disabilities and their families,” according to their website. They would serve as honorary chairs during the synagogue’s services for adults with disabilities. There was Joyce Fienberg, who according to The Learning Research and Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh, where she worked for over 25 years, “was an engaging, elegant and warm person.” There was Richard Gottfried, 97-year-old Rose Mallinger, Dr. Jerry Rabinowitz, who cared for anyone who came to see him, Bernice Simon and Sylvan Simon ––who wed at that very same temple in December 1956, Daniel Stein, a recent retiree and grandpa, Melvin Wax and Irving Younger. Their humanity and meaning are vital; they cannot be reduced to solely the number 11.
According to Rabbi Elliot J. Cosgrove, Senior Rabbi of Park Avenue Synagogue and a leading voice in the Conservative Movement, “It is a devastating time for our collective Jewish community, and we stand in solidarity with the families of the victims, the congregants of Tree of Life, our fellow Jews everywhere, and all people who pray for peace in our society. Sadly, we live in a world where Jews are murdered for simply being Jews. Let us strengthen our resolve to fight anti-Semitism, prejudice and hatred in all forms.”
Although Robert Bowers has been charged on 29 criminal counts by federal officials, including obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs — a hate crime — and using a firearm to commit murder, the aftermath of the shooting is greater than criminal charges.
Echoing Head of School Jessica Bagby’s quote of Elie Wiesel, “Just as despair can come to one only from other human beings, hope, too, can be given to one only by other human beings.” Unified in solidarity and hope, Jews and non-Jews around the country are holding vigils, are pledging to #ShowUpForShabbat, and are taking political action to ensure a better tomorrow.
In the words of Jeff Finkelstein, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, “This should not be happening in a synagogue. This should not be happening, period.”
