A memorial to the victims of the attack
The trial of the suspected perpetrator of the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in US history is about to begin. But can the community heal while the hate still grows?
Four teenagers are confirmed in the Jewish faith at Temple Sinai in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh.
In front of their families, friends and other parishioners, they share what the Ten Commandments mean in their lives. The joyous service is rounded off with prayer and song – all under the watchful eye of the armed guard seated at the entrance to the building.
“Our security budget is ridiculously high,” said Rabbi Daniel Fellman of Temple Sinai, who commended the guards for keeping people safe. “It’s a sad reality of modern American life that we have to do this.”
“I’ve asked my fellow priests how it would feel for you to have armed security at services on Christmas Eve or Easter, and they look at me like I have three noses.”
But such has been the way of life in one of the nation’s oldest established Jewish communities, and has been since October 2018, when a burly, middle-aged white man entered the nearby Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh and, prosecutors say, he murdered 11 worshipers and injured two further. The youngest victim was 54, the oldest, Rose Mallinger, 97.
Funeral service for the two Rosenthal brothers Cecil (59) and David (54), both of whom had mental disabilities. They died while greeting the believers who came to the Sabbath service
According to reports from survivors, the alleged perpetrator, 50-year-old Robert Bowers, shouted anti-Semitic, hateful slogans while firing an AR-15 assault rifle and three semi-automatic handguns his way out of the room for nearly fifteen minutes into a room in the building , which served as a place of worship for three different congregations.
Put simply, it was the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in US history.
More than four years later, Mr Bowers will appear in court on Tuesday to begin what is expected to be a lengthy and grueling trial in which he will face 63 charges, including 11 counts of hate crimes resulting in death.
The story goes on
He faces the death penalty and has pleaded not guilty.
Meanwhile, the Jewish community in Squirrel Hill has come under pressure since the attack as anti-Semitic incidents continue across the country.
This new reality isn’t just limited to Pittsburgh. Figures compiled by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) show that in 2022 there were around 3,700 anti-Semitic incidents in the United States — the highest number in forty years of collecting such data, says the ADL’s Oren Segal.
“This was the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in American history,” Segal said. “And yet here we are some five years later… Every day Jewish communities turn to us, concerned about whether to wear their yarmulke or attend their services.”
Just days before the trial, the White House launched what it believes to be the first ever national anti-Semitism strategy, spearheaded by Doug Emhoff, the vice president’s husband, who is himself Jewish. She calls for raising awareness, improving security for Jewish communities and urging others to stand in solidarity with those facing anti-Semitic activity and discrimination.
It was welcomed by several of the families affected by the Pittsburgh attack.
“Our family is affected by anti-Semitism in a very deep way, and if the federal government can develop programs to curb this spread, then we offer support where and how we can,” said Andrea Wedner, who was seriously injured in the attack and whose 97 -year-old mother Rose Mallinger was killed that day.
Concerns about rising anti-Semitism had begun before the attack and had been growing since a violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, just a year earlier.
Rabbi Jeffrey Myers of Tree of Life, who was on duty the day of the shooting, made one of the first calls because he carried his cellphone with him on the Sabbath as a precaution, even though using the phone on the holy day is against his religion.
“I am proud that our leaders understand the urgency and importance of comprehensively addressing antisemitism, but regret the level of antisemitism in the country that warranted a plan in the first place,” he said in a statement following the White House announcement.
“You can never get past that”
Brian Schreiber, president and CEO of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, said some were being re-traumatized by the process. Located just five minutes from the crime scene, the center was where the FBI made its first move and families came to await news.
“People thought they would be better by now,” he said. “What I’ve learned is that you move with it and you can never get past it.”
Melvin Wax, Daniel Stein and Richard Gottfried – described by parishioners as the “backbone of the synagogue” – were praying when they were killed in the attack. Such was their devotion to their faith that their families designed a memorial in the form of a Torah scroll in honor of their loved ones. It is located in the cemetery of the New Light community in suburban Pittsburgh.
“Our Holy Martyrs” is engraved on the monument. The phrase was chosen because they were dying for their faith, says Stephen Cohen, co-president of the New Light church.
“I think for the most part over the last 60 years there has been an acceptance and integration of the American Jewish population in America. We are one and the same,” he said. “I think what happened in October 2018 shattered that security.”
At the start of the process, the community has counselors and religious figures available for anyone to talk to, which has been the case since the day of the attack. Much of this was organized by the 10.27 Healing Partnership, whose name commemorates the date the Tree of Life, Dor Hadash and New Light communities were attacked.
A graphic with pictures and names of all victims:
Bowers’ lawyers had previously tried to obtain a guilty plea in exchange for abolition of the death penalty, but prosecutors turned down the offer.
The families of the deceased have differing views on whether he should be executed – some strongly oppose it, but the majority published an open letter in favor of the death penalty.
“There are different views on the death penalty,” says Rabbi Fellman of Temple Sinai. While Jewish doctrine allows for the death penalty, some in the community disagree that it should be used in this case.
“When there is a set of statutes that provide a death penalty for these crimes, it’s hard to argue that this man wouldn’t be a candidate for it,” says David Harris, a law professor at Pittsburgh University who has been with the families helped to understand how the process is likely to develop.
“This is the most horrific anti-Semitic act that has ever happened in the United States. It’s a mass murderer. People who were particularly vulnerable were killed, and it was all celebrated in a house of worship.”
‘This too shall pass’
There is a calm and resigned understanding within Squirrel Hill that nothing can truly prepare people for the weeks to come, as the events of the day will be revisited and the pain of loss once again laid bare.
“This too shall pass. And the jury will decide his guilt and the appropriate punishment,” said Mr. Cohen, co-chair of the New Light community.
The site of the attack is to be rebuilt and a sanctuary, a memorial and a center to combat anti-Semitism are to be built.
Relatives were in the schools to talk to the children about the problem; Ecumenical partnerships have been formed and the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh has a full-time security advisor to advise the community.
“But in the meantime, this [trial] brings back that day and every moment of that day,” said Mr. Cohen.
news.yahoo.com
https://news.yahoo.com/tree-life-synagogue-shooting-community-001716788.html
