Let's Not Attack Each Other

It’s been three weeks since the Pittsburgh shooting. While the emotional impact will be lasting and there remain numerous substantive issues to discuss, what I'd like to focus on in these moments is the response of the Jewish community. Specifically I want to ask us to consider the following:  Are we going to respond in a unified way, or are we going to let attacks from without widen the rifts that exist within?

Communal prayer gathering at Great Neck Synagogue on October 29

We are challenged in these situations by what we might call the “second sentence phenomenon.” There tends to be agreement on the first sentence that we say after a terrible tragedy like this. Something like, "We are horrified, angry and saddened by this devastating attack."  

And then comes the second sentence, where the divergence sometimes appears.  About recent events I’ve heard, just as two examples, versions of “this is a result of the hateful rhetoric being spouted and supported by our president” or “this is because of Democrats who cozy up to anti-Semites like Louis Farrakhan.”   

At times like this, I turn to people I trust, people who I believe see clearly and think clearly and write clearly based on significant understanding along with good common sense.  And one person I turn to about these matters is Dr. Deborah Lipstadt, Professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies at Emory University who successfully defeated Holocaust denier David Irving in a libel trial that he initiated.  

Thoughts Following the Pittsburgh Shooting

The following is a summary of the comments I shared at the Temple Israel of Great Neck gathering on October 29 in response to the Pittsburgh shooting:

Like so many of us, I responded to the shooting in Pittsburgh with a mixture of shock, sadness, anger and fear. We at Temple Israel know many people in Pittsburgh, including Rabbi Chuck Diamond, Rabbi Seth Adelson and their families, as well as many more. Among a host of conflicting emotional reactions as the news started to sink in, I wanted to retreat, to stay in bed and pull the covers over my head. But I realize, and I urge all of us to affirm, that we must not shut down. We must remain open. With proper security measures, of course, we must keep our synagogue open for the sacred work of praying, gathering, welcoming, celebrating, mourning, supporting and making the world a better place. We must fight hate consistently and courageously, but we also must keep our hearts open to those who are most vulnerable. We must cultivate and maintain allies who, like us, are committed to justice and freedom. We must remain alert and engaged.

When the 46-year old man entered Tree of Life Synagogue, he yelled out anti-Semitic comments before he started to shoot. Anti-Semitism, sadly and frighteningly, is a very real and rising threat in the United States. It seems that the shooter did not know if he had entered a synagogue that is Conservative or Reform or Reconstructionist or Orthodox. He just wanted to kill Jews. Despite the inevitable tendency we seem to have to break ourselves down into silos, I urge us to consider what unites us as Jews at least as much as we focus on what divides us. Our enemies generally do not expend much effort distinguishing among Jews. Why do we?

When something horrific happens, it becomes the main story that we focus on, as well it should. We must focus on the tragedy in Pittsburgh so that we can offer comfort and support to that community, shore up our own institutional security, and face the challenges posed by this kind of hatred with united resolve. But at the same time, I do not want us to to lose sight of the other stories that occur, day in and day out, at synagogues like Tree of Life and our very own Temple Israel. When people greet one another on Shabbat morning and ask, "How's your mom?" or "Can I help you get to your seat?" that's a story. When young children walk over to the Candy Man to see what treats he has in his special basket and he gives them some and they offer him a sweet "thank you," that's a story. When people show up at a house of mourning with a hug and a tray of food and say "tell me what else I can do," that's a story. Synagogues like Tree of Life and Temple Israel of Great Neck are the sum total of all of these stories and more. Let us not allow a hateful shooter to distort our overall story.

With understandable sadness, anger and fear, but with irrepressible resolve, let us acknowledge 11 beautiful lives together, fight hateful words and actions together, keep our sacred institutions secure and open together, and continue, at Temple Israel and elsewhere, to tell our glorious story together.