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.
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