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Dear John,
I have spent the last year hating hate.
One year ago today 11 people were murdered while praying in the three congregations then housed in the Pittsburgh Tree of Life synagogue, including Dor Hadash, a HIAS partner congregation that had celebrated a refugee Shabbat with HIAS just days earlier. This was the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the history of the United States. The shocking connection between HIAS and the shooting was made by the white supremacist murderer who said he wanted to murder Jews because HIAS had been bringing “invaders to kill (his) people.”
Hate speech and the violence that it brings is why our hearts are still broken today. We remember the Pittsburgh shooting with great pain and sorrow and we hope the memories of those who were killed will be for a blessing, yihiyu zichronam l’vracha.
What happened a year ago was a wake-up call. We must stand with all refugees today, but we must stand against hate in every form for every day forward. Because we must wake up to a better world.
Thank you for standing with us and with our Pittsburgh partners in welcome: Jewish Family and Community Services of Pittsburgh, Congregation Dor Hadash, and Temple Sinai.
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