In the News
JNS marked the seventh anniversary of the Pittsburgh Tree of Life synagogue tragedy with reflections on its lasting impact on the American Jewish community and spoke with B’nai B’rith International CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin, who called the attack “a tragic, horrific harbinger of the cascade of anti-Semitism we are experiencing today.” Read more at JNS.org.
“Just because it’s ‘quiet’ out there, that doesn’t mean we’re actually safe,” the rabbi of a Conservative congregation in the city told JNS.
The seventh anniversary of the mass shooting at the Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha in Pittsburgh on Oct. 27, 2018, drew widespread reflections from political and Jewish leaders.
“Lori and I are thinking of the Pittsburgh community, as we remember the 11 Jewish Pennsylvanians who were murdered while they prayed at Tree of Life in the deadliest act of antisemitism in our nation’s history seven years ago today,” stated Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish.
“To those who’ve come together in the years since this tragic day—thank you for showing us that we are indeed stronger than hate,” Shapiro stated. “To the families who continue to bear the burden of empty seats at your tables, we offer you prayers of comfort and support.”
“It’s a terrible tragedy,” said Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Ra.), alongside Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), in a joint video. “We both are from Pittsburgh. I live right around the corner from the Tree of Life in Squirrel Hill. Those 11 souls that were murdered that day, a terrible tragedy.”
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Daniel Mariaschin, CEO of B’nai B’rith International, told JNS that the attack was “a tragic, horrific harbinger of the cascade of antisemitism we are experiencing today.”
“Floodgates were opened for further violence, intimidation, bullying, social media mis- and disinformation, and worse, in a way not seen in this country in most of our lifetimes,” he said. “Now raised to a feverish level, we have the responsibility not only to call out those who are the perpetrators of antisemitism, but to demand that those who have the ability to assist us in pushing back—the media, public officials, university administrators and the major media platforms—do so without equivocation.”