Pittsburgh Rabbi. Photo illustration: Tony Carnes/A Journey through NYC religions
Mr. Rogers of Squirrel Hill
Mr. Rogers real life home was three blocks from Tree of Life Synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Before he started his children’s program, he learned the ropes of television production in New York City and for years owned an apartment in Manhattan even after he returned to Pittsburgh.
He gave this bit of advice: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.'” Squirrel Hill needs our prayers, and we need their optimism.
Anti-Jewish and anti-Semitic attacks spread worldwide
by Bill Devlin, CEO of international humanitarian organization, REDEEM! and a pastor at Infinity Bible Church in The Bronx.
The shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh is a very grim reminder of the continual anti-Jewish and anti-Semitic attacks. Unfortunately, around the world, from the Middle East to Europe to the United States, anti-Jewish, anti-Semitic violence continues. As a member of the New York City Jewish-Christian Roundtable, a project of the New York Board of Rabbis and the Christian clergy community of New York City, as a member for a number of years of this group, we need to strongly condemn all acts of violence against the Jewish community in Pittsburgh, the United States and around the world.
Beit Simchat Torah and others gather for Havdallah Vigil at Union Square, Manhattan
Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum of Beit Simchat Torah writes, “Heartbroken. Angry. Sadly not surprised. This act of anti-Jewish violence is a despicable act for all decent human beings. Some are saying that Jews will now be afraid of going to synagogue — NO! Our strongest reaction must be to be MORE Jewish, to not let the anti-Semites of the world have that power.”
Timothy Cardinal Dolan called the massacre “an attack on all people of faith.”
“We pray for those killed and injured as we stand in solidarity against anti-Semitism & hatred wherever it occurs,” the archbishop of the New York Diocese said.
Auburn Seminary President accuses Trump of causing the Pittsburgh attacks
“The Trump administration needs to repent for aiding and abetting the rising hatred,” says Auburn Seminary President the Rev. Dr. Katharine Rhodes Henderson. “I ask my sisters and brothers in faith communities of all kinds to see that these acts of violence on our Jewish, People of Color, LGBTQ, Muslim and immigrant families are related and connected. This is not about partisanship.”
Houses of worship guarded in NYC
Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered state police to increase security around Jewish centers and houses of worship on Saturday in the wake of a mass shooting in Pittsburgh. Heavily armed cops — including officers from the NYPD’s specialized Critical Response Command — were deployed around synagogues and temples as a precaution.
“We will not allow hatred to grow in New York City. We will not allow the voices of hate here, we will not allow acts of violence here,” Mayor Bill De Blasio said in a Saturday night news conference in front of the Park East Synagogue in Manhattan. “We need to send a message that we will never tolerate anti-Semitism.”
Nov. 5, 2017: 26 people killed and 20 wounded at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas.
Sept 24, 2017: killing of a woman and wounding six other people with gunshots at Burnette Chapel Church of Christ in Nashville, Tennessee.
Aug. 13, 2016: Imam Maulana Alauddin Akonjee and friend were fatally shot as they left a New York City mosque.
Aug. 9, 2016: 1 dead, 2 wounded at a Jersey City, New Jersey, church.
April 24, 2016: 1 shot dead during Sunday services in a suburban Philadelphia church.
Feb. 28, 2016: Rev. William B. Schooler, 70, fatally shot at St. Peter’s Missionary Baptist Church in Dayton, Ohio.
June 17, 2015: Nine black worshipers including a pastor were killed at historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston, South Carolina.
April 13, 2014: 2 shot and killed outside an Overland Park, Kansas, Jewish center.
March 31, 2013: Man shot and killed during Easter services at the Hiawatha Church of God in Christ in Ashtabula, Ohio.
Dec. 2, 2012: Organ player shot and killed during a church service at the First United Presbyterian Church in Coudersport, Pennsylvania.
Oct. 24, 2012: 1 shot and killed at World Changers Church International in College Park, Georgia.
Aug. 5, 2012: Six members of the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, in Oak Creek, fatally shot.
May 9, 2012: Guard shot and killed at Victory Way Assembly Church of God in Christ in Detroit, Michigan.
May 3, 2012: Priest and church secretary shot and killed at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Ellicott City, Maryland.
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