Service to mark anniversary of Tree of Life massacre
The Pittsburgh Jewish community plans a public memorial service on Sunday, Oct. 27, and other activities to commemorate the anniversary of the anti- Semitic massacre of 11 worshipers at the Tree of Life synagogue building in Squirrel Hill.
The service will be held at 5 p. m. at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum in Oakland, which also was the setting for a memorial vigil a day after the attacks last year. The service will commemorate the victims of the shooting from the three congregations that shared the building — Dor Hadash, New Light and Tree of Life/ Or L’Simcha. It was the deadliest anti- Semitic attack in U. S. history.
The service and other commemorations on Oct. 27 will have the theme of “Remember. Repair. Together.”
Other public activities earlier in the day will include study sessions focused on the Torah ( the Jewish sacred text) and community service projects.
The planning committee for the commemorations includes representatives of the victims’
families; the three congregations in the building at the time of the attack; the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh; the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh; Jewish Family & Community Services of Pittsburgh; the Center for Victims; the City of Pittsburgh Department of Public Safety; the new Pittsburgh Resiliency Center; and other advisers.
“The theme encompasses three elements,” said Rabbi Amy Bardack, planning committee chairwoman and director of Jewish life and learning at the Jewish Federation. “‘ Remember’ means recalling the lives that we lost and remembering the attack so that we can prevent future attacks. ‘ Repair’ means both repairing emotional wounds in the community and repairing our sense of brokenness in ourselves and in the world. ‘ Together’ means that we were heartened by the support we felt from the city, county, many different faith communities and diverse communities, and all over the world. ‘ Together’ also means that we are not in this alone.”
Schedules for these and other events will be listed at www. pittsburghoct27. org.