After Pittsburgh - About Peace & Strength

We’ve all probably seen photos taken by Roman Vishniac, well-known for chronicling the life of Jews in Eastern Europe in the years prior to the Holocaust.  

Black and white photos of students studying Torah, of life in the villages, a boy touching a mezuzah on the way out the door.

He once took a photo of an older Jewish man walking in a street in Poland, Vishniac asked him, “how long have you been walking?”  And the man responded in a way that Vishniac himself reflected after the meeting that he did not understand the old man’s response, the man said, “Since the beginning.”

Since the massacre at Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, we have been walking, slowly, now perhaps looking over our shoulders.  A new and tragic beginning since what is being called the worst act of anti-Semitic violence in American history.  11 Jews murdered at shul on Shabbat morning.

We’ve written letters here, prayed together along with guests from other faith communities in town, and also stood together at last night’s vigil when we prayed for unity, and for peace.

But our tradition also recognizes the need for strength, a willingness to fight, to protect ourselves and to be secure.

When Isaac blesses Esau, he says, ‘You will live by your sword,’ ve’al char’b’cha tichyeh – we might think Isaac blesses him literally to live by his sword, as a thief, a pirate, a plunderer – but Ramban explains that live by your sword means that Esau will survive all his battles.

We pray for the congregants and police officers who are battling to recover from their wounds.

We pray for strength that we can confront the threats against our communities with the strength of both our striving for peace and also the strength of community that we can build here.

A wonderful moment for us as a community was to see our religious school students lead parts of the Friday night service the Friday after the tragedy.  

A wonderful moment was praying mariv last night before the vigil, right there in the town square, proud, giving each other strength, singing out the Shema into the night even as we also all joined in the Kaddish as well.

Each moment we live can be a blessing, a chance to bring the world closer to redemption, the 11 victims at Tree of Life did so much for the Jewish people – let’s continue their hard work, their dedication, as we honor their memories.  Amen.