Remembering the Tree of Life Synagogue Tragedy on its Third Anniversary

 These are the remarks that I delivered to the community at a special memorial service to honor the victims of the murderous attack on the Tree of Life Synagogue on October 28. 2018.   

Thank you for coming this evening, for prayer, for reflection, for gathering in solidarity with the Jewish Community of Pittsburgh, and with good people everywhere.

We welcome all of you the JCCP/CBT this evening, members of our congregations from throughout Bergen County, distinguished Rabbis, and honored guests, and especially so many of our elected officials and members of the law enforcement community who are joining us tonight.  I want to say to you that despite the rising tide of hate crimes in our great nation in general, and the staggering increase in hate crimes directed directly towards the Jewish community in particular, your presence here this evening is a reminder to all that whatever threats are before us, we do not face them alone.  

We will always remember where we were when we learned of the terrible attack at the Tree of Life Synagogue, an attack that news outlets as well as the ADL have confirmed to be the deadliest attack on Jews in this country in US history.  This takes its place among a series of violent and terrorist attacks against religious institutions that have taken place across America in recent years. 

26 murdered at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs Texas   in November 2017.  

9 murdered at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston SC in June 2015.

Six people murdered at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, in August 2012. 

These are but a few.  Hate filled people armed with automatic weapons is a recipe for disaster. 

With profound sadness we now add the Tree of Life Synagogue, a proud and significant part of the Pittsburgh Jewish and greater communities for over 150 years to this list.  11 murdered, others injured.  A community grieving.  And Klal Yisrael, the worldwide community of the Jewish people everywhere are speechless.  We don’t have the words.  We don’t have the words.

Sadly, the vicious murderer who perpetrated this unprecedented act of anti-Semitic murder did have words “I just want to kill Jews” according to the FBI report shared with the public.  So, this attack, not only shares in the trend in America of recent years, but is also part of a series of violent and hate filled assaults on the Jewish people that began that began thousands of years ago and still, despite the freedoms and acceptance we enjoy in this great nation, we must protect ourselves against every day. 

That is why we have come to out today.  To cry.  To demand actions.  To take strength among each other even as we demonstrate solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Pittsburgh who are mourning at this time.  And to remember by name those murdered for the simply taking advantage of America’s greatest gift:  the right to live as Jews, pray as Jews, to attend a house of worship, a synagogue just like this one, or any of the other synagogue represented here this evening, and experience the meaning and joy of our heritage. 

Yesterday’s brutal attack on this historic synagogue and the precious Jews who worshiped there remind us that this is a gift we must never take for granted.  A gift that we must, through our faith, our activism, our votes, and our strength, make sure we continue to enjoy, and that all American can enjoy.  And May we see speedily in our day the fulfillment of the words of the prophets, But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree; And none shall make them afraid; For the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken. (Micah 4:4)

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Statement by President Joe Biden Three Years After the 

Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting


OCTOBER 27, 2021
 

Three years ago, on a peaceful Shabbat morning, a lone gunman stormed into the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood and stole the lives of 11 souls in prayer. Eleven others managed to escape — some with serious physical injuries, others with indelible scars of grief.

The attack was the deadliest act of antisemitism in our nation’s history. It was an assault on members of the Tree of Life, New Light, and Dor Hadash congregations, the American Jewish community, and our country. And it was a reminder that hate never goes away, it only hides; and if we give hate oxygen, it can consume.

But the days, weeks, and months that followed also revealed the unyielding character of a community: The first responders who rushed into harm’s way. The teenagers who organized a Havdalah vigil for a neighborhood in need. The art teacher who painted hearts and Stars of David in the windows of a local coffee shop. The designer who formed an iconic image that defined a city and inspired a nation with three simple words: stronger than hate.

That day and those that followed remind all of us to embrace the better angels of our nature – and to turn pain into purpose. We must always stand up and speak out against antisemitism with clarity and conviction, and rally against the forces of hate in all its forms, because silence is complicity. We must recognize in others our shared humanity and strive to summon unexpected faith in unanticipated moments — in the hope that we might heal and rebuild.

That continues to be the work of my Administration — laying out our country’s first-ever comprehensive strategy to address domestic terrorism, signing legislation aimed at strengthening our efforts to counter unlawful acts of hate, taking executive actions to protect houses of worship, and pressing forward with executive and legislative action to reduce all forms of gun violence.

This Shabbat, in synagogues around the country, worshipers will sing the timeless words from the Book of Proverbs: Eitz Chayim Hee La’machazikim Bah. “It is a tree of life for those who hold fast to it.” As we mark three years since this heinous attack, we resolve to remember the lives lost and commit to protecting a future worthy of their memories. May the survivors and the families of the victims hold fast to the teachings of their faith and find comfort in the embrace of their community and their country.


Statement by Vice President Kamala Harris Three Years After the Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting
 
OCTOBER 27, 2021
 
In our country, everyone has the right to go to work, to go to school, to walk down the street, to pray – not as the other, not as them, but as us. When a white supremacist murdered and injured innocent people at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, a harm was committed against all of us. It was an unspeakable act fueled by antisemitic hate, the deadliest attack on the American Jewish community in our Nation’s history. As we remember the victims, we also honor the courage of the first responders.
 
Today, we know that silence is not an option. More hate crimes were committed in the U.S. last year than at any point in the last 20 years. Our Administration has laid out a comprehensive strategy to address domestic terrorism, and we are working to reduce gun violence. President Joe Biden has taken executive action to protect houses of worship, and he has signed legislation to bolster our capacity to counter unlawful acts of hate.
 
We stand in solidarity with the Squirrel Hill community and the entire Jewish community. We will never forget those lives that were taken. And we recommit to combat antisemitism wherever it exists.
 

 

 

 

 

 

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