(JTA) — I wasn’t expecting HBO’s “The Plot Against America,” David Simon’s miniseries adaptation of the Philip Roth novel, to scar me the way it has. I work with news about the rise of anti-Semitism and hate crimes around the world on a daily basis. As an editor focused… Read more »
Tagged Pittsburgh synagogue shooting
Time capsule from 1906 uncovered at former Tree of Life building site in Pittsburgh
(JTA) — A time capsule from 1906 was unearthed at the site of the former home of Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life congregation. The time capsule was removed from the cornerstone of the building located in the city’s Oakland neighborhood. The site was most recently the location of the Pittsburgh… Read more »
A year after disaster, Pittsburgh is so much more than a site of tragedy
PITTSBURGH (JTA) —As we approach the one year since the worst anti-Semitic attack in American history, I am grateful for the outpouring of support for the Pittsburgh Jewish community. Over the last year, people across the world have stood shoulder to shoulder with all of us in the 412.… Read more »
At least 12 white supremacists have been arrested for real threats to Jewish community since Pittsburgh attack, ADL reports
(JTA) — At least 12 white supremacists have been arrested for allegedly attacking, planning attacks against or threatening the Jewish community in the year since the attack on the Tree of Life synagogue building in Pittsburgh, the Anti-Defamation League said in a new report. Since Oct. 27, 2018, white… Read more »
JFSA invites all to “Pause with Pittsburgh” on Oct. 27
On Oct. 27, 2018, in was the most brutal anti-Semitic attack in the history of the United States, a gunman opened fire in the Tree of Life building in Pittsburgh, taking the lives of 11 innocent people from three congregations: Dor Hadash, New Light and Tree of Life *… Read more »
How Pittsburgh changed the way American Jews think about security
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Here’s the sad paradox of the shooting nearly one year ago at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue: The killing of 11 worshippers, the worst attack on Jews in U.S. history, hit a community that was one of the best prepared to handle such an assault. In… Read more »
Reliving the massacre every minute: How Pittsburgh survivors are struggling a year later
PITTSBURGH (JTA) — As this city’s Jewish community celebrated Rosh Hashanah this week, the Tree of Life synagogue stood closed, its doors blocked by a chain-link fence. A brown, wilted wreath hung on a tree near the synagogue, where a gunman killed 11 worshippers last year in the worst… Read more »
My congregation prays at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue. Here’s how we are coping this Rosh Hashanah.
PITTSBURGH (JTA) — Our sages teach us that kol hatchalot kashot, all beginnings are difficult. This phrase feels especially resonant this Rosh Hashanah. The man who blew the shofar last year at my Pittsburgh synagogue, New Light, is not here to blow it now. He was murdered on Oct. 27… Read more »
Inspiring Jews who died in 5779
(JTA) — The close of every year brings with it bittersweet reminders of the incredible figures we lost in the year that was. This year the task of remembering the departed is particularly fraught as 12 people on the list were lost to acts of anti-Jewish violence in U.S.… Read more »
Manager of Pittsburgh restaurant fired for anti-Semitic Facebook post
(JTA) — The manager of a popular restaurant in Pittsburgh was fired after he shared an anti-Semitic post on Facebook. Yokoso Japanese Steakhouse owner Jeff Kim apologized in a Facebook post for the action of his employee, calling it “inexcusable.” He also wrote: “Please know that his comments and… Read more »
Ilhan Omar and her Jewish colleague Jan Schakowsky co-write op-ed on fighting white supremacy
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., joined in an appeal to confront a rise in deadly expressions of white nationalism. “As a Muslim American and a Jewish American elected to the United States Congress, we can no longer sit silently as terror strikes our… Read more »
Pittsburgh couple name baby girl after Poway victim Lori Gilbert-Kaye
(JTA) — A Jewish couple in Pittsburgh named their baby girl after Lori Gilbert-Kaye, who was killed in the attack on the Chabad of Poway synagogue. Judah and Chaya Cowen welcomed Noa Lea — Gilbert-Kaye’s Hebrew name was Leah — on May 3. She is the couple’s fifth child.… Read more »
First-ever official US delegation joins March of the Living at Auschwitz
OSWIECIM, Poland (JTA) — President Donald Trump’s appointee as special envoy for monitoring and combating anti-Semitism toured Auschwitz for the first time on Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day. Elan Carr, who was named earlier this year, was part of the first official U.S. delegation to the March of the Living,… Read more »
Poway mayor: post-Pittsburgh precautions saved lives
POWAY, California (JTA) — Poway’s mayor said preparations made in the aftermath of the massacre at a Pittsburgh synagogue “contributed to saving lives” in his hometown. On Saturday, a gunman entered Chabad of Poway, killing Lori Gilbert-Kaye, a 60-year-old congregant, and injuring three others, including Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, the… Read more »
Jewish groups prepare for the next Pittsburgh
Editor’s note: The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona convenes a community-wide security meeting yearly with members of local law enforcement and representatives of synagogues and Jewish community organizations. JFSA, in conjunction with the Jewish Community Roundtable and the Tucson Jewish Community Center, recently hired a part-time Jewish community security… Read more »
Pittsburgh newspaper wins Pulitzer for coverage of synagogue massacre
(JTA) — The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was awarded the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in breaking news reporting for its coverage of the Tree of Life synagogue massacre last October. Eleven people were shot and killed by a gunman during the rampage, which came as congregants at the synagogue complex in Pittsburgh… Read more »
This relative of a Pittsburgh victim is combating anti-Semitism with love and matzah
This article originally appeared on Kveller. Joyce Fienberg was a connector. Bringing people together for a holiday meal was incredibly important to her, and not just her family: She invited people she met on world travels, her students from the University of Pittsburgh, colleagues. She loved connecting people of… Read more »
Pittsburgh protected my family after the synagogue massacre. Now we must do the same for Christchurch families.
PITTSBURGH (JTA) – The universe cracks. That’s how you feel when a beloved family member is violently torn from this world while she or he is at prayer. That’s how 50 families half a world away feel right now in the wake of Friday’s violent attacks on two mosques… Read more »
More than $6.3 million raised for victims of Pittsburgh synagogue attack
(JTA) — Thousands of givers have opened their hearts to those affected by the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, donating more than $6.3 million to a fund for their benefit set up by the local Jewish federation. The bulk of the money, nearly $4.4 million, from the Victims of Terror Fund will… Read more »
Since Pittsburgh, my Friday nights are no longer the same
This article originally appeared on Alma. A typical Friday night for me used to consist of cooking myself a nicer than usual dinner and lighting the Shabbat candles alone before proceeding on as if it were any other night. Maybe I would relax by re-watching “Broad City” or going out… Read more »