Temple David in Monroeville honors Tree of Life victims

Temple David in Monroeville hosted a celebration of life in remembrance of the 2018 Tree of Life shooting on Oct. 27, the fourth anniversary of the attack that claimed 11 lives at the Squirrel Hill synagogue.

Each year since the tragedy, Temple David’s congregation has thought of new ways to honor the victims.

This year’s celebration was inspired by Rose Mallinger, a victim at age 97. An interfaith service was held at Temple David called “Dozens of Roses in Memory of One Special Rose.” Rachel Farber, her grandniece, is a member of Temple David and lovingly referred to her aunt as Ro-Ro.

Residents of Monroeville and communities beyond donated batches of cookies made with Mallinger and her sister Sylvia’s family recipe.

“The cookies are going to first responders because it’s a message of appreciation,” said Rabbi Barbara Symons. “But they’re also going to immigrants, because the Tree of Life had just held a Sabbath service that was celebrating immigrants and refugees. That was supposedly a part of the reasoning — if that’s even the right word — for the attack.”

Each cookie was either shaped into roses by cookie cutters or sprinkled with red and pink sprinkles.

“We bought rose cookie cutters so that when you use them, you see the indents of the petals on the cookies,” Symons said. “We ended up having a sign out for cookie cutters which is kinda funny. I bought 24 of them, and people would sign them out to use and then bring them back for the next person. Our freezer here began to fill with cookies from us, from friends; even Rose’s daughter made some beautiful cookies. It was very powerful to see.”

During the celebration, the prep room was filled with round tables that each represented a separate station. One was dedicated to gluing a message about Mallinger to the recipients onto a floral background. At the next table, people sat and glued a floral background to unassembled boxes. These were delivered to a group of volunteers to assemble the boxes, which then were delivered to the packaging station. Volunteers filled each box with two dozen cookies.

Each emergency service location is to receive two boxes of cookies delivered by congregation members. Prior to the remembrance, volunteers had delivered approximately 20 dozen cookies to organizations that serve the region’s immigrant population, such as Hello Neighbor, Agewell and 10-27 Healing Partnership.

To start the celebration, Symons lit 11 candles in honor of the Tree of Life shooting victims. She named each of them as the wicks caught fire and called upon Farber to light a candle in honor of her great aunt.

“We did this to bring about the memories and the sweetness of the woman who inspired them,” said Symons. “These candles will burn for 24 hours, but we know that the memories will go on.”

After the boxing was completed, guests were invited to attend an interfaith ceremony that spread messages of love and diversity. The temple’s chorus sang a medley of songs including “Heal Us Now,” the same song that rang throughout Temple David the night of the shooting in 2018.

“The afternoon of the shooting I got a call from a pastor and he said, ‘We’re going to have a vigil in your parking lot,’ and I said ‘No, you’re not, but you can come in the building,’” recalled Symons. “They put together a vigil where there was every religion, every race and ethnicity and age. It was fabulous. Our choir director had our joint choir sing the song ‘Heal Us Now,’ and they will be singing it again tonight. That song has echoed in this sanctuary ever since.”

Leaders of faith from the community joined together to lead a final prayer of remembrance. Symons thanked guests for attending and wished everyone a good night.

Symons put an emphasis on the fact that while this remembrance is an important day, it is important to appreciate and respect diversity every day. Temple David produced and offered to guests a detailed pamphlet about confronting anti-Semitism.

When asked how it felt to see members of the Monroeville community and others come together in support, Symons replied, “It feels like a hug.”