Pittsburgh community comes together for Tree of Life 4th-year commemoration

Pittsburgh gathered to remember on Thursday, a bright, mild and sunny day that provided a stark contrast to the gloomy, rainy day when 11 worshippers were shot to death at the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill on Oct. 27, 2018.

An estimated 500 members of the Pittsburgh community gathered in Schenley Park to remember the people lost that day: Joyce Fienberg, Richard Gottfried, Rose Mallinger, Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil Rosenthal, David Rosenthal, Bernice Simon, Sylvan Simon, Daniel Stein, Melvin Wax and Irving Younger. Two others were wounded.

They were worshippers from the three congregations that shared the synagogue: Tree of Life-Or L’Simcha, New Light and Dor Hadash.

It is the deadliest act of anti-Semitic violence in U.S. history. The trial for suspect Robert Bowers is scheduled for April.

Family members of the deceased lit 11 candles lined up on a stage on Prospect Drive for a commemoration ceremony marking four years since the Tree of Life shootings.

For some, including Stephanie Miller of Shaler, it was hard to believe it’s been four years.

“It feels like yesterday and also a while ago at the same time. It’s surreal,” she said.

Miller was plucking a harp Thursday while her husband, Robert, played the hammer dulcimer, providing soothing sounds on an emotional day.

“We’ve had a lot of nice feedback since last year when we were here. It’s really important for me to be here and support my community,” Miller said. “It’s very important for me to support people I know who lost loved ones.”

David Reinwald, 43, of Shadyside recently moved to Pittsburgh from Anaheim, Calif. Reinwald is a cantor at Temple Sinai in Squirrel Hill.

“We all remember that day. We had a lot of interfaith partners reaching out to us, even though we were on the other side of the country, realizing that it was a horribly tragic event,” Reinwald said. “I came here for my position at Temple Sinai, but I knew that coming here and becoming part of the Jewish professional community here in Pittsburgh that this was a very important part of the recent history that changed the nature of the community here.

“It impacted everyone in the Jewish community everywhere. So we stand as one, no matter where we are, with our Jewish brothers and sisters. I’m honored to be here to stand with my new community today. It feels peaceful for us to be together,” he said.

Maggie Feinstein, director of the 10.27 Healing Partnership, opened the commemoration by saying the community stands with the families of those who died that day to ensure the memories of them “continue to be a blessing.”

Feinstein also thanked first responders. Four Pittsburgh police officers were injured by gunfire as they responded to the attack.

“We appreciate the brave people who did everything they could to be helpers that day,” Feinstein said. “And we all stand here together because we remember that we are stronger together, that we have a city with neighbors, religious and secular leaders who loudly stated that anti-Semitism has no place in Pittsburgh.”

Feinstein’s remarks came in the wake of recent anti-Semitic remarks expressed by people such as rapper Kanye West, who has changed his name to Ye, and recently been dropped by, among other brands, longtime sponsor Adidas.

Other speakers included Hannah Kaye, daughter of Lori Kaye-Gilbert, who was killed in the 2019 shooting at a Poway, Calif. synagogue.

“A prayer for our country” was offered by Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and Councilwoman Erika Strassburger.

“I think a lady said it best: ‘People die, love doesn’t.’ When you sow that seed of love into the ground, when you sow that seed into people, you get a different person,” Gainey said. “We know that, throughout history, throughout time when you sow love, things just change. I think what you see today is the sowing of love into people. And the reward will be that, in the midst of any type of tragedy, love will always crush hate, and the people will always come together.”

Also as part of the commemoration ceremony, the Pittsburgh Youth Chorus performed “Let There Be Peace on Earth” and “Now I Walk in Beauty.” The Rodman Street Baptist Choir sang soaring versions of “I Need You to Survive” and “The Blessing.”