Rabbinic statement
on THE pittsburgh SYNAGOGUE SHooting
We condemn the shootings this past Shabbat at Tree of Life Congregation in Pittsburgh, and mourn the violent and senseless loss of eleven lives of infinite value. There are no words adequate to express our grief. We share in the deep sense of loss that their families, friends, and community are feeling, and offer them what little comfort we can at this time. We pray for a speedy and complete recovery for the wounded.
Since ancient times, houses of worship have been considered places of sanctuary; even those who committed heinous crimes such as murder who sought sanctuary within a house of worship were accorded due process before paying their debt to society, and God, for their crimes. To turn a place of sanctuary into a place of brutal murder of people in the midst of the service of God is the highest form of sacrilege. It is a quintessential crime against humanity and against God.
Past shootings at houses of worship, such Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, outside a New York City mosque, and First Baptist Church of Sutherland Spring, Texas, to name a few, shake us to the core. The shootings in Pittsburgh are even more significant and more personal to us: The victims are our close brothers and sisters. At the same time, since these shootings strike so close to home, we are reminded that all of us who live on this planet are first and foremost one large extended family and that we must work with each other, regardless of faith, to reduce senseless violence.
We call on our leaders, both political and religious, from all party affiliations and faiths, to redouble their efforts to be more mindful of the fact that what we say and how we say it is always significant. Our tradition teaches that words can hurt as effectively as bullets. We must always respect people - those with whom we agree, as well as those with whom we disagree most vehemently. Ad-hominem attacks, as well as taunts and name calling, have no place in either private or public discourse. Very few people who engage in these low forms of discourse condone murders like the ones we saw this past Shabbat. Nonetheless, we ought to be constantly aware that our low forms of discourse might be overheard by people who might misinterpret our words as sanction or encouragement to commit murder against those we might oppose.
We extend the hand of friendship and understanding to all of our brothers and sisters and pledge mutual support to help raise the level of political and religious discourse. May God help us in our efforts to stamp out hate and oppression, so that "the land may be filled with devotion to God, as water covers the sea" (Isaiah 11:9).
Rabbi Jehoschua Ahrens, Darmstadt, Germany
Rabbi Yitzhak Ajzner, Ra'anana, Israel
Rabbi David Almog, Riverdale, New York
Rabbi Dr. Elisha Ancselovitz, Maale Gilboa, Israel
Rabbi David Bigman, Ma’aleh Gilboa, Israel
Rabbi David S. Bauman, Okinawa, Japan
Rabbi Dr. Nathan Lopes Cardozo, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Dr. Michael Chernick, Teaneck, New Jersey
Rabbi Max Davis, Saint Louis Park, Minnesota
Rabbi Barry Dolinger, Providence, Rhode Island
Rabbanit Dr. Tehilla Elitzur, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Ari Ellis, Southfield, Michigan
Rabbi Samuel Englender, West Hartford, Connecticut
Rabbanit Devorah Evron, Mitzpe Netofa, Israel
Rabbi Steven Exler, Riverdale, New York
Rabbi David Fain, Detroit, Michigan
Rabbi Zev Farber, Zikhron Yaakov, Israel
Rabbi Dr. Reb Mimi Feigelson, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Michael Feuer, Ma’aleh Adumim, Israel
Rabbi Amitai Fraiman, New York, New York
Rabbi Eitan Gavson, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Ralph Genende, Melbourne, Australia
Rabbi Daniel Geretz, West Orange, New Jersey
Rabbi David Glicksman, West Orange, New Jersey
Rabbi Steve Golden, Cedarhurst, New York
Rabbanit Miriam Gonczarska, Brooklyn, New York
Rabbi Dr. Mel Gottlieb, Los Angeles, California
Rabbi Steven Greenberg, Boston, Massachusetts
Rabbi Yitz Greenberg, Riverdale, New York
Rabbi Tyson Herberger, Oslo, Norway
Rabbi Avram Herzog, Fair Lawn, New Jersey
Rabbi Avital Hochstein, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Sam Intrator, Miami, Florida
Rabbi Lev Eliezer Israel, Riverdale, New York
Rabbi David Jacobowitz, Teaneck, New Jersey
Rabbanit Bracha Jaffe, Baltimore, Maryland
Rabbi David Jaffe, Sharon, Massachusetts
Rabbi David Kalb, New York, New York
Rabbi Ysoscher Katz, New York, New York
Rabbi Will Keller, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Rabbanit Rachel Keren, Ein Hanatziv, Israel
Rabbi Frederick Klein, Miami, Florida
Rabbi Dr. Eugene Korn, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Daniel Landes, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Michael Langer, Oak Park, Michigan
Rabbi Aharon Ariel Lavi, Shuva, Israel
Rabbi Aaron Leibowitz, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Hayim Leiter, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Aaron Levy, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Rabbi Dr. Martin Lockshin, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Yehoshua Looks, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Asher Lopatin, Huntington Park, Michigan
Rabbi Jair Melchior, Copenhagen, Denmark
Rabbi Ben Mernick, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Dr. Yehudah Mirsky, Waltham, Massachusetts
Rabbi Avram Mlotek, New York, New York
Rosh Kehilah Dina Najman, Riverdale, New York
Rabbi Dr. Ariel Picard, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Avi Poupko, Kfar Adumim, Israel
Rabbi Dr. David Rosen, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Dr. Isaac Sassoon, New York, New York
Rabbi Abe Schacter-Gampel, Memphis, Tennessee
Rabbi Gabriel Kretzmer Seed, Riverdale, New York
Rabbi Dr. Shalom Schlagman, Rochester, New York
Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger, Alon Shvut, Israel
Rabbi Michael Schudrich, Warsaw, Poland
Rabbi Ami Silver, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Yair Silverman, Zikhron Yackov, Israel
Rabbi Daniel Raphael Silverstein, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Michael Stein, New York, New York
Rabbi Nahum Twersky, Teaneck, New Jersey
Rabbi Daniel Vaisrub, Skokie, Illinois
Rabbi Devin Maimon Villarreal, Los Angeles, California
Rabbi Ari Weiss, Ithaca, New York
Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz, Phoenix, Arizona
Rabbi Dr. Alan Yuter, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Lawrence Zierler, South Fallsburg, New York
Rabbi Noam Zion, Jerusalem, Israel
Since ancient times, houses of worship have been considered places of sanctuary; even those who committed heinous crimes such as murder who sought sanctuary within a house of worship were accorded due process before paying their debt to society, and God, for their crimes. To turn a place of sanctuary into a place of brutal murder of people in the midst of the service of God is the highest form of sacrilege. It is a quintessential crime against humanity and against God.
Past shootings at houses of worship, such Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, outside a New York City mosque, and First Baptist Church of Sutherland Spring, Texas, to name a few, shake us to the core. The shootings in Pittsburgh are even more significant and more personal to us: The victims are our close brothers and sisters. At the same time, since these shootings strike so close to home, we are reminded that all of us who live on this planet are first and foremost one large extended family and that we must work with each other, regardless of faith, to reduce senseless violence.
We call on our leaders, both political and religious, from all party affiliations and faiths, to redouble their efforts to be more mindful of the fact that what we say and how we say it is always significant. Our tradition teaches that words can hurt as effectively as bullets. We must always respect people - those with whom we agree, as well as those with whom we disagree most vehemently. Ad-hominem attacks, as well as taunts and name calling, have no place in either private or public discourse. Very few people who engage in these low forms of discourse condone murders like the ones we saw this past Shabbat. Nonetheless, we ought to be constantly aware that our low forms of discourse might be overheard by people who might misinterpret our words as sanction or encouragement to commit murder against those we might oppose.
We extend the hand of friendship and understanding to all of our brothers and sisters and pledge mutual support to help raise the level of political and religious discourse. May God help us in our efforts to stamp out hate and oppression, so that "the land may be filled with devotion to God, as water covers the sea" (Isaiah 11:9).
Rabbi Jehoschua Ahrens, Darmstadt, Germany
Rabbi Yitzhak Ajzner, Ra'anana, Israel
Rabbi David Almog, Riverdale, New York
Rabbi Dr. Elisha Ancselovitz, Maale Gilboa, Israel
Rabbi David Bigman, Ma’aleh Gilboa, Israel
Rabbi David S. Bauman, Okinawa, Japan
Rabbi Dr. Nathan Lopes Cardozo, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Dr. Michael Chernick, Teaneck, New Jersey
Rabbi Max Davis, Saint Louis Park, Minnesota
Rabbi Barry Dolinger, Providence, Rhode Island
Rabbanit Dr. Tehilla Elitzur, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Ari Ellis, Southfield, Michigan
Rabbi Samuel Englender, West Hartford, Connecticut
Rabbanit Devorah Evron, Mitzpe Netofa, Israel
Rabbi Steven Exler, Riverdale, New York
Rabbi David Fain, Detroit, Michigan
Rabbi Zev Farber, Zikhron Yaakov, Israel
Rabbi Dr. Reb Mimi Feigelson, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Michael Feuer, Ma’aleh Adumim, Israel
Rabbi Amitai Fraiman, New York, New York
Rabbi Eitan Gavson, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Ralph Genende, Melbourne, Australia
Rabbi Daniel Geretz, West Orange, New Jersey
Rabbi David Glicksman, West Orange, New Jersey
Rabbi Steve Golden, Cedarhurst, New York
Rabbanit Miriam Gonczarska, Brooklyn, New York
Rabbi Dr. Mel Gottlieb, Los Angeles, California
Rabbi Steven Greenberg, Boston, Massachusetts
Rabbi Yitz Greenberg, Riverdale, New York
Rabbi Tyson Herberger, Oslo, Norway
Rabbi Avram Herzog, Fair Lawn, New Jersey
Rabbi Avital Hochstein, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Sam Intrator, Miami, Florida
Rabbi Lev Eliezer Israel, Riverdale, New York
Rabbi David Jacobowitz, Teaneck, New Jersey
Rabbanit Bracha Jaffe, Baltimore, Maryland
Rabbi David Jaffe, Sharon, Massachusetts
Rabbi David Kalb, New York, New York
Rabbi Ysoscher Katz, New York, New York
Rabbi Will Keller, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Rabbanit Rachel Keren, Ein Hanatziv, Israel
Rabbi Frederick Klein, Miami, Florida
Rabbi Dr. Eugene Korn, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Daniel Landes, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Michael Langer, Oak Park, Michigan
Rabbi Aharon Ariel Lavi, Shuva, Israel
Rabbi Aaron Leibowitz, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Hayim Leiter, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Aaron Levy, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Rabbi Dr. Martin Lockshin, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Yehoshua Looks, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Asher Lopatin, Huntington Park, Michigan
Rabbi Jair Melchior, Copenhagen, Denmark
Rabbi Ben Mernick, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Dr. Yehudah Mirsky, Waltham, Massachusetts
Rabbi Avram Mlotek, New York, New York
Rosh Kehilah Dina Najman, Riverdale, New York
Rabbi Dr. Ariel Picard, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Avi Poupko, Kfar Adumim, Israel
Rabbi Dr. David Rosen, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Dr. Isaac Sassoon, New York, New York
Rabbi Abe Schacter-Gampel, Memphis, Tennessee
Rabbi Gabriel Kretzmer Seed, Riverdale, New York
Rabbi Dr. Shalom Schlagman, Rochester, New York
Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger, Alon Shvut, Israel
Rabbi Michael Schudrich, Warsaw, Poland
Rabbi Ami Silver, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Yair Silverman, Zikhron Yackov, Israel
Rabbi Daniel Raphael Silverstein, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Michael Stein, New York, New York
Rabbi Nahum Twersky, Teaneck, New Jersey
Rabbi Daniel Vaisrub, Skokie, Illinois
Rabbi Devin Maimon Villarreal, Los Angeles, California
Rabbi Ari Weiss, Ithaca, New York
Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz, Phoenix, Arizona
Rabbi Dr. Alan Yuter, Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Lawrence Zierler, South Fallsburg, New York
Rabbi Noam Zion, Jerusalem, Israel