My heart, my soul, my core are shattered at the news of the fatal mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh today — during what should have been a joyous, sacred bris for a new member of the community on Shabbat. May the memory of those who have passed be a blessing. And may we come together as a Jewish people, as an American people, as a global humanity in peace, unity and love.
"All these Jews need to die," the suspect allegedly told police. Anti-semitism is pure evil — and must be named, addressed and directly combatted, like discrimination on the basis of faith, race, ethnicity, any piece of one's identity. We are living in dark times where hatred, discrimination, threats, oppression, violence, anti-Semitism, racism, Islamophobia, white supremacy run rampant with devastating, tragic real world consequences at the hands of terrorists, extremists, sick, radicalized human beings with access to guns, technology and other deadly weapons.
We must pray, we must love, we must act decisively.
"When one Jew does an act of kindness, all our hands extend with his or hers. If one Jew should fall, all of us stumble. If one suffers, we all feel pain. When one rejoices, we are all uplifted. In our oneness we will find our destiny, and our destiny is to be one. For we are a single body, breathing with a single set of lungs, pulsating with a single heart, drawing from a single well of consciousness. We are one. Let it be with love."