OP-ED: The unthinkable becomes reality
The events of Saturday, October 27, are still raw and unsettling. Within a few hours, we knew the face and name of hate. It took almost 24 hours before we would learn the names and faces of his 11 victims and those of the six he injured, two still in critical care.
We have begun to hear some of the stories of their lives. In the coming days, as the scene is finally processed, we will be told how they were slaughtered, cut down in a hail of bullets by a madman with an assault rifle and three fully loaded handguns. In his twisted roles as prosecutor, jury and executioner, he removed innocents who had assembled to practice their faith and do as commanded in the Torah – enjoy the peace and shelter of Shabbat.
We all knew this kind of unthinkable act might one day become reality. We knew the lessons of history in Europe and the Middle East, where these kinds of heinous acts have been perpetrated for millennia. But, despite the violent history of the United States and its sinuous dance with firearms, our people had largely escaped being made into victims in the very place where we worship and praise G-d and the paths of peace.
On Saturday, the rhetoric of hate promoted by radical groups was transformed into bullets that maimed and killed, leaving wives, husbands, children and grandchildren to pick up the pieces of their lives and to ask the unknowable question of why?
When a similar deranged man with a gun killed members of a church three years ago in Charleston, many members of our community spoke out against this same kind of violence and hate. We recalled how synagogues and temples were singled out during the Civil Rights era because our people rallied against injustice and prejudice. We knew how tenuous our lives were and how we needed to guard against those who, in ignorance, would take up arms against our people too.
We have now crossed the Rubicon. No longer will synagogues and temples be considered as safe harbors for our people. The joy of Shabbat was shattered by the sounds of gunfire and an atmosphere of fear now hovers in its place.
The reaction from our President was swift to condemn the slaughter, but advocating for armed guards inside synagogues is not the answer to this problem. We must remove the rhetoric of hate as certain as we remove the weapons from their hands. We must show with words and deeds that we are not a threat, but desire the same kinds of protection and peace sought in our Declaration of Independence and guaranteed through our Constitution.
We are a people in mourning who must endure yet another tragedy. We must pray for the wisdom to cling tight to our religion during these trying times and to know its paths to peace. As the very name of the Pittsburgh synagogue emphasizes the words from Proverbs we daven on Shabbat: “It is a tree of life for those who hold fast to it, and all its supporters are happy. Its ways are ways of pleasantness and all its paths are peace.”
It will not be easy as we contemplate those we lost in Pittsburgh, but to do anything else will tarnish us as children of G-d and will dishonor us as a people.
Baruch dayan emet. “Blessed is the true judge.”
