SAN DIEGO (SDJW) –If you missed Monday night’s community vigil at Congregation Beth Israel in San Diego, you’ll have another chance to attend an interfaith gathering memorializing the 11 Jews slain at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh and honoring the four law enforcement officials also shot by the white supremacist gunman.
Temple Beth Shalom in Chula Vista will hold a memorial interfaith service this coming Thursday evening at 7 p.m. Rabbi Michael Samuel will be joined by representatives of area churches including Amazing Grace Fellowship and United Church of Christ, Saint John’s Episcopal, and the Chula Vista Presbyterian church. Samuel said it is important for both Jews and Christians to come together at this time.
*
In other local developments, the Jewish Federation of San Diego County is urging contributions be made to “the Pittsburgh Federation’s Emergency Fund for the psychological services, support for families, general services, reconstruction, additional security throughout the community, medical bills for all those involved, as well as counseling and other services that may prove necessary in the future.”
*
U.S. Rep. Scott Peters (D-San Diego) issued a statement, saying, “As our nation mourns the loss of eleven Americans killed in a senseless act of gun violence this weekend, we must all take a moment to reflect on how we can promote kindness, tolerance, respect, and dignity. We all must stand together in the face of hateful rhetoric, prejudice, and anti-Semitism. Whether you join a vigil … or take a moment for personal reflection, I encourage San Diegans and all Americans to consider what role they play in our nation’s dialogue. And I urge the president to consider his own role in creating an atmosphere of hatred, mistrust of others, and anger that incubates these horrific actions. The tragedy in Pittsburgh was motivated by anti-refugee rhetoric, and yet, the president is dispatching more than 5,000 troops to our border with Mexico, well over the number of men, women, and children who are believed to be in the first caravan, literally running for their lives. This action is more about politics than national security and it was exactly the wrong thing to do to diffuse hostilities. I call on every political leader — Republicans in particular — to urge the President to encourage calm, instead of inciting rage.”
*
Similarly, Jessica Hayes, chair of the San Diego Democratic Party, spoke out about violence that now is tearing at the fabric of America. In her statement, she said: “The San Diego County Democratic Party condemns the vicious murders of two African-American senior citizens last Wednesday in Louisville, Ky., gunned down by a man who first tried to enter a predominantly black church before moving on to a grocery store. He walked into the store, pulled a gun, and shot Maurice Stallard in the back of the head, then shot him several more times. Then he went outside and killed Vickie Lee Jones, who also died from multiple gunshot wounds.
“We condemn the slaughter of eleven innocent victims in a synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pa., leading to what the Anti-Defamation League describes as ‘the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in US History.’ In his last tweet before shooting on Saturday, the gunman blamed Jews for immigration and said he was ‘going in.’
“We condemn the terrorism that occurred last week in the form of pipe bombs sent to numerous prominent Democrats and critics of President Trump – 14 intercepted packages that that could have taken thousands of innocent lives if they’d had their intended effect.
“More fundamentally, we condemn the rise of inflammatory and violent rhetoric in American politics, which cannot be separated from the acts of physical violence taking take place in our communities. It’s time for Americans to reject hate; to restore our belief in the possibility of progress; and to take action by exercising our affirmative, transformative, essential right to vote.”
*
In New York State, the Sousa Mendes Foundation said it “mourns with the Jewish community of Pittsburgh and commends the brave police officers who ran into harm’s way to save innocent lives. They are true heroes.In the wake of this vicious attack, a hate crimes reporting portal has been established by the Justice Department. To access the portal, click here.
“This violent attack on a synagogue, just days before the anniversary of Kristallnacht, reminds all of us in the Holocaust remembrance community that our work isn’t done.”
*
In Philadelphia, Ivy Barsky, CEO of the National Museum of American Jewish History, issued this commentary: ” We at the National Museum of American Jewish History, like you, are deeply saddened and angered by the act of hatred and violence perpetrated on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh on Saturday. We mourn the tragic loss of eleven people while they were engaged in one of the most basic freedoms that America has made possible for the Jewish community: observing their own religion. We must stand in solidarity with them as we condemn this horrific act.At the Museum, we know that education is the strongest response to hate. Although our hearts our broken – and perhaps because they are broken – we respond by rededicating ourselves to our educational mission, working to inspire people of all backgrounds to understand and appreciate the values of heritage and identity through active engagement with stories of American Jewish life that we tell in our Museum every day.
*
In Iowa, lay leaders of two Jewish congregations blasted U.S. Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) as a white supremacist. Alan Steckman, president of Adas Israel in Mason City, and John Pleasants, president of the Ames Jewish Congregation, wrote in the Des Moines Register: “We are writing from the depths of our grief, in horror at the news of the Tree of Life synagogue massacre in Pittsburgh. We feel we must speak out because our Congressional Representative, Steve King, is an enthusiastic crusader for the same types of abhorrent beliefs held by the Pittsburgh shooter. King’s regular meetings with the white supremacist group in Austria founded by an SS officer are not new. But the recent discovery, that King used funds from a Holocaust education organization to meet with a notoriously anti-Semitic propaganda site is shocking beyond any previous outrage. King’s latest cynical machinations are intolerable to us as Iowans and as Jews. King’s long promotion of white supremacist ideology has gone unchallenged by his colleagues for so long that even this most recent outrage — revealed just days before the Pittsburgh massacre — did not elicit comment. We are proud Iowans who span the political spectrum but we are united in our condemnation of white supremacy and anti-Semitism and the legislator from Iowa’s 4th congressional district who promotes it. King’s actions and the silence of his colleagues in Iowa and in Congress foster a climate that enables the kind of hateful violence that erupted three times in the last week. We call on all elected officials to stand with Iowa’s Jewish community, denounce King’s actions, and hold him accountable. We call on King’s donors to cut off their financial support. Intel and Land O’ Lakes recently took this long overdue step and we expect the same from Berkshire Hathaway, AT & T, and the American Bankers Association. We call on King to apologize to all Holocaust survivors, their families, and the Iowa Jewish community. When King promoted white supremacist ideology, many of us we were silent. We will not be silent now. Stand with us in denouncing Steve King and the ideology he promotes.”
*
Preceding culled from news releases. Send yours to editor@sdjewishworld.com