Tree of Life Synagogue Three Years Later

A MEMORIAL SHABBAT SERVICE WITH AUTHOR MARK OPPENHEIMER

FRIDAY OCTOBER 22, 2021 @ 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
HYBRID AND IN PERSON AT WASHINGTON HEBREW CONGREGATION

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As we approach the third anniversary of the deadliest antisemitic attack in American history, we ask you to join us at Temple* on Friday, October 22 at 6:00 pm for a Shabbat service commemorating this tragic day and honoring the memory of its victims.

We will be joined by Mark Oppenheimer, author of the newly released book Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting and the Soul of a Neighborhood. In writing this book, Oppenheimer spoke with residents and nonresidents, Jews and gentiles, survivors and witnesses, teenagers and seniors, activists, and historians. The stories he gathered provide a kaleidoscopic and nuanced account of collective grief, love, support, and revival. Oppenheimer will share one of these stories during the service and will participate in a Q&A afterward.

In his book, Oppenheimer helps shift the focus from the criminal and his crime to the historic, spirited community at the center of this heartbreak. He also details the difficult dialogue and messy confrontations that Squirrel Hill had to face in the process of healing — a necessary part of true growth and understanding for any community — reverently capturing the vibrancy and caring that still characterize Squirrel Hill.

Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, is one of the oldest Jewish neighborhoods in the country, known for its tight-knit community and the profusion of multigenerational families. Many neighborhoods would be understandably subsumed by despair and recrimination after such an event, but not Squirrel Hill. The remarkable resilience of this community provides inspiration during a time when it feels like the world is filled with so much discrimination and hate.