Tree of Life shooting
Poll: A minority of American Jews continues to feel threatened by antisemitism
By Yonat Shimron — February 13, 2023
(RNS) — Most American Jews feel safe in their places of worship and at work. But 41% said they feel less secure in the United States from a year ago, a new AJC poll finds.
Josh Shapiro and me
By Beth Kissileff — November 11, 2022
(RNS) — Pennsylvania's governor-elect bravely ran on inclusiveness against a candidate who leveraged Christian nationalism.
Antisemitism decried four years after Pa. synagogue attack
By Peter Smith — October 27, 2022
PITTSBURGH (AP) — For many community leaders, their grief is mixed with dismay over the continued and growing incidents of antisemitism in the United States and beyond.
Dilemma for houses of worship: Openness or safety?
By Beth Kissileff and Rosalind C. Hughes — January 25, 2022
(RNS) — Our hope as those who attend and lead religious institutions is to maintain our humaneness and treat others with compassion, while keeping ourselves and others safe.
Resisting hate, as people of faith, includes readiness for self-defense
By Dwight Lee Wolter — January 24, 2022
(RNS) — We are not helpless in our new reality.
What to give your Jewish neighbors for Christmas
By Avi Shafran — December 16, 2021
(RNS) — Fighting antisemitism starts with the people you live and work with.
The Unite the Right rally changed her life. She now wants to defeat white nationalism.
By Yonat Shimron — November 26, 2021
(RNS) — Since that searing summer day four years ago, Rabbi Rachel Schmelkin has devoted herself to better understanding what happened and working to make sure it never happens again.
The worst day in American Jewish history
By Jeffrey Salkin — October 27, 2021
(RNS) — Eleven people died the day of the Tree of Life shooting. They died the death of the righteous. They died as kedoshim, as martyrs.
Book explores how a diverse Jewish neighborhood responded to a horrific hate crime
By Yonat Shimron — October 26, 2021
(RNS) — In his new book, ‘Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting and the Soul of a Neighborhood,’ Mark Oppenheimer takes a probing look at how a neighborhood of 13,000 Jews coped in the aftermath of the tragedy.
3 years after Pittsburgh synagogue attack, trial still ahead
By Peter Smith and Mark Scolforo — October 22, 2021
PITTSBURGH (AP) — As the three-year mark since the massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue approaches, survivors are planning now-familiar annual rituals of remembrance, the criminal case involving the suspect plods on, and the site is in line for restoration. The landmark synagogue in Pittsburgh’s leafy Squirrel Hill neighborhood remains dormant, but a renowned […]
Police say accused synagogue shooter talked of killing Jews
By Ramesh Santanam — October 12, 2021
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh police officers who responded to the synagogue building during a shooting three years ago that killed 11 people told a judge Tuesday that defendant Robert Bowers made several references to killing Jews. Officer Stephen Mescan was the first to testify in what is expected to be a two-day hearing into whether […]
Group distributes ‘trauma kits’ to temples ahead of holidays
By Associated Press — September 3, 2021
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — An organization in South Florida is distributing “trauma kits" to Jewish houses of worship that help treat life-threatening injuries before first responders can arrive.
Antisemitic and anti-Muslim content is flourishing on TikTok, report finds
By Alejandra Molina — August 27, 2021
(RNS) — The Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a London-based nonprofit that tracks extremism online, released a report Aug. 24 that found TikTok 'operates as a new arena for violence-endorsing, hateful ideologies.'
On Tisha B’av, the meaning of Tree of Life revealed
By Beth Kissileff — July 23, 2021
(RNS) — Some ideas for the architect who will rebuild the site of the Pittsburgh massacre.
In Poway and Pittsburgh, mayors join fight against hate after synagogue attacks
By Manya Brachear Pashman — April 27, 2021
(RNS) — When an attack happens these days, mayors who have experienced shootings in their communities reach out with advice for their newly affected colleagues.
