Tree of Life Synagogue
Tree of Life synagogue demolition begins ahead of rebuilding site of deadly antisemitic attack
By Brooke Schultz and Gene Puskar — January 18, 2024
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Most of the building will be removed, although portions of the sanctuary walls will be preserved.
Families had long dialogue after Pittsburgh synagogue attack. Now they’ve unveiled a memorial design
By Peter Smith — December 7, 2023
PITTSBURGH (AP) — In the design, a walkway leads visitors into garden memorial with 11 sculpted forms of open books, each representing one of the victims.
5 years after massacre, Tree of Life rabbi inspires ‘A Psalm for Pittsburgh’
By Kathryn Post — October 27, 2023
PITTSBURGH (RNS) — Psalm 121, which gave Rabbi Jeffrey Myers solace in the wake of the tragedy, has been set to music in a piece commissioned by the Tree of Life congregation and composed by Gerald Cohen.
Ahead of High Holidays, US Jewish leaders stress need for security vigilance as antisemitism surges
By David Crary — September 14, 2023
(AP) — Over recent years — in the face of increased antisemitic threats and violence — the High Holiday season also is a time of heightened vigilance.
For many Pittsburgh Jews, Robert Bowers deserves the death penalty
By Yonat Shimron — August 3, 2023
(RNS) — The execution may be years or decades away, if it happens at all, but for the country’s worst act of antisemitism the death penalty sent a message that hatred of Jews should never be tolerated.
After synagogue gunman’s death sentence, Pittsburgh’s Jews feel relief, resilience — and gratitude
By Ron Kampeas — August 3, 2023
PITTSBURGH (JTA) — The overriding feeling in this city now that the gunman convicted of murdering 11 Jews here in 2018 has been sentenced to death is gratitude.
Pittsburgh synagogue shooter will be sentenced to death, jury finds
By Kathryn Post — August 2, 2023
PITTSBURGH (RNS) — The jury’s unanimous decision comes after just over a day of deliberation and two months of grueling, graphic testimony.
Defense presses case that mental illness spurred Pittsburgh synagogue massacre
By Associated Press — July 31, 2023
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The defense argues Bowers has schizophrenia and acted out of a delusional belief that Jews were participating in a genocide of white people.
The gunman who killed 11 people in a Pittsburgh synagogue is found eligible for the death penalty
By Peter Smith — July 13, 2023
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Testimony is now expected to shift to the impact of Bowers’ crimes on survivors and the victims’ loved ones.
The Pittsburgh synagogue gunman should be eligible for the death penalty, prosecutor argues
By Peter Smith — July 13, 2023
PITTSBURGH (AP) — To reach the threshold of eligibility, the jury must conclude Bowers formed the intent to kill and that there was at least one aggravating factor that made the crime especially heinous.
‘The defendant hated Jews’: In Pittsburgh synagogue trial, closing arguments debate intent
By Kathryn Post — June 15, 2023
PITTSBURGH (RNS) — 'He turned a sacred place of worship into a hunting ground,' said prosecutor Soo Song.
Jury selection begins over 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue attack
By Peter Smith and Mark Scolforo — April 24, 2023
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The families of those killed were divided over whether the government should pursue the death penalty, but most were in favor.
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.
Watching the Parkland jury verdict was wrenching. Survivors need more agency.
By Beth Kissileff — October 19, 2022
(RNS) — I mostly felt profound grief and sadness at the haunted, broken, anguished faces of the families. I don’t think anyone else needs to experience this stress.
We can’t overlook Kanye West’s antisemitism even if we’re tired of Ye news
By Da'Shawn Mosley — October 12, 2022
(RNS) — It’s one thing to recognize commonalities between marginalized groups. But it is something both immoral and threatening to steal an identity.
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