Jewish Agency pays tribute to Jews killed in US synagogue shootings

A Jewish Agency ceremony in Jerusalem to mark Israel’s annual Memorial Day on Wednesday paid special tribute to the 12 Jews killed in shooting attacks in the US over the past year.

The event, held at the Jewish Agency’s premises in the capital, recalled the victims of the October 2018 shooting in Pittsburgh and the April 2019 shooting in the San Diego-area city of Poway.

Eleven people were killed and five injured when a gunman opened fire in the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh on October 27, 2018.

On April 27, 2019, a gunman killed one person and injured three at the Chabad of Poway synagogue in California.

Marnie Fienberg, the daughter-in-law of Joyce Fienberg who was killed in Pittsburgh, was invited by the Jewish Agency to participate in the ceremony, as was Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh president and CEO Jeff Finkelstein, who will light a torch at a state ceremony on Mount Herzl later Wednesday.

Jewish Agency Chairman Isaac Herzog personally invited Fienberg to attend and the two lit a memorial torch together.

“On this day, the Jews of the Diaspora unite in grief with all the residents of the State of Israel,” Herzog said. “And here, too, in Israel, we are united in grief with the Jewish families in the Diaspora, those who lost loved ones in terrorist acts and those whose children chose to wear their olive uniforms and gave their lives protecting Israel.”

According to Jewish Agency figures, more than 200 Jews have been killed in anti-Semitic incidents and terror attacks outside Israel since the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948. Israel’s 2019 Memorial Day commemorated a total of 23,741 fallen soldiers and 3,150 terror victims.

“During this tragedy, during these awful times, something amazing has happened,” Fienberg said. “At our lowest point, we weren’t alone. There was support, love, and strength from all over the world, not just from our friends, from Jews everywhere… we felt that love, and love is what gets us through every single day.”

“We are inspired by you Israelis — proud Israeli soldiers and citizens,” she continued. “You never back away from a fight and we aren’t going to either. We are stronger together, in Pittsburgh, in the United States, and here in Israel.”

The ceremony was broadcast live on Facebook in Hebrew and English to enable participation by Jewish communities from all over the world.

“The anti-Semites don’t care about our labels [Reconstructionist, Chabad, Conservative], to them we’re all Jews,” Finkelstein said. “And to all of us, the work we do with the Jewish Agency and Federations has to be focused on building Jewish unity, because together we can defeat evil. Am Yisrael Chai [the Jewish people live].”

The victims of the Pittsburgh shooting were Joyce Fienberg, Richard Gottfried, Rose Mallinger, Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil Rosenthal, David Rosenthal, Bernice Simon, Sylvan Simon, Daniel Stein, Melvin Wax, and Irving Younger.

Lori Gilbert-Kaye was killed in the Poway shooting.

Finkelstein, the Pittsburgh community leader, will be honored by lighting a torch in the name of Diaspora Jewry at the annual Independence Day celebration ceremony Wednesday night as Memorial Day draws to a close.