One-year commemoration of Pittsburgh synagogue massacre to be marked worldwide

PITTSBURGH — The first anniversary of the deadliest attack on Jews in US history is being marked around the world Sunday with community service projects, music and an online remembrance.

The shooting on October 27, 2018, killed 11 worshipers and wounded seven at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood.

The Tree of Life building has remained closed since the massacre. The three congregations now worship at two nearby synagogues. Last week, Tree of Life leaders unveiled their vision for the damaged building: a rebuilt space for places of worship; memorial, education and social events; and classrooms and exhibitions.

The commemoration’s theme is “Remember. Repair. Together.” It includes a private Jewish service, studying the portion of the Torah that was to be read when the shooting happened, opportunities to do community service, and a public memorial service.

Several hundred people have registered to volunteer at various community organizations on Sunday. In Germany, the Clarion Quartet, comprised of Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra musicians, will perform at a special event in Berlin.

Thousands are expected to participate in Sunday’s remembrance through Pause With Pittsburgh, a virtual memorial event created by the Jewish Federations of North America.

People who register on the event’s website will receive a text message or email at 5 pm EDT on Sunday. They will see a two-minute video of the names of the 11 victims, followed by a Jewish prayer of mourning recorded by a cantor in Israel specifically for this commemoration. There will also be a live stream link to the public memorial service in Pittsburgh.

Last week, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf signed a proclamation calling for a day of remembrance and ordering state flags to half-staff to mark the one-year anniversary of the attack.

“A year has passed, but I continue to carry sorrow for the victims and their families of this heinous attack,” Wolf said on Friday when he signed the proclamation. “We must honor them by remembering, and through our thoughts, prayers and actions. I ask all Pennsylvanians to spend October 27 doing the same in their honor.”

Authorities charged Robert Bowers, 47, a truck driver from Baldwin, Pennsylvania, in the massacre. Investigators say he used an AR-15 rifle and other weapons, and posted criticism of an immigrant aid society on social media before the attack, claiming the Jewish charity “likes to bring invaders that kill our people.”

Federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Bowers’ attorneys said this month that the case would be over by now if the prosecutors had accepted his offer to plead guilty in return for a sentence of life in prison without parole. Some congregation members oppose making it a capital punishment case.

The rabbis of two of the three synagogues that share the building expressed their opposition to the death penalty. New Light Rabbi Jonathan Perlman wrote to US Attorney General William Barr in August after learning a decision on the death penalty would soon be made.

“Execution has become an outmoded kind of punishment. Like slavery, this is something that belongs to another time and another place,” Perlman explained in an interview. “I can’t think of any worse punishment for a criminal than to spend the rest of his life in a maximum-security prison without parole.”

Perlman said he has a faith-based opposition to the death penalty and concern about the impact a trial might have on his congregants.

“What’s most important is to protect families and the victims that just do not want to go into a tailspin of depression and trauma and anxiety when this horror show comes to town,” Perlman said.