BOSTON HEARTS GO OUT TO SYNAGOGUE VICTIMS
Jews, Christians offer sympathy
Thousands of anguished and stunned people gathered on Boston Common yesterday to stand up to hatred and mourn the deaths of 11 Pittsburgh synagogue congregants in what was one of the deadliest anti-Semite acts in U.S. history.
“We’re horrified,” said Susan S. Weingarten, chairwoman of the Boston Synagogue’s board of directors, who spoke to the Herald. “We’re absolutely devastated. We’ll be in contact with the Boston Police Department, we just want to make sure everyone is safe.”
The shooting followed a hate-filled week across the country, where three incidents occurred in 72 hours. Saturday morning’s shooting brought terror to Boston’s Jewish community.
“I was pretty scared to be honest,” said Elijah Wiesman, a 16-year-old from Arlington. “I was with a whole group of friends last night from my school, who are all Jewish, and we were all just talking about how terrified we are and what we can do.”
Marilyn Sandperl, the daughter of Holocaust survivor Rena Finder, stood next to a photo of her mother on the common as part of the “Lest we forget” remembrance installation and recited her mother’s words to passersby.
Finder’s message read: “I had hoped and prayed never to see or hear this again. Hitler may be dead, but his message to kill the Jews lives on. This time I hope the world will speak up and won’t allow it to continue.”
Sandperl talked about how her community is reacting to the tragedy.
“It is getting harder and harder to be optimistic,” said Sandperl. “It is happening too often; the shootings, the anti-Semitism, the random killings and mass murders.”
Mayor Martin J. Walsh, speaking at the vigil, said he reached out to Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and offered words of solidarity.
“I just told him we’re praying for him,” Walsh said. “This isn’t like a tornado or a hurricane, where we can send supplies down and send people down, this is more of a message that ‘You’re in our thoughts and prayers.’ ”
Police Commissioner William G. Gross called the community support for the vigil “impressive.”
“We are sending a message that evil can’t write the narrative of our country,” he said.
Members of all religious backgrounds also showed support for the grieving Jewish community.
“Today wear your yarmulke tighter,” said Shayk Yasir Fahmy, senior imam of
the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center. “Don’t fear your faith, be confident, be strong and hold your head strong because millions of Muslims stand with you.”
Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley said the Catholic Church around the country spread a message that stood by members of the Jewish community yesterday morning.
“Today, we are here, all of us, as congregants of the Tree of Life congregation in Pittsburgh,” O’Malley said. “We feel a solidarity with our brothers and sisters there. Our hearts are filled with sadness for the suffering of those individuals who unjustly lost their life.”