The reaction in Houston
Local Jewish community calls for unity.
Rabbi Scott Hausman-Weiss has led hundreds of post-Shabbat havdalah ceremonies in his nearly two decades as a spiritual leader. Saturday’s came the evening of what is believed to be the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in U.S. history.
In the packed living room of Houston residents Abbie Kamin and Matt Hansel, Hausman-Weiss on Saturday opened the ceremony — which marks the end of Shabbat — by reading “The New Colossus,” Emma Lazarus’ sonnet engraved at the base of the Statue of Liberty.
The poem, Hausman-Weiss said, “is about blending in people who are different, who look different, who act different.”
“There is so much pain tonight, particularly in Pittsburgh,” Hausman-Weiss said after reading Lazarus’ poem. “There is so much pain and suffering tonight in the Jewish community, and in the community of fair-minded people everywhere.”
During a brief ceremony, people clasped hands, sang prayers and openly shed tears. Others wrapped their hands around one another’s shoulders, as they swayed in unison while singing.
The ceremony served as a much-needed unifying force hours after a shooter killed 11 people and injured six more, including four police officers, on Saturday morning at the Tree of Life Congregation synagogue, Pittsburgh’s oldest Jewish congregation.
The violent act rippled through Jewish communities across the world, including here in Houston, as residents learned of the shooting’s horrific nature. Police said Robert Bowers, a 46-year-old Pittsburgh resident, shouted “all Jews must die” as he opened fire with an assault rifle on the congregation, where a Jewish baby-naming ceremony was taking place.
“Desperation. A sense of incredible fear,” Hausman-Weiss said, describing his reaction to the news. “There’s something about this that is so, it feels so frightening. Not because a crazy man ran into a synagogue — we’ve seen this before, at Jewish community centers in the U.S. and elsewhere.”
He continued: “But I think what’s truly frightening is the incredible power of social media to promulgate, exaggerate.”
Bowers had posted on a social media platform, Gab.com, photos of his guns, clips and shooting targets, according to multiple reports.
The shooting coincides with a measurable spike in anti-Semitism, as Jewish people have been disproportionately impacted by hate crimes in recent years, FBI data show.
“It’s coming from individuals who, for whatever reason, grew up spewing hatred toward Jews and gays and blacks and Hispanics,” said Mayor Pro Tem Ellen Cohen. “It’s the responsibility of leaders to show kindness and compassion, and to condemn in the strongest possible way this kind of activity.”
Marking the local response, several Jewish people said, was an outpouring of support from other faith-based communities. Dena Marks, senior associate director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Southwest Regional Office, recalled the immediate aftermath of the shooting.
“One of the first calls I got when the news broke this morning was from a representative of the Muslim community, who called not only to express condolences from the Muslim community, but to say to me that the Muslim community stands with the Jewish community,” Marks said.
Some were quick to tie the shooting, if indirectly, to President Donald Trump, who on Saturday said “anybody that does a thing like this to innocent people” should receive the death penalty.
Trump also said “the results would have been far better” if an armed guard had been stationed inside the synagogue — a statement that drew denouncement from liberals. Some agreed with the general sentiment of the comment, however.
“I’m not against having people that are well-trained and vetted by law enforcement for proficiency. It’s sad that we have to think that way,” said Harris County Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen, a Democrat. “There’s nothing worse than to have someone come in who’s shooting, and you have no way to do something back other than run.”
But Rosen, like other left-leaning officials, believed Trump had been detrimental to a widening sense of division in the U.S.
“Sadly, Trump’s not easing our country’s feelings,” Rosen said. “He’s adding to some of the divisiveness. I just don’t see him being a uniter.”
The shooting drew swift responses from local law enforcement agencies, with Harris County Sheriff’s deputies stationing vehicles outside some synagogues.
Houston Police were also monitoring synagogues around the city, Mayor Sylvester Turner said on Twitter. Turner added that he would “continue to seek ways to reduce gun violence in any form” through his Commission Against Gun Violence.
“Violence in any form, whether it be individuals, a particular religious group, or religious space is unacceptable,” Turner said. “There is truly no place for hate.”