• FBI finishes its work inside Tree of Life synagogue,

Tree of Life leaders pledge to rebuild as FBI ends investigation at synagogue

The FBI on Wednesday finished its investigation inside Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill and has returned control of the building to synagogue leaders, who are making plans to rebuild in the wake of the mass shooting.

“This has been everyone’s home since 1952, so we will be back, we will be better and back for another 154 years,” said Alan Hausman, a vice president at Tree of Life / Or L’Simcha, which owns the building and is one of three congregations meeting in it.

The congregations, including Dor Hadash and New Light, are beginning to assess the damage to the building and are sorting through insurance, contracts and building plans, Mr. Hausman said.

He declined to discuss specific damage to the building but did say “significant religious artifacts are intact.”

Leaders of New Light Congregation, which met in the lower level of the Tree of Life building, said it’s too soon in the grieving and recovery process to decide where they want to meet for the long term.

“It’s a down-the-road question,” said Stephen Cohen, co-president of the congregation. For the short term, the congregation will meet at Congregation Beth Shalom in Squirrel Hill.

New Light had relocated to the Tree of Life building about a year ago after selling its building in Squirrel Hill and downsizing due to decreases in membership. It brought many of the items from its

old location, such as Torah scrolls, artwork and yahrzeit boards to memorialize deceased members of the congregation.

New Light Rabbi Jonathan Perlman agreed. “It’s going to take a conversation with our congregation to see how people feel about it,” he said.

But one way or another, the congregation will rebound, he said.

“I don’t want this to defeat us,” he said. “We worked very hard to to bring most of our old synagogue there.”

The congregations also are figuring out what to do with the massive streetside memorial that has grown on the sidewalk outside the building since the attack — hundreds of flowers, candles and remembrances — but haven’t made any decisions, Mr. Hausman said.

The synagogue has been shut down since Oct. 27, when, police say, Robert Bowers, 46, of Baldwin Borough, entered the building and killed 11 people who were attending Saturday morning worship services. The shooter also wounded six others, including four police officers and two congregants.

Another nine people who were in the synagogue escaped without injury, some by hiding in closets and bathrooms. The shooter was taken into custody after exchanging gunfire with SWAT officers. He faces 44 federal charges, as well as additional state charges.

The FBI has classified the attack as a hate crime.