Metro faith community comes together to pray for Pittsburgh
Phyllis Davis had watched television news reports about a mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue, anxiously awaiting the names of the 11 people who were mercilessly gunned down.
The metro-area Jewish woman said she was afraid that she might have known some of the victims because she grew up in the Squirrel Hill residential area where the house of worship is nestled.
Davis was among a crowd of about 450 people who gathered at Temple B’nai Israel, 4901 N Pennsylvania Ave., on Sunday evening for a prayer vigil for Pittsburgh. People filled the temple’s sanctuary and an overflow room to pray for the victims of the anti-Semitic attack and those who mourn them. They also wanted to spread a message of unity and rejecting hate.
“I think people need to do this,” Davis said of the community gathering.
Eight men and three women attending a child’s naming ceremony were killed when a gunman opened fire on Saturday at the Tree of Life Synagogue. Another six people were wounded, several of them first responders.
Roberta Clark, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Oklahoma City, praised local law enforcement leaders from the FBI and Oklahoma City Police Department who she said reached out to her in the immediate aftermath of
the Pittsburgh shootings to discuss ways to ensure the safety of the local Jewish community. She shared some ways that people could combat hate. “How do we members of our community make a difference in the wake of this tragedy? Start with ourselves. We must remember that hurtful words do cause pain and hateful words all too often lead to action,” Clark said. Small rocks emblazoned with words of hope and unity were distributed among the Oklahoma City crowd that gathered Sunday. In her opening remarks, Rabbi Vered Harris said the rocks represented the “Rock of Israel” — the Jewish faith concept that the Lord is a pillar of safety and protection for His people. “Through that Rock we find encouragement and hope in the lowest of times . ... It is in those times that we turn our hearts in prayer,” said Rabbi Vered Harris, spiritual leader of Temple B’nai Israel. The Oklahoma City prayer gathering included inspirational music, prayers and remarks from all three metro-area rabbis. Bill Citty, Oklahoma City police chief, also spoke to the crowd. In one poignant moment, Rabbi Ovadia Goldman of the Chabad Community Center for Jewish Life and Learning sang a song from his childhood after urging the Jewish community to show Jewish pride. “I’m a Jew and I’m proud and I’ll sing it out loud ‘cuz forever that’s what I’ll be,” Goldman sang. “I’m a Jew and I’m proud and it’s without a doubt that HaShem is always watching over me.” More than one leader said in times of tragedy, people find comfort as they connect with one another. Pamela Richman, who attends Temple B’nai Israel, agreed. “It’s the proper response, to get together and connect,” she said. Richman said her daughter, Mira Magrill, had attended Carnegie Mellon University near Squirrel Hill and had telephoned her after hearing about the synagogue shootings. “She said this was such a gut punch,” Richman said. Meanwhile, several members of the interfaith community said they attended Sunday to show support for their Jewish counterparts. “We really believe an attack on any one of us is an attack on all of us,” said Asiya Shakir, a member of the American Muslim Association of Oklahoma City who attends the Grand Mosque. Echoing those sentiments, the Rev. Shannon Fleck, executive director of the Oklahoma Conference of Churches, said: “Any time there is a tragedy anywhere, and especially a tragedy in a house of worship of any kind, all people of faith need to come together . ... We’re all together in this.”