Victims, mostly older, cared for their community

The Jewish congregants were there to celebrate life but were met by death. Most never had a chance.

Just before 10 a.m. Saturday, suspected gunman Robert Bowers, 46, burst into the Tree of Life Congregation Synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh and, yelling “All Jews must die,” killed 11 before himself being wounded and taken into custody.

The list of those killed Saturday included middle-aged brothers, an elderly husband and wife, and a grandmother nearing 100. All were cherished members of a tight-knit Jewish community with deep roots in Pittsburgh history.

Many of them had gathered for a naming ceremony, which marks the

beginning of a baby’s journey in the Jewish faith. Others arrived on this traditionally holy day, the Sabbath, simply to worship, study and pray.

On Sunday, Pittsburgh chief medical examiner Karl Williams read the names of the dead.

“The families are in shock and grieving; please be respectful of their needs, their time and space as they deal with this tragedy,” he said.

‘I can’t even put it into words’

Those killed were Daniel Stein, 71; Joyce Feinberg, 75; Richard Gottfried, 65; Rose Mallinger, 97; Jerry Rabinowitz, 66; brothers Cecil Rosenthal, 59, and David Rosenthal 54; husband and wife Bernice Simon, 84, and Sylvan Simon, 86; Melvin Wax, 88; and Irving Younger, 69.

The Rosenthal brothers, Cecil and David, were longtime members of the Tree of Life synagogue, according to J.E. Reich, who grew up in the neighborhood the brothers called home.

Reich said the brothers were developmentally disabled and lived together. The two had Fragile X syndrome, a genetic disorder that often results in mild to moderate intellectual disability.

Cecil Rosenthal loved to greet people at the door of the synagogue before services, “not out of obligation but out of joy,” Reich said.

Reich tweeted that due to the ongoing police investigation, which has involved cordoning off part of the cemetery at Tree of Life, all burials may be delayed.

Achieva, an area organization that helps the developmentally disabled, said in a statement Sunday that the brothers had a deep love of community and life.

“If they were here, they would tell you that is where they were supposed to be,” said Chris Schopf, Achieva’s vice president of residential supports.

Sylvan Simon, 86, and his wife, Bernice, 84, lived in Wilkinsburg, about 6 miles from Tree of Life. One of their sons, Martin, died in a motorcycle accident in 2010.

Bernice Simon was a retired nurse who served for several years on the board of their townhouse community, according to Simon Reichbaum, who lived three doors down from the couple for more than two decades.

The shooting “has struck us all very hard,” said Reichbaum, 74, whose children attended Hebrew school at Tree of Life when they were young. “I can’t even put it into words.”

‘Everyone else’s needs’ came first

Jerry Rabinowitz, 66, was a family doctor in Pittsburgh, where he shared a practice with Kenneth Ciesielka.

Jerry and his wife, Miri, were devoted members of Dor Hadash, which is housed at the Tree of Life Synagogue, and he had served as past president of the Jewish reconstructionist congregation, friends said.

As a kid, Rabinowitz attended Maple Avenue School in Newark, New Jersey, from grade school through middle school.

Mark Sarver, who met Rabinowitz in grade school and later served as the best man in his wedding, said his best friend “never took my friendship for granted.”

Known for his signature bowtie and delightful bedside manner, Rabinowitz earned a reputation for faithfully tending to the needs of his patients, friends and family.

“He was extremely caring (and) would always put everyone else’s needs before his own,” said Avishai Ostrin, his nephew, who spoke with USA TODAY from his home in Israel. “It was always about everyone else.”

Daniel Stein, 71, was a member of the New Light Congregation, a conservative Jewish congregation that was one of three that shared space at the synagogue. A new grandfather, he attended services every Saturday and was an active supporter of the community, according to TribLive.

Joyce Feinberg, 75, was the wife of the late Stephen E. Feinberg, a professor of statistics and social science at Carnegie Mellon University, who died in 2016. They had two sons, Anthony Feinberg of Paris, and Howard Feinberg of Vienna, Virginia, and several grandchildren, according to her husband’s obituary.

Irving Younger, 69, and his wife, Sherry, who died in 2007, had two children, Jordanna and Jared, according to her obituary, which ran in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.