Regina vigil to honour Pittsburgh shooting victims
Event organizer says synagogue attack was ‘a crime against all of us’
ARTHUR WHITE-CRUMMEY
REGINA Faith leaders plan to hold a vigil in front of Regina City Hall on Thursday, in honour of the 11 people killed during Saturday’s horrific attack on a Pittsburgh synagogue.
Rabbi Jeremy Parnes of Regina’s Beth Jacob Synagogue is calling the ceremony “Vigil for Wholeness in a Broken World.” He said it will take place at 5 p.m. on Thursday and last 30 to 45 minutes, though he’s still working on finalizing a permit application. The vigil will be jointly organized by Beth Jacob Synagogue and Regina Multi-faith Forum. Parnes hopes it can bring people together to combat hate.
“It’s a crime against all of us,” he said of the attack.
“We have to stand together and say ‘No, we’re not accepting it. We’re not going to put up with it.’ And maybe, the more we do that, the more people will wake up and get the message.
“I’m not interested in just saying prayers. We have to act.”
Parnes said those who attend the vigil will be invited to sign a book that will be sent to the Pittsburgh Jewish community, as well as to contribute donations for restoration work and assistance for those in hospital.
Windy conditions are expected on Thursday, making it difficult for participants to light candles. But Parnes said dignitaries will likely be asked to light 11 covered candles, each one memorializing a victim of Saturday’s attack.
The Anti-defamation League has called the shooting the deadliest attack on Jews in American history. It occurred during a Shabbat service Saturday morning, when outspoken anti-semite Robert Bowers is alleged to have opened fire at worshippers at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue.
Bowers said he wanted all Jews to die. Prosecutors have filed hate crime charges.
Parnes said that kind of hate is “age old.”
“It’s senseless hatred and we appear to be the brunt of it,” he said. “This is not new to Judaism.”
Saturday’s violence touched Parnes on a personal level. He said a rabbi he has met often at conferences arrived late at the Tree of Life Synagogue that day, narrowly missing the carnage.
“His close friend who was the prayer leader that morning is in critical condition in hospital as we speak,” Parnes said. “It really can hit home that closely.”
For Parnes, the world is now so closely connected in a “global village” that tragedy in Pittsburgh is felt deeply across the continent in Regina, and around the world.
“These things affect all of us,” he said.
Thursday ’s ceremony will follow similar vigils in Toronto and Montreal, and one that was planned for Tuesday in Saskatoon.
Parnes said that three or four people will speak on Thursday, including himself. He is now working on preparing readings for the vigil, likely in Hebrew and English.
Everyone is welcome.