Tight-knit community of worshippers mourns elderly victims

AUTHORITIES in Pittsburgh yesterday named the 11 victims of the worst ever gun attack on America’s Jewish community, sending a fresh wave of questions through a tight-knit suburban neighbourhood still trying to understand what could motivate someone to open fire on an elderly congregation.

A 97-year-old woman who attended synagogue with her daughter, a married couple in their eighties and two brothers in their fifties were among those who were killed.

David and Cecil Rosenthal were the youngest victims, aged 54 and 59. The eldest was Rose Mallinger, 97. The dead also included Joyce Fienberg, Richard Gottfried, Jerry Rabinowitz, Daniel Stein, Melvin Wax, Irving Younger and husband and wife Bernice and Sylvan Simon. The Rosenthal brothers lived at a home for people with learning disabilities.

“Cecil’s laugh was infectious,” said Chris Schopf, of Achieva, which manages the home. “David was so kind and had such a gentle spirit. Together they looked out for one another. They were inseparable. Most of all they were kind, good people with a strong faith and respect for everyone around.”

The synagogue is set in the quiet, tree-lined streets of Squirrel Hill, one of Pittsburgh’s older neighbourhoods, with bakeries and kosher restaurants dotted among the detached homes.

Locals said the Jewish community was the sort of place where families raised children and never moved away. But like many places of worship the synagogue had struggled to keep up attendances and eventually became the meeting point for three congregations with mainly older worshippers.

Melvin Wax, 88, was always the first to arrive and the last to leave the New Light Congregation, according to his friend Myron Snider. “He and I used to, at the end of services, tell a joke or two to each other,” said Mr Snider. “Most of the time they were clean jokes. Most of the time. I won’t say all the time.”

Law Claus, former Allegheny County deputy district attorney, paid tribute to Dr Jerry Rabinowitz, his personal physician of three decades.

He said: “Dr Jerry Rabinowitz … could always be counted on to provide sage advice whenever he was consulted on medical matters, usually providing that advice with a touch of genuine humour. He had a truly uplifting demeanour, and as a practising physician he was among the very best.”