Survivors urge no death penalty for synagogue killer
Congregations hoping to avoid traumatic trial
Leaders and members from two of the Jewish congregations targeted in last year’s massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue building are writing to Attorney General William Barr, asking that he not seek a death penalty for the suspect in the nation’s deadliest anti-Semitic attack.
The congregants cite both religious and personal objections to capital punishment and also don’t want there to be a trial and penalty phase that might require survivors to testify, forcing them to relive the horror of Oct. 27, 2018. They want the killer to spend the rest of his life behind bars.
The recent letters came from leaders of New Light Congregation and Congregation Dor Hadash, which shared the Squirrel Hill synagogue building with Tree of Life * Or L’Simcha Congregation. The attack killed 11 worshippers from all congregations, injured two other worshippers and four police officers responding to the scene. None of the letters provided to the Post-Gazette used the accused attacker’s name.
“I would like the Pittsburgh killer to be incarcerated for the rest of his life without parole,” wrote Rabbi Jonathan Perlman, of New Light Congregation, one of the survivors of the attack that killed three of his congregants.
“He should meditate on whether taking action on some white separatist fantasy against the Jewish people was really worth it,” Rabbi Perlman wrote in his Aug. 1 letter. “Let him live with it forever. I am mainly interested in not letting this thug cause my community any further pain.”
Dor Hadash President Donna Coufal, writing on behalf of the congregation’s board and members, echoed Rabbi Perlman’s call for the Justice Department to accept a plea agreement that would avoid a trial and guarantee life imprisonment without possibility of
parole. A congregation member, Dr. Jerry Rabinowitz, was among those killed.
“We believe that the elimination of a trial and publicity for the shooter serves the interest of our congregation, as well as the general public,” the Aug. 9 letter said. “A plea bargain for life without parole will prevent this individual getting the attention and publicity that would inevitably come with a trial.”
The third congregation targeted — Tree of Life * Or L’Simcha Congregation, seven of whose members were killed — declined to comment on the issue but added in a brief statement: “We have confidence that justice will be served.”
Robert Bowers, 46, of Baldwin Borough, faces 63 federal charges in all, some of them carrying the death penalty.
Prosecutors say he voiced hatred of Jews online and at the attacks. He has pleaded not guilty.
The U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment. Its guidelines on capital punishment require consulting with the family of crime victims.
In July, the Justice Department announced it would resume executions for the first time since 2003, with Mr. Barr ordering the executions of five inmates who had murdered children.
Miri Rabinowitz, in a separate letter, urged prosecutors to accept a plea in honor of her late husband’s “blessed memory, and his deep and abiding opposition to the death penalty.”
She added: “This conclusion to the federal prosecution would permit me to continue the slow and painful process of healing without having to relive the horrific circumstances of Jerry’s murder through a trial and inevitable lengthy appeals and deny the perpetrator a public platform from which to spew his most vicious, and sadly infectious, brand of hatred.”
“A drawn out and difficult death penalty trial would be a disaster with witnesses and attorneys dredging up horrifying drama and giving this killer the media attention he does not deserve.” — Rabbi Jonathan Perlman, New Light Congregation
In his letter, Rabbi Perlman said the congregation lost “the heart of our praying community” with the deaths of members Richard Gottfried, Daniel Stein and Melvin Wax. “We have been in a sea of tears and sorrow since that fateful Sabbath morning.”
He cited growing opposition to capital punishment among Jewish scholars, as well as in Catholic teaching.
“I would like to believe that our nation is slowly phasing out this cruel form of justice,” he wrote. “Both our religious traditions, yours Catholic and mine Jewish, vigorously oppose the death penalty.” He alluded to a biblical standard of justice requiring punishment to equal the crime, but he noted that Jewish biblical commentators have long imposed strict conditions on the death penalty, and the ancient Talmud says that a court that imposed such a penalty even rarely could be considered “bloodthirsty.”
He said it’s better to focus on the positive responses to the crime, such as the courage of the police officers who stopped the attack and the Jewish medical workers who treated the alleged assailant’s wounds despite his hatred.
“A drawn out and difficult death penalty trial would be a disaster with witnesses and attorneys dredging up horrifying drama and giving this killer the media attention he does not de- serve ,” he said.
While New Light did not make a statement as a congregation, other individuals sent letters of their own voicing similar views, including Stephen Cohen, co-president of New Light, and Beth Kissileff, wife of Rabbi Perlman.
Ms. Kissileff said New Light members have learned from the experiences of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C., where a white supremacist gunman killed nine at a Bible study in 2015. The killer is on death row but is not among those scheduled for execution.
Ms. Kissileff said New Light members learned from the church’s current pastor “how difficult it was to minister to those involved with the trial, both survivors and family members of those killed.”
Mr. Cohen agreed. He added in an interview that while he has received correspondence from people who want the killer executed, he hasn’t heard such sentiment from those directly affected by the attack and whose trauma could be revived by a trial process.
“The thought of a trial, of reliving that day, the thought of people having to testify is horrifying,” he said.