On the first Shabbat after the shooting at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue, which claimed the lives of 11 congregants, local community members gathered behind the police tape cordoning off the building for an open air service.
Proceedings were interrupted to convey appreciation to a member of the FBI who had helped the chevrah kadisha, which oversees the preparation of bodies for burial according to Jewish law. An addition to the service was Al HaNissim, a Chanukah prayer commemorating perseverance in the face of oppression.
Students from Pittsburgh’s Hillel Academy had promoted the service through text messages. Its principal, Rabbi Sam Weinberg, said the gathering showed that, six days after "the most horrible and terrible thing happened, we can still come together as a people and recover a little bit of the peace of Shabbat".
On Shabbat morning, members of the three congregations which worship at Tree of Life were accommodated at the neighbouring Beth Shalom shul.
