University of Pittsburgh students Asher Goodwin (l) and Ilan Jordan (r) with Rabbi Hazzan Jefferey Meyers at a synagogue shooting commemoration in Pittsburgh on October 27, 2024 (Photo by Jason Phox for the Capital-Star)
PITTSBURGH – On the sixth anniversary of the deadly shooting at a synagogue in the city’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, community members, bonded by shared grief and resilience, gathered for a day of service.
Prayers, a candle-lighting ceremony and musical performances marked the events at the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill.
“This was one of those opportunities on a very momentous day in our entire history, and the fact that we can stand together is really empowering,” Steven Weiss, 66, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, said at a rally. the event.
A gunman opened fire at a synagogue in Squirrel Hill on October 27, 2018, killing 11 worshipers and wounding six others. The shooter was convicted of 63 charges, including 11 hate crime murders sentenced to death last year.
The people killed in the shooting were Joyce Fienberg, Richard Gottfried, Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil and David Rosenthal, Daniel Stein, Bernice and Sylvan Simon, Irving Younger, Melvin Wax and Rose Mallinger.
Amy Mallinger, granddaughter of Rose Mallinger, launched the Remembering, Educating, and Combating Hate (REACH) initiative, which partners with 30 school districts, engages local classrooms, presents the horrors of the synagogue shooting, and helps students learn and develop manners to fight hate.
“My deepest thanks to all of you for being here today to help preserve the space of remembrance,” said Maggie Feinstein, director of the organization 10.27 Healing Partnership. She thanked the public for attending the meeting, and the community members who volunteered to keep the memories alive.
Collaborate with CeaseFirePAthe group Squirrel Hill turns against gun violence was founded in the aftermath of the shooting. It advocates legislation to reduce gun violence. Dana Kellerman of Fox Chapel is policy director for Squirrel Hill Stands Against Gun Violence.
“I think the biggest thing we can be most proud of is our work to encourage people to come out and vote for the legislators who are going to move the needle, because if we don’t have legislators who are prioritizing reducing gun violence, nothing happens. Kellerman said.
State Rep. Dan Frankel (D-Allegheny) of Squirrel Hill filed a resolution earlier this year to designate May 2024 as “Jewish American Heritage Month” in Pennsylvania.
But changes to Pennsylvania’s gun laws have failed to gain traction in the divided General Assembly in the years since the synagogue shooting. The state The House of Representatives rejected two bills in Mayone that would have banned machine gun conversion devices and another that aimed to curb the arms trade. Both bills failed on a 101-100 vote.
“The fact that we have cowards in our legislature is really bad,” Kellerman said. “The fact that there are people in our legislature who are too cowardly to vote for things like safe storage, banning machine gun conversions, or requiring labeling of ghost gun parts says that the people in our legislature have voters do not represent and that a large and overwhelming majority of Pennsylvanians support these common sense measures.”
