| The wound still fresh and the pain acute, the impact of the Pittsburgh massacre has been shattering.
Residents in the ICEJ’s Haifa Home for Holocaust Survivors were also severely affected by the atrocity. Identifying with the victims, Miriam, one of our residents, said:
“I was in shock and cried like a child. How can this be? Why us and why again? Is there then no place for Jewish people in this world?”
Another resident, Judith, cried out:
”It’s horrific what happened! But why always the Jews? Are we so we bad? Are we such terrible people?”
Although, the heinousness of this act is hard to fathom. The motivation for why this atrocious crime was perpetrated is unfortunately very clear: The Tree of Life synagogue was a symbol of Jewish, faith, life, and community – the Hebrew lettering on the building easily identifies it as such.
It is doubtful that Robert Bowers, the assailant gunman, knew much about the Tree of Life congregation, yet its Jewish character was enough to put it in his crosshairs. Thus, the fact that virulent and hateful anti-Semitism still roams the world made the Tree of Life synagogue an obvious target.
Once a life is taken, it is final. Yet, there are various ways we can react to mitigate the blow. In Pittsburgh itself, there has been an outpouring of communal support and sympathy. In the article shared below, Malcolm Hedding, the International Christian Embassy’s former leader, puts the question to us:
“What are we doing to stop anti-Semitism and in general to make our world a more tolerant and peaceful one?”
In the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, we take this question very seriously, and we continue to ask ourselves what we can do better, because we wish to support the Jewish people for the long haul.
We engage in the fight against anti-Semitism both at the grassroots and government levels, whether it be for positive initiatives such as recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital or defending Israel against unfair treatment and untrue propaganda. We also care deeply and practically for some of the most vulnerable victims of anti-Semitism: Holocaust survivors.
The Pittsburgh massacre was sudden and vicious, our effort in the Haifa home is enduring and full of love. This is one way we stand against anti-Semitism and offer a different testimony to the Jewish people.
If you would like to join us in a stand for love against anti-Semitism, please consider supporting the ICEJ’s Haifa Home for Holocaust Survivors. Your care is a testimony to Jewish people everywhere, a testimony of a different side of history – the history of loving Christian support. In the end, this is the testimony that will win forth. |
