Jewish leaders in the Berkshires are responding to Saturday’s shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh.
Tonight, Knesset Israel in Pittsfield will host an interfaith vigil to remember the 11 people killed in the Tree Of Life massacre.
“You know, for me personally, is it more of less terrifying than school shootings or the shooting in the Sikh temple in Wisconsin or the church in Texas? It’s all kind of the same thing, though this seems to hit closer to home because Jews are being singled out — so there’s an extra level of kinship there and connection,” said Rabbi David Weiner.
Weiner has served the congregation of around 300 families for the last decade. Like many American Jews, Weiner is grappling with life in the aftermath of one of the bloodiest acts of anti-Semitism in the country’s history.
“What does it mean? I think what it means depends on how we as a community and we as a society respond to it," said Weiner. "Is the response abandonment of the Jews, or is the response the embrace of the Jewish community in the midst of our neighborhoods and society. And in Pittsfield at least, I’m inclined to think that the latter is the case.”
Rabbi Rachel Barenblat says she felt that embrace at the vigil Congregation Beth Israel in North Adams, Massachusetts held earlier this week.
“At one point on Monday night, I looked around the room and I said, to those of you who are Jewish in this room, look around right now, and notice how many of our neighbors are here with us, grieving with us and standing with us and in solidarity with us,” Barenblat told WAMC.
She said around 100 community members attended the event, which came with extra precautions that might become the new norm.
“We did alert the police that we were having that vigil so that there would be policefolk in the neighborhood just in case anything went awry,” said the rabbi.
The question of how to manage safety and inclusiveness is one that leaders are now forced to confront.
“How do we both be welcoming and embracing of anyone who comes through our doors, and also assure the safety and security of everyone who comes through our doors," said Rabbi Neil Hirsch, of Great Barrington’s Hevreh congregation — a community of around 350 families. “I know congregations that feel like fortresses, and I also know places that make sure they keep the doors wide open so that they can be loving and embracing of all peoples — so it’s a balancing act, there’s not an easy answer to it.”
Barenblat says while most of her congregation feels safe in the Berkshires, the shooting in Pittsburgh has awakened old fears.
“Most of us carry some ancestral trauma from the Holocaust, whether that’s something that our immediate families experienced or whether it’s just part of the Jewish story that we grew up with, we all knew that this kind of thing can happen,” said Barenblat.
She tied the shooting to a new tone in American life.
“It comes on the heels of pipe combs delivered to prominent Jews and others who have been targets of the president’s anger," said Barenblat. "We know white nationalism is on the rise. And I think the anti-Semitism is part of a larger paradigm shift. People of color are afraid. Immigrants are afraid. Muslims are afraid. Transgender people are afraid. All of these hatreds are connected.”
Tonight’s vigil in Pittsfield is sponsored by the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires. It will bring together Jewish communities in the county along with interfaith groups and activist groups like the Four Freedoms Coalition. Weiner says prayer will be offered for victims of the Pittsburgh shooting, along with others lost to gun violence and bigotry in recent memory.
“It’s hard not to look at those faces and see the faces of my congregation. It’s hard not to look at the faces from the shooting in Kentucky and not see the faces of my neighbors," said Weiner. "Yeah. It’s a tough time.”
