On October 27, 2018, a gunman came into Tree of Life Synagogue during a bris and began shooting, shouting, “All Jews must die.”
11 people were killed, and others wounded. The names of the dead are:
Joyce Fienberg
Richard Gottfried
Rose Mallinger
Jerry Rabinowitz
Cecil Rosenthal
David Rosenthal
Bernice Simon
Sylvan Simon
Daniel Stein
Melvin Wax
Irving Younger
As part of my clergy work, I put together a Waters module for the folk that included a call to share our blessings with those who have gone before. I read the names of the dead specifically as the group I shared my blessings with.
This was submitted for inclusion in the ADF Clergy Council’s Samhain video, but didn’t make the cut (a Waters module by Rev. Cannon was used instead, with a Unity Working for the LGBTQIA+ community, which I feel is also important; I very nearly did something similar, but I am glad that Rev. Cannon did this, and that it could be included).
Because my video won’t work well for future CC videos, I’m sharing it here instead, so it can be seen. I know Groves who have their Samhain rites coming up this weekend are struggling with ways to include the recent tragedies. Hopefully, this will help some.
More information on our Grove‘s work for this tragedy can be found at Mike Bierschenk’s blog.
