This building in front of you is the Tree of Life Synagogue, the site of the deadliest antisemitic attack in American history. On the morning of October 27, 2018, a gunman entered this building during Shabbat morning services and opened fire on three congregations sharing the space. Eleven people were killed.
They were Joyce Fienberg, Richard Gottfried, Rose Mallinger, Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil Rosenthal, David Rosenthal, Bernice Simon, Sylvan Simon, Daniel Stein, Melvin Wax, and Irving Younger. They ranged in age from 54 to 97. The attack shattered the Squirrel Hill community and reverberated through the Jewish world and the nation.
The response from Pittsburgh was immediate and overwhelming: thousands of residents of every background came to the neighborhood to stand with the Jewish community. The phrase Pittsburgh Stronger emerged as an expression of the community's determination to respond to hatred with solidarity. The building is being transformed into a memorial and museum.
Standing here, looking at the facade of this ordinary suburban synagogue in an ordinary Pittsburgh neighborhood, it is important to understand that antisemitism is not a historical relic. It arrived here on a Saturday morning in 2018. The eleven names deserve to be spoken aloud.
Please speak them.