Message From The Roosevelt Island Jewish Congregation - Rabbi Urges Members And Friends To Show Up For Shabbat To Honor Memory Of Pittsburgh Tree Of Life Victims And To Fight Anti Semitism And Other Forms Of Hate

The American Jewish Committee is encouraging everyone to #ShowUpForShabbat in a demonstration of solidarity for the 11 victims killed at the Tree of Life synagogue. https://t.co/zzXb5HhsmV

— NPR (@NPR) November 2, 2018

Nina Lublin. President of the Roosevelt Island Jewish Congregation, shares the following message on this particular Friday:

The Roosevelt Island Jewish Congregation, serving the RI Jewish community for over 35 years, joins the entire country in grieving for the 11 murdered women & men of the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, and in praying for the on-going recovery of the 6 wounded.

Earlier this week our Rabbi, Joel Shaiman, led a service of prayers, comfort, discussion & action.

Our next Shabbat Service is next Friday, November 9th, at 7:00 pm, in the Sanctuary / Small Studio in the Cultural Center. Until then, please take a few minutes to read a Special Message from Rabbi Shaiman and decide how you will #ShowUpForShabbat this weekend, & beyond.

Rabbi Shaiman writes:

Last Shabbat, eleven of our brothers and sisters were brutally murdered at a Pittsburgh synagogue, as they joined together to pray, to celebrate out Jewish tradition, and to be together with our people. This Shabbat, to honor the memory of the victims, and to stand-up to anti-Semitism and all forms of hate, all synagogues nationwide will be participating in the #ShowUpForShabbat campaign.

Organized by the American Jewish Committee (AJC), Jewish communities across the country—along with elected officials, religious and civic leaders, and other allies, both Jewish and non-Jewish—will flock to synagogues for Shabbat services (tonight, Friday, and Saturday, November 2-3). Although the RIJC does not have services this weekend, we urge the members & friends of the RIJC & their families to attend services at other synagogues on Friday evening & Saturday morning, perhaps gather for Shabbat dinners or Kiddush lunches, and to reach out to neighbors who might be alone and in need of comfort & company. I look forward to seeing you next Friday night, November 9th.

My colleague Rabbi Noam Marans, Director of Interreligious and Intergroup Relations at the AJC writes:

It is a Shabbat of sadness and mourning. But it must also be a Shabbat of defiance and continuity, a Shabbat of gratitude and thanksgiving…We will not run away. We will not cower. We will not allow the hate of a few to drive out the love of the many…Faith leaders, civic officials and many millions of Americans have made it clear: An attack on one faith is an attack on all faiths. An attack on one American is an attack on all Americans.

As the families of the victims and the entire Pittsburgh Jewish community begin their mourning this week, I hope we can all find some comfort as the healing begins. Let us take inspiration from the Psalmist (30:11-12) who from the depths, looked to the heavens and proclaimed: “O God, be my help! You turned my lament into dancing, you undid my sackcloth and girded me with joy”.

Shabbat shalom.

As reported yesterday, the Chabad Of Roosevelt Island are hosting a Show Up For Shabbat Solidarity Service tomorrow, November 3 at the Cultural Center.