As Shabbat Ends, A Wounded Pittsburgh Neighborhood Gathers To Mourn
Image by Getty Images
By Helen Chernikoff October 27, 2018
The day that the American Jewish community experienced the most deadly anti-Semitic hate crime directed at it in the history of the United States was also Shabbat, the weekly Jewish day of rest. So when Shabbat ended at sundown in the densely Jewish town of Squirrel Hill, where a gunman killed 11 Jews at prayer, the community and its friends gathered in its central square to mark the end of the day in the most traditional Jewish way.
They celebrated “Havdalah,” or separation, the ceremony that divides the holiness of the Sabbath from the rest of the week’s ordinary days, in a service that was live-streamed on YouTube.
Havdalah “marks the end of Shabbat and the beginning of regular time,” the woman leading the service explained to the crowd after the Pittsburgh shooting. “We technically begin to move into regular time, but there will be nothing regular about it.”
She began to sing, one of the nameless melodies called “niggunim,” which anyone can join, and then moved into the service’s three prayers — over wine, spice, and light.
“Blessed art thou, O lord our God, king of the universe, the creator of light, which shines,” she sang in Hebrew, and then closed with the weekly plea for everlasting peace. “Elijah the prophet, Elijah the redeemer, quickly in our time may he come to us, with the Messiah, son of David.”
The candle was quenched in a cup of wine, and the thoughts of leader and assembled turned toward the future.
“We ask and invite and we hope and we pray that you will hold that light and take it with you,” the leader said. “As close together as we are now, and then we separate … take that light and shine it, in every dark corner.”
The crowd sang together again, and then began to chant.
“Vote! Vote! Vote!”
Contact Helen Chernikoff at chernikoff@forward.com or on Twitter @thesimplechild
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
