The capital murder case against the perpetrator of the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting is dragging on; the Poway shooter who committed his synagogue attack six months later has already received a sentence of life in prison without parole. This week’s two-day evidentiary hearing was filled with testimony from police officers recounting antisemitic comments made by…
Mark Oppenheimer tells the story of how the Pittsburgh Jewish community rebounded after tragedy
A Reconstructionist congregation that was housed in the Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha building in Pittsburgh targeted in a deadly shooting in 2018 is asking Attorney General Merrick Garland to “abandon its quest for the death penalty” in the case against the accused shooter. In a June 17 letter to Garland, the president of Congregation Dor…
This story was originally published by PublicSource, a nonprofit media organization delivering local journalism in the Pittsburgh region at publicsource.org. You can sign up for their newsletters at publicsource.org/newsletters. Centuries ago, Tu B’Av was a Jewish holiday for matchmaking. Today, if celebrated at all, the vibe tends to be more Valentine’s Day-esque: it might involve…
Editor’s note: In observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Forward is resurfacing some of our recent coverage related to the Black-Jewish experience and racial justice. This article originally appeared in July, 2020. As an offensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Zach Banner is paid to throw all six feet, eight inches and 350…
In the days after the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in American history, Pittsburgh became a symbol of the enduring dangers of hatred, as well as the Jewish communal solidarity that followed the synagogue shooting. Two years later, the city has become a symbol and pilgrimage site of a far more insidious sort: for white supremacists who…
As President Trump makes his closing arguments for reelection, the staggering events of the last year loom large. The coronavirus pandemic has, to date, taken more than 230,000 American lives, and the country is mired in the most significant economic downturn since the Great Depression. And, though it now feels like ancient history, Trump in…
A global pandemic isn’t keeping the Pittsburgh Jewish community from coming together for a virtual commemoration to honor the victims of the Tree of Life Synagogue massacre. The event on Oct. 27 marks two years since the mass shooting at Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania claimed the lives of 11 people, the deadliest…
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