Joe Biden: 2 years after the Tree of Life shooting, the world feels dark. We must be the light.
Two years ago, a gunman entered the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh with hate in his heart and bigotry in his soul. Beset by a false sense of grievance and an imagined threat, he murdered 11 peaceful souls at prayer, taking age-old anti-Semitism to its most vile conclusion. We were reminded in that moment, as we have been too many times before, that we still have work to do to give meaning to the haunting phrase: never again.
I’ve never forgotten the harrowing lesson of those words, which I first learned from my father as a young boy in the years that followed the horrors of the Holocaust. I’ve done my best to pass that lesson along to my children and grandchildren, taking them to visit Dachau so they could see firsthand what can happen if we stand silent in the face of evil and prejudice. Those experiences were about more than bringing to light the darkest chapters of the past. Because the end of that story isn’t one solely of loss and devastation; it’s also about the survivors, their perseverance, determination and faith.
It’s about the wisdom we can glean from generation to generation of Jewish history: the necessity of refusing to stand idly by. The urgency of speaking the truth. The demand to pursue justice, embrace peace, repair the world and treat each person with dignity. These principles have Jewish roots, but they are also fundamental to who we are as Americans. We need them now more than ever. We all have to heed the rabbinic teaching that “it is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it.”
We have a responsibility to do the work of improving, strengthening and perfecting our union. That begins with affirming an essential truth: no one should fear for their rights, their freedoms or their lives because of who they are.
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Joyce Fienburg, 75-year-old, of Oakland
Richard Gottfried, 65-years-old, of Ross Township
Rose Mallinger, 97-years-old, of Squirrel Hill
Jerry Rabinowitz, 66-years-old, of Edgewood
Cecil Rosenthal, 59-years-old, of Squirrel Hill
David Rosenthal, 54-years0old, of Squirrel Hill
Bernice Simon, 84-years-old, of Wilkinsburg
Sylvan Simon, 86-years-old, of Wilkinsburg
Daniel Stein, 71-years-old, of Squirrel Hill
Melvin Wax, 88-years-old, of Squirrel Hill
Irving Younger, 69-years-old, of Mt. Washington
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