Newton Mayor Calls On City To 'Beat Back The Hatred'

NEWTON, MA — In response to the shooting of 11 people at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, the day after the attacks there were several vigils and community gatherings across the state, from Boston to Waltham to Newton, where it was standing room only at Newton's Temple Shalome Sunday afternoon.

The Anti-Defamation League described the attack Saturday as likely the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the history of the United States.

Mayor Ruthanne Fuller told attendees at the vigil that when she heard about the attack that took place in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, she thought it could have happened anywhere. It was something that could even have happened in Newton.

"Then it struck me; this did happen to us. Squirrel Hill is us; Squirrel Hill is West Newton Hill. I would love to say that here in Newton, in our good City where so many people of the Jewish faith live, where we call ourselves a welcoming city and hold close the core principles of respect, diversity and acceptance, that here, we are immune to this kind of hatred, this kind of anti-Semitism," she said. "My heart aches because I can’t say that."

She referenced swastikas drawn in schools and playgrounds this year.

"We have had additional incidents of antisemitism, racism and hatred that I had hoped I would never see anywhere and certainly not here in our Newton," she said.

But she called upon the crowd to rise above partisanship, join the Rabbis of Shalome and other faith tradition leaders, the police and the superintendent of schools, city council and school committee "and beat back the hatred."

"By all of us working together, we will make this a better, safer city not only for people of our faith, but for everyone, no matter where we came from, what we look like, who we love, or how, or even if, we choose to worship," she said.

As a mark of respect for the victims of the act of violence Gov. Charlie Baker ordered flags lowered to half-staff beginning immediately until sunset, Wednesday, Oct. 31.

Here’s the full text of Fuller's speech:

The heart stopping sound of gunshots ripped through the hum of an ordinary Saturday morning in the city.
This time the gunshots disrupted a peaceful Shabbat and tore through families gathered for prayer and for a bris – a celebration of life.
This time the gunshots were not random.
This time the gunman’s Anti-Semitic rage brought him to the Tree of Life Congregation. His hate steered him intentionally to a place where kosher grocers and delis dot the corners, where the sight of tzitzit is familiar, where mezuzah’s mark the doorways, and where Jews, people of our faith, my faith, have made their homes for generations.
Our hearts go out to the Jewish community in Pittsburgh and to the first res-ponders who were injured when they rushed to the synagogue to help.
We’ll learn more about those who died in the days ahead and we will mourn with their families and those who love them.
We will mourn. and we will again rage against the hatred and gun violence that have made these kinds of events too common in our country, from the Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston to the Tree of Life Congregation in Squirrel Hill.
I first thought, it could have been any city, anywhere. It could have been right here.
Then it struck me; this did happen to us. Squirrel Hill is us; Squirrel Hill is West Newton Hill.
I would love to say that here in Newton, in our good City where so many people of the Jewish faith live, where we call ourselves a welcoming city and hold close the core principles of respect, diversity and acceptance, that here, we are immune to this kind of hatred, this kind of anti-Semitism.
My heart aches because I can’t say that.
We have had swastikas drawn in our schools and playgrounds this year. We have had additional incidents of antisemitism, racism and hatred that I had hoped I would never see anywhere and certainly not here in our Newton.
We know we are living in a time when our country is divided, when rhetoric from Washington too often drives us further apart and stokes fear of “the other.”
I think a lot about this. And I think about how, we in this good city, can rise above the partisanship and beat back the hatred. By working together, with the leadership of Rabbi Berry and Rabbi Abrasley, with the help of Newton’s leaders of other faith traditions, many of whom are here today, with the efforts of our Superintendent David Fleishman and the Newton Police Department, with our City Council and School Committee.
By all of us working together, we will make this a better, safer city not only for people of our faith, but for everyone, no matter where we came from, what we look like, who we love, or how, or even if, we choose to worship.
As Rabbi Berry and Rabbi Abrasley wrote, we will work together to do tikkun olam – to repair our broken world.
We can’t let the hate silence us. Our arms must stay open. Yes, our hearts are filled with sadness, but they are also filled with love. Together we embrace the good among us.
We have been here before.
Tonight I’m boarding an El Al flight at 10:05 for Israel. At the Western Wall this Friday, I will pray that together our work will lead us to a day when we will not be gathered here for this reason again.
Shalom. Peace be with us all.

The Jewish population in Newton as of 2002, which appears to be the most recent data, was estimated as roughly 28,000.

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Photo courtesyNewton Mayor's Office