Sharon's Temple Sinai Shows Unity With Vigil After PA Attacks

SHARON, MA — Over 800 people filled the Jewish synagogue, Temple Sinai for a vigil Sunday night following Saturday's shooting at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh that left 11 dead and six wounded.

There wasn't an empty seat in the synagogue, Rabbi Joseph Meszler told Patch. There was only standing room available by the end of the night.

The fact the turnout was so high the day after a massive anti-Semitic attack was something Meszler and those who attended were proud of. Sharon resident and proud Jewish man Bruce Kriegel said the prideful tone was set early by Meszler.

"Congratulations to all of you for not being afraid to come to a synagogue," Meszler told the crowd.

The brief ceremony included local rabbis from different sectors of Judaism coming together to mourn, talk about what happened and read scripture. Most importantly, Kriegel said the vigil was about the entire Jewish community coming together.

Kriegel said there can be a lot of division within the Jewish community between the Orthodox, Reform and Conservative sects. He said it's rare to see the three faiths come together, but this vigil had local rabbis from all three sects coming together.

“We cast this division aside," he said.

Additionally, representatives from the Islamic Center of New England and a priest from Lady of Sorrows Parish, both in Sharon spoke and said they shared their pain.

The most powerful moment of the entire vigil was people from all these faiths coming together to sing "God Bless America," Meszler said.

In that moment, Meszler said he saw a different vision of what America is and should be. Although attacks like the ones in Pittsburgh, he said incite fear in the Jewish community, these moments of unity bring hope.

“We have to address the issue of hate speech and incitement. When people say words of hate, it’s like playing with matches,” he said...“I want a different vision of what America should be like and strive to be."

With that in mind, both Meszler and Kriegel acknowledged that if an attack like this can happen at Life Synagogue, it could happen in Sharon too.

“When you’re in a Jewish community, you feel like you could be next.” Kriegel told Patch. “Anti semitisim has always been present and is starting to leak from beneath the surface. You always have as a Jewish person, a little paranoia."

Kriegel said he felt particularly horrible for his mother-in-law, who escaped Poland during the the holocaust and is seeing new hatred come to the surface.

Meszler added, "Squirrel Hill was a lot like Sharon, a tight-knit small community."

Video and Photo used with permission from Bruce Kriegel