Minister Bennett addresses Pittsburgh Jewish community leaders at a memorial vigil on Sunday, October 28, 2018.. (photo credit: ALEXI ROSENFELD)
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Minister of Education and Diaspora Affairs Naftali Bennett addressed a memorial vigil in Pittsburgh on Sunday evening for the 11 members of the Jewish community murdered in the shooting attack at the Etz Chaim Congregation on Saturday.
“Nearly eighty years since Kristallnacht, when the Jews of Europe perished in the flames of their houses of worship, one thing is clear,” Bennett said. “Antisemitism, Jew-hating, is not a distant memory. Antisemitism is a clear and present danger. But we will prevail. The Tree of Life will never be uprooted by hatred.”
Bennett visited Pittsburgh as an official emissary of Israel to offer condolences and support to the Jewish community in the wake of the horrific tragedy on Saturday. Earlier on Sunday, he met with the Governor of Pennsylvania Tom Wolfe, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, Pennsylvania congressmen, leaders of American Jewry, and leaders of the Pittsburgh Jewish community.
Bennett told the Pittsburgh community, “Our whole nation is feeling the pain you are feeling here after this heinous hate crime. I want to extend my condolences to the families of the victims.” He added, “People who have seen so much in their lives could not imagine they would be gunned down in Shabbat prayer.”
More than 4,000 people attended the vigil, including the governor of Pennsylvania, the mayor of Pittsburgh, senators, congressmen, President Trump’s Special Envoy Jason Greenblatt, Israeli Ambassador Ron Derma, and New York Israel Consulate General Danny Dayan.
Bennett told the thousands of people at the event that he came from Israel to offer the support and condolences of the Israeli people.
“Today, we stand in the shadow of death. In the shadow of evil. In the shadow of a cowardly, terror attack on Jews who were in synagogue to pray. The deadliest anti-Semitic attack in the history of the United States.”
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“But today, I met the people, and the leaders of the community here in Pittsburgh, and I didn’t see death. I saw life, strength. I saw a warm community, of love and unity. I saw the Tree of Life, which will never be uprooted by hatred.”
He noted, “We stand together, as Jews from all communities united, as well as members of all faiths. Together we stand. Americans, Israelis. People who are together saying, “no to hatred. The murderer’s bullet does not stop to ask: are you Conservative or Reform, are you Orthodox? Are you right wing or left wing? It has one goal, and that is to kill innocent people. Innocent Jews.
Bennett concluded, “Freedom will overcome. Unity will defeat division. Love will defeat hatred. Light will defeat darkness. Am Yisrael Chai.”
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