Tree of Life tragedy hits home in Israel

Marcy Oster

columnists@cjn.org

Being an American Jew far from America when a tragedy like the attack on the Tree of Life Congregation in Pittsburgh occurs is difficult.

It means finding out about it in the local news media as soon as Shabbat is over and knowing that many of your friends and relatives in the United States still don’t know and won’t for several hours.

It means being worried about said friends and relatives because we have no idea what sick and demented people might try a copy cat crime.

It means immediately thinking of all the people you know who live in Pittsburgh, who have family in Pittsburgh, who might be visiting their parents in Pittsburgh right now.

It means turning on the 24-hour news networks as soon as you hear about the attack and not being able to turn them off, literally all night, the next day and the entire week.

It means reading every single word written about the attack, about the shooter, about the victims, about Squirrel Hill, about the funerals, about

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the protests and about the resurgence of anti-Semitism in America. It means so many tears, and the desire to hop on a plane, either to Pittsburgh or home to Cleveland.

It means seeking out other Americans living in Israel to talk to about the attack because they more than anyone understand what you are going through.

It means accepting the condolences of Israelis, because they know you are American and that you worry and because they – my family included – have gone through the same things right here in Israel.

It means reliving all the times when there were attacks here in Israel in which I held a vigil in front of the news and in front of the cell phone as I waited for all of my children, my sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law and their children to check in on the family Whatsapp groups to make sure everyone was OK.

It is that constant feeling in the pit of

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It means being proud that a representative of my government, the government of Israel, within hours of the news of the attack, got on an airplane and rushed to the scene of the attack to show that the people of Israel stand with American Jewry, all American Jewry, at all times but even more so during a time of great tragedy. And even though many, myself included, did not agree with many things that Diaspora Minister Naftali Bennett said during his time in Pittsburgh, he was there because he and the country he represents care and worry about the Jews of Pittsburgh, the Jews of the United States and Jews all around the world.

It means knowing that this is not the time to call on American Jews to make aliyah. Because an attack like this only brings you closer to your own community, I unfortunately know this from experience, and because American Jews are proud to be both Jewish and American.

As an American living in Israel I was so proud and happy to see other Americans rally around the Pittsburgh and national Jewish community. From wildly successful crowd-funding campaigns to offers to stand guard at synagogues. From the Hebrew words of

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the Mourners’ Kaddish published on the front page of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to the recitation of Kaddish at the end of the NBC “Nightly News.”

From the logo of the Pittsburgh Steelers changed to include a Star of David to the logo of the Pittsburgh Penguins which did the same. From the countless moments of silence for the victims in sports venues to the moment of silence that halted the New York Stock Exchange. From the busloads of people who came to Pittsburgh to stand in silent vigil outside the Tree of Life Congregation building and outside the venues of the funerals. From the packed synagogues on the Shabbat after the attack to the packed voting booths more than a week later.

May we never again know so much hate, sorrow and tragedy.

Marcy Oster is a former Clevelander who covers the Middle East for the Cleveland Jewish News from Karnei Shomron, West Bank. To read more of Oster’s columns, visit cjn.org/oster.

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Letters, commentaries and opinions appearing in the Cleveland Jewish News do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Cleveland Jewish Publication Company, its board, officers or staff.