PITTSBURGH (AP) 鈥� Jewish communities everywhere reacted with horror at last year's Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, but the approaching one-year commemoration of the assault hits home particularly hard in Pittsburgh's Jewish community, which already marks a grim anniversary each October.
It was here on Oct. 27, 2018, that a gunman carried out the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history, killing 11 worshippers from three congregations at the Tree of Life synagogue.
Adding to the intense feelings is the arrival of the 鈥� days that bracket the Oct. 7 anniversary with rituals focused on mortality and recalling the deaths of loved ones and ancient martyrs. Many are taking consolation in the rituals as they mark an emotionally fraught milestone.
鈥淭he trauma here runs deep in our community,鈥� said Rabbi Seth Adelson of Congregation Beth Shalom, a Conservative synagogue near Tree of Life in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood, the heart of Jewish Pittsburgh. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 really separate the trauma of Jews being attacked in Pittsburgh and Jews being attacked in Israel.鈥�
The attacks do have differences.
The Pittsburgh attack was carried out by a right-wing extremist who targeted Jews for their aid to immigrants. It was followed by widespread civic support for the Jewish community.
The Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, killed 1,200 Israelis and triggered a still-ongoing war in Gaza, whose health ministry says Israel has killed more than 41,500 Palestinians and wounded more than 96,000 others. Israel is now intensifying attacks on Hamas ally Hezbollah with deadly attacks in Lebanon, while Iran has attacked Israel with missiles.
The attacks have common threads, say local Jewish leaders. The synagogue attack violated the sanctuary of a place of worship. The Hamas attack has been followed by an upsurge of antisemitic incidents around the world.
鈥淭he similarity of what Oct. 7 and Oct. 27 hold together is a question of safety for Jews,鈥� said Maggie Feinstein, director of the 10.27 Healing Partnership, which aids those traumatized by the 2018 attack.
Emboldened far-right extremists have been spreading Holocaust denial and other antisemitic screeds. Some on the left have expressed antisemitism along with criticism of Israel鈥檚 conduct of the war, while debate persists over the line between robust criticism and hate speech.
Nationally, nearly two-thirds of Jews feel less secure than they did a year previously, according to an American Jewish Committee .
In Pittsburgh, a man was charged in September for allegedly wearing yarmulkes, the skullcap worn by observant Jews.
A synagogue and the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh office were targeted with graffiti. Parents of Jewish college students say their children have endured antisemitism amid protests critical of Israel.
Rabbi Daniel Yolkut of Congregation Poale Zedeck in Squirrel Hill said it's become 鈥渦nremarkable鈥� for his children to hear antisemitic slurs shouted by motorists.
Rabbi Adelson said that unlike in 2018, local Jews haven't felt widespread community solidarity.
鈥淭here鈥檚 this feeling that Israel was attacked and then the attacks just continued here,鈥� he said.
Many in Pittsburgh have lived in Israel or have friends or relatives there. For Yolkut, one connection is especially poignant.
As a rabbi in Virginia years ago, his congregants included the family of , who in 2023 was taken hostage by Hamas.
鈥淚 remember him just as a small child running around my synagogue,鈥� Yolkut recalled. He was devastated to learn weeks ago that Goldberg-Polin was killed by Hamas at age 23, along with five other hostages.
As Oct. 7 approaches, Feinstein said Pittsburgh Jews are already familiar with the 鈥渁nniversary effect鈥� 鈥� the emotional churn around a traumatic calendar date. Each year since 2019, the community has held memorial services honoring the 11 lives lost on 10/27, as the synagogue attack is known locally.
She reminds people that emotions around anniversaries are natural: "Whatever we鈥檙e feeling, we shouldn't feel shame.鈥�
Members of all three congregations worshipping at Tree of Life were killed that Sabbath morning in 2018 鈥� the host congregation, Dor Hadash and New Light.
News of last year's Hamas raid arrived on another Sabbath, just weeks after the conclusion of a lengthy federal trial in which the Pittsburgh assailant was on 63 criminal counts.
That trial confirmed in previously unknown detail how the gunman absorbed ideology online and spread the slander that Jews were bringing in immigrants of color to replace white Americans. He targeted Dor Hadash in particular for its support of a national Jewish agency that helps refugees.
Then came Oct. 7.
鈥淭he timing was very difficult because some people had not calmed down from their very high level of anxiety from the trial,鈥� said Rabbi Amy Bardack of Congregation Dor Hadash. Both attacks raised gut-level questions: 鈥淎re Jews safe in the world?"
The war has worsened divisions on the left. Most U.S. Jews are liberal politically and vote Democratic, but many progressive Democrats have supported Palestinians and say Israel's attacks amount to war crimes and genocide 鈥� charges that Israel and its supporters strenuously dispute.
Some Jewish groups dissent from the broad pro-Zionist consensus of established Jewish groups and oppose U.S. military aid to Israel.
Jewish community members acknowledge broad differences within their families and congregations, though most support Israel as a Jewish state and safe haven for Jews.
鈥淓verybody wants peace,鈥� Adelson said, 鈥淏ut there is a strong feeling that Israelis deserve to live in peace and not to be subject to the threats and rocket attacks from Hamas and Hezbollah.鈥�
The disputes have flared locally, such as a recent failed effort by some Pittsburgh organizations to bar the city from doing business with entities linked to Israel.
Rebecca Elhassid now volunteers for the new Beacon Coalition, which researches local politicians鈥� views on Israel and Jews.
Until now, 鈥渨e didn鈥檛 think to understand what a city councilperson thought about the Jewish community they represent,鈥� she said.
鈥淔or many years, we were able to put our Jewish identity aside in terms of our social priorities,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e were able to dedicate much of our social resources toward supporting other marginalized communities and identifying other problems in societies. We are going to have to stand up for ourselves in a way we weren鈥檛 aware we had to before.鈥�
The danger from the far right was well-known, but antisemitism from parts of the progressive left has hit closer to home.
鈥淎ll my old colleagues, with whom I鈥檝e done many things over the years with civil rights and voting rights and gay rights and all kinds of women鈥檚 rights, and I鈥檓 seeing them on the other side of an issue,鈥� said Tree of Life member Audrey Glickman, a survivor of the 2018 attack. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 been personally difficult for me, because it鈥檚 hard to talk to people when they think you鈥檙e choosing the wrong side.鈥�
But she's determined to maintain dialogue and has continued to visit schools and other settings, spreading the word against antisemitism and other hatreds.
鈥淚f we don鈥檛 talk to each other, we don鈥檛 get anywhere,鈥� she said. "I always feel more motivated to get out there and pull people together. If you don鈥檛 keep your optimism going, what good is it?鈥�
The High Holy Days add to the sober commemorations of this season.
鈥淚t鈥檚 in our prayers that we need to understand the precariousness of life and our mortality,鈥� Bardack said. "There鈥檚 also joyful themes, but it鈥檚 with the understanding that we don鈥檛 know what the future holds."
She said her congregation has had hard discussions about the war and Israeli policy. She sees her job as helping congregants navigate the complex moment.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 control the Israel-Hamas war, and we can鈥檛 control antisemitism,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 only one thing we can control, which is how we treat each other, how we keep loving and kind connections to each other across differences of ideology.鈥�
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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP鈥檚 with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Peter Smith, The Associated Press
