Mass Murder at Pittsburgh Synagogue

[Vagabond]

I hate having to post something like this, but it is better to recognize it than ignore it.

https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2018/10/27/heavy-police-presence-near-synagogue-in-squirrel-hill/

Police sources tell KDKA’s Andy Sheehan the gunman walked into the building and yelled, “All Jews Must die.” Sheehan confirmed that eight people were confirmed dead. Others had been shot but the extent of their injuries in unknown at this time.

A suspect is in custody.

 

[BlueRidge]

This is devastating.

The Post reports, "The suspect spoke of killing Jews."

 

[skatesindreams]

Sending prayers to all those affected!

 

[Maofan7]

Terrible news. The boycott of all those associated with and who fund the NRA needs to be kept up and intensified until those that run the country finally learn that guns have no place in society.

 

[skatesindreams]

Latest updates:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/27/us/pittsburgh-synagogue-active-shooter/index.html

Awaiting more information about the tragedy/confirmation of injuries and fatalities.

 

[oleada]

So this week, we’ve had:

Mass shooting at a synagogue
Mail bombs directed at Trump critics by a right wing terrorist
Shooter who wanted to target a black church; shooting two at a Supermarket

When are we going to do something about this violent rhetoric?

I am so tired. These poor people, and their families.

 

[once_upon]

It's so wearing - people who are generally positive in my group of friends have become so irritable, angry, feeling hopeless, and unable to do anything. I don't know what the answer is, the divide is too deep to heal

 

[Simone411]

My heartfelt prayers for the victims and their families. It's just too devastating.

 

[skatesindreams]

The assailant made anti-Jewish comments during the attack:
https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting/h_920054897ec2c6e6980dd693727c6c3f

 

[sk9tingfan]

My network of friends and family who live or have family/friends in the Pittsburgh area have been activated from Florida to Massachusetts. Many of us have multiple family members and friends who live in Pittsburgh and are observant. So far, so good. But I am concerned for my cousin's daughter and her family who are particularly observant. One family member went to services last evening and not this morning. The one thing that may have saved many is the fact that Saturday morning services can go for 4 hours or more but many Jews walk into services late(a typical pattern). Services can start with a minion of ten congregants, thus fewer members were exposed. The phone call outreach is increasing exponentially over the course of the day.

 

[misskarne]

Why are we not calling this what it is - a terrorist attack?

 

[Buzz]

Thoughts and prayers to the victims and their loved ones.

 

[ilovepaydays]

The phone call outreach is increasing exponentially
over the course of the day.

They are still technically in their Sabbath, right. I thought it was from sundown Friday - sundown Saturday. My apologies for the ignorance, but aren’t Jews typically very limited in their phone use during that time?

Thoughts and prayers to those affected and their family and friends.

 

[sk9tingfan]

My network of friends and family who live or have family/friends in the Pittsburgh area have been activated from Florida to Massachusetts. Many of us have multiple family members and friends who live in Pittsburgh and are observant. So far, so good. But I am concerned for my cousin's daughter and her family who are particularly observant. One family member went to services last evening and not this morning. The one thing that may have saved many is the fact that Saturday morning services can go for 4 hours or more but many Jews walk into services late(a typical pattern). Services can start with a minion of ten congregants, thus fewer members were exposed. The phone call outreach is increasing exponentially over the course of the day.

All clear.... So devastated for those who were murdered or lost loved ones.

 

[sk9tingfan]

They are still technically in their Sabbath, right. I thought it was from sundown Friday - sundown Saturday. My apologies for the ignorance, but aren’t Jews typically very limited in their phone use during that time?

Thoughts and prayers to the family and friends of those affected.

It depends on the degree of orthodoxy. Usually only the orthodox observe that rule.

 

[MsZem]

They are still technically in their Sabbath, right. I thought it was from sundown Friday - sundown Saturday. My apologies for the ignorance, but aren’t Jews typically very limited in their phone use during that time?

Observant Jews do not do any work - which includes using technology - on the Sabbath, which is indeed from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. This is typically the case for Orthodox Jews (Ivanka Trump is modern orthodox, and she goes offline). However, Tree of Life is a conservative congregation, and conservative Jews are typically less stringent in their observation.

My only Pittsburgh-based friend lives in the neighborhood, but she and her family were not there, thankfully.

 

[ilovepaydays]

It depends on the degree of orthodoxy. Usually only the orthodox observe that rule.

Observant Jews do not do any work - which includes using technology - on the Sabbath, which is indeed from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. This is typically the case for Orthodox Jews (Ivanka Trump is modern orthodox, and she goes offline). However, Tree of Life is a conservative congregation, and conservative Jews are typically less stringent in their observation.

My only Pittsburgh-based friend lives in the neighborhood, but she and her family were not there, thankfully.

Thank you for the clarifications.

 

[Vash01]

Saw it this morning when I turned on the tv. Had to leave for my oil painting class, but before that they had reported 12 injured and 8 dead. They caught the killer alive, so we may get more info than most other mass killings.

Terrible thing to get killed when all you are doing is attending a prayer at a place of worship. This is not the first such case, sadly.

 

[nlloyd]

Apparently on social media the suspect had railed against HIAS, the refugee advocacy group whose goal it is to "welcome the stranger" and "protect the refugee," both scriptural injunctions. Here is how HIAS describes its history and mandate: https://www.hias.org/history. There is also a page for donations, if anyone is so inclined.

 

[skipaway]

Our President said the Synagogue should have had armed guards.

 

[Kasey]

Why are we not calling this what it is - a terrorist attack?

Because he's a white f*cking man. I'm so sick of the semantic BS that this country is living under at this point in time. I have tried so hard to live a "peace and love, tolerate and accept" mode for years, because I feel it's better for me; and I currently HATE a lot of idiot people.

 

[misskarne]

Our President said the Synagogue should have had armed guards.

What the fcuk is wrong with him!!??!?!?! What the fcuk is wrong with these gun lunatics? IT IS NOT NORMAL TO HAVE ARMED GUARDS IN SCHOOLS/CHURCHES/GENERAL PUBLIC PLACES. FFS.

 

[Kasey]

What the fcuk is wrong with him!!??!?!?! What the fcuk is wrong with these gun lunatics? IT IS NOT NORMAL TO HAVE ARMED GUARDS IN SCHOOLS/CHURCHES/GENERAL PUBLIC PLACES. FFS.

Please know you're preaching to the choir. It's insane. I work in the "float pool" in my hospital, which means I go anywhere from ER to peds to ICU, to any unit in the hospital with the exception of labor/delivery and NICU. Every unit I go to, the first thing I do as I am getting report, is scope out where I'm going to be sitting and charting, where is the closest exit, and where is the closest possible hiding area in case of an armed attacker. Because it's happened, in each hospital in Reno, in the last 10-12 years, and it WILL happen again. I hate this.

 

[Skittl1321]

This is so awful.
This has got to stop.
Being shot in places of worship, learning, entertainment, um, anywhere should not be accepted as normal.

 

[Vagabond]

Our President said the Synagogue should have had armed guards.

In many places in other countries, there are police officers, often armed, standing guard outside synagogues on Shabbat. If there are to be armed guards here, perhaps government should be the one funding them.

What the fcuk is wrong with him!!??!?!?! What the fcuk is wrong with these gun lunatics? IT IS NOT NORMAL TO HAVE ARMED GUARDS IN SCHOOLS/CHURCHES/GENERAL PUBLIC PLACES. FFS.

Of course it isn't normal. But it may be necessary.

 

[AxelAnnie]

Terrible news. The boycott of all those associated with and who fund the NRA needs to be kept up and intensified until those that run the country finally learn that guns have no place in society.

The guns are not the problem..............it is the morons and hate mongers that are the problem. The guy tweeted his intentions.

Someone hated a group of people so much that he thought they should be killed. If not a gun.....that kind of hatred gives you an oven.

 

[Debbie S]

In many places in other countries, there are police officers, often armed, standing guard outside synagogues on Shabbat.

This is true. And in the U.S., many synagogues (including those in my area, and apparently Tree of Life as well) have police protection on the High Holidays. A patrol car in the lot, sometimes police directing traffic at the entrance at arrival and departure times. In one part of my city where there are a lot of synagogues in the vicinity (and this is an Orthodox area, so lots of walking to/from), the police set up a mobile command center in what looks like a large trailer along the street. But on normal Sabbath/Saturdays, there isn't anything. I'm not sure if/how much the synagogues or local Jewish federation pay for the High Holidays protection and how much is subsidized by the police/local gov't.

 

[Maofan7]

The guns are not the problem..............it is the morons and hate mongers that are the problem. The guy tweeted his intentions.

Someone hated a group of people so much that he thought they should be killed. If not a gun.....that kind of hatred gives you an oven.

As the old cliche goes, a psycho can do far less damage with a knife than a gun. Mass shootings of this kind are extremely rare in Europe quite simply because of tough gun laws. In contrast, they are an epidemic in the United States

 

[misskarne]

Of course it isn't normal. But it may be necessary.

It should not be necessary either!!!!!

The guns are not the problem..............it is the morons and hate mongers that are the problem. The guy tweeted his intentions.

It's the fcuking guns. Don't give me this shit. Every fcuking person with a brain can see it''s the guns. Why? BECAUSE THIS DOESN'T HAPPEN ANYWHERE ELSE. But nooooooooooooo, jerkasses like you think your right to own a gun is more important than the right of innocent people to LIVE.

 

[Debbie S]

As the old cliche goes, a psycho can do far less damage with a knife than a gun. Mass shootings of this kind are extremely rare in Europe quite simply because of tough gun laws.

Europe has had terrorist attacks involving vehicles, knives/box cutters, bombs....there are many ways people can be killed. I support gun control, but it's not the be-all and end-all. Hatred that fueled the attack today and other attacks against religious and cultural institutions needs to be addressed/monitored/prevented, along with mental illness and other social issues that cause gun violence.