Charleston, SC – Victims Of Mass Shootings Pittsburgh Synagogue, Church Meet

    4

    Members of Emanuel AME pray with members visiting from New Light Congregation, one of the congregations from the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburg where 11 died in a mass shooting last fall during a service ofunity Sunday, Jan. 20, 2019. (AP/postandcourier.com)Charleston, SC – Members of a congregation from a Pittsburgh synagogue where 11 died in a mass shooting by an anti-Semitic gunman last fall have traveled to Charleston, South Carolina, to worship with members of the church where nine black worshippers died in 2015 at the hands of a white supremacist.

    Join our WhatsApp group

    Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email


    The Post and Courier reports that members of the New Light Congregation of the Tree of Life synagogue and members of the Emanuel AME Church worshipped together Friday and Sunday in Charleston.

    The Pittsburgh group came to Charleston for the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend for a show of unity and celebration.

    Rabbi Jonathan Perlman leads New Light Congregation.

    On Friday, he stood at Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim, a local Reform congregation, with Emanuel shooting survivor Polly Sheppard.

    On Sunday, he stood in a mass of sorrow at Emanuel’s altar rail hugging its senior pastor, the Rev. Eric S.C. Manning. Church members came forward from their pews to wrap him and his group in a sea of hugs, tears.

    Manning, who flew to Pittsburgh to comfort synagogue members shortly after the mass shooting there, used his sermon on Sunday to implore people to love one another during divisive times. To do so, he referenced a line from one of King’s sermons: “Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.”

    Along with Perlman stood Carol Black, a fellow survivor of the synagogue shooting. She hid in a closet while a gunman killed her brother, 65-year-old Richard Gottfried, a beloved dentist. Gottfried’s wife, who organized the trip to Charleston, joined them. So did Gottfried’s twin sister, Debi Salvin, who celebrated her first birthday without him precisely one week earlier.

    Three of the 11 people who died inside Tree of Hope were members of New Light.

    “I’m sad in 2019 that Jews and African Americans are united by having been slaughtered in their houses of worship in the United States of America,” said Beth Kissileff Perlman, the rabbi’s wife. “We share many bonds and, unfortunately, this is one of them.”


    Listen to the VINnews podcast on:

    iTunes | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Podbean | Amazon

    Follow VINnews for Breaking News Updates


    Connect with VINnews

    Join our WhatsApp group


    4 Comments
    Most Voted
    Newest Oldest
    Inline Feedbacks
    View all comments
    5 years ago

    Yidden in a church? Chilul hashem

    ssteinberg
    ssteinberg
    5 years ago

    This is an amazing Kidush Hashem, with all the tragic events going on today, let it be known the Yiden can and do reach out to other cultures and religions to offer understanding and comfort-this is not simple and far more complex then entering into another house of worship-this is not meant for Tefila-but for respect, comfort and understanding in a world where we are still targets…..To anyone who feels this is wrong-you are not the judges, Rebono Shel Olam is-ALL of us are HIS children.