The 10.27 Healing Partnership is holding a commemoration ceremony to honor the lives lost on Oct. 27, 2018, when a shooter entered the Tree of Life building in Squirrel Hill and killed 11 worshippers: Joyce Fienberg, Richard Gottfried, Rose Mallinger, Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil Rosenthal, David Rosenthal, Bernice Simon, Sylvan Simon, Daniel Stein, Melvin Wax and Irving Younger. The ceremony will take place at 3 p.m. on Oct. 27 on Prospect Drive in Schenley Park.
The 5-year anniversary of the shooting comes after a tense trial over the summer to determine whether the shooter would get the death penalty. On Aug. 2, he was sentenced to death. The ceremony will feature concluding remarks from Eric Olshan, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania and prosecutor in the trial.
The 10.27 Healing Partnership, an organization created after the shooting to provide resources and support to the community, encourages all community members to attend the commemoration. Attendees do not need to RSVP or register. Families of the victims will light candles at the ceremony, and Violins of Hope, an educational project centered around a collection of violins from World War II that were owned by Jewish musicians, will be providing music for the ceremony.
Parking is limited on Prospect Drive, so the 10.27 Healing Partnership asks those who are able to park on nearby streets such as Hobart and Beacon instead. The ceremony will not be livestreamed, but a recording will be made available on the 10.27 Healing Partnership’s website after the ceremony.
On Oct. 29, the 10.27 Healing Partnership has a variety of volunteer opportunities available for community members to give their time to, including blood drives and clean-up projects. To register, visit the 10.27 Healing Partnership’s website.
If community members need support, the 10.27 Healing Partnership has counseling available by appointment or walk-in at the Jewish Community Center on 5738 Forbes Ave. It also offers group programs such as trauma-informed yoga and drum circles.
Chatham University’s LIGHT club, an organization centered around social justice and genocide education, will be hosting a film screening of the 40-minute “Repairing the World: Stories from the Tree of Life” documentary at 10 a.m. in Eddy Theatre on Oct. 27. Attendees are then invited to visit the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh’s “Revolving Doors” exhibit inside the Jennie King Mellon Library. Attendees can register online at on the Happenings page on my.chatham.edu.
