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Pittsburgh
October 27, 2018 is a date that will never be
forgotten in Pittsburgh. In the normally quiet
Squirrel Hill neighborhood – home to more
than a dozen synagogues, the Jewish Community
Center, Jewish senior housing and longterm
healthcare, a host of Jewish organizations,
including ZOA’s Pittsburgh office, and
the epicenter of Jewish Pittsburgh – the worst
act of violence against Jews in American history
took place. Shouting anti-Semitic slurs,
a gunman killed 11 worshipers at the Tree of
Life synagogue complex.
ZOA Pittsburgh Executive Director Stuart
Pavilack happened to be headed to the ZOA
office that morning, which is roughly 800 feet
from the synagogue complex. There was work
to be done for the annual ZOA Awards Dinner
on October 30. After learning about what
was transpiring at the synagogue complex,
Pavilack approached a police road block and
overheard the police radio report that “the
police had the suspect cornered on the third
floor,” and then, minutes later, that they “had
captured the suspect.”
The following day, Pavilack attended a community
safety meeting with the city police,
FBI, mayor, governor, and others. The FBI
assured that all Jewish sites and events for the
next week would be provided with additional
security. The community planned 11 funerals;
nine of them were performed by the one Jewish
funeral home in the area. Non-Jewish funeral
homes lent additional hearses and other
needed vehicles, and Jewish funeral directors
traveled hundreds of miles to assist.
On October 29, ZOA’s national office informed
Pavilack that two members of the
World Zionist Organization (WZO) were
coming to Pittsburgh from Israel and would
need assistance. On October 31, Yaakov Hagoel,
WZO Vice-Chairman, and Eitan Behar,
Director of WZO’s Center for Diaspora Communications
and Countering Anti-Semitism,
arrived at the ZOA office. Pavilack and his
guests attended two funerals for the victims.
Hagoel and Behar spoke to the bereaved families
and offered condolences on behalf of Israel
and the Jewish people. Pavilack accompanied
his guests to the Tree of Life building to
see the makeshift memorials to the deceased
created by people of all faiths.
ZOA Awards Dinner
ZOA Pittsburgh held its annual Awards
Dinner on October 30, just three days after
the massacre. Jeffrey L. Pollock, President of
ZOA Pittsburgh, was determined that the
event would proceed as planned, stating that
“anti-Semitism and hatred will not dictate
how Jews will run our lives.”
ZOA Pittsburgh honored three outstanding
members of the community at the gala. In
addition, a student spoke from each of ZOA
Pittsburgh’s longstanding youth programs –
our Israel Scholarship Program and Tolerance
Education Program.
Each year, ZOA Pittsburgh awards three
$1,000 scholarships to help Pittsburgh-area
Jewish youth visit Israel on structured study
Shouting
anti-
Semitic
slurs, a
gunman
killed 11
worshipers
at the
Tree of
Life synagogue
complex.
STRONGER
THAN HATE
Memorial in honor of the victims in
front of the Tree of Life Synagogue
Complex
Eitan Behar (L) and Yaakov
Hagoel in front of the Tree
of Life Synagogue Complex
on Oct. 31
Pittsburgh