On a chilly Sunday, nearly 100 members of the Dor Hadash, New Light and Tree of Life congregations and others gathered at the corner of Shady and Wilkins avenues to bid a ceremonial l’hitraot, or “farewell for now,” to a building filled with memories, now the site of the most deadly antisemitic attack in the United States.
“We do not say ‘shalom’ because there is a finality to that word,” said Tree of Life Rabbi Jeffery Myers. “Instead, we say ‘see you later,’ knowing that we will return.”
A couple of hours before the ceremony, police blocked streets to traffic for at least a block in each direction from the synagogue, where a gunman entered and killed 11 people from three different congregations on Oct. 27, 2018. Uniformed members of the city police and Public Safety Department were present in force.
It was an emotionally charged event, but not ominous.
Synagogue members shook hands, embraced, laughed and reminisced before and after the ceremony.
While fundraising continues for the building, it is not actually time to break ground yet. Sunday was about “moving to a new chapter” as the congregation continues to remember and heal, said Rabbi Myers.
Looming over all, however, was the fact that the trial for the accused shooter would begin the next day.
The timing of the ceremony was not coincidental.
“This was a moment to celebrate what’s come before,” said Rabbi Myers, who reminded attendees of all of the positive memories of bar and bat mitzvahs, weddings and birthdays and other celebrations. He also led those gathered in readings from the Torah and in song.
Only a few people joined in at first, but the music swelled in volume and warmth by the second chorus:
“It is a Tree of Life to them that hold fast to it, and all of its supporters are happy. Shalom.”
Kids in coats hopped to keep warm while adults listened on with solemnity. The ceremony lasted about 20 minutes.
The Tree of Life congregation was chartered in 1865 and has moved locations a couple of times in Downtown and Oakland before settling in Squirrel Hill in the 1940s.
Currently, Tree of Life congregation members have moved to the nearby Rodef Shalom, but they will return once construction is finished. Dor Hadash also moved to Rodef Shalom, while New Light is currently in a space in Congregation Beth Shalom in Squirrel Hill.
To begin anew, the old Tree of Life building will be demolished and a new center will be built that has space for a memorial, a museum, a film screening room and more. It will continue to be a place of worship, and it will also become the new home for the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh.
Congregants brought small stones or offerings to Sunday’s ceremony to place on the retaining wall. These will be utilized in a manner to be determined in the new structure.
“We are moving to another chapter,” said Alan Hausman, president of the synagogue’s board. “Today is just ‘see you later.’”
There is no update on when ground will be broken or the new facility will be completed, but it is expected to take several years.
“Antisemitism transcends politics,” Rabbi Myers said. “It transcends the U.S. It’s been around for thousands of years. ... We’re saying to the rest of the world, evil is not driving us from this building.”
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