KINGSTON, R.I. — October 31, 2018 — University of Rhode Island junior Max Zavell received a text message the morning of Saturday, Oct. 27, from a family friend that said, “Friends and family, we are safe.”
The president of the University’s Hillel Student Board shared his story with about 200 people gathered Tuesday, Oct. 30, outside URI’s Multicultural Student Services Center and told the crowd that he had been to the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh and that he celebrated his friend’s Bar Mitzvah there.
“This is a beautiful synagogue with a rich history and a tight-knit community,” he told those gathered for a vigil to honor the 11 synagogue members murdered Saturday while they were worshipping. “Stepping into it feels like you have entered a happy, joyous place filled with love and family.
“With this in mind, it is even more difficult to visualize this beautiful place of worship becoming the symbol to our nation of the location of the deadliest attack on Jews in United States history, simply for being Jews.”
Zavell, who said he chose URI because he believed it would be a safe, welcoming place, was one of 11 speakers from URI and the wider community who came together to grieve and offer support to each other
Amy Olson, the director of Hillel, the Jewish Student Center at URI, and chair of the URI Chaplains Association, opened and closed the ceremonies.
“We gather tonight to honor the memories of those who went last Shabbat, last Saturday morning, to their synagogue in Pittsburgh to celebrate life, to celebrate Shabbat, and were murdered in the name of blind, empty hatred,” Olson said. “Tonight, in a darkened world, we stand together.”
As she read the name of the victims, candles were lit and Professor Paul Bueno de Mesquita, director of URI’s Center for Nonviolence of Peace Studies, struck a Tibetan Singing Bowl. The victims were: Daniel Stein, Joyce Fienberg, Richard Gottfried, Rose Mallinger, Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil Rosenthal, David Rosenthal, Bernice Simon, Sylvan Simon, Melvin Wax and Irving Younger.
Olson quoted the poet, Chaim Stern, as she urged the gathering to embrace the higher values: “In the places where no one acts like a human being, let us bring courage; let us bring compassion; let us bring humanity.”
Emily Yehezkel, the Hillel Springboard Fellow, said Saturday’s tragedy hit her hard as the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, a proud Jew, and Jewish young professional. But she told the group, “My Jewish community is strong. My Jewish community is brave. My Jewish community has always been and will always be stronger than hate.
“Stay strong, and I am always sending love. May the memories of those who were killed be a blessing,” Yehezkel said.
Caitlyn Irving, representing the URI Catholic Center, said the Catholic community at URI stands in solidarity with the Jewish community on campus and throughout the world.
“As the Hebrew scriptures remind us time and again to welcome and protect the marginalized, we join in prayer to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob for those who continue to suffer from all forms of hatred, bigotry and violence, and we commit ourselves to concrete actions that will help build a world where people of all religious traditions and backgrounds can live together in peace and harmony,” Irving said.
URI President David M. Dooley said it was hard for many in the group to stand together again in the aftermath of numerous instances of horrific violence in this country and abroad.
“We are called together again to share our grief and concern for one another. I don’t have any good words to share with you. So I am going to share some words that others have written.”
He started with a quotation from Mahatma Gandhi. “When I despair, I remember that all through history, the way of truth and love has always won. There have been many tyrants and murderers. And for a time, they seem invincible, but in the end, they all always fall. Think of it always.”
The president then read a piece from Martin Luther King Jr. “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”
Dooley concluded with emotional and haunting remarks of his own.
“Sometimes evil does seem triumphant. I believe King and Gandhi are right, and that we are stronger that. I urge all of us here today to remain committed to the values of the community that we are striving to build, where everyone of that community is welcome, affirmed in their identity, and is respected and supported. And everyone in our community is safe, and that we work together to ensure all of those values for each and every one who is a part of our community at the University of Rhode island. So thank you for exemplifying those values by coming out this evening, for participating in another event that we hope not to repeat, but I expect we will. And let’s be prepared for that by being bound ever closer together, one with another here at the University of Rhode Island.”
URI student Shayna Sawyer then led the gathering in singing “Mi Shebeirach: A Prayer for Healing,” composed by Debbie Friedman and Drorah Setel:
“Mi sherbeirach avoteinu
M’kor habracha l’imoteinu
May the source of strength
Who bless the ones before us,
Help us find the courage
To make our lives a blessing
And let us say: Amen.
Mi shebeirach imoteinu
M’kor habracha l’avoteinu
Bless those in need of healing
With refuah sh’ leimah
The renewal of body, the renewal of spirit
And let us say: Amen.”
