In wake of Pittsburgh massacre, local synagogue to hold special service

LACONIA — As people continue to mourn the deaths of 11 people shot and killed in a Pittsburgh synagogue Saturday, Temple B’nai Israel has scheduled a special service for Friday.

According the the synagogue’s rabbi, Boaz Heilman, the 7:30 p.m. service –  called a Sabbath of Unity – is being organized as Jews and others “look for consolation and comfort during these troubling and tragic times.”

Those who have been invited to attend include Laconia Mayor Ed Engler, representatives of the Ministerial Association and various houses of faith, members of the Laconia Police and Fire departments, and the School Board.

Heilman said members of the general public are also welcome at the service. But he asked that in light of heightened security, people not bring backpacks, knapsacks or anything else that might be deemed suspicious.

“We are expecting a large number of people to attend this service, and we will welcome members of the community who want to stand with us against hate and hate crimes,” the rabbi said.

It was just last Friday evening that Heilman addressed his congregation during Sabbath services and delivered words that were to have a haunting echo just hours later.

“I am — we all are — deeply indebted to this country for the many gifts and freedoms it has granted us," Heilman said Friday. "For the Jewish people, this isn’t something that we take for granted. Our history has taught us that freedom and security are often at the whim of a land baron, tyrant or emperor.

"For better or for worse, our country is infatuated with violence. … We’ve witnessed assassinations of national, religious and political leaders,” he continued. “We’ve seen lone-wolf violence and mass shootings at schools, movie theaters, and concert arenas. More recently, there has been a surge of violence from the Alt Right, groups aligned with neo-Nazis, racists, misogynists and homophobes. The pipe bombs sent to Democratic Party leaders are only the latest example of this violence. We are a nation steeped in violence.”

Twenty-four hours later, Heilman was struggling to find the right words to say at the beginning of a benefit concert sponsored by the synagogue.

“There are no words, no words of consolation. There are no prayers, even God is mute tonight,” Heilman told the audience.

"To bring mayhem, murder, and violence into a house of prayer chills us all, Jews and non-Jews alike,” he went on. “We’ve seen other attacks on houses of worship and community centers in America: Sikh and Buddhist temples, African-American churches, Muslim mosques, Baptist churches. They are all crimes of heinous hate. As with all those others, so we here today will have to find a way to move on, to absorb our sorrow, to put it all in some sort of perspective. But I’m afraid that tonight I just don’t know how to do that.”