Crowds gather to commemorate the lives lost last Saturday, with all faiths and backgrounds in attendance. The vigil took place on Tuesday October 30th, at the Manhattan Beach Pier to honor the lives lost in the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on October 27th.
Dr. Charles Raker shares the story of his Uncle Martin’s survival of the Holocaust Auschwitz camp with the sorrowful admission that “hatred to Jews is real”. He addressed the gathering, giving credit to his wife Elham Safani Raker, local pediatrician for initiating the event.
Rabbi Yossi Mintz, Director Rabbi of the Chabad of the Beach Cities, explains that light is contagious and we have the ability to light up everyone around us to change the world. He reminded the crowd of our responsibility to build bridges to one another.
Rabbi Toba August of Temple Shalom, Hermosa Beach, implores the group to not be indifferent but to always remember. She acknowledged that even at our distance from Pittsburgh we felt “the bite of the bullets”.
Rabbi Mintz shares the names and ages of each of the victims as the children in the audience light the candles and the gathering sings in tribute. In front of the podium stood a table of 11 candles to represent the lives of each victim.
Julia Alley / Staff Photographer
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