At Shir Shalom, interfaith unity brings healing.

A

n estimated 1,000 people —
Jews and supporters from
many faiths — attended a
Solidarity Shabbat service at Temple
Shir Shalom in West Bloomfield last
Friday evening in memory of the 11
killed during the Tree of Life shoot-
ing Oct. 27.
Solidarity Shabbat was a national
effort, with synagogues in Detroit

ABOVE: Those in the audience represented
many faiths. TOP: Shir Shalom Rabbis
Michael Moskowitz and Daniel Schwartz, with
Archbishop Allen Vigneron, Imam Sayed Hassan
Qazwini, Pastor Bruce Burwell and Monsignor
Robert McClory.

fully participating. Most had added
security, including from municipal
police departments.
Along with Shir Shalom Rabbis
Michael Moskowitz and Daniel
Schwartz, other clergy at the tem-
ple’s service included Archbishop of
Detroit Allen Vigneron; Monsignor
Robert McClory, pastor of Royal
Oak-based Shrine of the Little
Flower; Imam Sayed Hassan Qazwini
of the Islamic Center of America and
Pastor Bruce Burwell of Light of the
World Christian Ministries.
“An attack on any synagogue is an

attack on Jews and Judaism itself,”
Moskowitz said. “We will not allow
fear to lessen our resolve to celebrate
our lives and we, therefore, must
stand together in a similar commu-
nity wide manner. During our dark-
est moments, there are still rays of
hope. Messages of support, sadness
and anger from the Christians and
Muslims who stand with us against
hatred and bigotry, offering prayers
and actions let us know we are not
alone.”
Qazwini told those at the service
that the Koran states: “Killing one
person is the equivalent of killing all
mankind.”
“I offer my condolences to the
entire Jewish community,” he said. “I
came here today to say my Muslim
community stands with you.”
Vigneron called for rooting out
and elimination of anti-Semitism and
hatred.
“All of us, here, stand in solidar-
ity against the unspeakable horror
afflicted on the Tree of Life syna-
gogue last week,” he said. “This des-
ecration of the synagogue reminds
us the evil of anti-Semitism is alive
... We feel your loss and stand with
you to confront hatred and defend
against violence and aggression.” ■

Look for more Solidarity Shabbat coverage
online.

SCAN THIS PAGE FOR A
VIDEO OF THE SERVICE.

RABBI MATT ZERWEKH

PHOTOS BY BRETT MOUNTAIN

COURTESY TEMPLE ISRAEL

Solidarity Shabbat

Chaplain Yvonne Fant Moore leads the singing of “We Shall Overcome” at the
interfaith service at Beth Shalom in Oak Park.

Joining Together

Interfaith vigils offer support amidst violence
and hatred in Pittsburgh.

JN Staff Reports

S

everal vigils for the Tree of Life
Congregation shooting victims
held last week were gatherings of
people of many faiths, all saddened by
the show of hatred in Pittsburgh.
At Temple Beth El on Oct. 30 in
Bloomfield Township, 1,200 people of
various faiths and backgrounds filled
the main sanctuary to mourn and be
together. Through solidarity and faith
expressed in words and music, they
found comfort and hope. The support
from non-Jewish neighbors was heart-
warming to the Jewish community.
“The first call I received [after
the shootings] was from Imam
Almasmari. Then I heard from our
other [interfaith] partners right away,”
said Rabbi Mark Miller, Beth El’s
senior rabbi.
Clergy from six local congregations,
in addition to Beth El, as well as a
representative of state government,
provided moving personal and reli-
gious perspectives.
The vigil closed with the lighting
of individual memorial candles for
each Tree of Life victim. Members
of the participating congregations
as well as representatives of Beth El,
Jewish Federation and JCRC/AJC
pronounced each name along with a
specific message of anti-bigotry.
Congregation Beth Shalom, along
with Temple Emanu-El, hosted an
interfaith vigil the same evening
that was organized in part by the
Interfaith Leadership Council of

Metropolitan Detroit, the Detroit
Interfaith Outreach Network and the
Michigan Roundtable for Diversity
and Inclusion.
The vigil drew 500 people. Mem-
bers of Beth Shalom and Emanu-El
welcomed and thanked participants
and encouraged them to light a candle
in memory of those murdered.
Before the evening concluded with
the singing of “We Shall Overcome,”
Beth Shalom’s Rabbi Robert Gamer
reminded the crowd of the teachings
of Rabbi Hillel: If I am not for myself,
who will be for me? But if I am only
for myself, who am I? If not now,
when?
“We have to be for ourselves, but
we have to go outside of ourselves to
reach out to those who are different
from us, who do not look like us and
who do not pray the same as us,”
Gamer said. “This evening must mark
a beginning and not an end. We have
to be for each other not just today,
but every day. That is the only way
we can change the world. That is the
only way we will never have another
evening like this.”
In Windsor, hundreds gathered
Oct. 30 at Temple Beth El for a multi-
faith service.
Clergy from Christian, Muslim,
Sikh and indigenous faiths talked,
prayed and sang during the 90-min-
ute service, which opened with the
lighting of Yizkor candles in memory
of the 11 Pittsburgh dead.
The gathering underlined the good-
will that has long characterized the

continued on page 36

jn

November 8 • 2018

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