The sentencing of Tree of Life synagogue killer Robert Bowers raises disturbing questions about antisemitism’s link to mental illness, the deterrence value of the death penalty and the value of hate-crime laws.
Read More »Column: Rabbi Black: “It Lessens Our Own Humanity When We Take the Life of Another Person”
When the perpetrator of this act of racist and antisemitic violence was found guilty on all counts this past June, I felt a palpable sense of relief. Justice had been done and this evil human would be punished for his horrific crime. Upon hearing the news that he would be given the death penalty, however, I felt a sense of unease and trauma – similar to what I felt when I learned about his murderous act in the first place.
Read More »Column: Jewish PTSD…From a Pittsburgh Shul to a Vegas School
The shock value of the spectacle that General Dwight D. Eisenhower witnessed at the Ohrdruf concentration camp on April 12, 1945, is now being revived on a smaller scale with the Tree of Life trial and a grisly attack in Las Vegas.
Read More »Tree of Life Congregation Announces Vision For Future of Squirrel Hill Synagogue Site
Nearly one year after the worst anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history, the Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha Congregation announced it will move forward with rebuilding plans.
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