All language subtitles for a.tree.of.life.the.pittsburgh.synagogue.shooting.2022.1080p.web.h264-bigdoc.[eng]

(wind blowing, bird chirping)

(crow cawing)

♪ ♪

(shofar blowing)

(sirens blaring)

(shofar blowing)

(sirens continue)

(overlapping shofar blowing)

Officer 1: (on radio)
Shots fired. Shots fired.

871, shots fired.
Give me all
additional resources.

(shofar blowing)

34-23, 34-24.

5898 Wilkins Avenue.

(siren)

(inaudible)

(radio static, chatter)

(Officer 1 speaking)

Officer 2: (on radio)
Copy.

(Officer 1 speaking)

(Officer 2 speaking)

(Officer 1 speaking)

♪ ♪

Anthony Fienberg:
One of my elder daughters

came running in and asked,

"Did Bubbe go to shul today?"

That's about when
my stomach fell out.

I knew something was wrong.

♪ ♪

(Officer 1 on radio)

(Officer 2 on radio)

(sirens blaring)

(screaming)

We got a text from somebody
that just said

"active shooter at
Tree of Life Synagogue."

I said, "The boys are there."

And in our hearts, we knew.

We knew. We just felt it.

(Officer 1 on radio)

(Officer 3 on radio)

Carol Black:
I turned the corner
onto Wilkins Avenue

and was looking
for the parking lot,

and I saw my brother
walking into the building.

That's the last time
I saw him alive.

♪ ♪

(Officer 1 on radio)

(Officer 3 on radio)

I was facing forward.
I couldn't--

I did not see
what was going on behind me

until I heard this sound.

And I turned around
to see what the sound was.

And there was the man
with the gun.

(praying in Hebrew)

I turned around,

and Audrey was going over

to the left side,

and I followed behind her.

Audrey and I went up,
and we found this room

with all kinds of junk in it,
and we hid in there.

There was a window in the door,
and so, when we realized that,

we made ourselves look like,

as much as we could, the bags of
clothing that were in there.

I guess they're donations.

She heard Bernice cry out...

when her husband was shot.

I don't recall hearing that.

♪ ♪

All I remember was,
was the man with the gun.

We couldn't run. We were
in the back, in our seats.

And I just told my mother,
I said, "Just get down."

And I think we both got shot

before we went down.

(radio static, beep)

(Officer 1 on radio)

(static, beep)

Stephen Weiss:
As I got into the doorway,

there were a series of
probably four or five shots.

And as I'm standing
in the doorway, I could see

shell casings
bouncing across the floor
in front of me.

And having that shootout
with these four officers

that were shot.
I mean, when I think about it...

Dan Leger:
Jerry and I looked
at each other.

Jerry's a doctor. I'm a nurse.

I thought that somehow

we could be helpful. And so,

we moved in the direction
of the gunfire.

And as you know, Jerry was
killed, and I was wounded.

I just laid on the floor.
I didn't move.

And I was bleeding a lot. Um...

I think I must have been
in shock.

My mother was lying right by me,

and I couldn't--
I couldn't look.

I just stayed there
until somebody came through.

Stephen:
When the police came on scene,

the shooter actually ended up
going up into the school wing.

Normally on a Saturday morning,
my son and I would be there

to do a junior congregation.
One Shabbat a month,

we didn't have
junior congregation.

This happened to be
that one Shabbat.

Normally, my son would have been
sitting in the front lobby entry

waiting for the kids
to come in.

(Officer 2 on radio)

(static, radio chatter)

♪ ♪

Andrea Wedner:
When I got up,

I just told my mother
I loved her,

and I had to go.

I had to live.

So, I knew she...

didn't-- wasn't gonna survive.

(Officers on radio)

(siren blaring)

♪ ♪

(insects chirping)

♪ ♪

Rabbi Jonathan Perlman:
These cowardly assassins

were going after small,
vulnerable places,

and, um...

you know, the shooter killed
about half the people

in the building.
Half the people survived.

Eleven dead.

(quiet chatter)

Rabbi Jeffrey Myers:
The Jewish people have been

here on these shores 355 years.

And if you think
about antisemitism,

which has been prevalent
all 355 years, um...

Yeah, it's surprising.
It's like, well,
what took so long?

It was inevitable
that there was gonna be

an attack of this nature
on a synagogue.

♪ ♪

(birds chirping)

(clicking)

Barry Werber:
This is even before I was born,

but it's my aunts and uncles,

my grandmother and grandfather,

my brother,
bless his memory.

The two elderly folks
in front with the child

between them are my grandmother
and grandfather.

This whole thing
is falling apart.

(plastic crinkling)

Growing up,
the holidays were amazing.

My Bubbe and Zayde,
my grandmother and grandfather,

had a little apartment
in Terrace Village

up in the Hill District,

and Passover would come,
and the relatives would come in

from all over-- Chicago,
New York, Steubenville.

And we'd all settle
around this table

in the middle
of their living room,

and by the time
the Seder would start,

of course,
you start the Seder late,

the kids were underneath
the table, sound asleep

because they had
sampled the wine. Okay?

And as orthodox
as my Zayde was,

he wanted to get
the kinderlach home to bed.

He didn't think it was right
that they stay up

till 1:00 or 2:00
in the morning for a Seder.

So he'd have a tendency
to try and skip pages

on the, on the, the Seder book.

And it was, it was,
it was amazing

because he'd go so far,
and then he'd turn the page.

And my Bubbe, oh,
she was a character.

"Jacob! You missed a page!

"Jacob! You forgot!
You didn't do a line!

Jacob! What about this?
And what..."

And, and, and my Zayde,
bless his memory, would say,

"Shah, still. The kinderlach
have to get home to bed.

Shah. Still."

It was hilarious.

-(projector clicking)
-(quiet traffic noise)

Rabbi Perlman:
I came to Pittsburgh
when I was 9 years old.

My father was moving
around a lot.

He was shaping
his medical career.

It was more of a mix than
what we had in Milwaukee.

I remember in Milwaukee
that a girl

who was older than me told me

that the Jews had killed Christ.

That was the first time
I'd ever heard about that.

So, I always appreciated
Pittsburgh.

(crowd cheering)

I remember in 1979,

the Pittsburgh Pirates
won the World Series.

And the captain of the team,
Willie Stargell,

kept on referring
to the Pirates as the family.

And there was a song
that was popular at the time

called "We Are Family."

♪ We are family ♪

And all the fans
used to sing it all the time.

And it really thrilled me

to feel part of
this great family,

and we would sing it
all the time.

It was funny because it said,
"We are family.

I got all my sisters with me,"

which didn't really refer
to the Pirates so much,

but, in my family,
where I only had sisters, uh,

it was very special to me
to be able to sing

about having all
my sisters with me.

(muffled "We Are Family"
fading out)

(quiet traffic noise)

(breeze blowing)

(birds chirping)

I didn't feel like
watching the Steelers today

because I was afraid
they would lose.

But I have to get
the score. (laughs)

Pittsburgh Steelers
won 17 to 10.

-Director: Mazel tov. (laughs)
-Mazel tov indeed.

Director:
My father will be very happy.

(laughter)

There are writers who say,

"We are born,
we suffer, and we die."

The whole of life
in eight words.

And I say...

We are born, we laugh,
and we die.

Anyway, uh...

that gives you an idea of
the kind of person I am.

Should I talk with
my hands on the table,

or should I talk with
my hands in my lap?

Should I cross my legs?
Should I grab...

Director:
If it makes you
feel able to speak--

I'm likely to use my hands

because I always do.

I live in Greenfield, but
everyone calls it Squirrel Hill

because I'm near the border.

And, in fact,
in Squirrel Hill,

Squirrel Hill itself
has never been

more than 40% Jewish.

But the flavor
of the neighborhood,

all the businesses
that were owned

and loudly proclaiming

"Buy kosher meat here"
and whatever.

It made it seem
like a Jewish community.

-(birds chirping)
-(quiet traffic noise)

(turn signal clicking)

(sighs) See?

-(shifts to park)
-(clicks seatbelt)

Anthony:
I knew them. I sat in
synagogue next to them.

They greeted me as I came
into the synagogue

where I grew up with them.

(Director speaking)

This is my first time.

(quiet traffic noise, honking)

Magali Fienberg:
Joyce was very concerned

about what happened in Paris,

in France, and also in Paris,

because many things
happen against Jewish people.

I think she, she would
have liked us to, to move.

Director:
Did she ever say where
she'd like you to move?

In Pittsburgh. Yes.

-Come here, puppy.
-Director: She wants
to be with her mama?

Yeah! You wanna sit with mom?

-This is my dog, Ziva.
That's a Hebrew name.
-(panting)

-Ziva.
-Director: What does it mean?

It means light and illuminated.

She's been my therapy dog,
I'll tell you. For the...

That first week or so afterwards

when there was one funeral
after the next.

It was...

Yeah, that was, that was
a tough week, um...

-(street noise)
-(distant horn)

(rattling)

Augie Siriano:
I-- I've said to
a few people already, um...

"I can't wait to get back home,

but, unfortunately,
it's gonna be a while."

Director:
When you say, "Can't wait
to get back home,"

-what do you mean by home?
-Tree of Life. Yeah.

And they looked at me like,
"Oh really?"

You know, I was, yeah. You know.

It's 27 years now in there.

(clears throat)

In 1993, my brother-in-law
used to work

at Tree of Life Synagogue.

He called me and said,

"Hey, there's a position here."
I went and,

you know, I worked for
a while, and, you know,

I liked it, so I just stayed.

The people, the hugs
and the kisses that I get

once in a while on the cheek,
of course,

it's just in general
working there.

You know, some of the people,
I couldn't wait to come in

for something... You know,

sometimes I would stand
at the door and wait

for them to come in
and just say,

"Hi, how you doing?"
You know?

And I'm gonna miss all that.

-(birds chirping)
-(kids chattering)

Carol:
I just was not involved
in Jewish life

really for my--
most of my adult life.

So, Saturday mornings, I would
meet my friend at North Park,

and we would
run around the lake.

And we did that for many years

until I injured my hip,
and I couldn't run.

And I thought, "Well,
now what am I gonna do?"

So, thought, "Well, maybe
I'll just go to shul."

And so I joined my brother

and got involved,

and it just carried on
from there.

Our congregation
is a small congregation,

and it tends towards
the older side,

and we don't have

our own building anymore.

We couldn't maintain
our old building,

and so we sold it

and moved into the Tree of Life.

♪ ♪

We don't refer to it

as the Tree of Life shooting.

We call it the Pittsburgh
Synagogue shooting

because we want people to know

that there were two
other congregations

that were in that building,

and all three congregations
lost people.

So the three congregations,
well, of course,

Tree of Life or L'Simcha.
It's their building.

There is Dor Hadash,

which also was a tenant,

and that's a Reconstructionist
congregation.

And the one that I belong to
is New Light Congregation.

And we had only been in that
building for 11 months.

We were just getting used
to that new home.

Barry:
I would go
Friday night services

and Sunday morning services.

But, it happened that it was
my mother's yahrzeit.

That Saturday morning.

The anniversary of her passing.

And I made it a point
to go to shul.

Services started
at a quarter to 10:00.

Nobody showed up
at a quarter to 10:00.

I like to say
Jewish Standard Time.

A quarter to 10:00,
10:00 o'clock,

quarter after,
but be there by 10:30.

And that's the way
things usually happen.

Dan:
It was a rainy morning.

I got there and my
dear friend Jerry Rabinowitz

was, was-- had arrived

just a couple of minutes
before I did.

And Marty Gaynor, our friend,

had arrived just, I think,

a couple minutes
after I got there.

Um...

And, um, um...

Then we heard gunshots.

And Jerry and I
looked at each other.

Jerry's a doctor,
I'm a nurse.

Our, our instincts are counter

to what everyone is trained
to do, and should do,

and I encourage them to do,

and that is to run,
hide, and fight,

in that order.

But Jerry and I thought that,
somehow, we could be helpful,

and so we moved
in the direction of the gunfire.

♪ ♪

Audrey Glickman:
We were trying to get
David Rosenthal

to come with us to hide
and not to go back.

And he wanted to go back

and he wanted
to call his house, and...

Rabbi Myers was already
on the phone to 911.

I didn't have my phone

because I had worn something

with pockets
too shallow for a phone.

And so my phone
was on the pew, and...

It was a poor decision,

and I'll never go
to the synagogue again

without pockets big enough
to have my phone on me.

And I think women's clothing
should be made

with pockets
big enough for phones

because, apparently,
it's a matter of life and death.

♪ ♪

Dan:
Jerry was killed,

and I was, was shot.

And I, um...

knew that
it was very likely

that I was going to be dead
in a few minutes.

I was on the stairs, and I...

I didn't feel afraid
at that point.

I, I, I had no sense of...

of being afraid about
the end of my life coming.

I thought about my life,
and I thought,

"Gee, I've had
a wonderful life.

My life has been so good.
I'm so grateful for it."
You know?

The thing I did,
and the thing that seemed

to be informed by my values

as a Jewish person was to,
in that review

of my life, to be, um...

thinking of the people
in my life,

and things that I would want
to have done differently,

and maybe that I had offended
some of them through my life

in various ways,
and to ask forgiveness.

♪ ♪

All of a sudden, I see
a camouflaged pant leg

on the stairs next to me,
and I grab the pant leg.

It was a paramedic.

And, um, he said,
"This one's alive."

♪ ♪

Carol:
I came in, and I
was a little bit late.

And so, I went down the steps

into our sanctuary space.

I could hear my brother
and Dan Stein in the kitchen.

The rabbi was in the front
on the right,

and Barry Werber was sitting

right in front of
where I was sitting,

and Mel was leading the service.

And I was getting
my tallis bag out.

I was, you know,
just getting prepared.

And I was holding
the tallis bag in my hand,

and I heard the first gunshot,

although I didn't--
I didn't recognize it

as a gunshot.
I didn't know what it was.

I thought somebody
dropped a metal table

on a floor or something.
I didn't know what it was.

We all heard the sound,

and then didn't think
too much of it.

And then less than a minute
later, there was another one.

And I said,
"What are they doing up there?"

And Barry got up
out of the seat,

walked out, looked up the steps,
he came back in, and he said,

"There's somebody
laying on the steps."

And then he sat back down,

and it just wasn't
occurring to us

what was happening.

And then, I heard
bam-bam-bam-bam-bam,

you know, the rapid gunfire,

and then Rabbi said,
"We need to get outta here."

And he motioned us
towards a doorway

that was in the back.

I had never been
in that space before.

I didn't know what was there.
It was pitch black in there.

There was no lights,
couldn't see a thing.

And I saw a closet

with the door propped open
and I went into the closet.

Barry went into the closet.

♪ ♪

And by that time, we knew
that there was shooting.

And I had my cell phone out,
my dumb phone,

and I called 911.

Now, there were places
in that building

where you couldn't get
any cell phone reception,

especially in the basement,
but 911 went through.

And...

there was a pause.

Carol was, was over here,
as I recall,

kneeling behind--
behind an area.

And I'm pressed up
against a wall,

and Mel is in front of us.

And there seemed to be a pause.

And Mel went

and pushed the door,
and we couldn't say anything.

We were afraid
of making any sound.

And Mel pushed the door open,
and I heard three gunshots.

And he fell back in the room.

♪ ♪

And then there was a little bit
of light from the...

from the sanctuary area

and...

the gunman walked in.

And we didn't say a word.

You know, we weren't
saying anything.

We knew to be silent

because we were
counting on the fact

that darkness was going to be
our friend that day,

and that we were not seen.

And after he shot Mel,

Barry saw him.
I didn't see him.

I only saw a shadow
because I was behind a door.

I couldn't see too much.

I knew--
I could see the long gun.

I knew, I knew,
I knew the type.

It was some sort of
an automatic weapon.

And I couldn't tell much
by what I was looking at,

other than the gun.

And he stepped over Mel.

Couldn't see anything.

And I have 911 in my ear,
yelling at me,

trying to get me
to say something,

and I couldn't breathe.

And then he stepped back
out of the door,

and the door closed.

And I guess it was about...

a half hour later,
15 minutes later,

I'm not sure of time.
By this time,

I'm talking to the 911 operator.

And a shaft of light

over my shoulder

and footsteps behind me.

And I didn't even know
there were steps.

I didn't remember
there were steps there.

As I said, I wasn't too familiar
with that room.

And this young SWAT officer

comes down the steps and takes

myself and Carol Black
out of the building.

♪ ♪

Magali:
Celina, our daughter,

she said, "Something happened
in Pittsburgh in Tree of Life.

A shooting."

And then, we tried
to call your mother.

She didn't answer.

And then, we told her,
"Are you sure?"

And maybe one hour later
or maybe more,

we, we saw the television,
the CNN, and then they said

there is something
happened in Pittsburgh.

And then the first thing
Adam ask

when we understood

what happened exactly, he said,

"Do you think someone
can come and kill us?"

-(Director speaking)
-Yes.

Nine.

(Director speaking)

I said yes.

Augie:
I was in the men's
bathroom sanctuary.

I heard pow, pow, pow,
pow, pow, pow.

And started making my way
through the sanctuary.

Come through the lobby,

through the--
just like a hallway

outside the chapel,

and I see a magazine
on the floor,

and I smell a lot of gunpowder.

And I looked in the chapel
real quick,

and then all I seen
was the lights on. That was it.

I didn't see nobody.
I didn't hear nothing.

Well, then I turned
and ran outta the building

back, of course,
away from the gunfire.

As soon as I got
to the exit door
in the sanctuary,

I kicked it open
and got down on my knees

and said,
"I'm just a custodian.

I'm trying to get
outta the building."

They just pointed a gun at me,

and Steve Weiss,
he just said really loud,

"That's Augie!
That's the custodian,"

and he pointed at me.

And then when I got up on
the sidewalk on Shady Avenue,

a Pittsburgh police officer
walked up.

He had blood
coming down his head,

and he was saying

a word I can't say,
multiple times.

I guess he had some kind
of confrontation with Bowers

at the front door.
I'm not sure.

♪ ♪

Martin Gaynor:
All of the first responders
were just amazing.

I... (sighs)

(inhales, exhales)

I don't have the words...

to describe...

just how wonderful they were,

and the depth of my gratitude.

But, you know,
all of the police officers,

our Pittsburgh Police, police
came from all over the region.

The EMTs,

they risked their lives
without hesitation.

As you know,
four of our officers

were wounded very badly, and...

you know, of course, they--

If you talk to any of them,
they'll say,

"Oh, I was just doing my job."

They refused to take, you know,

act like they did
anything extraordinary.

But, boy,

as soon as
they got the notice,

they were there, and

they were in the building,

and the EMTs went in

when it was still
a very dangerous situation

because they wanted to see
if they could save people.

And thank God they did.
They saved Dan Leger.

And if they had not,
he might not be here.

(siren blaring)

Dan:
I remember very little
of the ambulance ride.

I remember arriving
at the hospital,

and then I don't remember
anything until...

um, I was looking up

through what appeared
to be like gauze

or cotton or clouds
or something.

And seeing shadowy figures
around me.

And I, um,

and I remember
thinking to myself,

"This is the chevra kadisha.
This is the burial society.

They have come to prepare me
to be buried."

And I felt so comforted.

I felt so completely comforted
by that notion

that my friends
were there taking care of me.

And then again, there's
a long period of time

where I don't remember
much of anything.

And I remember when
the breathing tube was removed.

And I remember
looking and realizing

that my family was around me
and saying that I loved you.

And the third thing I said was,
"God forgive him."

Reporter:
Alleged synagogue
shooter Robert Bowers

is not believed to have
a prior criminal history,

but social media posts
attributed to him

contain antisemitic views
and other hate speech.

As awful as it sounds, um,

and I'm not trying to say that--

I'm not trying to, to, to give
the shooter a free pass here,

but I know that he was made
in the image of God

just like I am.
He's a human being.

Antisemitism was a fuel.
It was a--

It fueled other hate speech
that this suspect was posting.

So it wasn't just antisemitism.

It was also hate
about immigrants,

hate about other individuals.

But, at the core,
was this deep antisemitism

that you see on his
a social media footprint.

And several of
the messages that he was posting

was against a Jewish refugee
resettlement agency.

And that was his point, is that
one of the points he was making

is that this agency
is bringing people in.

And he said,
among many other things,

that "my people
are being slaughtered."

Ellen Surloff:
The days when synagogues
just leave their doors open

and hope that, you know,

no one comes
through the doors with a gun,

I think those days are gone.

♪ ♪

Just before the shooting,

we had the woman

who was chair
of our social action committee

had organized what was called

a HIAS-Shabbat.
And there were--

It was happening
all over the country.

There was a particular Shabbat

that was to be focused
on immigrants.

And apparently,
the HIAS website

listed congregations
that were participants,

and congregation Dor Hadash

was listed as a participant.

That's how he knew that

we had something
to do with immigrants.

Pundit:
This person who
committed this act

was very much
against immigration.

Immigration to him meant

the existential threat
to the white people.

Donald Trump:
At this very moment,

large, well-organized
caravans of migrants

are marching toward
our southern border.

Some people
call it an invasion.

It's like an invasion.

Rabbi Perlman:
There's a great fear
among white people

that whiteness
is dying in this country

and that the culture
of white America

has been diminished

by Latin Americans,

by Blacks, by Jews.

And it's simply not true.

I, Barack Hussein Obama,
do solemnly swear...

Rabbi Perlman:
Part of that fear began with
the election of Barack Obama.

You know, as much
as we would like

to celebrate the election
of the first Black president,

I think that a lot of
these people retreated, um,

and they held
a great deal of resentment.

They didn't really know
what to think.

Hey, I'm the guy on record
saying he is

the Black Muslim anti-Christ.

I think the election
of Donald Trump

was a kind of triumph for them,

and it emboldened them.

(crowd chattering)

You know, the Second Amendment
speaks of forming militias.

I think that's what they're
doing now in a quiet way.

You know, they're doing it
over the Internet

uh, and they are
using this language,

which if you
compare the language

that they're using of

invasion and replacement.

The Democratic Party
is trying to replace

the current electorate.

It's appearing in
all of their manifestos.

What they really want is
to replace white people

in white countries.

Before I go on,
I want to clarify "they."

-Man 1: Evil elite Jew.
-Man 2: Jewish elite.

The Jewish mafia.

Jew-dominated globalism.

Rabbi Perlman:
They're taking it
to the streets with their,

you know,
semiautomatic rifles

which they were allowed to have.

You know, they, they're
in a struggle for their lives.

They believe what they hear,

and it scares them a great deal

that their country
is being taken over.

Some of the white
supremacist actions

that are happening
outside of America

are happening in Europe.

There was something
that happened in Norway
a few years ago.

This attack in New Zealand,
was really,

really a fear about Australia

and what's happening
in that part of the world.

And these terrorists

are trying to make
a statement about

the position of whiteness
in this world.

♪ ♪

(crowd chattering)

Classmates threw pennies

because Jews have always been
accused of being cheap,

so they would expect
that I would go

and pick up the pennies.

The worst was
I came home one day.

There were swastikas
on my driveway

with "Jeffrey's a dirty Jew."

So that was my introduction
to learning about the Holocaust.

♪ ♪

We've seen within
the previous century

the horrors of
what antisemitism

can, can wreak upon people

that we would think
of are civilized,

that could behave that way.

Reporter:
This was Madison Square
Garden in New York City.

(crowd chanting)

They wore Hitler's uniform,

but they wrapped themselves

in the American flag.

-Heil Hitler.
-Heil Hitler.

Mother:
Who do we don't like?

-Child: Niggers.
-Who else?

Uh, Jews.

The danger of antisemitism

is it doesn't stop
with antisemitism.

It, it denotes a moral decay

in humanity when
you're gonna treat people

as an other and think
of them as less than human.

(typing)

(typing)

(rock music playing)

(crowd chattering)

(person singing)

(song fades out)

(wind blowing, leaves rustling)

(singing in Hebrew)

(singing continues)

(inaudible)

(singing continues)

♪ ♪

(singing)

(singing continues)

(singing ends)

Ron Wedner:
There's a lot of reliance
on religion in our country,

and I think everybody
seemed touched,

whether they're Jewish
or Catholic or Muslim

or, or any other religion,

that this could happen to them.

It's not some random shooting.
It was...

a crime against people who--

They were only shot because
of what they believed in.

♪ ♪

(crowd chattering)

Wasi Mohamed:
What the Jewish community today,

despite facing a tragedy,

what they did for the world
was so important.

What the Pittsburgh community
did was so important

because of that evil,

every single person
touched by that,

hundreds of thousands of people
around the world,

all responded
with acts of goodness.

(singing in Hebrew)

(singing fades out)

Wasi:
My family is largely
always from,

like, everybody that I've known,
at least generationally,

is from Madras, Chennai,
in India.

So southern India
and Tamil Nadu, the region.

So they came here
like in the late '80s, 1990.

You know, my mom came here
a little bit before my father.

Then my brother was born in '91.

And then I was born in '92
in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania,

capital of
the Keystone State. Yeah.

I think a lot of people
were surprised

to see the Muslim community
of all communities step up

and help the Jewish community.

And I think it's because
of misconceptions

about both of our communities
that people were so surprised.

But our religions
are very similar.

Our traditions are similar.
Our values are similar.

Our burial practices
are very similar.

They're gonna bury
in a couple of days.

I knew that Ralph Schugar
Funeral Home

is where people go.

And so, I called them and said,

"Hey, I'm from the Islamic
Center of Pittsburgh.

"We raised enough money
to cover every single funeral.

No matter what, just don't
send anybody a bill."

Quite frankly, we did not have
that money, you know, like we--

I just was confident
in our community.

So then immediately,
we started to do a fundraiser.

♪ ♪

Just that online fundraiser
was $250,000.

That was what was meant to
ensure that nobody would have

to worry about burial costs
at a time like this,

or medical costs
at a time like this.

We just wanted people
to focus on mourning.

♪ ♪

(siren fading in, blaring)

(crowd noise fading in)

(angry yelling)

Protester:
Let the families grieve!
This is our neighborhood!

You are not welcome here!

Ellen:
I remember getting a call

from a Dor Hadash congregant,

and she was beside
herself. She said,

"They're blocking off
Tree of Life.

"The police are there.
They're blocking it off.

I think Trump is coming."

And we had no idea
that he was coming

to the actual
Tree of Life building.

(sirens continue)

(shutters snapping)

I live two blocks
away from here.

Both my daughters are Jewish.

They were threatened
to be killed several days ago.

And Trump is using
this opportunity

of grief to promote the hate

that generated this situation
in the first place.

I don't care if they arrest me!

I care if my kids
live in a world

where they're gonna be
killed for being Jewish!

I care if kids live in a world

that they're gonna be
killed for being Black!

I care if kids
are gonna be killed

if we're living in a world
if they're immigrants!

(Mourner speaking)

Protester:
Trump is not respected.

I care. I care because it's
the future of my daughters.

We're grieving.

(singing in Hebrew)

-(singing continues)
-(drum playing)

I'm not a very political person.

I think that as the President
of the United States,

it certainly was within his
right to come and visit

and try to show that
he's here supporting us.

I think that there are a lot
of people that don't like Trump.

I had no problem
with him coming here.

(singing continues)

If the president,
whoever it is,

wants to come, the president
should be welcomed.

But President Trump

gets support from
the white nationalists.

The protesters were right

to express their opinions,

and President Trump
should have paid attention

to what they were saying.

(singing in Hebrew)

This was distributed
throughout our communities.

This is an actual bag
with birdseed

and a flier
from the Ku Klux Klan.

It's a delivery system.

You can distribute them
from a car.

After the Tree of Life
massacre,

probably about
30 or 40 of these

were thrown about
in the Squirrel Hill area,

referring to Jews as Satan.

These groups are emboldened,

they're empowered,
and they're vocal.

And they feel they can be now.

Director:
Why?

♪ ♪

I'm gonna stop you there.
I'm a really apolitical guy.

We both know the answer. Okay?

We all know what the answer is,
and I'm not gonna answer it.

(fading out)
Okay, I'm not gonna
answer that question.

♪ ♪

(traffic noise)

Reporter:
The Squirrel Hill community

filled the Temple Sinai
Synagogue,

hugging each other tightly
with tears in their eyes,

promising to stand strong
against gun violence.

Carolyn Ban:
We will never forget
those we lost...

as we work to keep others safe

and spare other families

such terrible losses.

Reporter:
Following the attack on
the Tree of Life Synagogue,

the community formed

Squirrel Hill
Stands Against Gun Violence,

working with community leaders
and survivors

to find solutions.

We have to be here
to be able to support

and encourage
our local leaders

as they pass legislation

that our federal and state
government is too broken

and too inept to
take care of for us.

(applause)

Brad Orsini:
If we didn't change
gun regulation

and gun laws

after Sandy Hook,
I don't know that we ever will.

I hope and pray there's a day
where we do do that.

I'm a marine.
I'm an FBI agent.

I've carried a gun
my entire professional career.

I think too many people
have guns

that should not have guns
and that are not qualified...

and fit and sound
to carry that weapon.

Speaker: (fading in)
...the right of the people,
to keep and bear arms,

shall not be infringed.

(crowd cheering)

Inalienable rights!

(indistinct chanting)

Crowd:
USA! USA! USA!

Don't... Don't...

Speaker:
I traveled here from Beaver
County for one reason.

If we let this shit
happen here,

before you know it,
it'll be in everybody's backyard

across our nation!

(crowd cheering, fading out)

Gun Shop Owner:
They were talking about
tearing the building down,

and it was boarded up
for a while,

and we got it pretty cheap,
but it was in rough shape.

I've honestly have not
had one person,

and I've had hundreds of people,

you know,
Jewish religion, come in,

and I have not had

one person come in
and have a problem with it.

Anyone I've talked to,
they were happy

that we saved the building.

Director:
Did you hear about
the Tree of Life shooting?

It's a shame.
It truly is a shame.

I, I have no...

I don't think I have
a racist bone in my body,

to be honest with you,
in any way.

Just the way I tick,
I don't know,

I can't understand people
that have that hate.

I just-- I can't, you know.

I'm at a point now,
I'm 62, that,

you know, I--

I'd have trouble hunting,
I think.

I haven't hunted
for a few years,

and just, you know,
killing an animal now.

Believe me,
I would quit selling guns

if I thought it would
make a difference.

And I mean--
just what really upsets me

is as soon as there's
a shooting, okay,

you have the agenda people up,

and they, you know,
they wanna ban assault rifles.

And banning assault rifles
isn't gonna do anything.

Better background checks,
I'm all for that,

but even that is a Band-Aid.

Common sense just tells you

that it's, you know...

these people
aren't gonna give up their--

especially the criminals.

They're not gonna
give up their guns.

If anything, I would think,

you know,
to arm more people.

(quiet chatter fading in)

(indistinct)

Host:
Thank you all for coming

because this is
really important.

And we as a congregation,
or anywhere,

can spend an infinite
amount of money on security

and have the best security
in the world,

but your power
is in your knowledge

and your ability
to respond in a situation,

which is what Brad
is here to show us.

-Good evening, everybody.
-(applause)

We're gonna talk about
some things today

that are hard to hear.

We're gonna talk about death.

We're gonna talk about violence.

We're here talking about it
in a synagogue,

in our house of worship,

because we've had and suffered
the worst massacre

in our nation's history

to the Jewish population, right?

Since the year 2000,

active shooters,
that active threat,

has increased every single year.

I am gonna talk about
a commitment to action.

We have to learn how to survive

for three to five minutes.

And that three to five minutes
is that time frame

when we call police till
first responders typically come.

Steve is a member
of Tree of Life.

Steve was there that morning

on October 27th.

And thank God Steve is
standing with us here today.

With that, Steve?

Stephen:
Thank you.

Good evening.

I'd like to just tell you
a little bit about

what happened on Saturday
morning, October 27th.

As the rabbi
finished the kadesh,

I started walking
into the doorway

to go out into the lobby,

and there were a series
of four or five shots

that occurred in succession.
And while I'm standing there,

I can watch the brass bounce
across the floor in front of me.

And I remembered
training that I had

in September of 2017 with Brad

where he came into
our religious school.

I'm doing pretty well.
I mean, I've had a chance

to talk with
my students in school,

with a social worker in school,
with a lot of different people,

and that's really helped me

work through a lot
of this in my mind.

I ran up the side of the chapel,

across the bimah,

and out a door that's on
that side of the bimah.

As I was going out
of the door,

shots were starting to happen
in the chapel itself.

I look back on it and, to me,

God has a reason
why I'm still here.

I went down a back stairway.

I wanted to alert
the New Light Congregation

that was downstairs, getting
ready to start their services.

And I've kind of taken
on a mission

to really try to promote
ALICE training

kind of as my personal
take-out of this whole thing

because I really credit that
training with saving my life.

I came back up the steps,
went out the main sanctuary,

and out a side door
on to Shady Avenue.

And about 30 seconds later,
the first patrol car pulled up.

And so, it's up to each one
of us to learn this

because it can save your life.

-Brad: Thank you, Steve.
-Stephen: It's devastating.

You just start thinking
about each one of them

and how you knew each one and
how long you've known each one.

Rose Mallinger,
I taught her grandchildren

their bar and bat mitzvahs.

Sylvan and Bernice Simon.
Bernice knew my mom.

You know, just
the little things like that.

But you can't help,
you know,

you have to think about them.

All of us have
such different memories

and associations with them,

but I think that their memories

really are what we would call
a blessing for all of us,

and that part of them
continues to live on within us.

-(quiet chatter)
-(phone ringing)

Reporter 1:
I was wondering if you formed
any relationship from people

in other cities

who have also gone
through mass shootings

-or other similar events.
-Parkland has been here

and the church in Charleston,
they were here.

And those were
really helpful times

that we spent because...

they were,
especially Charleston.

It's been five years?

So, they had some
time to, um, to heal

and their knowledge
is very helpful.

There's a few people
from Parkland that I...

It's crazy. When there's
a shooting, we text each other

because you only
can relate to...

You can relate to each other.
You just know that...

You know what
each other is feeling.

Reporter 2:
Michele, this question
is for you. We read a lot

about your brothers
that many of us never knew.

If you had the chance
to write about your brothers,

and how would you put it
into your words?

♪ ♪

(singing in Hebrew fades in)

(singing continues)

Michele Rosenthal:
I don't know two people
who were happier

living the life that they had.

(singing continues)

They would carry the Torah,

and it meant a lot to them.

It's an honor
to do something like that,

but for them,
it was a true honor.

And they were so proud
of themselves

when they were able to do it.

And then the rabbi
had reached out to me

and asked me if I would
carry Torah on Yom Kippur,

which was an absolute yes,

because it was to honor Cecil.

But, I have to say, that day...

I thought I was ready,
and I wasn't ready.

And it was probably
one of the hardest things

because I heard stories
from people

where kids from the congregation

who had gone
with their parents were like,

"That was Cecil's.
That was Cecil's job."

So, it was just really hard
and I just,

I reached out to Cecil
in my mind and just said,

"Please get me through this."

♪ ♪

Diane Rosenthal:
They learned this through
all the years,

going to synagogue with Michele

and my grandmother
and my parents,

how to daven and how to--

what the order of
the service was.

So, they knew it by heart

because they were
there every weekend.

So it was just an integral
part of their life.

♪ ♪

Eliezer Rosenthal:
They would come home
on the Sabbath

or holidays and say,

"I opened the ark,"
or "I carried the Torah."

And I was real proud
of doing that.

And you could notice
that in the smiles

as he walked around
with the Torah,

with the smile on his face.

-I mean, it's an honor.
-He came home and said,
"Mom and Dad,

are you proud of me?"

And we were very proud,
and we told him.

Joy Rosenthal:
We did not learn

about their learning disability.

They developed physically good,

until it was time for education,

like kindergarten
and first grade.

They had no more
learning ability

of that of maybe
a 5-, 6-year-old.

But, I raised them

like normal children.

They were, they were--

I think they were given to us

because God felt we could do it.

And I hope we did.

(emotional inhale)

And I think there was a time
that God felt...

that it was time for him
to take the boys back,

knowing if we had passed
before the boys,

how would they have handled it.

And we tried to explain
to the boys

if something happens to us,
what happens?

♪ ♪

And Cecil's remark was that,

"Father, I don't
want you to die."

Well, that sort of
cracked me up,

and I dropped the subject.

I was protective of them.

I didn't want them
to get hurt by people

because I think I saw what--
how society could treat people.

And I think what we found out
after this horrific tragedy

is they actually did
a pretty good job

of taking care of themselves.

So the protection that we might
have tried to give them...

-They were okay.
-(soft laugh)

Diane:
They knew more people
than my sister and I combined.

People came out of the woodwork
that knew them. Shop owners,

-waitresses, bus drivers.
-Michele: Bus drivers.

-The fire--
-Firemen, policemen.

And they knew them by name.

The people that
loved David and Cecil...

I guess we probably
took it for granted,

and it means so much to us.

I have people all the time
that come up and share stories,

and I will not get
tired of them.

-(birds chirping)
-(car starts)

(car drives away)

-(rattling)
-(laughs)

(store chatter)

I love this.

Florist: Okay.
Then, I'll take it out? Okay.

And then there's some water
in the bottom,

-so just keep it upright.
Okay! Thanks!
-Customer: Awesome.

Ronna:
Cecil was here
pretty much every day.

He would open up
the front door and say,

"Good afternoon,
beautiful ladies."

Katy:
He'd always stick his head
against the window first though.

You knew he was coming in
'cause he was coming

-and looking in the glass,
and I would go, "Mom!

-Cecil's coming here!"
And then he'd open the door.
-Katy: Yeah.

And then he would say,
"What are you doing? Trouble?"

-(laughter)
-He would do that.

So did Cecil have
an account here?

-Yeah. Yeah, he did.
-That never got filled?

It's okay. It doesn't matter.
We used to call him the owner.

We used to say,
Cecil the owner.

David, too, would come in here.
Not near as much as Cecil

because he was always
at the fire station

-because that's what he loved.
-Yeah.

Michele:
It's nice to know
that I was obviously

so protective of Cecil and David

because they had special needs,

but they had a whole
other family out there

-that took care of them
that none of us realized.
-Katy: Yeah.

Ronna:
I loved him.
It's really weird...

-that he's not here. Yeah.
-Sorry.

-I try not to get...
-Michele: No, you should cry.
It's good to cry.

Yeah. It just feels so much
better to finally, like...

-(sighs) get it off my chest.
Yeah, a little bit, too. Yeah.
-Ronna: Exhale?

This actually is
what gets us through.

I mean,
I was just with my parents,

and it's the beautiful memories

-that keep us going.
-Katy: Right.

-Ronna: Definitely.
-Katy: That's why
I think that...

What do they say in Judaism?

"May his memory be a blessing,"
because that's what it is.

(birds chirping)

♪ ♪

(stones clicking)

(chirping continues)

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

These gardens were created

for my mother, in her memory,

and my sister-in-law
initiated it.

And a lot of people
sent rose bushes.

Neighbors and family.

And the yellow ones are...

yellow, light-colored ones,
are peace roses.

They were sent by cousins.
Aren't the yellow ones

-peace roses? Yeah.
-Mm-hmm.

This one is mine.

This one I made.
I'm not an artist,

but it's the words.

Everybody loved her,
and if...

if love alone
could have spared her,

she would have lived forever.

♪ ♪

(wind blowing)

(leaves rustling)

(group praying in Hebrew)

(prayer continues)

Anthony:
The Chabad Pittsburgh

did something in the days
following the tragedy,

which was to ask people
within the congregation

and beyond to do 100 mitzvahs,

good deeds, for every victim.

(quiet chatter, laugh)

Say hi? Ozzy says he
would've given his dvar Torah
had he known.

He would've given
an 11-minute dvar Torah.

Anthony:
When you think about

what can come of this
this sort of situation,

you need to think
about the values

for which the victims stood.

The lives that they lived.

So their lives are
about the positive part,

and how we can change
other people's lives

in a positive manner
because that, in particular,

is what our mother
would've wanted as a legacy,

and what we're going to do
in a positive light about that.

Each one of you gets one.

You can have yours.

Okay? And any one
of the mitzvahs...

Let's say you commit
to giving refugee help,

which is supposed to be
the irony in all this,

because that's why,
that was...

-Daughter: We did refugee.
-Well, there you go.

Friend:
And what's this for? Why are
we doing it, Anthony? For who?

For whose memory?

Son:
Everyone that died.

Anthony:
Right, exactly. So, how many
people died that day?

-Eleven.
-There you go.

Friend:
And then one of them
was Anthony's mom.

So, we're doing it
for her, okay?

We're doing it
in memory of her.

♪ ♪

(bird cawing)

Carol:
Since the shooting, I feel

a lot more
connected to Judaism,

certainly to my shul family.

And I've gotten very involved,
and, um,

I think if my brother
is watching at all,

he'd be happy to see

that that's what I'm doing.

♪ ♪

The shooter,
I don't even like to--

I don't speak his name.
I never speak his name.

I don't like to humanize him.

He took the lives of people,

and for what?
What did it accomplish?

It accomplished nothing.

And whatever chance
he had at a life,

he just threw it away.

Because he will never see
the light of day again.

If they could just keep him
in solitary confinement,

and he can spend the rest
of his miserable life

thinking about what he did
and why he is where he is,

that, to me, is justice

because I actually think
executing him is too easy,

and I don't want him
to have it easy.

Anthony:
I always thought I was
against the death penalty.

What sum of money
can give financial reparation?

There isn't. In fact,

we would give
all the money in the world

to have another day. So...

Not easy to do that. Therefore,

I am part of,
along with my brother

and a couple of others
in the group,

are supporters of the death
penalty in this particular case.

Will that change anything?
Absolutely not, except...

to potentially send a message

to those who believe
that perpetrating crimes

of this sort, of mass murder

is a way of achieving something

that it doesn't achieve.

♪ ♪

I hope that one day
I will have the opportunity

to speak with him.

Um...

I would like to ask him
why he did this.

I would like to have
the opportunity

to have a glimmer of influence

that if he is inclined
to indoctrinate other inmates

to leave the prison
and go out

and do similar things
that he should not do so.

I don't believe
in the death penalty.

I think that we don't
have any right

to take another person's life.

(breeze blowing)

Audrey:
I don't even view the shooter

as a person,

as a person at all,

let alone one worthy to forgive.

I look forward to maybe
getting to that point

because one of the things
that I've learned

from all of this is

how many different religions
there are in the world

that teach all the same thing.

Love and peace.

You have to reach out
to your fellow man.

You have to be gracious.
You have to be generous.

You have to share.
You have to...

cause peace to happen.

It's an active thing
that we have to do.

♪ ♪

(protester screaming
indistinctly)

The Torah,
the five books of Moses,

is referred to as
The Tree of Life

because these are the laws
that we've been given.

This is the code of how to live.

If you take the gift
that we were given

of this knowledge
of how to treat the world,

treat the others,
treat all of life...

(indistinct yelling)

...you tend the earth,
you share your crops, you--

All of these rules, you know?

If your--
if your neighbor's bull

falls into your pit
or whatever,

you owe your neighbor.
All these rules,

have-- they set forth
a pattern of life.

(protesters shouting)

♪ ♪

(shofar blowing)

Reporter:
WHYY's Peter Crimmins reports

that
the Philadelphia Orchestra

has had a composer in residence

for the last two years
writing a new piece.

Peter Crimmins:
It starts with a shofar.

(shofar blowing)

This is Audrey Glickman,
the shofar player.

Audrey:
That's what a shofar does.
We call people to action.

-She's a member of
the Tree of Life Synagogue.
-(shofar continues)

That was the site of a mass
shooting last October.

And she was asked
to come to Philadelphia

and play the shofar
with the orchestra.

The piece is called
"Healing Tones,"

a new work
by Hannibal Lokumbe.

Hannibal Lokumbe:
As a human being,

I found it unfortunate
to have to write it.

(muffled trumpet)

This once was a service station.
This was the office,

and when I was 5 years old,

I came inside the office here

and asked if I could
use the bathroom.

And the response was,

"Niggers can't use
this bathroom."

That stayed in my heart.

And I said one day,

I'm gonna buy this place,

and the first thing I'm gonna do

is to tear out the bathroom

I was denied usage of.

And this is the door

to the men's bathroom,
which was right here.

And so I wrote
"Healing Tones" here.

I write all of my music
on this piano.

(playing piano)

I pretty much completed
the composition

when I heard of
the horrible event in Pittsburgh

at the Tree of Life Synagogue.

And I said to the staff,

"We must make
a commentary on this.

"If we could, in fact,

get one of the shofar,
the instrument..."

So, they called,

and I was in the office,

and all of a sudden,
Jeremy broke in, he said,

"Hannibal! Guess what?

"The shofar player
is gonna come!

Has agreed to come and play!"

(church bell tolls)

Oh, okay.

(violin warming up)

-(instruments warming up)
-(quiet chatter)

Yeah, always.

(echoing thud)

(orchestra warming up)

(applause)

(applause fades out)

(playing shofar)

(orchestra quietly playing)

(operatic singing)

(orchestra playing)

(choir singing)

(choir, orchestra continue)

(fading out)

(Audience Member 1 speaking)

-I want to give you a hug.
Thank you.
-Okay.

Thank you, thank you!

-It was really great.
-It was tremendous.

-We could all feel it.
-Yeah, yeah.

And there was a guy
about three feet away

sitting on the bench,
and he said, "You were...

one of them?" And I said yes.

-Audience Member 2:
It was nice meeting you.

-Joe Charny: Yes, okay. Yes.
-And you made it much
more memorable, too.

Well, thank you. Thank you.
I'm glad you liked it.

Audience Member 2:
Thanks.

(loud bang, rumbling)

(cars honking)

-(Joe speaking)
-Yes.

(Audrey speaking)

Joe: Of course
I'm changed by this.

Who wouldn't be?

The vision of the man
with the gun facing me

is not as prominent as
it was the first week or two.

But, every once in a while,

he shows up.

I'll read you something.

This is from one of
my favorite guys.

"To love God truly,

"one must first love
all humanity.

"If anyone tells you
that they love God

"and do not love others,

"you will know
that they are lying.

"What you must do is love
your neighbor as yourself.

"There is no one who knows your
many faults better than you do,

"but you love yourself anyway.

♪ ♪

"So must you love
your neighbors,

no matter how many faults
you see in them."

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ Hold my hand,
I won't let go ♪

♪ This sacred house
now echoes ♪

♪ But it's still our home ♪

♪ The light and dark,
the glass and slate ♪

♪ With every sun that rises ♪

♪ The shadows fade ♪

♪ Search deep inside
you'll find ♪

♪ That hope remains ♪

♪ There's peace
that lies beyond ♪

♪ The pain ♪

♪ Place a stone ♪

♪ Beside their names ♪

♪ No soul forgotten ♪

♪ The tears we cry ♪

♪ All sting the same ♪

♪ We all are human ♪

♪ No matter your prayer ♪

♪ There's light
for us to share ♪

♪ I'll hold you tight ♪

♪ Beneath a tree of life ♪

♪ Rest your head ♪

♪ Upon my shoulder ♪

♪ The leaves,
they give us shelter ♪

♪ We grow strong together ♪

♪ The earth might shake,
the winds may blow ♪

♪ But these deep roots will ♪

♪ Keep us standing tall ♪

♪ So just hold on ♪

♪ We'll walk back
through those doors ♪

♪ And we'll begin ♪

♪ To fill our home with joy ♪

♪ Again ♪

♪ So raise a candle ♪

♪ In their names ♪

♪ 'Cause we're not broken ♪

♪ Heavy hearts
all beat the same ♪

♪ We all are human ♪

♪ No matter your prayer ♪

♪ There's light
for us to share ♪

♪ I'll hold you tight ♪

♪ Beneath a tree of life... ♪

♪ Whoa... ♪

♪ Whoa... ♪

♪ Whoa... ♪

(holds note)

(song fades out)