A community-wide event will be held in response to the fatal shooting of Jewish worshipers in a Pittsburgh synagogue.
"Replanting the Tree of Life — Responding to Pittsburgh" is being held to remember the 11 people who were killed last Saturday during a mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue. The attack is considered the deadliest attack on a Jewish community in U.S. history.
Rabbi Michael Davis of Wichita calls the assault horrific and unspeakable.
“We knew we had to respond because Wichita is a community of diversity and yet unity and this is what we do, this is what Wichita does," Davis says. "We come together when one group is assaulted. We all come together and support.”
Davis says it's important to stand up against hate.
"The murders of six people worshiping at a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin in 2012; the murders of African-American worshipers in South Carolina in 2015; the record number of hate crimes against Muslims, Hispanics and LGBTQ people; and the murder of two African-Americans in Kentucky on Sunday, after the perpetrator attempted to assault a predominantly African-American church, all demonstrate that our land is not yet free from hatred and violence against individuals merely because of who they are," he says.
The event will be at Congregation Emmanu-EL at 7011 E. Central in Wichita on Thursday, Nov. 1, at 7 p.m. Chairs will be intentionally set up in a circle for the Wichita community to come together and reflect.
Carla Eckels is director of cultural diversity and the host of Soulsations. Follow her on Twitter @Eckels. To contact KMUW News or to send in a news tip, reach us at news@kmuw.org.
