While living three years in Pittsburgh’s Oakland-Shadyside area decades ago, I sometimes drove or walked into Squirrel Hill. Once I went on a blind double date with a young Jewish woman who lived there. I don’t recall her name, but can’t help wondering now if any of her relatives belonged to the Tree of Life congregation. This is a time of shock, mourning, and dismay for me, along with countless others who deplore this horrific act and overflow with sorrow and sympathy for Tree of Life and the Jewish community of Pittsburgh.
As I wrote in my “Three Jewish Objections” article, “Anti-semitism was and is a real danger in our world that must be recognized, opposed, guarded against, and if discerned in ourselves (those of us who follow Jesus) confessed and repented. Jewish people are to be respected and, whenever opportunities may occur, defended and protected by Christians, whether they live in Israel, America, or anywhere in the world.”