A Message From Wise Clergy
Ruth Whitfield (88) went to the Tops Market in Buffalo, N.Y. to purchase her meals for the coming week. Aaron Salter (55), a retired police officer, worked as a security guard at the same store. Celestine Chaney (65) went to the market with her sister to buy strawberries for her family’s favorite strawberry shortcake.
These are three of the 11 victims murdered on Saturday as they went about their daily lives, engaging in activities that should have no more risk than sitting in one’s living room. However, the actions of a hate-filled racist snuffed out their lives, and—once again—our country is devastated by an act of senseless violence.
Let us call this what it is: an act of racism and terror. A gunman—inspired apparently by the “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory that is virulently racist and antisemitic—traveled from his mostly white, rural community and chose a predominantly Black neighborhood to indiscriminately slaughter his fellow Americans solely because of the color of their skin.
As Jews, we see in this horrific crime a replay of the massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue in PIttsburgh only four years ago, which itself was a replay of the shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., seven years ago.
Our response to this as a Jewish community and as Americans must be, first and foremost, profound compassion for the victims; and second, an even deeper resolve to root out and challenge those who promulgate such ideologies. At the same time, we must redouble our efforts to combat the proliferation of assault weapons and continue to campaign for sensible gun legislation.
May we never give up on our pursuit of justice. May the memories of the fallen be a blessing to their loved ones and may they rest in peace.