A call to end hate rings out at vigil inside Manhattan's Central Synagogue

The hatred behind the attack on a Pittsburgh synagogue that left 11 Jewish worshippers dead Saturday will not be tolerated in New York State, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo told a crowd packed into the cavernous Central Synagogue in Manhattan Tuesday night for an interfaith service.

Cuomo said intolerance has spiked and spread across the United States in recent years but multi-cultural New York and its embrace of diversity can provide a beacon through that ugly darkness.

“I feel we are standing on a field of dry grass with smoldering embers surrounding us and a strong wind that is shifting directions,” Cuomo told the hundreds of people, Jewish and non-Jewish, in attendance. “We must stamp out the embers before the become flames and we must reduce the winds of hate that threaten the fields of peace.” 

The service took place hours after funerals were held in Pittsburgh for victims of the mass shooting in the city's Squirrel Hill neighborhood.

Those wanting to get into the Central Synagogue on Tuesday waited outside on a crisp autumn night in a line that started in front of the synagogue on East 55th Street and continued west to just before Park Avenue and just a few blocks from Trump Tower.

Rabbi Angela Buchdahl of Central Synagogue said the anti-Semitism that sparked Saturday’s killings is intertwined with the intolerance against immigrants and hatred that led to the deaths of two African-Americans in Kentucky over the weekend.

“How do we make sure love wins?” she asked those in attendance.

Mel Fishman, a Manhattan resident and member of the congregation, said that getting rid of the type of hate toward Jews that authorities said spurred the gunman to attack is critical.  .

“I’m here partly because I’m Jewish," Fishman said, "and partly because it is important for the world to show this kind of anti-Semitism doesn’t belong in a civilized society.”
Another member of the synagogue, Elizabeth Wickes, of Manhattan blamed the heated political rhetoric of the times for Saturday's massacre.

“What happened in Pittsburgh was a violation of humanity’s right to be spiritually connected to their God,” Wickes said, adding that President Donald Trump "has a responsibility to each and every person who is a member of the United States. The Constitution guarantees us the freedom to worship in any way we choose. If he could find the love he has for his children maybe he could find love for others.”