B"H [acronym for Hebrew Baruch Hashem (blessed is G-d) or B'ezrat Hashem (with the help of G-d)].

Our hearts are shattered by the heinous and horrific attack on our brothers and sisters in Pittsburgh. We mourn the 11 holy souls who were so cruelly torn from our midst, and pray to G-d to provide strength and comfort to their shocked and grieving families. Their unfathomable pain is shared by the entire Jewish people and all people worldwide.

We further pray for the complete and speedy healing of the injured, of the survivors and of the entire Pittsburgh community.

No words can possibly describe this pure evil. Jews who gathered to pray and celebrate Shabbat [the Jewish sabbath] were killed for no reason other than the fact that they were Jewish. Again: While praying! On Shabbat! The killer's bullets were aimed at us all. "All Jews must die," he yelled while opening fire.

What is the remedy to such senseless hatred?! What can we possibly do to eradicate it??

The Lubavitcher Rebbe [influential 20th century Orthodox Jewish Rabbi] of righteous memory answered this a number of times, with clarity and conviction:

Wanton love.

[Scroll down for further.]

Cold-blooded, fanatical, baseless, relentless hatred can be uprooted from its core only by saturating our world with pure, undiscriminating, uninhibited, unyielding love and acts of kindness.

Today more than ever, we need to spread love and unity; positivity and light...

...Even as we grieve and mourn, we must increase exponentially our acts of goodness and kindness.

Some of the injured were law enforcement heroes who willingly chose to put their own lives in danger to help others. We stand in awe of their courage and dedication. And we are grateful to live in a country that protects our right to live openly and proudly as Jews. We value immensely the friendship and outpouring of support from so many of our fellow Americans...

Let us beseech G-d to send healing and comfort to the grieving families and pray that He quickly eradicate all evil and hatred...

Let us pray fervently for the complete and speedy recovery of the injured...

With deep pain, endless love and fierce determination,

s/ Rabbi Abba Perelmuter
Shul by the Shore

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