Letter from a member of the Point Loma Community Presbyterian Church in San Diego, California. The letter reads: "To all of you at Tree of Life Synagogue, Deepest prayers and love reach out to each of you. May God's light and love bring you healing and strength. We are all one in our bonds of faith and goodness and HOPE! You are loved. Wendy [last name redacted]."
In the days after the October 27 attack, people began leaving objects at two locations outside the Tree of Life synagogue--one at the corner of Wilkins and Shady avenues in front of the Zittrain Gardens, and the other on a private lawn at Wilkins and Murray avenues, just beyond police barricades. Community volunteers moved the entirety of these two memorials inside the Tree of Life building on November 14, 2018, for preservation purposes. Most of these objects including this one were moved to archival preservation over the following year, but a small number were arranged in public display in the windows of the Hailperin Sanctuary lobby. Rauh Jewish Archives staff and volunteers dismantled this display on February 16, 2023, and the objects were brought to the archive for preservation. Point Loma Community Presbyterian Church is an intergenerational church located in San Diego, California. Reverend Karla Shaw, who had lived in Pittsburgh in the early 2000s, had planned to spend a week in Pittsburgh in November 2018. After Rev. Shaw heard the news about the October 27 attack, she and her community organized a letter writing campaign and created a prayer quilt. Rev. Shaw brought these letters and quilt with her to Pittsburgh, which she left at the Wilkins memorial.
Terms of Use
The October 27 Archive collects responses to an antisemitic attack in Pittsburgh, Pa. on October 27, 2018. These responses take many forms but share a motivating impulse. Each began in the mind and heart of someone who was moved by the events of that day and was compelled to create something meaningful from that feeling. By sharing these responses, those people chose to be vulnerable for the sake of a greater good. The October 27 Archive website was launched with the belief that sharing these responses with the world can provide an avenue for people all over the world to reflect, learn, and heal.
By entering this website, you agree to honor the spirit in which these responses were created and in which they are being shared with the world.
The materials on this website are being made available exclusively for research purposes. For permission to use any of the materials on this website for any other purpose, please contact the archive. If you are the creator of any of the material on this website, and you would like to provide context or request to have something removed, please contact the archive. If you intend to reference any material found on this website, please attribute all citations to the Rauh Jewish Archives, so that other researchers can easily locate these materials in the future.