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Point Loma Community Presbyterian Church (San Diego, Ca.) letter (058)
Letter from a member of the Point Loma Community Presbyterian Church in San Diego, California. The letter is dated 11/4/2018 and reads: "To my brothers and sisters at the Tree of Life Synagogue: When I was young in Denver, Colorado our Congregation Church (First Plymouth) and the Temple Micah shared our building. The Rabbi was wonderful and we combined our youth groups and spent weekends and retreats together. It was highlight of my life to learn how common our shared heritage and beliefs were across what had been presented to me as "separateness." So untrue!! It is unimaginable to me, the horror that has been visited upon you by a hateful person. We don't [know] how to share your pain but be assured that I will do everything in my power to confront hatred, bigotry and most of all violence in our country and our world. You are an inspiration by meeting this tragedy with sadness and a terrible sense of loss but also with hope and stoicism. Know that I will not forget, and will stand with you in soul and spirit. Yours in our common humanity! and shared pain; Shalom, Franklin [last name redacted]."
Historical Notes
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.
Use and Reproduction
Donor Information
Donor
Tree of Life Congregation, New Light Congregation, Congregation Dor Hadash, Tree of Life Inc., The 10.27 Healing Partnership
