THE Hindu and Jewish communities have came together on Monday (24) at the Hindu-Jain Temple in Monroeville to mark the fifth anniversary of the shooting at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, US, a statement said.
The horrific incident in October 2018 resulted in the loss of eleven lives, including several Holocaust survivors, with six others wounded.
The temple’s founder and spiritual leader HH Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji, president of Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh, Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswatiji, president of Divine Shakti Foundation, Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, Rabbi of Tree of Life, Julie Paris, regional director of Stand With Us and leaders of the Jewish community in Pittsburgh have participated in the event.
A joint lighting of the lamp was held as part of the event which concluded with ceremonial breaking of the traditional challah bread. Following the speeches, participants went outside together and planted a tree in the garden of the Hindu Jain temple, the statement added.
In his remarks, Swami Chidanand Saraswati emphasised how Hinduism is rooted and anchored in oneness and unity.
He also shared the extraordinary tragedy of how survivors of the Holocaust lost their lives to hatred in the US.
“They survived Hitler but were gunned down in America,” he said. Swamiji concluded by emphasising that we must take care of our culture, our nature and our future.
Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswatiji, originally from a Jewish family in Hollywood, California, said, “These two traditions coexist within me, enriching my understanding, deepening my experience, and drawing me closer to my own Self and to the Divine..
“Our religions give us the courage to own our NO as much as our YES. Today we come together to say NO to violence, to discrimination, to polarization and to hatred.”
Rabbi Myers shared how, after the tragic shooting, so many Hindu and Jain members of the temple came to the Tree of Life Synagogue’s weekly Shabbat services, to show solidarity.
He said that before the Hindu Jain temple was built, the Hindu community would have their annual Diwali dinner at the Tree of Life Synagogue.
“The union between the two communities is more than 50 years old,” he said.
