Sharing Shabbat
By Brother Stavros The morning of the last Saturday in October, 2018, Robert Bowers barged into the Tree of Life synagogue in the Squirrel Hill Neighborhood of Pittsburgh and with an AR15-style assault rifle proceeded to commit the deadliest attack on Jews in the history of the United States. I heard from a few different friends that there was a nation-wide call for people to support their Jewish friends and neighbors by sharing the shabbat service the following Saturday. Over the years I have represented New Skete in various ecumenical and interfaith events within our area. I grew up in the northwest part if Washington, DC, with a Jewish school and three different synagogues within walking distance from my home. Our next-door neighbors let me light the shabbat candles now and then, and my mother sometimes sent me to the delicatessen when she needed something on a Sunday when “Blue Laws” shuttered the neighborhood markets. So I was well disposed to make an effort to find a s...