Last week, P’nai Or hosted a screening of "A Tree of Life: The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting" at Eastside Jewish Commons. This HBO documentary recounts the story of the October 2018 shooting at the Tree of Life Congregation, which also served as the home for Dor Hadash and the New Light Congregation. All three congregations lost members that day. The film is many things, but it primarily tells the story of the people most directly impacted by the attack. These include those who survived, some who saved themselves, those who did not survive, and the people they left behind. The film is also a testament to training – the Pittsburgh community security director provided the Tree of Life congregation with active threat training three weeks prior to the attack and conducted a security walkthrough. Those actions directly contributed to congregants getting themselves out of the building.

The movie also addresses the bias that fueled the attack and the politically divisive environment during those years (which continues). Despite that, it ends on a hopeful, healing note. Literally and figuratively, the documentary closes with a song, “Healing Tones,” a composition performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra and featuring Tree of Life survivor Audrey Glickman on the shofar. A clarion call to action that could be borne out of that shooting.

Secure Community Network has partnered with HBO to encourage community viewing of this film as a catalyst for training and security awareness. A typical event includes a viewing followed by a panel discussion and active threat training. If your organization or community group would like to host this type of event, please let me know. For the P’nai Or event, our speaker was a member of the Eugene community with ties to Pittsburgh. They were in Pittsburgh at the time and affiliated with one of the affected congregations. They spoke eloquently about the aftermath of the event, its impact, and how they live with bias in their own community.

Recent news events demonstrate the pervasive need for education. The late August shooting at Annunciation Catholic school in Minnesota and the October attack at the Church of Latter-day Saints in Michigan highlight how at-risk many communities are. As my time permits, I have consistently supported other communities and non-profits through training and security consultations. The Jewish community is fortunate to have developed a security program that is unavailable within most other groups, and I have always believed in the importance of lifting all boats.

To enhance security awareness in other communities, I will be hosting an interfaith training in early January. This will touch on awareness within houses of worship and active threat response. If you have contacts in other faith-based communities, please let me know. I would love to include them on the invite list. I can always be reached at 872-273-9214 or janderson@securecommunitynetwork.org.