Hate… Plans shattered. Dreams shattered. Lives shattered.

Kristallnacht: Germany’s shattering. November 9th and 10th. The virus of antisemitism. Awakened, virulent, violent.

Tree of Life Synagogue: Pittsburgh’s shattering. America’s shattering. October 27th. An ancient hatred has come alive. Here to kill.

The gun shots that killed my namesake, her husband and her five children. September 8, 1942 in Riga. And the gun shots that killed eleven individuals in Pittsburgh were spawned from the same hate of white supremacy.

Healing… Jewish mystics teach that the world was born through shattering. God’s light was directed into vessels which they could not contain. The vessels shattered. Broken pieces holding God’s light cast across the earth.

Each act of compassion, each act of justice, each educational lesson affirming humanity, brings healing, uncovering the light.

Shots of hurt and hate. Shattering and suffering. Healing, education and light.

The story of the past. The story of the present. The story of today.

Image by Jilbert Ebrahimi.