Tree of Life victims remembered as Squirrel Hill community moves forward

Former Pittsburgh Police Commander Jason Lando did not want to believe what he was hearing during a shift seven years ago.

Lando remembers double-checking the call that came in Oct. 27, 2018, reporting a shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in the city’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood.

“My first reaction is that it must be a false call,” said Lando, who spoke Monday at the seventh commemoration ceremony at the Jewish Family and Community Service Center.

“It must be a hoax. I even remember asking the dispatcher how many calls they received on this thinking that it was just one person playing a cruel joke. I’ll never forget the response. The dispatcher replied, ‘The 911 center was flooded with calls for the Tree of Life.’”

Lando, who grew up in the neighborhood and went to Hebrew school at Tree of Life, relied on his training and experience to push through personal concerns and function as incident commander that day.

Among his personal concerns were about his grandfather, Morris “Moe” Lebow, a longtime worshiper who never missed a service until that day.

Lebow’s friend and frequent driver to the Tree of Life, Joyce Fienberg, was one of the 11 people killed in the worst antisemitic attack in U.S. history.

“Eleven beautiful souls were taken from us that morning,” Lando said. “Eleven names that we say out loud not only to remember them, but to remind everyone that hate will never erase their presence in this world.”

The others who were killed are Richard Gottfried, Rose Mallinger, Cecil Rosenthal, David Rosenthal, Bernice Simon, Sylvan Simon, Daniel Stein, Melvin Wax and Irving Younger.

Lebow died in September 2022 at age 103.

Lando is now the police chief in Frederick, Md.,

Hope came from the response of community members, emergency responders and others coming together, he said.

“Those neighbors who opened their arms to all who were grieving,” Lando said.

Coming together was a major theme of the ceremony, which featured an uplifting musical performance by Pittsburgh’s CAPA High School students as well as a prayer from Rabbi Jeffrey Myers from Tree of Life.

The ceremony was led by 10.27 Healing Partnership director Maggie Feinstein.

“It’s all about being able to see one another, Feinstein said after the event. “Give hugs. Be together… To be a city and a neighborhood where we could care for one another in such a beautiful way.”

Friends and family members of the victims lit candles on the stage prior to the performances and prayers.

Debi Salvin, twin sister of Richard Gottfried, lit his candle with assistance from his widow, Peg Durachko and Feinstein.

“It’s a very lovely ceremony,” said Durachko. I think it’s wonderful that the 11 lost are still remembered in this way. They were murdered just for being Jewish and I think keeping their memory alive in hopes that this will never happen anywhere else again.”

Gottfried was a dentist who volunteered at Catholic Charities for years.

Giving back to the community and donating his time and talents were part of Gottfried’s character, his sister said.

It was one of multiple commemorative charitable events also organized by 10.27 Healing Partnership that took place the day before the ceremony.

Other activities included a blood drive, caretaking of local Jewish cemeteries and volunteering at a food pantry for kosher and immigrant neighbors.

Feinstein said the ceremony and the events help families know that they are not alone and helps with the healing process by telling stories and sharing experiences.

“We can’t erase the past,” she said. “We can only move forward with it. I think that every year we add layers of understanding and community on top of that. Hopefully, eventually people find healing in that. There’s a lot of really beautiful relationships that have come out of this.”

Most of the Tree of Life-Or L’Simcha building at the corner of Shady and Wilkins avenues was razed since the shooting, and a new house of worship with tributes to the deceased is moving forward, backed by a drive to raise $75 million.

The shooter, Robert Bowers of Baldwin, was convicted in 2023 and is on death row in a prison in Indiana.