In the wake of the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre in which 11 innocents lost their lives, there have been many gestures of solidarity. A new Pittsburgh Penguins shirt sports a Jewish star. The Pittsburgh Steelers logo changed its background color to black to reflect the darkness of a city gone into mourning. A meme accompanying the logo says “Stronger than Hate.”
But perhaps none of these gestures were as evocative as the front page headlines of the Friday Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, quoting the Kaddish, the Jewish mourning prayer, in bold, black letters in the ancient Aramaic: “Yitgadel v’Yitkadesh, Shmei Rabah . . .”
“Magnified and sanctified be Your name.”
This was a beautiful gesture in support of the Jewish community and against antisemitism. Not to mention, a lot more meaningful than repeating ad nauseum the phrase “Never Again.”