In the aftermath of a mass shooting that left 11 dead at a Pittsburgh seminary, father-son rabbis Avremi and Benny Zippel both characterized their reaction as “speechless.”
But as mourners gathered at Chabad Square in Salt Lake City, Avremi Zippel found words of assurance: “Am Yisrael Chai” — “the people of Israel live.”
“This is how we respond to such a tragedy,” he told members of the Salt Lake Valley’s Jewish community and faith and government leaders who lit candles and held a vigil for the victims of the shooting Saturday at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, where members were celebrating a new baby in the congregation.