MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Jewish leaders across South Florida on Sunday preached peace and kindness a day after a gunman killed 11 people at a synagogue in Pittsburgh.
"When something happens to one individual in the Jewish community, it affects the whole Jewish community," Rabbi Marc Philippe told worshippers at Temple Emanu-El in Miami Beach.
He urged them to always practice kindness and to remember those lost in Pittsburgh.
In Plantation, a support group gathered Sunday morning at the Ramat Shalom synagogue.
"What I heard from so many people is that they just needed to be with others," Rabbi Andrew Jacobs said.
Jacobs said he felt the need to discuss Saturday's shooting. About two dozen people attended the special service, where the rabbi passed along a message of strength and unwavering faith in troubling times.
"The best thing we can do, no matter what age we are, is to go about living our lives proudly as Jews, and the essence of that is connecting to community," Jacobs said. "When you have the ability to come together with others and you realize you're not alone, the fear dissipates and the love for community comes together. That gives us the strength to move forward."
Rabbi Jonathan Berkun, of Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center, wrote a blog post about his connection to the Pittsburgh synagogue that was attacked.
"For the last 35 years, my father Rabbi Alvin K Berkun has attended every Shabbat morning service at the Tree Of Life -- Or L'Simcha Congregation in Pittsburgh. For 23 years, he was the congregation's rabbi," Berkun wrote. "Tree of Life was my second home, the community in which I grew up and became a Bar Mitzvah."
Berkun said he had recently hosted two of the victims at his Aventura synagogue.
"Hatred and racism is alive and well in this country. The question is, what are we going to do about it?" Berkun said.
He urged people to be more politically active to combat hateful rhetoric, and he encouraged Jewish people to attend services to show they cannot be intimidated.
"If you are Jewish, come to shul. Show the haters that they will never win," he said.