GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – People of all faith are trying to band together to show support locally after a deadly shooting at a Jewish synagogue in Pittsburgh over the weekend.
JOSHUA is a local organization that works to bring people together of all faiths.
“We have a responsibility to protect and stand with our brothers and sisters of all varieties of all faiths and all traditions,” says Reverend Bridget Flad Daniels.
Their organization stresses that when people from different background come together, they’ll realize they really aren’t that different.
“One of the things we know is that we do have a lot more in common than that which divides us,” says Daniels.
And some of those common traits that people share can be identified.
“The common good, helping one another, love and support of neighbor,” she says.
The shooting at the Pittsburgh synagogue is the latest national example of a hate crime, which the FBI is required to keep statistics on.
According to them, between 2016 and 2017 the number of offenses against religious groups rose by more than 12 percent.
And 834 of the 1538 total offenses last year were categorized as anti-Semitic.
Following the shooting, Daniels reached out to Rabbi Moishie Steigmann with Green Bay’s Cnesses synagogue.
He says the support he’s received has come from people of all faiths.
“I just find it incredibly comforting and inspirational that so many people from so many different faiths are prepared to come together in solidarity and unity,” says Steigmann.
The plan is for them to work together to hold a community vigil for the public.
“The plan was to hold something like a vigil. but in many ways, we’re thinking of this not like a vigil but a sign of solidarity and a sign of comfort and strength in the aftermath of a tragedy,” he says.
More details about the community event will be released in the next few days.
