On Oct. 27, 2018, eleven innocent Jewish worshipers lost their lives at the Pittsburgh synagogue, nicknamed the Tree of Life. In order to commemorate and remember the eleven souls that lost their lives, many Norwin High School students viewed the “Repairing the World – Stories from the Tree of Life” documentary and afterward talked to family members about the events of the aftermath of the shooting.

During ninth period on April 3, 2024, around 150 students watched the documentary in the high school auditorium, and several students stayed after school to talk to family members in a private and emotional panel discussion. The film presented Pittsburgh’s response to the anti-Semitic hate in the aftermath of the attack. The documentary presented a story of resilience and hope, focusing on Pittsburgh residents who were directly affected by the tragedy.

Any students could view the documentary and attend the Q&A style panel discussion; the session was completely voluntary, however many students reported that the documentary offered emotional personal testimonies that were very worthy of their time. The documentary and panel discussion definitely opened up Norwin’s eyes to otherworldly events led by hatred, in an effort that Generation Z will “repair the world” and eradicate hatred.

During the private panel discussion, several family members and one survivor of the cruel attack talked to around seven students about the day of the event and the community’s response afterward. The community was very shocked by the event itself, and it took a while for the surviving members of the attack to recover. One survivor spoke to the students about several injuries she endured in the attack and how she had to overcome grief after her mother died during the attack.

During the shooting, eleven people lost their lives at the hands of an anti-Semitic man, including a 97-year-old woman (the oldest victim) named Rose Mallinger whose daughter survived the attack. At the emotional discussion after the documentary showing, Mallinger’s family spoke about Rose’s impact in the Pittsburgh community including pushing for Jewish equality.

“Rose was ‘Bubbie,’ Yiddish for grandmother, to everyone in our family and to our community… even the kids called her ‘Bubbie,’” the family said with regard to Rose Mallinger, the oldest person who died during the shooting.

On the day of the shooting, several innocent Jewish lives were taken by a cruel man with a gun. After the shooting, the Pittsburgh community fully rallied together to fight against anti-Semitism so that another shooting would not take place. Many people from the high school, including Norwin’s history teacher Mr. Cardiff, knew of the events prior to the documentary viewing and also knew some of the survivors of the attack.

“I reside in Squirrel Hill and it just so happens that my neighbors directly across the street from my front porch are victims/survivors of the mass shooting at the Tree of Life,” Mr. Cardiff remarked. “Ron Wedner (husband of Andrea Werner… wounded in shooting and son-in-law to Rose Mallinger… perished in [the] shooting) tipped me off to the Teen Screen program (Repairing the World) that was being presented to various school districts in the Pittsburgh region. He asked me during casual neighborly conversation if Norwin would be interested in presented the program to the student body. Ron also informed me that his family would be willing to speak to the student body following the documentary viewing about their experiences and thoughts about the film.”

Mr. Cardiff wanted to organize the event, of the Tree of Life documentary and private panel discussion, prior to the end of the 2023-2024 school year. After Mr. Cardiff received the Tree of Life documentary from the Teen Screen program, a film association in Pittsburgh, he shared the information with Mr. Choby and other history teachers who possessed any interest.

Soon enough, Cardiff chose a date to hold the meeting and documentary viewing (April 3rd, 2024) and worked closely with those who were affected by the attack at the Tree of Life synagogue. With over 100 students signed up to view the documentary during 9th period on April 3rd, the event proved to be a huge academic success with many students voluntarily missing out on their classes to learn more about the dangers of anti-Semitism and hatred.

“I was very pleased with how the in-school event unfolded,” Mr. Cardiff said. “My only regret is that the powerful message in the documentary did not reach more ears. Given that the event was voluntary and that the student body only had a week or so to sign up for it, I was pleasantly surprised at the turn-out.”

With over 100 students at the Tree of Life event in the high school auditorium, many messages were shared across all of the students present. The documentary pictured many people across the Pittsburgh community rallying together after the attack, and fighting anti-Semitism so that it is not present in society.

“One of the greatest messages was the notion of how we can overcome anything when we come together and unite as one community,” Mr. Cardiff said. “The outpouring of love and support from people of all ages and walks of life was unbelievable following the mass shooting. Given the nature of the powerful response of the Pittsburgh community in the face of hate, viewers were left to consider how they would respond to an incident of hate in the future.”

After the documentary viewing, a couple of students stayed to talk with a couple of the people who were affected by the attack at the Tree of Life synagogue in a private panel discussion.

“The students, faculty, and special guests that attended contributed very compelling questions and observations for the panel to address,” Mr. Cardiff said. “At one point, the panel shared lessons and personal testimony on what strategies they were able to employ that assisted them in recovering from the pain, grief, and trauma experienced from the mass shooting. Very powerful stuff to say the least. In the end, we used the entire hour [set aside for the panel discussion] that we were allotted when we reserved the auditorium space.”

Furthermore, along with proposing several thoughts about grief and trauma following the event, those who talked at the panel discussion spoke about the Hebrew concept of “Tikkun Olam” — “repairing the world” after a tragedy.

“In essence, it (Tikkun Olam) focuses on social action and social justice in order to improve the world,” Mr. Cardiff said. “This is exactly what the Wedner/Mallinger family has dedicated their lives to since the Tree of Life shooting. They have embarked on their tour throughout the Pittsburgh region visiting high schools in conjunction with the Teen Screen documentary.”

Even though the tragedy of the Tree of Life shooting will remain in the hearts and minds of those affected by the hateful act, the Tree of Life synagogue is currently undergoing construction. Only a small part of the original synagogue will remain, whereas the rest of the synagogue will be transformed into an education center and museum to educate others about the dangers of hatred in today’s society.