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I was standing in a circle with 100 other Jewish teenagers, our arms wrapped tightly around each other, when the news of the shooting was delivered to us.

This Saturday, Oct. 27, 11 victims died during a tragic and senseless shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. The oldest victim, 97 year-old Holocaust survivor, Rose Mallinger.

Time stopped and all that mattered to me at that point in time was that I was safe. The fear that I, and my Jewish community, feel right now is nothing new. Fear has spread throughout the nation as a result of the empowerment of hatred and the lack of reform.

We saw it in Charlottesville, we saw it at the Pulse nightclub shooting and we see it in the hate crimes that occur in America daily. What has become of our country? There is no question that we are living during a time where hatred is being empowered. The senseless gun violence and the outright bigotry is shocking and upsetting. The fact that a woman who survived the Holocaust, the largest genocide in world history, was killed in the United States while freely practicing her religion, sends shivers up my spine.

To not be upset by the hate our country is filled with, is to not be paying attention.

It’s more than a man running into a synagogue saying that he wants all Jews to die. The anti-Semitism we saw in Pittsburgh is also rooted right here in Omaha. It’s the swastikas I see engraved into desks and the Holocaust jokes I overhear in the hallways. The tragic slaughter of 11 innocent people in Pittsburgh is proof that anti-Semitism is flourishing while in the meantime, our president refuses to denounce white supremacy. Anti-Semitism has a clear presence in our country. The proof exists in the nearly 60% increase of anti-Semitic incidents reported to the Anti Defamation League in the year 2017. All taking place right in front of our eyes, in a country that prides itself on the freedom of religion.

This hate crime sent waves of shock across the Jewish community, and quite frankly, all communities of faith. Nevertheless, in times of mourning we must appreciate the positivity that comes out of it all. This Monday, Oct. 29 a memorial was held at Beth El Synagogue in our very own city that was open to everyone in the community. This is the synagogue I am at nearly every week and every holiday and I have never seen it so packed. Jewish and not Jewish people filled our entire sanctuary. The event was live streamed and people across the city tuned in in support of Pittsburgh. I felt proud to not only be a part of the Omaha Jewish community, but to be a part of a city that without hesitation, came together and prayed for peace.

May we always remember the 11 lives lost in Pittsburgh.

Joyce Fienberg, 75

Richard Gottfried, 65

Rose Mallinger, 97

Jerry Rabinowitz, 66

Cecil Rosenthal, 59

David Rosenthal, 54

Bernice Simon, 84

Sylvan Siman, 86

Daniel Stein, 71

Melvin Wax, 88

Irving Younger, 69

Story updated on 10/31/18