PITTSBURGH (JNS) — Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf signed a proclamation declaring Oct. 27 as an official day of remembrance, ordering state flags to half-staff one year after the attack at the Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha Synagogue in Pittsburgh, where 11 Jewish worshippers were shot and killed during Shabbat-morning services by lone gunman.
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“A year has passed, but I continue to carry sorrow for the victims and their families of this heinous attack. We must honor them by remembering and through our thoughts, prayers and actions,” said Wolf. “I ask all Pennsylvanians to spend Oct. 27 doing the same in their honor. Pittsburgh is a city of bridges, and so it is a fitting tribute to commemorate this occasion with a day of building bridges of understanding, welcome and friendship.”
While state flags will be at half-staff, the U.S. flag will remain at full-staff.
Wolf honored the shooting’s victims last month while visiting Auschwitz in Poland, where he wrote their names in the memorial site’s guestbook.
The Pittsburgh synagogue has announced that it plans to reopen with the inclusion of a memorial and new classrooms, among other additions. A date for the reopening has yet to be set. The building has not been in use since the shooting.
It remains the deadliest attack in U.S. Jewish history, though six months to the day, a similar incident occurred on April 27 at Chabad of Poway, Calif., where a 60-year-old woman was shot dead in the synagogue lobby, also while Shabbat-morning services were taking place.