Chants of “Vote! Vote!” broke out from a crowd gathered Sunday at a memorial service for the 11 victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre.
Tree of Life Synagogue Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, who led the service at the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall, called for political leaders to “stop the words of hate,” CBS Pittsburgh reported.
“Ladies and gentlemen, it has to start with you as our leaders,” Myers said to loud applause, spurring the chants from some sections of the auditorium packed with 2,500 mourners.
The chants likely referred to the upcoming midterm elections in November.
“My words are not intended as political fodder. I address all equally. Stop the words of hate. My mother always taught me, ‘If you don’t have anything nice to say, say nothing,’” Myers said.
“If it comes from you, Americans will listen, but let’s not forget one really important thing. Independent of what happens tonight, independent of what any of our elected officials choose to do from here on, it’s us. We the people,” he added.
Before closing with a memorial prayer, he called on everyone in the crowd to try to be the person to end hatred.
“It starts with one simple step. Just stop the hate. Don’t say it. Zip the lip. Just don’t say it. It just takes one person to make that difference,” he said.
“The caution I have for you is, any of you the person to do that? I leave you with that question. You have to answer it for us.”
On Monday, Myers told CNN that President Trump is “always welcome” in Pittsburgh — despite a group of Jewish leaders in the city rejecting a possible visit from the commander-in-chief unless he denounces white nationalism.
Earlier in the service, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto also took to the podium.
“We come together tonight to mourn, and it’s the right thing to do. We lost 11 of our neighbors, and we’re here to mourn the way that they were taken from us,” Peduto said.
“We’re here to mourn the fact that we live in a society where something like this could even exist. We’re here to mourn the attack upon our Jewish community. We’re here to be supporters. We’re here to make sure that those victims’ families have what Pittsburghers do, the understanding that we are all here for them and we will help them through this horror that they are living.”
