After Shabbos last week, we found ourselves once again in the aftermath of a terrible racist mass shooting. This time in a Supermarket in Buffalo with the victims nearly all being members of the local Black Community. The hate filled murderer hated Jews and especially Hassidic Jews, but said that they could be targeted at a different time and this time he focused his bullets on innocent shoppers in the supermarket.
It is unfathomable what hate drives people who are willing to do such acts, and unfortunately these people are out there.
Our hearts go out to the members of the Black Community who were targeted along with their family members, and we stand together with the community as they deal with the aftermath of this sickening and vile attack.
I wrote to a colleague, Brandale Randolph, who is a businessman and activist in the Black Community expressing my condolences and shock in the aftermath of this attack. He wrote back to me that "Likewise I stand with the Jewish community as we are now both in the cross hairs of hatred. There is so much that this world is showing our children that could make them look at themselves as unloved but they are watching us. I truly believe that this is a great moment to show how love conquers fear and hatred. Thank YOU for all that you do."
May our collective efforts to respond with more goodness and kindness, strengthen society and help us become a place of less hate and more acceptance, respect and positivity.