The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting and the Soul of a Neighborhood
by Mark Oppenheimer
Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Oct 2021
320 pages
Genre: History, Current Affairs and Religion
Publication Information
A piercing portrait of the struggles and triumphs of one of America's renowned Jewish neighborhoods in the wake of unspeakable tragedy that highlights the hopes, fears, and tensions all Americans must confront on the road to healing.
Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, is one of the oldest Jewish neighborhoods in the country, known for its tight-knit community and the profusion of multigenerational families. On October 27, 2018, a gunman killed eleven Jews who were worshipping at the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill--the most deadly anti-Semitic attack in American history.
Many neighborhoods would be understandably subsumed by despair and recrimination after such an event, but not this one. Mark Oppenheimer poignantly shifts the focus away from the criminal and his crime, and instead presents the historic, spirited community at the center of this heartbreak. He speaks with residents and nonresidents, Jews and gentiles, survivors and witnesses, teenagers and seniors, activists and historians.
Together, these stories provide a kaleidoscopic and nuanced account of collective grief, love, support, and revival. But Oppenheimer also details the difficult dialogue and messy confrontations that Squirrel Hill had to face in the process of healing, and that are a necessary part of true growth and understanding in any community. He has reverently captured the vibrancy and caring that still characterize Squirrel Hill, and it is this phenomenal resilience that can provide inspiration to any place burdened with discrimination and hate.
"[A] vivid and deeply empathetic look at Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill neighborhood in the aftermath of the October 2018 mass killing of 11 worshippers at a local synagogue...Deeply reported and elegantly written, this is a powerful portrait of grief and resilience." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"In this wonderfully rendered narrative, Oppenheimer deftly shows how, when emotions are raw, the best intentions can misfire or fail to satisfy everyone...While the Tree of Life massacre targeted Jews, this book abounds with insights for cities facing the aftermath of any mass-casualty event. A stunning book that offers an eloquent portrait of an antisemitic attack and its effect on a neighborhood." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"A devastating story of loss that becomes a story of societal resilience; essential reading for anyone seeking insight on gun violence." - Library Journal
"In October 2017, when a white nationalist terrorist carried out the deadliest antisemitic attack in American history, he tore at the fabric of one of the oldest and most dynamic Jewish communities in the country. He also unleashed the formidable pen of one of Squirrel Hill's most talented and committed descendants. Mark Oppenheimer presents us now with a heartrending, polyphonic rendering of the multifaceted people and stories that populate this all-American enclave united by tremendous grief and resilience. A tour de force of compassionate listening that captures a specific community in the aftermath of unspeakable hate, in the process revealing the tragic superficiality of our supposed differences." - Thomas Chatterton Williams, author of Self-Portrait in Black and White
"In Squirrel Hill, Mark Oppenheimer presents a window into the life of a neighborhood at the height of terror and just after. What we see is not only tragedy but also myriad sensitive renderings of memorable figures — the Jewish and Gentile elders, parents, teenagers; artisans, worshipers, and activists called by crisis to transform themselves and their community. Ultimately, this is a textured exploration of a key moment in Jewish life, in the life of a city, and in American life. Squirrel Hill is for anyone who seeks to understand the impossible question vexing our country today: how to persist after and amidst hate." - Sanjena Sathian, author of Gold Diggers
"In Squirrel Hill, Mark Oppenheimer has written more than just the definitive account of a horrific tragedy. He has told a compassionate and compelling story about one of the most unique Jewish communities in America." - Joshua Foer, author of Moonwalking with Einstein
This information about Squirrel Hill was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Mark Oppenheimer is the author of five books, including Knocking on Heaven's Door: American Religion in the Age of Counterculture and The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia. He was the religion columnist for the New York Times from 2010 to 2016 and has written for the New York Times Magazine, GQ, Mother Jones, The Nation, and The Believer, among other publications. The host of Tablet magazine's podcast Unorthodox, Oppenheimer has taught at Stanford, Wellesley, and Yale, where since 2006 he has directed the Yale Journalism Initiative. He lives with his family in New Haven, Connecticut.
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