Tucked in the western wing of the University of Pittsburgh’s University Club is a modest library. The room is bisected longways by a glass-covered platform housing a hand-painted tree, a Star of David with a heart woven into its core and a plate made to look like a Steeler’s logo with the words “Stronger Than Hate” painted into its left side. “Lessons from The Tree of Life: Lighting the Path Forward,” is a new traveling exhibit created by The Tree of Life nonprofit and the Heinz History Center’s Rauh Jewish Archives. It opens Thursday, March 27, at the University Club Library and will stay until Friday, April 25.On Oct. 27, 2018, an assailant shot and killed 11 Jewish worshippers — Joyce Fienberg, Richard Gottfried, Rose Mallinger, Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil Rosenthal, David Rosenthal, Bernice Simon, Sylvan Simon, Dan Stein, Melvin Wax and Irving Younger — from the congregations Dor Hadash, New Light and Tree of Life – Or L’Simcha.In 2022, Tree of Life congregants and community members formed The Tree of Life — a local nonprofit that advocates for the end of antisemitism nationally. Carole Zawatsky is its CEO.“At the core of everything we do is the memory of each of the 11 lives that were taken from us, and we will never be defined by our killers,” Zawatsky says. “We will show people that in the face of the greatest adversity, we will get up and we will re-create.”The exhibit displays objects sent to the congregation following the attack — of which Zawatsky says there are “tens of thousands.”Eric Lidji, the director of the Rauh Jewish Archives, says the archive also hosts a large number of objects that were sent to or left on display at the synagogue in 2018. Those selected for display at the “Lessons from The Tree of Life” exhibit were partially curated by a group of survivors and family members.The traveling exhibit “Lessons from The Tree of Life: Lighting the Path Forward” opens at Pitt’s University Club Library on Thursday, March 27. Photo by Roman Hladio.“When we were putting this together earlier this year, we had open-house sessions where family members and survivors had a chance to look through a much larger selection and pick out the ones that were speaking to them,” Lidji says.The new exhibit also recounts the events of the shooting, explores the history of antisemitism in the United States and shows off renderings for the forthcoming 10/27 memorial that is being constructed at the synagogue in Squirrel Hill.“We put this exhibition together to show the Pittsburgh community … what will be opening on the corner of Shady and Wilkins [avenues],” Zawatsky says.“What does it look like to remember each of the 11 victims and create a space for dynamic Jewish life? To bring Jewish life back to the corner of Shady and Wilkins and out of the greatest tragedy — the most horrific act of antisemitism that has ever happened on American soil — so that we don’t let a killer define our story, but that we, the Jewish community, rise up and tell our story?”While the exhibit’s current display is set, it will change as it travels — come May, it will open at Cleveland’s Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, then head to New York City this fall and Miami, Florida, next spring.Lidji says each appearance will have a slightly different central display to accommodate each venue’s physical space and local connection. A rendering of The Tree of Life’s renovations and memorial walkway. Image courtesy of Studio Libeskind.“We have stuff that comes from all over the country, so there’re times where we can make it specific to the location where it’s traveling to,” he says. “We just work with the venue to understand what their community would like to see.”To Michael Bernstein, chairperson of The Tree of Life’s board, one of the most powerful display pieces was an oil on canvas painting of a twisting tree embellished with bright flora and fauna by a group from a Colorado chapter of the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization. According to its exhibit placard, it was one of many pieces that made use of a tree motif and was created in 2018.What set it apart was that it was sent to Tree of Life congregants in 2019. To Bernstein, the fact that someone was still thinking about the community one year later is a sign of hope.“We take it for granted sometimes, being from this community, but the way people responded, the gifts that were sent, the items and what it meant for those directly impacted is an important message for us to share,” Bernstein says. “I think that it demonstrates that we’re going to be resilient in the face of hate, and I think we all need to hear that message — that hate can’t win.”According to Zawatsky, the redesigned Tree of Life building and 10/27 memorial are about two years from completion. It will continue to serve as a religious hub for multiple local congregations but will also include a permanent museum exhibition dedicated to the attack where the displayed artifacts will be constantly rotating.Amy Mallinger, left, recounts memories from the Tree of Life synagogue at the opening of the “Lessons from The Tree of Life” exhibit. Standing to her right are Maggie Feinstein of the 10.27 Healing Partnership and Eric Lidji of the Rauh Jewish Archive. Photo by Roman Hladio.Addressing a crowd of media personnel ahead of the exhibits opening, Amy Mallinger — granddaughter of Rose Mallinger and the co-founder of the Remember, Educate, and Combate Hate (REACH) Speaker’s Bureau — said that stepping into the “Lessons from The Tree of Life” exhibit vividly reminded her of the attack. But it also stirred up personal history in the space, from her bat mitzvah to attending services with her grandmother.To her, these personal stories and experiences are a crucial part of the exhibitions and physical rebuilding.“The memories of the 11 is something that’s really important to all of the family members — remembering why this happened and why we have to build this new building — but also remembering their stories and who they were as people, not just people of the shooting,” Mallinger says.The post The Tree of Life’s new traveling exhibit is ‘Lighting the Path Forward’ appeared first on NEXTpittsburgh. ...read more read less