“Pittsburgh: This Is Not Who We Are” by Annika Urban really stuck with me. Throughout the writing, Annika expresses how frightening a deeply saddened he was to find that gun violence had spread to her city: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and how she came to the realization that no one would view her city in the same way ever. I have felt similarly and although I have never suffered any anti-semitic act of violence within my general vicinity, being a liberal, Jewish, young women in a diverse city like New York City has slightly terrified me.

Directly after the attacks on the Tree of Life Synagogue, my synagogue began to have an armed guard every shabbat service. We all began to be more conscious of what could potentially happen to us. Annika explains that this attack felt like someone was strangling her city, pulling violence closer to her. I felt this strongly too. Overall, I think Annika Urban’s explanation of the aftermath of the attack on the Pittsburgh synagogue Tree of Life really resonated with me.