Temple Israel in Paducah is holding a memorial and unity service on Friday for the victims of recent shootings at a Pittsburgh synagogue and at a Kroger in a Louisville suburb.
A gunman killed 11 people in Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue on October 27. In an unrelated incident that same weekend, another gunman killed an African American couple in Jeffersontown, Kentucky. Both shootings are being investigated as hate crimes.
Temple Israel congregation president Laurie Ballew said anti-semitism and racism has been under the surface in America for decades. “But of late, it hasn’t been under the surface. It seems that people feel like they have the permission to blatantly demonstrate their hate,” she said.
Ballew said she believes “coming together as human beings” can help combat hate.
Student Rabbi Caroline Sim from Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati will officiate. Local faith leaders from St. Thomas More Catholic Church, the Islamic Center of Paducah and Broadway United Methodist Church will join.
The service begins at 7 p.m. Friday at Temple Israel Synagogue in Paducah. Security will be present and doors will lock at 7.
