Pittsburgh, One Year Later

This week on Unorthodox, we’re marking the one-year anniversary of the Tree of Life shooting in Pittsburgh, which occurred on Oct. 27, 2019. Two days after the shooting, we aired a special episode recorded from Pittsburgh, featuring voices from the community. This year we’re revisiting the horror of the massacre and checking in with local Pittsburgh Jews about their reflections one year later.

We talk to Pittsburgh-based writer Beth Kissileff, who explains Jewish notions of vengeance and offers her thoughts on the appropriate punishment for the murderer. Mark, who has been reporting a book about the shooting, shares audio from his interviews with Andrea Wedner, daughter of Rose Malinger, one of the victims, Andrea’s husband Ron Wedner, and Joe Charny.

Sending our love to the Pittsburgh Jewish community, today and always.

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See us on tour! Stephanie and Liel will be at Arts Matter Shabbat in Boston on Oct. 25, and Stephanie will be at the Jewish Book Festival in Tampa, Florida, on Oct. 29. The whole Unorthodox team will be in Detroit Nov. 2-3 for a live show and a panel event, and then in Denver Nov. 4 for a book talk and live show. Stephanie and Liel will be continuing on to Houston Nov. 6 for a book signing and teen event.

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This episode is sponsored by the fine haberdashery J. Press. Get 15% off your first order when you use the code Unorthodox15 at jpressonline.com or in one of their retail stores in New Haven, New York, or Washington, D.C. Offer good through November.

Unorthodox is a smart, fresh, fun weekly take on Jewish news and culture hosted by Mark Oppenheimer, Stephanie Butnick, and Liel Leibovitz. You can listen to individual episodes here or subscribe on iTunes.