In the Wake of Tragedy – Choosing Life and Fighting Gun Violence

In the Wake of Tragedy--Choosing Life and Fighting Gun Violence 
by Rabbi Maurice A. Salth

Over the past three days, thousands of people gathered in this sanctuary to mourn the indescribable loss of two remarkable women: Julia Hyman and Wesley LePatner. In other corners of our beloved city this week, thousands gathered to mourn the murders of NYPD Officer Didarul Islam and security officer Aland Etienne.

Four beautiful and bright souls, extinguished by a gunman just blocks from here, five days ago. Our hearts are with their families, the parents who buried their children, the children who lost their parents, their brothers and sisters, the family and friends who now feel a gaping hole in their lives, a chasm where their loved ones used to be.

On Wednesday morning, I officiated at Julia’s funeral. It was so clear to me and to everyone who Julia touched in life that she loved deeply and lived life to the fullest. Story after story told of the investment she made in her family and friends and the extraordinary level of sensitivity and connection she had with those in her life. We were all in clear agreement, that everywhere she went, Julia made a definitive and powerful, positive difference.

And there was also clarity, that we should not have been there.

We should not have been at a funeral for this remarkable and beloved 27-year-old woman, gunned down as her life was continuing to unfold in the most wonderful ways.

And we have distinct clarity as well that Wesley and Didarul and Aland should be alive and well today, enjoying summer with their family and friends who loved them so deeply.

We should not be reeling from the trauma in the fallout of Monday’s horrific deadly attack by a person with a weapon of war, an AR-15 assault rifle, with a high-capacity magazine, at a mid-town office building only a six-minute walk away from here. We should not be living in fear of the next attack, wondering if we should send our children to school today or attend that concert that looks like so much fun.

We are all in in agreement, it is crystal clear, none of this should have happened.

And yet here we are, once again, families, friends, a city in mourning, a city in the grips of wrestling with another senselessness act of gun violence.

I must admit although, that until now, I have been deeply troubled by the frequency of mass shootings and gun violence in our city and nation, I have done precious little regarding this concern. I have allowed myself to be caught up with the business of my life and focused on other important causes of our day, letting this issue fall to the side. Well, I am done with that. I can no longer stand idly by and accept this violence as inevitable. And I know, because they told me and gave me permission to tell you, that if Julia was still alive today – she would have been furious about this tragedy and would have thrown herself into finding ways to take action.

We are suffering and we are at risk of suffering time and time again if we do not find a way to do something about it. This issue is now our issue.

The statistics related to gun violence in the United States are staggering. In 2023, the most recent year for which complete data is available from the Center for Disease Control, 46,728 people died from gun-related injuries. This figure includes gun murders and gun suicides.

Gun violence, including mass shootings, have reached epidemic levels, impacting people from every walk of life in almost every community in our nation including we know all too well, the Jewish community. Americans are now 25 times more likely to be killed by guns and eight times more likely to kill themselves with a gun than people in other developed countries. Here in New York City from January to May of 2025, there were 264 shootings, with the city recording in May alone, 18 murders.

And with regard to mass shootings, a shooting defined by at least 4 people dying:

In the eight years between 2015 and 2022, over 19,000 people were shot and killed or wounded in the United States in a mass shooting. And we know the reach of each mass shooting stretches far beyond those killed and wounded, harming the well-being of survivors, their families, and entire communities.

I know I have personally felt helpless, at times, in regard to my ability to contribute to a solution to this epidemic. And from the early days of my Jewish education, I was taught a verse from Pirke Avot that states: It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it.

This ancient charge from our Sages reminds me, and I hope all of us, to commit ourselves to being a part of the solution, even and perhaps especially, for the most difficult of problems.

My conversations with national leaders of the movement to reduce gun violence during this past week have been sobering. The good news is that solutions, in fact many, many solutions abound but practically, it will take all of us and many more around the nation, working in various and committed ways to achieve progress. And our efforts will be needed not for months but for years.

Inspired by Jewish tradition and by the legacy of the thousands of beautiful lives lost to gun violence, I say, lets get to work.

Here are a just a few ways we can take action:

It is time that those who represent us in the United States Congress, our representatives and senators restore a national ban on assault weapons; currently two bills with this goal are alive in Congress. A national ban is essential, because without one, weapons like the one that was used to murder Julia, Wesley, Aland and Didarul can be sold in a state, like Nevada, with looser gun laws and transported to another state with stricter laws, such as New York.

Multiple polls, year after year, show that the majority of Americans in support banning assault weapons and we need to do a significantly better job of letting our elected officials know this is a priority for us. They need to hear from us, all of us, here in the pews and from the thousands on our live stream monthly, demanding a ban on assault weapons and we must ask our friends around the country to join us in communicating this to Congress.

It is not our duty to completely solve the gun violence crisis, but neither are we at liberty to neglect it. In addition to lobbying our elected officials regularly on this issue, we can join the efforts of groups such as Everytown for Gun Safety, Giffords and the Brady Campaign, each in their own right first-class non-profits who are educating Americans and keeping citizens up to date on how they can take action to increase gun safety and reduce gun violence. Let us support these crucial organizations with our money and our time - selecting an initiative or two or three that they are working on to pour our effort into with the goal of helping to save lives.

It is comforting to know how many of us care about this, we are not alone. In fact, this Monday night, we will join with other midtown houses of worship to pray and grieve and call for action together. The service is 6pm at St. Bart’s. Details are in your Order Of Service.

As we have heard we are beginning the fifth book of the Torah this week, a book highlighted by speeches by Moses to every single one of the Israelites, women, men, children, the elderly, literally, everyone! At the conclusion of this final book, Moses gives his closing argument saying: “ Surely this instruction…is not too baffling or beyond your reach…it is not in the heavens or beyond the sea…it is within your very grasp, it is in your mouth and in your heart. Moses continues: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, I have put before you life and death, blessing and curse.” And then Moses implores: “Choose Life – so you and your offspring shall live and thrive!”

And here we are, modern-day Israelites, every single one of us, living with both the deadly curse of gun violence among us alongside blessed solutions that can actually help us protect each other and our children.

We too, all of us living, in this so-called modern age, can heed Moses’ call to Choose Life and act and engage in efforts that, over time, will better protect us and our offspring.

We know the road will be arduous and the fight hard, and that it will take years

and for the sake of our very lives and our very society, this is a cause and mission we must embrace.