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Beth Shalom Synagogue hosts 'Gathering of Hope' for Pittsburgh shooting victims

Eleven members of the Jewish community were gunned down on Saturday. Now Jewish communities in the Columbia area are coming together with people of all faiths to send a message of hope.

Columbia, SC (WLTX) - Jewish communities around the nation are remembering the 11 people who were killed in a deadly shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, PA.

In the Midlands, hundreds filled the Beth Shalom Synagogue for a "Gathering of Hope."

The three Jewish communities along with members of the Christian and Muslim faith were invited to the gathering.

"This amazing gathering here tonight of a diverse and broad community sends a clear message to those who would seek to do us harm," says Rabbi Hesh Epstein, Chabad-Aleph House. "Our love for each other is stronger than your hate."

Rabbi Jonathan Case of Beth Shalom Synagogue gave a message of healing, but says it's also time for change.

"We can change others when we begin to change ourselves," says Rabbi Case. "When we deal with one another kindly, thoughtfully, when we engage each other in dialogue. When we find the difference that now divide us and find the places in between where we can make peace."

The service ended with a memorial candle lighting by Jennifer Pinckney, wife of the late Senator Clementa Pinckney, who was killed in the 2015 Mother Emanuel AME shooting.

Those who attended the service say they left with hope for a brighter tomorrow.

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