Pittsburgh shooting victims honored at menorah lighting

COLUMBIA,SC (WOLO)-The Midlands is shining a light on anti-semitism after a hate-fueled attack on the Jewish community in Pittsburg.

Tuesday night’s annual menorah lighting paid tribute to the 11 lives lost in the shooting massacre.

“I think that there is a balance between good and evil in the universe,” Howie Scher said. “Good will always come out of the wood works whenever something like the terrible events in Pittsburg happen.”

Scher is a former member of the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh and remembers being at a Bar Mitzvah when the shooting happened.

“It was an overwhelming amount of shock and grief,” Scher said.

He knows one of the 11 victims son.

“I just felt completely helpless,” Scher said.

Five weeks after what is believed to be the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in American history, South Carolinians say anti-semitism will not darken their light.

“The story of hanukkah is a story of a group of people that were faced with great danger and overwhelming odds but they refused to stop fighting for what they believed in,” Rabi Hesh Epstein, Director Chabad of SC said. “Even a little bit of courage and strength can go along way.”

The message Tuesday night was solidarity. Dozens of people of different backgrounds coming together at the statehouse to shine a light on one of the darkest events.

“Hanukkah is about tolerance, freedom, the ability to practice your faith as you wish,” Epstein said. “In light of the things that have happened in the past year, it couldn’t be more meaningful than tonight.”