Mister Rogers would be pleased that star architect will rebuild Tree of Life temple

Memorials to some of the victims of the 2018 shooting at the Tree of Life Congregation in Pittsburgh, Pa. Creative Commons photo.

(ANALYSIS) Mister Rogers must be posthumously pleased with the recent decision by Pittsburgh's Tree of Life Congregation to hire “starchitect” Daniel Libeskind to remodel the synagogue complex desecrated by a White supremacist gunman in October 2018.

After three years, life may begin to return to normal in Squirrel Hill, Mister Rogers’ all-American neighborhood where love and tolerance used to trump the bile of hate and racism.  Fred McFeely Rogers (1928–2003), better known as Mister Rogers, was the producer and host of the preschool television series “Mister Rogers' Neighborhood”, which ran from 1968 to 2001. He was also a Presbyterian minister.

Rogers lived just a few streets away from Wilkins and Shady avenues where this horrific shooting of 11 Sabbath worshippers – the most violent anti-Semitic attack in American history – took place. The beloved television personality, who comforted children around the country during the scariest of times, would have been appalled by the growing hatred in his own Pittsburgh neighborhood.

He famously said: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”

Today we are all desperately looking for the helpers, Mister Rogers. And Daniel Libeskind promises to be one of them.

If anyone is up to the challenge, it’s Libeskind. In designing a new home for Tree of Life, Dor Hadash and New Light congregations, the internationally renowned architect comes with the highest recommendations. It was he who designed the World Trade Master Plan in Manhattan following 9/11. Similarly, his Jewish Museum in Berlin and the National Holocaust Monument in Ottawa, Canada are brick, mortar and glass expressions of overcoming the trauma of the Holocaust.

Libeskind, 74, was born to Holocaust survivors living in a homeless shelter in Łódź, Poland, after the war. He is updating a stark, even drab post-WWII building erected on a hilltop in suburban Pittsburgh.

The renovation is part of the congregation’s “REMEMBER. REBUILD. RENEW.” campaign to commemorate the tragic events of Oct. 27, 2018. Libeskind was unanimously selected by Tree of Life’s board of trustees and steering committee following a search that was launched in January. Eleven architects submitted applications for the project. Libeskind said in a prepared statement:

“It is with a great sense of urgency and meaning that I join the Tree of Life to create a new center in Pittsburgh. Our team is committed to creating a powerful and memorable space that addresses the worst antisemitic attack in United States history.

“When my parents, survivors of the Holocaust, and I came as immigrants to America, we felt an air of freedom as Jews in this country. That is why this project is not simply about ‘Never Again.’ It is a project that must address the persistence of antisemitism and the intolerance of our time and affirm the democratic values of our country.”

Since the massacre, Tree of Life congregation, which until the pandemic had been meeting at a large Reform synagogue, has not reentered its Squirrel Hill building it had occupied since the early 1950s. Several other congregations that met in the synagogue have also found other homes.

The new complex will serve multiple functions. While Tree of Life expects to retain the 1952 concrete building with modern stained-glass windows where the main sanctuary is located, the rest of the building will likely be demolished. The new space will house the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh, now located in the city’s Greenfield neighborhood, and a place to reflect on the 2018 massacre. Other plans include joint educational programs and the creation of a center dedicated to eliminating hate. Studio Daniel Libeskind will collaborate with the Pittsburgh-based Rothschild Doyno Collaborative on the project.

“Our collaboration with Daniel Libeskind will not be the culmination, but is the beginning of our efforts to create a Makom Kodesh, a safe and sacred space, for all who wish to be a part of our community,” Rabbi Jeffrey Myers of Tree of Life said in a prepared statement. “Our new and reimagined space will not only serve the needs of our congregation, but will offer an open space to our neighbors and the broader community – here in Pittsburgh, across the country and around the world. The space will be welcoming and accessible for people of all abilities and backgrounds, offering safe and secure places to learn, cultivate partnerships, remember and reflect.”

Seven Tree of Life members were murdered in the attack: Joyce Fienberg, Rose Mallinger, David Rosenthal, Cecil Rosenthal, Bernice Simon, Sylvan Simon and Irving Younger. The three members of New Light killed were Dr. Richard Gottfried, Daniel Stein and Melvin Wax. Dr. Jerry Rabinowitz of Dor Hadash also was killed.

Two other worshippers – Tree of Life’s Andrea Wedner and Dor Hadash’s Daniel Leger – were seriously injured, as were six police officers.

“This is an exciting next step in this long process of rebuilding,” Wedner, Mallinger’s daughter, said in a prepared statement. “I am looking forward to entering a new Tree of Life building without fear or hesitation.”

“It is humbling to be trusted and have the opportunity to support this courageous community for which today’s announcement is an important step in the healing process,” Daniel Rothschild, senior principal of Rothschild Doyno Collaborative, said in a prepared statement. “Daniel Libeskind brings a unique perspective to creating meaningful architecture. We are very excited about Tree of Life’s selection of Studio Libeskind and we are honored to be their partners in expressing hope, resilience and renewal to the future building and site.”

Drs. Ellen Stewart and Jeffrey Cohen, and Linda and Jeffrey Solomon are serving as co-chairs for the rebuilding campaign. Its honorary cabinet includes actors Tom Hanks and Billy Porter, as well as Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and Joanne Rogers, wife of the late Fred Rogers of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” fame. Joanne Rogers died in January at 92.

Gil Zohar was born in Toronto, Canada and moved to Jerusalem, Israel in 1982. He is a journalist writing for The Jerusalem Post, Segula magazine, and other publications. He’s also a professional tour guide who likes to weave together the Holy Land’s multiple narratives.