WILLIAMSBURG— Temple Beth El and the United Jewish Communities of the Virginia Peninsula, the umbrella organization of the local Jewish community, are organizing a screening of the film “A Tree of Life” on Sunday, Feb. 16.
The film chronicles the experiences of a community in the aftermath of a tragic violent attack — the shooting at the Tree Of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh on Oct. 27, 2018.
The movie also explores themes of collective trauma, justice, and healing, highlighting the vital need for= solidarity in an increasingly divided society, according to Temple Beth El of Williamsburg — a “moving portrayal of how a community comes together to rebuild, honor the past and move forward” despite its differences.
Rabbi David Katz, the rabbi at Temple Beth El of Williamsburg, is inviting the community to attend.
“The shooting at the Tree Of Life synagogue was a turning point in American Jewish life. Many American Jews now live with a kind of awareness and fear that we didn’t live with before,” he explained. “We’re not just afraid that the same thing might happen to us, but when we’re together to practice our religious tradition, at our synagogues and elsewhere, all of the security precautions that we now take make us aware just how potentially unsafe we are, simply because of who we are. This film can help our non Jewish friends and neighbors to understand how and why this happened to us.”