The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, the Greater Pittsburgh Rabbinic Association and the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh are incensed and heartbroken over a mass shooting at Pulse, an LGBT nightclub in Orlando, Fla. The shooting — which occurred early Sunday, June 12 — left 49 dead and 53 injured.

“This is a profound act of terror,” said Cindy Goodman-Leib, chair of the Community Relations Council (CRC) of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. “We are devastated over this loss of life and stand in solidarity with the LGBT communities in Orlando, Pittsburgh, and throughout the world. As Jews, we understand what it is like to be targeted for no reason other than our identity, and we recognize that those who hate typically don’t only hate one group of people. Sunday morning’s attack happened to be directed at the LGBT community, but it could have just as easily been any one of us.”

In addition to supporting and standing with our LGBT friends and allies, many of whom are part of the Jewish community, CRC will take three distinct actions as a result of this massacre:

• Work to promote a wider understanding of the LGBT community throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania
• Advocate to prevent gun violence, at both a local and national level, while supporting the Second Amendment
• In the wake of the shooter’s ties to radicalization, work to educate the Greater Pittsburgh community on the difference between Islamic extremism and Islam

May the victims’ memories be a blessing.