Today 11 people lost their lives during a shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It saddens me that their is so much hate in the world today. Yes, there has always been hate , but it is much more prevalent and vicious now.

Though I’m not religious, I am Jewish and proud of my heritage. A couple of years ago, a friend of mine who is also Jewish came for a visit. She was surprised to see me wearing my Star of David. I told her that I was not going to let anyone make me ashamed or intimidate me because of my religion. And even with what happened in Pittsburgh today I still feel the same way.

The hate is getting worse and we MUST find a way to stop it ! Hate begets violence, which begets even more violence. Is it so hard to think that we could all coexist peacefully ? We need to give it a try . Who knows? It might just work.

To paraphrase the old song written by Hal David & Burt Bacharach, ” What the world needs now, is love, not hate . “