This past Saturday morning, in Hillel’s egalitarian minyan (prayer service), when we returned the Torah scroll to the ark, as we do each week, we chanted together, “[the Torah] is a tree of life for those who hold fast to it.” Only a few moments later, we received the news of the attack that had taken place in a synagogue whose name is taken directly from that prayer. Eleven innocent people who had come together to observe their holy day and to celebrate new life, had their lives taken at the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill, Pa.

On Monday, only two days after the tragedy, Student Life published an article by Senior Forum Editor Tyler Sabloff titled “On the Pittsburgh shooting: These are not isolated incidents.”

The title is accurate. Over and over again America has done little more than send “thoughts and prayers” to families of the victims of tragedies which, through better gun laws and a more active denunciation of hate, we might have prevented. Anyone who stands against hate has a responsibility to acknowledge this attack in its context: as one in a series of attacks on a wide range of American minorities.

The accuracy ends there. It is a disservice to Jews everywhere to claim that there is something wrong with identifying this attack as what it was: anti-Semitism in its truest, most abhorrent form. Just as identifying that Black Lives Matter doesn’t mean white lives don’t, identifying this attack as anti-Semitic doesn’t trivialize the tragedies of others. It only reasonably acknowledges a painful truth. In order to fight hate, we have to name it in all its specifics. In this case, before killing 11 innocent people, the shooter yelled “all Jews must die.” The message here was abundantly clear.

In his article, Sabloff asks where Jews have been as other minority groups have been persecuted over and over again. It’s a question fairly easily answered. Only two hours before the attack, the shooter tweeted “HIAS like to bring in invaders that kill our people. I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I’m going in.” For a little background, HIAS is the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. Their website describes their mission to, “bring the lessons of HIAS’ history and Jewish ethics and experience to our commitment to serve refugees and other displaced persons of concern around the world…” HIAS is only one example of hundreds of Jewish-value driven groups who have been showing up for a wide range of causes repeatedly in American history, and especially in the last few years. Jewish voices have been raised in the fight against President Trump’s Muslim ban, in the aftermath of the shooting in Charleston, and in the struggle to keep Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in place, to name a few.

Subjects of baseless hatred have a responsibility to stand together, and if there is anything good to be said about this particular moment in American history, I would argue that many of us have done exactly that. I am tremendously grateful to members of the Muslim community, and many others, who have taken advantage of this moment to show their support and solidarity. We continue to hope, as we have when roles were reversed, that this time will be the very last. It is a frightening time to be a minority in America. The last response to this fact should be to attack one another at a time when we’re trying to heal.

In the future, I would hope that Student Life and its contributors take a moment to consider the larger context of a circumstance as delicate as this one before publishing such an article. Like everyone else, the Jewish community is trying to figure out how to best respond to a wave of unacceptable hatred. We won’t do it perfectly every time, but we will absolutely try our best.

Tyler, to answer your question, “where the hell have [we] been,” we’ve been standing right alongside every other minority group, even and especially when we were not personally under attack. Some Jews show up more than others, but as a community we have and will continue to ally ourselves with hurting peoples. What you choose to see, and who you choose to acknowledge, is up to you.

Note: if you’re looking for something to do in the wake of this tragedy, please remember to vote on Nov 6, and consider donating to HIAS.