Miami’s interfaith clergy urges us to love one another

We, the interfaith clergy of MCCJ (the organization formerly known as Miami Coalition of Christians and Jews), pray for the victims and their families and denounce in the strongest possible terms the massacre which took place during Shabbat services at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on October 27.

Eleven people have been killed and several others wounded, while the hearts of good people from every race and religion have been broken.

As representatives of many faiths, including Jews, Muslims, and Christians, our shared values are shaped by our holy texts — all of which command us to revere life.

As Americans, we subscribe to the ideals of our nation, which include the constitutional right to practice our respective religions without fear or intimidation.

We further denounce the current political climate of polarization, prejudice, and xenophobia, which is now so rampant in our country.

In solidarity, we commend the interfaith community of Pittsburgh, more than a thousand of whom gathered a few hours after the shootings, to demonstrate their love for and mutual support of their Jewish neighbors during this tragic time.

Theirs was truly an expression of the highest ideals held in common by all the world’s major religions.

We commit to embodying these ideals by drawing closer to one another and by urging all peoples and communities of faith in Greater Miami to do so, as well.