美国国家公共电台 NPR 'The Boys' Laid To Rest In Pittsburgh

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Services for the victims of the mass shooting of the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh begin today, and that includes a service for two brothers. For many in Pittsburgh's Jewish community, the event will begin the formal period of mourning for victims of this shooting. As NPR's Sarah McCammon reports, it's a process that's carefully guided by Jewish tradition.

SARAH MCCAMMON, BYLINE¹: The two brothers who will be laid to rest, Cecil and David Rosenthal, were in their 50s - the two youngest victims. People who knew them say the brothers had intellectual disabilities and that they were well-loved by their congregation in one of Pittsburgh's Jewish neighborhoods.

SHARON RYAVE BRODY: I think everybody in Squirrel Hill knew them.

MCCAMMON: Sharon Ryave Brody owns the Ralph's Schugar Chapel², a funeral home that serves mostly Jewish families in Pittsburgh.

RYAVE BRODY: I don't know anybody that didn't know them, and they had a smile and a hug or a wave for everybody.

MCCAMMON: Ryave Brody's phone has been constantly ringing in the wake of the shooting that killed the Rosenthal brothers. She deals with death every day, but this isn't normal.

RYAVE BRODY: We don't deal with a tragedy like this every day - thank God - but it's our duty. And it's an honor to be called by my community to be of service. So we do whatever we need to do to help everybody get through this.

MCCAMMON: Rabbi Chuck Diamond, who once led the congregation at Tree of Life, says rabbis have been going to the morgue to be with the bodies in the days since the shooting.

CHUCK DIAMOND: So we're not supposed to leave the body alone, and we have people who come and guard them and be with them. And while they're there, they pray. They say psalms³. And so it's just - somebody shouldn't pass from this world by themselves. And it's an honor. It's an honor for everybody who's involved in it.

MCCAMMON: Diamond says a ritual washing of the body is also part of the Jewish tradition to prepare for burial.

DIAMOND: And that's what we call a great mitzvah, a great commandment, the great good thing that we do. It's a very difficult thing, too.

MCCAMMON: A burial traditionally takes place quickly in Judaism, ideally within a day or two. That timeline has been pushed back slightly because of the criminal investigation⁴ surrounding the shooting.

AARON BISNO: There's a real desire to return to a sense of routine and normalcy.

MCCAMMON: Rabbi Aaron Bisno is the senior rabbi at Congregation Rodef Shalom, which is hosting the Rosenthals' funeral today. He explains the thinking behind a quick burial, which is traditionally followed by a week of intense mourning.

BISNO: Even as that won't be immediate⁵, we want to get that underway, that process, so that we're not wallowing in our grief or we're not stuck in suspended animation⁶ as we anticipate a burial that's at some later date.

MCCAMMON: The funeral director says there will be heavy security, and she's expecting an enormous crowd. One of the people who will be there is Marcia Urum Kramer, who knew both Rosenthal brothers since they were children.

MARCIA URUM KRAMER: And they were just - just so good, just so good people, always with a smile and caring and I'm going to certainly miss all of them, but Cecil and David have a special place in my heart.

MCCAMMON: During his time leading the congregation Tree of Life, Rabbi Chuck Diamond says the two were always there, one of them out front greeting everyone who came to worship.

DIAMOND: It's the first thing I would see, and I'd always say, Cecil, you're going to chase everybody away. That's why nobody nobody's here because you're sitting there, you know, and he would have some retort to me, and we would laugh and hug each other. There's no question in my mind he was sitting in the back of the sanctuary⁷ of the chapel at the time greeting people.

MCCAMMON: Dr. Jerry Rabinowitz, a 66-year-old local physician, will be remembered in a separate funeral today. Services for the rest of the 11 victims are being planned in the coming days. And Jewish leaders here say there will be many months of mourning.

Sarah McCammon, NPR News, Pittsburgh.

(SOUNDBITE OF HEINZ GOLDBLATT'S "TRAVELING")