Jewish Community Invites Georgia To #ShowUpForShabbat

The Jewish community in Georgia and across the nation is inviting people to attend Shabbat services this weekend.

Saturday marks one week since the tragic shooting in the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, where 11 worshippers were killed by a lone gunman.

#ShowUpForShabbat is the social media push behind this initiative, which invites non-Jews to visit synagogues on Friday and Saturday as a show of solidarity and to learn about the Jewish faith.  

GPB's Taylor Gantt reports on #ShowUpForShabbat in Georgia

The American Jewish Committee hopes the event will bring people together, especially in the wake of the Pittsburgh tragedy.

"Synagogues all over the world will be more filled, rather than less filled. We will not run away. We will not cower."

Read AJC Director of Interreligious and Intergroup Relations Rabbi Noam Marans' powerful sermon to #ShowUpForShabbat.https://t.co/zf7JG84t6j— AJC (@AJCGlobal) November 1, 2018

Dov Wilker, who serves as the regional director of AJC Atlanta, says synagogues across Georgia are aware of the importance of this event.

“We’re looking forward to the entire community standing in solidarity together, in unity, with a show of force to say that we will not allow these… acts of hatred and violence to prevent us from practicing our faith in a public way.”

Shabbat is the holy day of worship in Judaism, often marked by prayer and family gatherings between Friday and Saturday evening.

Many synagogues are also planning information sessions to help teach visitors more about the Jewish faith.