The Tree of Life synagogue shooting shocked the Pittsburgh area in 2018, and to this day remains the deadliest antisemitic attack in the United States, claiming the lives of 11 victims and injuring an additional six people. A traveling exhibit centering on the attack, “Lessons from the Tree of Life: Lighting the Path Forward” will be debuting at the University of Pittsburgh’s University Club Library March 27 and will be open to the public through April 25.
The exhibit aims to educate area residents about antisemitism, but also to show how the community came together in the wake of this tragedy. “Lessons from the Tree of Life” is separated into four chapters: one about the shooting, one of items mailed to and displayed outside the synagogue in the aftermath, one about Tree of Life’s new building—which will be built on the same grounds as the original—and a final chapter about the broader history of antisemitism in America.
The exhibit was created by The Tree of Life, an antisemitism awareness organization created following the Tree of Life shooting, in collaboration with the Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives at the Heinz History Center, which provided many of the items featured in its second chapter.
Throughout the month of April, several events are planned to take place at the exhibit. These include a “Songs of Resilience” remembrance concert, a panel of survivors and family members of victims and a lecture about some of the gifted items in the exhibit.
Following its tenure in Pittsburgh, “Lessons from the Tree of Life” will be displayed in Cleveland, Ohio, from May through August, New York City during the fall and Miami, Florida, in spring 2026.
The exhibit’s creators are hopeful that it will continue traveling to other cities and continuing to educate people about antisemitism in America.
“If we don’t travel to other cities, then how does the next generation start to learn?” Maggie Feinstein, executive director of the 10.27 Healing Partnership, told CBS Pittsburgh in a March 21 story about the exhibit’s opening. “And I hope when it travels to other cities people can look and remember 10/27 and think these vulnerable and holy people did not deserve to die this way ever.”
Learn more about the exhibit and upcoming events at treeoflife.org
