Vigil Archives - Inside Chappaqua and Inside Armonk: The Magazines for New and North Castle

Story and Photos by Grace Bennett

Chappaqua, June 13–On the steps and floor of the South Greeley Avenue gazebo or on the soft field of grass, and under a gradually darkening sky, Chappaqua residents stood together either silent or in song during a vigil to honor the victims and their loved ones in Orlando–and to hear and be comforted by the words of area clergy and public officials, and also to begin the hard work of making sense of Saturday night’s horrific massacre.

Chappaqua Vigil for Orlando Photo by Grace Bennett/Inside Press

The crowd was led in singing Ya’aseh Shalom (a prayer for peace) by Star Trompeter, the Cantor of Temple Beth El of Northern Westchester, and Amazing Grace, led by Dr. Martha Jacobs of the First Congregational Church.

Rabbi Jonathan Jaffe of Temple Beth El of Northern Westchester opened the ceremony noting “already stories of courage and faith abound from the victims and survivors,” and that “in such moments we have the opportunity to bring godliness into the world.” He thanked Dawn Evans Greenberg and New Castle Town Supervisor Robert Greenstein and his fellow clergy for making the event possible. “Let’s support one another through our grief and heartache while committing ourselves to the hard work of making a more peaceful world a reality.”

Supervisor Greenstein reminded that “more love and less hate stands for a better tomorrow…
“Love serves as both our shield to protect us and our sword to fight hatred and violence and intolerance.”

Dr. Jacobs spoke of the critical need for unconditional love in all our lives and to not allow hatred to poison our outlook or our souls. She asked that everyone reach out and support members of the LGBT community, as well.

“No one is spared from grief and sorrow in our world; it’s the price we pay because we love, we all have grief and we all have sorrow. For those who decide to kill each other and cause such sorrow, I truly have a hard time believing that they have experienced love, absolute love, unconditional love. Because once we experience love, it is something that draws us back again and again to be with people in our lives….”

“The best we can do is share the love with all those with whom we come into the contact. I pray in the aftermath of this horror we can find ways to support and honor our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer friends and neighbors while also being mindful of the cost that gun violence brings to many communities every day…Even while we may disagree I call on us to be more mindful of those directly affected by gun violence–not only in Orlando but across the country…
“Jesus tells us to love our enemies, but that does not mean that we are to be silent in the face of such a horrific act of killing people in the so called name of someone’s God.”

Dr. Jacobs reminded that while we may be angry, “hate will not stop the cycle of violence, not in this country, not anywhere in our world.”
And she recalled the words of Martin Luther King:
“Returning violence for violence multiplies violence adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.”
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.”
“Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
“Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it.”
“Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it.”
“Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.”

Khusro Elley of the Upper Westchester Muslim Society offered poignant words affirming Muslim beliefs: “As Muslims, we can and do condemn in strongest possible terms the killing of innocent people in Orlando. It appears the only crime in the eyes of the killer was the sexual orientation of the victims. We should urge our lawmakers for the harshest measures for hate crimes and take whatever measures are available to prevent such dastardly acts…

“Believe me that fact that the killer professed to be of the Muslim faith makes each and every muslim feel the pain even more than otherwise. We feel the pain as Americans, parents, brothers, sisters and wives and husbands and we feel the pain as Muslims…

“I am proud to stand in solidarity with all other faiths and all other the people in Chappaqua to mourn the untimely deaths of all the victims in Florida, many of them still in the prime of their life. May God grant us the courage to overcome this loss.”

A representative for Congresswoman Nita Lowey reminded that the gun purchase by the terrorist perpetrator was legal. “He was a citizen much as any of us here.” She said that Lowey firmly believes and will fight for a ban on such weaponry. “We have to try. For every person who says it won’t stop anything, if it stops one person from doing something this awful, she (Lowey) says yes, let’s try.”

The final speaker was Chappaqua’s Sheryl Goldberg Manassee, a member of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. Dressed in an orange tee, Manassee read from an essay written by an openly gay young woman whose identity she did share at the event, but Sheryl and the young lady’s family have since asked The Inside Press for her anonymity. She wrote that she had attended and “had a great time” at the Los Angeles Gay Pride Festival the night before learning of the massacre and of how her sense of safety has been shattered. She pointedly reminds that you don’t need to be gay to feel unsafe, either.

“This is what it feels like for her…,” began Manassee.

“…Last night I kissed my girlfriend in public in a simple act of love and protest that straight people participate in without thought or fear. Last night I was not afraid and allowed myself to believe that love triumphs hate. This morning something changed. I guess a part of me always knew that I was truly not safe anywhere. Just like a part of you knows that you are not safe anymore. And neither are your sons, daughters and sisters, whether they are straight, whether they are gay, or whether they are black or whether they are white.

“You feel safe in school, until massacres, at Virginia Tech, and USCB, and Columbine and Sandy Hook and Columbine show you that you are not safe even in school. You feel safe in a movie theater until the deaths of those who dare to watch a Batman film in Aurora show at you are not safe in a movie theater. You feel safe at your place of employment until those who went to work in San Bernardino one day never came home. You feel safe in a church, protected by God himself until a racist unleashes and shows you that you are not safe in church…

And speaking metaphorically to the terrorist, she asked: “Did you think of these people as individuals? Did you check to see that your friends were not one?”

Manassee reached out to those in attendance. She handed out 50 pennies to place down in a location in remembrance. “50 people. Take 50 pennies. Line them up and think of each as a life that was taken last night. Each one is my brother and my sister and each one of them is targeted. 50 people whose friends and families will never be the same. 50 people who left their dogs at home, their mothers or lovers, who said, I’ll be right back…” Single stem pink roses donated by Whispering Pines of Chappaqua were also placed to honor the victims.

CHAPPAQUA’S FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH HOSTS
INTERFAITH VIGIL FOR VICTIMS OF GUN VIOLENCE ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13

In commemoration of the third anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, and in remembrance of the 90,000 American victims of gun violence since December 2012, First Congregational Church in Chappaqua, NY, is joining the Newtown Foundation and Faiths United to Prevent Gun Violence in a nationwide vigil service to #EndGunViolence. The Interfaith Vigil for Victims of Gun Violence at First Congregational Church will take place on Sunday, December 13, 4 p.m.

“Through prayer, song, the ringing of bells, and candlelight, the service is intended to give a voice to all victims and survivors of gun violence,” stated Rev. Martha Jacobs, Senior Minister, First Congregational Church.

The Chappaqua Vigil is one of hundreds of local vigils being held in 39 states around the nation.

Survivors, elected officials, faith leaders, and others in the community will gather together to honor all victims of gun violence. Survivors and family members of victims will talk first-hand about the lifelong pain it creates.

– Kim Russell, a gun violence survivor, lives in NY and works with the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and Million Mom March.
– Gisela Marin, mother of Jessica N. Santos, who at age 19 was the innocent victim of a random drive-by shooting. The Jessica N. Santos Foundation, http://www.rememberingjessica.com/foundation.htm
– Leah Gunn Barrett, Executive Director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence. Leah lost her brother to gun violence in 1997.
– Faith Leaders from First Congregational Church, Temple Beth El of Northern Westchester, the Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer, the Chappaqua Interfaith Council, and the Upper Westchester Muslim Society.
– Elected officials attending:
– Assemblyman David Buchwald, 93rd Assembly District
– Robert Greenstein, Town Supervisor, Chappaqua
– Patti Lubin, Senior Counsel, representing US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand

Since that tragic day in December 2012 approximately 90,000 lives have been needlessly cut short due to the public health crisis of gun violence. So far in 2015 there has been on average at least one mass shooting per day (4 or more people shot in one incident), and more than 1,000 since the Sandy Hook shooting[i]. More preschoolers are shot dead than are police killed in the line of fire[ii].

Chappaqua Cares, a not for profit connecting philanthropic organizations, is co-sponsoring the vigil.
“We mourn for all victims of gun violence and believe it is vital to support family and friends suffering the loss of their loved ones every day for the rest of their lives. The ripple effect of gun violence cannot be understated,” said Dawn Greenberg, founder, Chappaqua Cares.

Inside Chappaqua and Inside Armonk Magazines is the media partner for the event.

The organizers expect a large turnout in the face of horrific mass shootings in Colorado Springs and San Bernardino over the past two weeks.

[i] Mass Shootings Tracker, shootingtracker.com
[ii] A New Way to Tackle Gun Deaths, The New York Times Op-Ed, October 3, 2015

–First Congregational Church has been serving the greater Chappaqua community for over 100 years. It is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and is an Open and Affirming congregation.
http://www.fcc-chappaqua.org/
–The Newtown Foundation is a Newtown-based, all volunteer organization formed after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings. Our mission is “To provide comfort, education, scholarship and other support and resources to people and communities impacted by, and living or growing up among or in the aftermath, of violence in American society; and to help them lead the way toward positive cultural change over the long term.”
http://newtownaction.org/newtown-foundation/.
-Faiths United to Prevent Gun Violence is a diverse coalition of more than 50 denominations and faith-based organizations united by the call of our faiths to confront America’s gun violence epidemic and to rally support for policies that reduce death and injury from gunfire. http://faithsunited.org.