The collective mourning, in a community still shaken by the brazen act of violence, will continue into Tuesday as funerals are held for three of the victims of what the Anti-Defamation League said was the deadliest attack against Jews in US history.
The close-knit community of Squirrel Hill, where the shootings took place at Tree of Life synagogue, will first bid farewell to brothers Cecil and David Rosenthal and Dr. Jerry Rabinowitz, according to CNN affiliate WTAE.
Cecil, the 59-year-old gregarious one, and David, 54, the serious one, were familiar faces at the synagogue, like "ambassadors" a fellow Tree of Life worshipper said. Rabinowitz, a family physician, has been remembered for the bow ties he wore and the care he provided, often to multiple generations of the same families.
Funerals for several of the other victims, including a spry nonagenarian and a couple who were married in the synagogue 60 years ago are expected later in the week.
In all, 11 people died and six were injured when a gunman began firing in the synagogue as three congregations gathered there to celebrate Shabbat services. Robert Bowers, whom authorities believe acted alone, faces 29 federal charges, some of which are punishable by death.
The shooting has struck at the heart of Pittsburgh's historically Jewish Squirrel Hill neighborhood and reverberated across the state, where residents are banding together to both comfort one another and stare down hatred.
"Tomorrow we begin the funerals for our 11 neighbors who were stolen from us. Tomorrow we continue to mourn their loss," Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto tweeted Monday night. "We continue to help their families & those that were wounded. We reach out to our Jewish community to share love, compassion & empathy."
The Pennsylvania state capitol, in Harrisburg, also was bathed in a single blue light on Monday, as the governor attended a "Vigil Against Hate."
"All of Pennsylvania stands with the victims and their families," Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf tweeted Monday night. "We join the Pittsburgh Jewish community and Jewish Americans across our nation in mourning."
Online, mourners have rallied behind the hashtag #strongerthanhate.
The outpouring of support has extended to first responders.
Those injured in the shooting included police officers, two of whom remain hospitalized.
The walls of the Zone 4 police station, a few blocks from the Tree of Life synagogue, were covered in handwritten notes from residents after the shooting, the Pittsburgh Public Safety Department said in a series of Twitter posts Monday. People also came by to "deliver food and hugs for the officers" the department said.
More than 500 people from different faiths, races, backgrounds and communities gathered to memorialize the victims Monday at the Westmoreland County Courthouse in Greensburg, a community about 30 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, CNN affiliate KDKA reported. It was one of several such vigils held across the country in the shooting's aftermath.
Carlotta Paige, co-chair of the Westmoreland County Diversity Coalition called on people to "work together to make our differences, our strengths and promote love, dignity and respect."
Sports fans will share a moment of silence for the victims on Tuesday when the Pittsburgh Penguins take on the New York Islanders at the PPG Paints Arena. The hockey team will also hold a collection at the game to benefit victims and victims' families.
At the tragedy's epicenter, Rabbi Jeffrey Myers said his congregants would be unbowed. A GoFundMe page set up to raise money for the synagogue had raised $802,958 of its $1 million fundraising goal by Tuesday morning.
"We are Tree of Life and, as I said before to many, you can cut off some of the branches from our tree, but Tree of Life has been in Pittsburgh for 154 years. We're not going anywhere," Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, who was leading services at Tree of Life Saturday said Monday on CNN's New Day. "We will be back stronger and better than ever."
'Always... in our hearts'
The Rosenthal brothers were familiar faces at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue, said Suzan Hauptman, who grew up in the synagogue.
"They were like the ambassadors," she said. "They were always there. And they will always be there in our hearts."
Rabinowitz, a primary care physician in Edgewood Borough, touched the lives of many. In the early days of HIV treatment, he was known as "the one to go to" because of how he treated patients with respect and dignity, said Michael Kerr who was treated by Rabinowitz for HIV between the 1990s and 2004.
"Before there was effective treatment for fighting HIV itself, he was known in the community for keeping us alive the longest," Kerr said.
After his name was released over the weekend, people began bringing flowers to Rabinowitz's office in Bloomfield, according to CNN affiliate KDKA.
Wednesday will bring the funerals of Joyce Fienberg, a former research specialist at the University of Pittsburgh, and Melvin Wax, an accountant, WTAE reports. Then on Thursday, friends and family will gather for the funerals of dentist Richard Gottfried and couple Bernice and Sylvan Simon.
The funeral for matriarch Rose Mallinger will take place Friday. The funeral arrangements for Daniel Stein have been announced, but the service will be private, WTAE reports.
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