If you need evidence that love will overcome hate, it was in plain view Sunday night in the sanctuary of Congregation Shearith Israel. In the 700-seat sanctuary, it was standing-room only as people answered a call to pray for hope and healing for the Jewish community of Pittsburgh.
"It's just incomprehensible," vigil attendee Jill Jacobson said. "That's why I wanted to be here."
For many of the people in the sanctuary, the shooting that killed 11 worshippers in Pittsburgh left them feeling as though their own family had died.
"Just feel like I needed to be with other people who were feeling like I did – loss," Jacobson said.
"It was important to come, just as a member of the community at large and the world at large. It's a terrible thing," Damien Falgoust said.
So they gathered – not just Jewish people, but people and leaders from all faiths and communities.
"We cannot allow the actions of one person to destroy everyone's freedom to feel safe and to worship in the house that they choose," said Dallas Police Chief Renee Hall, who was one of the many speakers.
They didn't focus on the crime; instead, they condemned hate. And they lifted each other up in compassion and hope.
"Our Dallas Jewish community is not so different than the Pittsburgh community in size and scope and concentration," said Bradley Laye with the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas. "So it does feel like our community in many ways. So we come together, that's what our tradition teaches us."
No one can understand why this happened – the worst attack on Jewish people in the country's history. But they want to keep it from happening again, calling for a "refuah shlemah," a complete healing.