A former rabbi at the synagogue targeted in Saturday's mass shooting does not want your thoughts and prayers. He wants action in Congress.
"It happens over and over and over again," Rabbi Chuck Diamond, who served seven years at the Tree of Life in Pittsburgh, told NBC News. "What are the prayers going to do at this point?
"We need to take action — whatever that might be."
The rebuke of thoughts and prayers after mass shootings has been a rally call for those seeking stricter gun laws. President Donald Trump has said the guns are not as big part of the problem as mental health, security, and terrorism.
"I wish the politicians on both sides of the aisle would get off their rear ends and do something significant about it," Rabbi Diamond told NBC News. "That's what's frustrating."
The rabbi has long feared an anti-Semitic attack because of the modern-day climate of "hate."
"I'm always thinking as I was up there leading services what if that guy looks suspicious, what's he got under his coat," the rabbi told NBC News. "Unfortunately, I think that's the world we live in.
". . . We have to overcome the hate which is surrounding us. Everybody feels like they were attacked in that synagogue. The community will come together, we're very strong."
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