Scarlet Rose

Rose Mallinger

At 97, Rose Mallinger walked everywhere in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood she called home.

She was sharp, witty and the “sweetest woman I ever knew,” according to David Muskal, 63, who grew up with Mallinger’s three children and remains in close contact with the family and his old neighborhood of Squirrel Hill despite living in Charlotte, N.C.

Muskal said he was heartbroken to hear that Mallinger was among the 11 people killed Saturday in the Tree of Life synagogue. Mallinger’s daughter was wounded in the attack and remains hospitalized, he said.

“Words can’t express what a good woman this was,” Muskal said in a phone interview from his home. “She was like a second mom. My heart is crushed.”

Muskal and another close friend – Guy Costa, Pittsburgh’s chief operations officer – said they’ve known the Mallingers for 50 years. They attended Alderdice High School with Mallinger’s three children and were very close with her son, Alan, who is known to friends as “Mal.”

Muskal said spoke with Alan Mallinger by phone after the shooting.

“It probably hasn’t set in for him,” Muskal said. “Mal’s a strong character.”

He and Costa said Rose Mallinger watched over the neighborhood from the porch of her home on Ferree Street. She walked everywhere. She made the best Jello in the world and would skip rope on her porch for exercise well into her 60’s, according to Muskal.

“She loved to walk,” Costa said. “I think that’s what kept her so spry. You never think that something like this could happen in your back yard, and this is our back yard. ”

Cost, 62, lives in Squirrel Hill and his mother lives around the corner from Tree of Life, he said.

Muskal said he is heading to Pittsburgh Wednesday to help comfort the Mallingers.

“My heart pours out to Mal and his family,” he said. “The bottom line is a vibrant person lost her life. It’s sickening.”

Chuck Diamond, a former rabbi at Tree of Life, said the first person he worried about was Rose Mallinger when he heard that a gunman had opened fire inside the synagogue.

“She was a synagogue-goer, and not everybody is. She’s gone to the synagogue for a lifetime, no matter how many people are there,” Diamond said.

Diamond, 63, has known Mallinger for years.

“I feel a part of me died in that building,” he said.

When Diamond was rabbi, he had a nickname for Mallinger and another congregant whose name also starts with an “R.”

“I used to call Ray and Rose my RR,” he said. “I think of them, and a smile comes to my face.”

Lynette Lederman, a former president of Tree of Life, said Mallinger’s daughter has been taking her to the synagogue every week. The daughter was shot in the arm, Lederman and Diamond said.

Years ago, Mallinger used to come to the synagogue with her sister, Sylvia, who later died. The sisters were usually the ones preparing breakfast for the congregants, Lederman said. 

Just a small tribute to the lovely Rose Mallinger, may she rest in peace.

                                                                      Scarlet Rose

Thank you Moz

                                                    

Dark Days

I awoke this past Saturday around noon. Stumbled to the living room and flicked on the TV. I saw images of many police and police cars and thought it was another mass shooting somewhere. They have become so commonplace in this country one becomes blasé to their existence. This wasn't just another mass shooting, this happened in my city, Pittsburgh. The Tree of Life Synagogue was invaded by a Neo-Nazi terrorist who murdered 11 innocent people at their Saturday morning service simply because they were Jewish. There were 6 people wounded, including 4 police officers.

I live about 15 miles from the city limits. I have been by the Tree of Life Synagogue hundreds of times. It is in a beautiful part of the city called Squirrel Hill.  The neighborhood is culturally diverse. It houses an extremely vital Jewish population. The houses and streets are lovely. The stores and small businesses are all local and it's the shining gem of the city.

I sat at the TV numbly watching the coverage, absolutely floored as to what was happening.  People were slaughtered in their sacred place of worship simply because of their religion. This happened several years ago in Charleston South Carolina at a black Baptist church because the worshippers were black. The hatred in the USA is toxic. I can't understand what makes a man hate another man.
I don't want to understand.

The murderer at The Tree of Life used an AR-15 assault military type rifle to butcher his defenseless victims. Why do people need these? They are nothing but killing machines. Almost every mass murder in the US in the last several years has 2 common denominators, the AR-15 and angry white males. This killer hated Jews. He was screaming he had to kill all the Jews because they were killing his people.  What the hell was talking about? He had been radicalized by ultra right wing websites that the Jews were the cause of all the problems in this country and were financing immigrants to come here and destroy white people.

The hatred and anger are at an all time high here and there is one answer why. The bastard that occupies the White House. He lies about everything. In this lie, he claimed George Soros and Jewish financiers were behind an immigrant caravan headed to the USA from Honduras and Guatemala. These people are fleeing horrible violence in these countries for a better life. They are poor and have nothing. They are no threat to our way of life. The lies about this Caravan by Trump set off the murderer and now 11 wonderful folks are dead.

Somebody has to speak out, where are the leaders people can trust? We need a Bobby Kennedy, a Martin Luther King, an Abraham Lincoln. There has to be someone out there that can lead and turn this around. If not, there will continue to be more Tree of Life's and it will be worse. Hate begets hate.

This is a list of the dead from the tragedy. Eleven lovely people erased from this planet because of pure hate. I don't know any of these folks. I have read and watched tributes to all of them. They all were special, enchanting people who had many loved ones and made their place here one of caring and love. We as a society will never be the same, the world will be a lesser place without them.

How many more have to die?

                                      I can't understand what makes a man hate another man.

Orange

Our Moz will be appearing on the James Corden Show on November 7 to sing his latest single release "Back On The Chain Gang". Who could ever forget him juggling 2 oranges in his dressing room on August 18, 2015, in his last appearance on Corden's show.

                                                   I'm a soldier of Orange I know

                                                                 Kiss Me A Lot

                                                               That ring is huge!

                                                           He said return the ring
                                                He knows so much about these things.

What will Our Moz do this time in his dressing room introduction? It should be fascinating.

In The Future

When All's Well

Armed with wealth and good health.

The future is ended by a long sleep.