Hundreds gathered at a Washington vigil on the one-year anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings to call for tighter gun registration laws.
Victims, relatives and friends of those killed by guns, along with religious leaders and gun-control advocates, attended the vigil at the Washington National Cathedral.
The event began with a three-minute tolling of the cathedral’s Bourdon Bell, representing the many thousands who have lost their lives to guns since 20 children and six adults were killed last year at the school in Newtown, Conn.
“Today is a day of sorrow,” declared Rabbi Steve Gutow, president of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, as he began the 90-minute ceremony on Dec. 12 with a call to prayer. “365 days, and although there has been no appreciable legislative progress on the national level, there has been much honor with action seen all over the country. The Bible commands us not to stand idly by when faced with the blood of a neighbor.”
Rabbi Stephanie Aaron of Congregation Chaverim in Tucson, Ariz., mixed Hebrew and English as she called on people to listen to God’s small voice within and to have the courage stop the violence. — jta