Speaking to a church full of mourners, Temple Israel Rabbi Marcia Zimmerman spoke about the book of Jeremiah, and Rachel weeping for her children while refusing to be comforted.
“We bring our sorrow, our compassion, and our longing for justice and community, coming together in this sacred space, we are responsible for one another,” Zimmerman said. “We are commanded to protect life, so we hold space for mourning today and tomorrow, and perhaps even tomorrow’s tomorrow, but also for courage, for resolve, for the sacred obligation to build a world where no more Rachels weep.”
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey at the Interfaith Vigil on Aug. 28, 2025, at the Basilica of St. Mary (Lonny Goldsmith/TC Jewfolk).
Hundreds of mourners filled the Basilica of St. Mary on Thursday evening for an interfaith vigil to support the Minneapolis Catholic community affected by the deadly shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church and School on Wednesday. Fletcher Merkel and Harper Moyski were killed in the attack, with another 17 people injured – including 14 children. There were many who are part of the Annunciation community in attendance, as well as several elected officials, including Rep. Kelly Morrison, State Sen. Bonnie Westlin, and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
Zimmerman, Mount Zion Temple Cantor Rachel Spilker, Temple Israel Rabbi Jason Rodich, and Beth Shalom Rabbi Samantha Thal were the Jewish clergy seen at the event. Other speakers included Imam Matthew Ramadan from Masjid An-Nur, Metropolitan Nathanael from the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago, and Bernard Hebda, the Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
“I reached out to my downtown colleagues and asked what can I do?” Zimmerman said after the event. Zimmerman has, for many years, been part of the Downtown Interfaith Clergy group. “It takes a lot of work. It takes years of knowing them all. And we struggle with each other.”
The Rev. Daniel Griffith, the pastor and rector at the Basilica, said thanked Zimmerman for her friendship with the community.
“Nothing conveys love and solidarity more than being present,” Griffith said.
Hebda said he was inspired by the number of interfaith leaders on the pulpit and in the church pews.
“I certainly hold up the beautiful collaboration here in Minneapolis to our whole archdiocese,” Hebda said. “But it’s beautiful to see the way in which you all work together.”
Mount Zion Cantor Rachel Spilker pets a therapy dog, one of several outside the Basilica of St. Mary, that were brought by Lutheran Church Charities to help mourners. (Lonny Goldsmith/TC Jewfolk).
Zimmerman, while offering a prayer for the injured, grieving families, educators, community members, and first responders, told the crowd that Jewish tradition teaches us that we are all responsible for one another.
“It calls us to care deeply for the safety, dignity, and humanity of every child, teacher, religious leader, every member of the community,” she said. “An assault on one community is an assault on every community.
“In their memories, we need to go forward with strength and resolve. We pray for strength to face this grief, to hold each other in love, to commit ourselves to a world where schools are sanctuaries of safety and learning and imagination and hopes and dreams, never the scenes of horror.”
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