2 Separate Massacres, 2 Acts of Kindness Out of Pittsburgh

When the Tree of Life synagogue shooting took place last October, killing 11, Muslims in the Pittsburgh area rallied to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the victims and their families. Now, in the wake of the massacre at two Muslim mosques in New Zealand that has taken the lives of 50, the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh is returning the favor with its own act of generosity. CNN reports that the group has set up a fundraising effort to bring in money for the Christchurch victims and for the Muslim community there.

"Unfortunately we are all too familiar with the devastating effect a mass shooting has on a faith community," Meryl Ainsman, the chair of the organization's board, says in a statement. "We are filled with grief over this senseless act of hate." The daughter-in-law of Joyce Feinberg, one of the 11 killed in the Pittsburgh synagogue, tells the Jerusalem Post, "New Zealand may be halfway around the globe, but it's the same story of hate and violence against people peacefully praying to their Creator." (New Zealand is moving quickly on gun control after the killings.)