Myers says his mission at Tree of Life has reached its conclusion
In the years after the attack, Myers said he struggled to pray. He turned to the biblical Book of Psalms, reading all 150 chapters in order. When he reached Psalm 121, he found words that resonated: “My help comes from God, maker of the heavens and the Earth.”
“There it was,” Myers said. “My faith did have the answers. It just took time to be able to find them.”
Myers, 70, had been the rabbi at Tree of Life for just over a year when the shooting occurred. The attack killed 11 worshippers from three congregations — Dor Hadash, New Light and Tree of Life — that shared the synagogue building. Myers presided over multiple funerals for the slain congregants in the aftermath.
During the nearly eight years since, the congregation has worked to grieve and heal. It endured a long-delayed trial that led to the gunman’s death sentence. It experienced the disruptions of the disruptive pandemic and the groundbreaking for a new building.
“My mission has come to a conclusion to the best that I could,” Myers said. “It was time for the next chapter also for the Tree of Life.”