was so much joy from the tree of life for so many years, the weddings, bar mitzvahs, and now that the building has been stained. he equated it to a jewish wedding where the glass is stepped upon at one point during the proceeding, and it is to signify the rabbi said of the tragedy. he said this tragedy has happened, but we must go on and that the building will find joy in the future. the three congregations that were in the tree of life on various levels from the basement to the main floor to third floor, they re all having a ceremony together at beth shalom, close to where i am now. it is continuing to go on. we know at one point they had a moment of silence, one minute 11 seconds. 11 seconds for every victim that perfect ishd one week ago today in the perished one week ago today in the synagogue.
meyers last week had his cell phone on him, hiding in the choir loft and called 911, and rabbi diamond said today i have my cell phone on me also. so it is a large gathering. it is a rainy day. but not too far from here, three congregations that were actually in the synagogue last week are celebrating together the sabboth, and we understand during that shabbat service going on now, they just had a minute and 11 seconds of silence. 11 seconds for every victim whose life was taken last week at this very time. jean casarez at the tree of life synagogue. thank you so much. there s a man tasked with bringing the community together, and that s rabbi jeffrey meyers. he invited allison cammarata to see the place of the crime at the synagogue behind jean, and how the community is trying to
victims in pittsburgh. the former crime scene is now covered with flowers, letters, tributes to those lost. cnn jean casarez joins us live from pittsburgh. what are you hearing, jean? reporter: we are right here. this is where it happened one week ago today just as you said at the tree of life. it is still an active crime scene because federal investigators, the fbi, continue to process it. but outside, it just ended minutes ago. it was an outside shabbat service by former rabbi of tree of life, chuck diamond. there were so many things he said to people all over the community that came for this outdoor shabbat setting. it was raining very hard at the time, but it went on. he said the survivors of all of this should not feel guilty because they were given life. then he focused directly on tree of life synagogue which was behind the mall and said there
comfort for the community and healing and support . and for the people who suffered losses and for the community as a whole, because i feel we all, jewish and non-jewish have suffered a loss here. thank you very much. thank you very much for your time. chuck diamond joining me here on squirrel hill in pittsburgh. coming up, much more here from pittsburgh, pennsylvania, as we continue to follow the aftermath of the shooting that took place here yesterday morning. people tell me all the time i have the craziest job, the riskiest job. the consequences underwater can escalate quickly. the next thing i know, she swam off with the camera. it s like, hey, thats mine!
the update. my colleague, cal perry, joining me from new york. with me now here in pittsburgh is chuck diamond, former rabbi for the tree of life synagogue which is just up the hill from here. thank you very much for being here. we may learn more about the names of the victims coming up at this news conference. what have you learned about what happened? what have you heard from members of the community that used to be so integral to you? well, i spoke to some people yesterday who were in the building and, a gunman came in, i would say around, i don t know, 20 to 10:00, you probably know more about the timeline than i do. there were three congregations who have services and share the building. and he went downstairs, where there was a congregation, new light. i heard that he killed a few people at that point, went upstairs, killed a few people in the chapel, a couple of people ran from a classroom to see what was going on, just tragic, tragic story. and there were people yesterday wai