Beth Kissileff > Quotes

“If New York bestows the gift of loneliness, Squirrel Hill wards against it. Intrusion and concern are its gifts. To live here requires participation, whether you like it or not. New Yorkers are created everyday. We require a lifetime.”
― Beth Kissileff, Bound in the Bond of Life: Pittsburgh Writers Reflect on the Tree of Life Tragedy

“Nobody's parents were going to take them on vacation to Poland. One does not go on vacation to a cemetery.”
― Beth Kissileff, Bound in the Bond of Life: Pittsburgh Writers Reflect on the Tree of Life Tragedy

“As I milled around the synagogue, getting ready to leave, I realized I had nowhere to go. I was in Squirrel Hill. I was already home. What was I going to do, drive five minutes away and wait for the next morning?”
― Beth Kissileff, Bound in the Bond of Life: Pittsburgh Writers Reflect on the Tree of Life Tragedy

“Above me the Calvary ceiling soars, the consummate antonym to the one over me the Kol Nidre before. It rises three stories high, majestic with stone arches and flying buttresses. It is beautiful, unravaged, pristine. There are no buckets to catch leaks. It is whole. Its wholeness reminds me of all we have lost.”
― Beth Kissileff, Bound in the Bond of Life: Pittsburgh Writers Reflect on the Tree of Life Tragedy

“Before the massacre, when people asked me where I lived, I would sometimes say the 'East End.' It was an answer I could give that would not immediately lead to me being identified as a Jew. People have asked me if I am Jewish on several instances while I was working. Even without saying where I was from, my last name was often a giveaway. I was not ashamed of being Jewish, but I grew to understand that sometimes saying less could save me some trouble. I never experienced hostility, but people would sometimes look at me with suspicion. I am not concerned about that kind of thing anymore, and I am proud to tell people that I'm from Squirrel Hill.”
― Beth Kissileff, Bound in the Bond of Life: Pittsburgh Writers Reflect on the Tree of Life Tragedy

“Aha,' says Mr. Goldberg, 'I remember — this is the custom.' 'What? What is it? Tell us.' 'Yes, the custom of our shul is to argue about this and shout at each other.”
― Beth Kissileff, Bound in the Bond of Life: Pittsburgh Writers Reflect on the Tree of Life Tragedy