Laurie Zittrain Eisenberg is on faculty in the History Department at Carnegie Mellon University, where she specializes in modern Middle East history. Eisenberg’s primary area of research, publication and teaching is the Arab-Israeli conflict and peace process. She is the author of numerous articles and the author or editor of several books.
Eisenberg is also a third generation member of Tree of Life Congregation, where she currently sits on the board. In the wake of the October 27th, 2018 synagogue shooting, she has worked to preserve for future generations evidence of the outpouring of support that the community received after the attack. The Tree of Life Story Project collects photographs of gifts retrieved from the makeshift sidewalk memorial outside the synagogue, along with the backstories of the well-wishers who left them there. She has also published an article, “Memorializing the Memorial to the Tree of Life Shooting” and a chapter, “Sharing Their Stories,” in Bound in the Bond of Life, edited by Beth Kissileff and Eric Lidji.
The project about which she is presenting to the “Eradicate Hate” conference is #HeartsTogether: the Art of Rebuilding. This is a public art initiative, which covered the perimeter fence around the empty synagogue with windscreens printed with uplifting artwork from students across the country. This beautiful sidewalk gallery seeks to thank neighbors for their love and support, and inspire passers-by with the conviction that love trumps hate.
This cannot be thought of as a conference or a summit. The stakes are simply too high and the data/conversation and methods to drive action more valuable/motivating than any gathering I have attended. I took more than 100 pages of notes and have shared them with my CBS News leadership team, anchors, producers, and correspondents. Nothing about this gathering was easy. The agony around this topic is real. But no one curious about it could ask for a more devoted, rational, or unflinching look into this dark but decipherable world.
