A community came together Thursday evening to pay tribute to Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, the victims of the shooting outside the Capital Jewish Museum, and denounce antisemitism.
The organizers of the vigil are friends of the couple, and they were clear: This was not the time for big speeches — just songs, hugs and prayers.
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WATCH HEREWell over a hundred people gathered just feet from the White House in Lafayette Park to mourn 30-year-old Lischinsky and 26-year-old Milgrim.
The two Israeli Embassy staffers were gunned down outside the Capital Jewish Museum in D.C. just 24 hours earlier.
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“This person might have been yelling about Israel and Palestine, but he was targeting a group of Jews, and that is antisemitism, and we have to come out in solidarity because America’s divisions today only create more hate,” said Rabbi Hyim Schafnar with Kesher Israel Georgetown.
Many in the crowd were waving flags and wiping tears.
According to their LinkedIn pages, Lischinsky was a research assistant who moved to Israel from Germany at 16 and later came to the District to work at the embassy. Milgrim worked in the Department of Public Diplomacy. She graduated with a master's in international affairs from American University, and she wrote that she had “a passion for peace building, religious engagement and environmental work.”
“I think it's more about standing and supporting and really being there to respect everything that they lived for,” said Sam Koralnik, who attended the vigil. “They were in the prime of their life, really doing everything that they could to create a better world.”
As members of the community grieve, they said they will continue their fight against antisemitism.
Organizers said they chose Lafayette Park as the location because of their safety concerns.
