The Shooting of Gabrielle Giffords

I read a lot about Gabrielle Giffords. She seems like a wonderful person, and a really devoted public servant on a very high level. Also very warm and caring. It would be interesting if someone could check into her ancestery. Perhaps her maternal grandmother was really Jewish and didn't know it, which would mean that Gabrielle's mother is Jewish, and that Gabrielle herself is really a Jew. As we all know, Judiasm is passed down through the mother, and not the father. It is so interesting, actually facinating, that after a trip to Israel she started to call herself Jewish. She seems to be someone who seeks truth and recognizes it. I hope and pray that this wonderful young woman will have a complete recovery, and if her mother is really Christian, then I hope that Gabrielle will convert to Judiasm and fulfil all the requirements for a proper conversion.

May the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Holy One of Israel, have mercy on Gabrielle, each one injured in the shootings, the loved ones, family members, and friends of those killed in the shootings, the Loughner family and Jared. We all are hurting from these sensless acts of a man who has been decieved by the enemy who comes but to kill, steal, and destroy. May the horror of these acts result in many acts of teshuva, prayer, and tzedaka throughout the world.

We may be related. I'd sure like to find out. would you like that? I am praying for you.

The comments are better than the article. Ysakoah to all of you. Shabbos should be a rufuah the the congresswoman!

The Truth About AZ Shooter J. Loughner * Loughner was not political. * Lougher had no interest in politics. * Loughner did not listen to conservative radio, did not follow the news. * There’s no evidence he even knows who Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin are. Loughner is simply a mad man. LOUGHNER FRIEND: “He did not watch TV. He disliked the news. He didn’t listen to political radio. He didn’t take sides. He wasn’t on the left. He wasn’t on the right.” http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/jared-loughners-friend-says-suspect-did-not-watch-tv-disliked-the-news_b48040

Thanks for the article I will be saying tehilim for her recovery I felt bad for the senator,Gabrielle Giffords, but today I am grateful she had help the Jewish nation and Hashem will continue helping her with her recovery so she will continue helping this world be a better place.

"Loughner, who expressed extremist political beliefs...." He didn't express any political beliefs, actually. He is a paranoid schizophrenic. We need to protect both the mentally ill and society at large by making it easier to hospitalize and treat severely mentally ill people, even against their "will." I put "will" in quotation marks because mental illness attacks the brain and the very personhood of its victims, making it impossible to truly say what is the "will" of a paranoid schizophrenic. Is it truly his will to be crazy, or would he rather -- if only he could think straight! -- be freed of his insane delusions, paranoid fears and disordered thinking? Now Loughner will probably spend the rest of his life locked up in prison or in a mental hospital. And innocent people have lost their lives. Wouldn't it have been better for him to have been hospitalized before all this happened? It is the ACLU and liberals like them who have created the laws that made it impossible to take Loughner off the streets in time. Liberals have blood on their hands. No wonder they blame Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, the Tea Party movement -- they want to deflect public attention from their blood guilt.

It is imporant to note that the number of Mischlingen who have turned to Judaism de facto if not yet de jure leave us in a difficult position. We must reach out with open arms to these people who may have Jewish surnames, Jewish appearances, and may be able to "bagel" as well as one who was born Jewish and have them either enter the tribe as a convert or decide to remain a non-Jew.

My empathy is with the Jewish community. My prayers are with Congresswoman Giffords. This act of violence should be condemed by the nation.

Creator of the Universe, God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah: Please bless your precious daughter Gabrielle Giffords with complete recovery of body, mind, and spirit. Help us in the Jewish community become more mindful of those who wish to destroy our people from hate. Help us to transform hate to love and compassion in our own actions. Let us say Amen.

It's pulling the Tucson community together. When tragedy happened, they are overcoming evil with good. The people of Tucson isn't debating whether Gabby is Jewish or not, whether she's democrat or republican, all people are pulling together. Because when people are not kind and respectful to each other, even over differences, this kind of thing happens. The shooter is accountable for his own acts of display of anger over someone who differ from him. His motive was to shoot to kill. Ms Miller comes from a Democrat leaning state, is this the reason for her jagged blaming? The republican leaning state is pulling together, for a D-Senator, if you want to get political, then that says alot. The last part of this article, gets out of politics and focuses on Judaism. Tucson community is overcoming evil with good, by doing good and leaving politics out of it.

This shooter's politically fragmented perceptions indeed gave direction to his targets, and antisemtism was one of those fragments. His hatred was multifaceted, but to deny antisemitism if it exists is counterproductive and unjust as denying racisim, or rewriting the history of slavery. He has a favorite reading list of books which are extreme right and left. I have the impression he never completed, or possibly ever even read any of them. I think he has taken all his education directly from other people who he believes have through the internet. He is a self loathing illiterate.

I am really quite puzzled by the fact that so many of your writers go on and on about Mrs. Gifford's possible/or not Jewishness. This is neoither the time nor the place to discuss such trivia, especially when one is aware of the tragic circumstances that have brought to the fore the subject of Mrs. Gifford and her value as a human being and as an elected representative. Enough with this nonsense about whether she is Jewish or not. She feels she is. Her father is Jewish, and the old fashioned laws that state that only children of a Jewish mother are Jews should be changed to include fathers as well. Loving and wise Jewish fathers have always had an enormous and beneficial influence on their children...and so do Jewish paternal grandparents on their grandchildren.

I am tired of hearing this one and that one are responsible for this shooting... on both sides. They are persecuted for their beliefs and right as a free America to share them. This is pitiful. Focus on prayer for these families and holding this mentally ill man accountable so he is never free again to do this to another. We all have a right to our beliefs. Stop it and lets get back to civility and love for one another. We have a right to disagree. We do not have a right to distort words, JUDGE people for having a different view or to try and divide America. We are all Americans...get rid of any divisional things America! You have freedoms no other country shares! Value them.

this was an act of pure violence by a sick individual who should have been either killed or locked up years prior. Human nature tends to analyze these acts as to better understand the profound impetus of this dysfunctional ass to possibly explain his motives. Wake up everyone - the only impetus is an imbalance of this idiot's dopaminergic/serotonin neurologic pathways in his derranged brain development - thats it - period! No religous, ideologic democratic.conservative view points should even be considered. If there is a hell he will be there.

I am open to say that truthfully, Gabrielle Giffords is NOT Jewish. (Halachically). This should be known and you would find many Orthodox rabbis who would agree. I am sorry about this tragedy and wish her a speedey recovery.

My Dearest Sara, Please put the blame where it belongs.. The Mother and Father. You will see as this trail will last for over four years. His parents where derlict in there duties.. I have 4 children and thank hashem I knew if something was wrong . my job as father was to fix it or get my child help..

The shooting of congresswoman Giffords is a tragedy which effected everyone in the country. However, the lesson learned has been distorted. The shooting was not politically motivated. The shooter was a sick, mentally ill person who should have been in a mental institution. He was not a political person, in fact he was a registered independent who didn't vote in the last election. We should as a country re-evaluate how the mentally ill are evaluated (and make sure they are evaluated) and find a way to get the people like the shooter, both the help they need and the protection the rest of the country needs from them.

Sure the press will say it is not politically motivated because they don't won't this to blow up any more than it already has. Don't believe everything you read in the papers they are very misleading. If it is only Loughner mental illness and not related to any political views why would he take his anger out only on all those at the rally? Palin and her tea party has unleashed unrest in this country and all the hate needs to stop. I knew one day it would come to this. The media fed on this hate against the President and the Democartes not speaking out against it now we have come to this. Terrorism in our own back yards.

This was not an anti-semitic issue but the work of a sad individual that the community let down. He clearly suffered a psychotic illness and yet nobody stood up and did a thing for him. The community should hang heads in shame. Also, not everybody with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder does such things. The whole episode is a tragedy and I pray for all those involved.

Whether there is a connection between the vitriolic political rantings rampant in the media these days and the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords, can we not all - liberals and conservatives alike - at least admit that it is irresponsible to post a listing of Congresspeople with a map highlighted with gun targets? Or to say in an interview that people are going to start taking "second amendment remedies" and then naming a sitting representative as someone who needs to be "taken out"? These things are not "made up." They have been posted in the Internet and spoken in interviews. Please, can we not at least be honest about that? Surely the Torah does not say that this is acceptable "speech"? If it does, then I have completely misread the writings of the rabbis.

When I first heard of this horrific shooting what came to my mind....Sarah Paliny and her "gang" and gun control. Little by little the news folks are arriving at this also. In addtion the perp was reading "meinKampf"" and Gabrielle is a Jew. When you make a composite and that you are dealing with a person having serious mental problems doesn't it make you think of the lack of responsibility of Palin and her Tea crowd, I hold her and her maps of target responsible. I hope she sleeps well .. the unfortunate Palin!!

Whether Mrs. Gifford is Jewish or not according to our laws, is totally immaterial. She may have converted to Judaism. However whether she did or not, she had Jewish ancestry and Jewish blood coursed through her veins...whatever our Halachic laws state. The heinous crime perpetrated was not due to her religious affiliation. It came about because a deranged human being was freely allowed to buy a gun, and target an important government official. This is totally unacceptable as the US is a democracy, and she was elected to do a job, which she obviously did very well. There is a sickness among some of the elected US individuals who believe that they have to resort to violent rhetoric against members who do not belong to their own party. This is deplorable...just like sick violent movies on television which make crazed individuals believe that killing someone is quite normal. To the US people I say, put a stop to these violent television programmes, put a stop to violent rhetoric by your politicians, and put a stop toyour murderous gun laws. They allow anyone to buy a gun with no questions asked., and no research being made as to whether they buyer is normal or insane.

Once again we are subjected to a media double standard. 1. Ms Giffords may identify as Jewish but unless she went through formal conversion, she is not. 2. But no matter, she was fired on in an attempt to kill her and it was done by an apparently deranged young man, but we still don't know. 3. Because of the high stakes in today's political debate people are taking strond stands and there are strong reactions. When Democrats put targets on districts shown on their web sites, no notice of it is taken by the mainstream media. When Republicans do it, somehow this becomes an appeal to violence. The term, "Target District" have been around through all the 68 years of my life and it's usually Repuiblicans who are targeted. 4. In addition to her support for Obamacare, Giffords also opposed the Obama-Holder lawsuit against her state's law against illegal immigration. This easily could have been a motive for a shooter (we don't know) but the mainstream media didn't speculate on that. 5. The shooter was described by a high school classmate as a "left wing pothead," but that was mentioned only in the conservative media, not the mainstream media. 6. Other than support for her state's strong stand against illegal immigration there is NOTHING "conservative" about Ms. Giffords. Even in her vote against San Fran Nan she voted for Civil Rights Movement hero Lewis of Georgia. So, let's have accurate reporting by the media and not the rush to accuse that was saw after JFK's murder which, because it took place in Dallas, the perpetrator was assumed to be a right winger and not the communist he was.

Thanks for helping me get through this.

Just as the fine aroma of freshly baked bread permeates the space of the bakery and finds its way into the street, so does the not-so-fine odor of raw sewage find its way beyond its source; and so does the sweetness and stench of our human nature flow way beyond ourselves and become the ambient air of opinion and the fuel for wonderful or malevolent action. Fortunately, there exists a quantity of positive waves, which somehow sweeten and temper and bring light to the dark places. Unfortunately, there are a lot more dark places---especially during these times of economic failure and angry reassessments of who we are as a nation, what we used to be and what we hope to become. Gabrielle Giffords, I believe, represents the aroma of positivism, of hope, and above all, of a willingness to have a dialogue and be civil. The negative media, and the hateful vocals and visuals apparently found one unstable person who actually acted out the messages to a conclusion. Motivation on the part of Jared Loughner---whether it was the need to be a hero in the eyes of the political fringe, (as he had, apparently, nothing meriting validation from anyone else), or simply misaligned cranial wiring---is a potent issue. The bottom line is: Jared Loughner pulled the trigger, and it could not have been difficult for him to have found the strength of encouragement from saturated, ambient sociopolitical sources. In a broad spiritual and philosophical sense, we all share responsibility for good and evil, as we either send out positive and constructive air waves that encourage goodness, or the opposite. It’s at times like this when “bad vibes” and bad rhetoric eat up the airways and choke off (hopefully temporally) the aromatic waves of freshly baked bread.

When a German diplomat was shot by a Jew in 1938, the Nazis used this as an excuse for what became "Kristallnacht." Shame on the liberal media for misusing this tragedy to further their own political agenda. There is no association with the killing and the conservative agenda. Eric Canter has also been threatened, etc.

the Tea Party has been an advocate of violence and bi-partisanship non-stop and is reprehensible in its activities and leanings. it is a blessing that we are in a country of free speech; it is a shame that the people in the Tea Party thinks that enables them to advocate "hitting" those who think different than them.

More people than we realize are praying for Rep Giffords and all those hurt in this tragedy. Whether she is officially Jewish or not, I would like to know the correct name to pray for her. I have been using Gabriela bat Sarah. Is there a better way. Thank you.

Rep. Eric Cantor's (R-VA) office was shot at. He's definitely Jewish. All members of Congress get death threats. Right wing talk show hosts and their families get death threats. Both parties use military imagery such as targets and cross-hairs. Pres. Obama has said: "If the other side brings a knife, we'll bring a gun." He has also referred to the Republicans as "the enemy".

I have read everything the Wall Street Journal published on the issue of the shooting, and the same for our very liberal LA Times and both agree the shooter was NOT motivated by extremeist political views. Quite the contrary everyone (other than an extremeist liberal) seem to agree on is that Loughner is a mentally sick individual who did not receive the care he should have. His parents appear to have been unconscious regarding his actions and needs. How else can you explain a 22 year old not completing high school, and getting kicked out of community college?

As a former constituent of Gabrielle Giffords, having moved from Tucson to Israel, I have a couple of remarks. First, I don't know how many people knew she was Jewish. I only knew because she spoke to my Hadassah chapter, of which she was a member. My daughter in Tucson, who likes her and went to hear her speak, didn't know until I told her. Secondly, I have not read that the killer knew she was Jewish. I think it's very premature to assume her Jewishness is part of the reason she was shot. I think it comes down to being accessible to an unstable world, which includes the killer. Many of his classmates commented that they were afraid he might come to school with a gun or do something violent, so maybe we shouldn't try to impute rationality to an irrational act. To Aish- thanks for the positive suggestions of ways to respond.And also on a positive note, I am myself, B"H, a head injury survivor. I was out for 3 days after a bike accident and no one knew how I'd be after recovery. There were challenges but today I am doing well. Hashem can heal in ways no doctors can predict. Prayer and good deeds in Gabby's name is so important. Thank you.

I pray for Mrs Giffords recovery. But, I take issue with the tag Conservative. She was mostly liberal (85%) and as much as I disliked her political leanings I beg hashem to restore her.

This tragic shooting is something that reminds us the human mind is a fragile and impressionable thing, but the mainstream media has tried to turn it into a lynch mob and has brazenly and reprehensibly tried to use it to silence free speech in the US. No conservative, no Tea Party member, no republican that I know EVER voiced a desire for this kind of thing. If people cannot disagree without violence we are lost as human beings. Sadly violence has been on both sides of the aisle and taking away the right to legitimately disagree will not end it, but being on more. The US is indeed in a dilemma, but as a nation we need to come to together, the media will not allow that to happen.

In light of Ms. Miller's response to the earlier comment from Ms. Falkenstein.... I respect and applaud your intentions in writing this article, and we ALL share the fervent hope that the Congresswoman has a speedy and complete recovery. That being said, your clear implication that political incivility, and Gov. Palin's year-old web-site imagery, led the insane young man to attempt and commit murder is unacceptable. You are trying and convicting without any evidence whatsoever. We (and you) have absolutely no idea of whether or not the shooter had ever viewed Palin's website, or the image in question. And if so, you, and many members of the media and the political Left are doing everything short of placing the gun in Palin's, Limbaugh's or Beck's hands. Why stop there? There are thousands of violent images on television every hour of every day. Perhaps one of those sent the meshugganer over the edge. Consider that the 24/7 coverage of the shooting might tip yet another crazy person to copy the crime...should we hold every single news agency responsible should that happen? The crazy man was very likely a paranoid schizophrenic. He had a shrine to a plastic skull in his back yard. Should we ban all images of skulls? Perhaps pirate movies need to go as well, so others of infirm mind aren't influenced by the image of a skull and crossbones. No, Ms. Miller, you are falling into an intellectual trap. This was an insane act by an insane young man. Do we need more civil discourse in this country? Of course we do. But to imply causality to the shooting is unprofessional, inaccurate, and really inexcusable, not to mention against Halacha. The Left will use this horrible tragedy to further their own aims. Don't be a part of that.

Mrs. Gifford was well aware that she was targetted. She had many such warnings left by lunatics who wished to harm her.Why was there no one to guard her and keep her safe? The fact that she was Jewish and a woman does not turn her into a saint, and she did not get things done. She should have ensured that she was protected. The tragedy was that innocent buystanders including a 9 yr old girl were killed. Although they were not Jews, they were human beings, and God's people. Please do not turn Mrs. Gifford into a superwoman and a saint, this is not appropriate. Some people in you country hav very violent tendencies...and your politicians should learn how to restrain their language...and last but not least, people should not be allowed to buy guns and ammunition wherever and whenever they feel like it.

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, severely injured in the deadly Tucson shooting, visited Israel under the auspices of AJC's Project Interchange in 2001. View her comments on AJC's website www.ajc.org

my prayers go out to the victims and their families. It is beyond belief that such a young man can have that much hatred and no feeling for his violence. It is a sin to harbor such lack of guilt.

Simply identifying as a Jew made her a worthy target for an anti-Semite. Therefore, I think it is very praiseworthy of Aish to tackle this article in a very sensitive and sensible way - stating the facts and sticking to the point. Thank you for a well written article.

The senseless tragic shooting of Mrs.Gabrielle Giffords leads to an unstable, misguided, impressionable young man ( who apparently was taken by Hitler's & Nazi literature ) and the combination of her being a -self-confessed- Jew ( but traditionally not ) and endorsing Pres. Obama's Health Care Reforms together with the poisonous recent public and political outcries against it has been the result of this tragedy. If somebody is hell-bent to kill somebody, there is always a reason to do so. Unfortunately,such an incident is almost impossible to prevent,. perhaps only by vigilance.

Mr. Loughner is no better than the Gazans who fire rockets into the the communities of innocents in Israel.I cannot accept forgiveness as an answer to those who would sestroy the innocent and the weakj and the helpless. I sede with King David and Joshua and the other Jewish heroes who defend and protect the Jewish people..

"Initial news reports indicate he holds extreme right-wing views..." of course they did, the MSM always assigns right wing motives in any tragedy because most of the MSM are very, very liberal. His friends have come out publically and said that the alleged shooter was very liberal. Aish was wise to edit those allegations from your article. It's a pity you undid that by posting this response this erroneous, knee-jerk view.

to #35 -- by clearly stating her mother isn';t jewish everyone knows that means according to halacha she's not jewish. my hunch is that the editors didn't want to step into a hornets of "who's a jew" issue, and instead dealt with the matter in an honest yet sensitive way. #36 - maybe you find the article inappropriate -- i found it to be thoughtful and meaningful. i suspect some readers need to see how jews alot less religious than them view the world. Aish.com is a site aiming for a wide swath of jews; it's not Hamodia

I think that by now listening to comments on TV is not reliable. Of course they would jump on the opposite party to blame, this is the game. On the other hand reading the Internet his profile is completely different, so are his motives. I still think it was a very innapropriate article

I think that somewhere in the article, should have been written, "Although not halachically Jewish (Mother is Christian, Father is Jewish), Rep. Giffords identified herself as a Jew after a trip to Israel. The article made it sound as if the children of such marriages just have to have an epiphany and identify themselves as Jewish. Of course, I wish her well Jewish or not, but I feel Aish has the obligation to be crystal clear about who is and is not Jewish.

Aish.com is one of the few sites presenting all the facts about her jewishness -- according to halacha, she isn't jewish, even though she identifies herself as a jew. The article makes this point very simply. For the lunatic shooter, however, rep giffords is jewish enough, and very well could be why she was the target. That's why this is an issue for all Jews, religious and non-religious. I'm glad aish.com has a big enough perspective of the world to see this.

Dear Ms. Falkenstein, Thank you for your comments on "The Shooting of Gabrielle Gibbons", which Aish forward to me. They raise a number of points, and while I agree with some, I don't agree with all. First, most seriously, you make a connection between this article and a previous article I wrote, "The Art of Misleading", about rhetorical tricks that can be used to win an argument in an underhanded way. Please know that it wasn't my intention to use these devices to mislead anybody in writing about Rep. Giffords. Do you know how I wrote the Giffords article? From the heart, in a moment of extreme sadness that this had happened. I didn't know anything about the shooting until motzei Shabbos, when I heard news that this massacre had occurred. I have long felt that the incivility in American politics might lead to a crazy person one day committing violence, and I was so distressed to learn that the violence I had long feared had come to pass. Instead of cleaning up from Shabbos, or reading the very good novel I'm in the middle of, or even spending time with my family, I sat down and wrote my thoughts about the shooting: not with any attempt to deceive or make a political point, but to comfort both myself and others. But my fear of political violence does bring me to a second point you strongly make: that I assign conservatives blame for this shooting, and that I characterize your congressional district as Republican. Your point that your district is left-leaning is well taken, as it is true: you did twice elect Rep. Giffords. Contrary to your assumptions, I am familiar with Tucson. I've spent some time there, and have friends and relatives who live in the congressional district. (Politically, they're all over the map; I do realize it's a diverse city.) Regarding the background to Rep. Giffords' shooting: in writing this article, I felt I could not ignore the history of violence that has dogged Rep. Giffords: the death threats, the vandalism of her office. I felt that to comment on the attempted assassination of Rep. Giffords without making any reference to the threats she had already received and the atmosphere of intimidation that Rep. Giffords herself had mentioned would be disingenuous. I even initially wanted to mention the fact that Rep. Giffords was targeted politically, but sometimes with gun-related imagery, by Republicans. Rep. Giffords herself even complained that former Gov. Sarah Palin had used a rifle crosshairs to indicate that Rep. Giffords should be unseated on a political map she posted, and used the phrase "don't retreat, reload" to talk about the last election. The imagery horrified me (and not because of any political views I hold, but because I found it repugnant and irresponsible), and since Rep. Giffords had recently complained about this and other gun imagery being used in political discourse, my first inclination was to mention it in connection with her shooting. But Aish - and this answers another of your criticisms - did edit my article extensively, and, reflecting its apolitical (and very level-headed) views, pointed out that this might not be an appropriate connection to make. I'm very glad they did. For I did not mean my article to be political. I did feel that a mention of past and threatened violence against Rep. Giffords had a natural place in an article about the fact that she was shot. And I did feel that pointing out that Rep. Giffords was not always popular was natural, setting up the background and explaining who she was. I can't comment on the motives of her shooter. Initial news reports indicate he holds extreme right-wing views. Perhaps he was encouraged by the incivility and gun-related imagery of current political discourse, and perhaps not. But I did think that mentioning there was at least a history and a threat of violence around Rep. Giffords was appropriate. Finally, Ms. Falkenstein, please be assured that my motive in writing this article was to help and comfort. What I really wanted to get at in my piece was the timeless threefold formula of our mesorah, our heritage: that through tzedakah, tefillah and teshuva, we might hope to sway G-d's decree. Thank you for your comments. They've given me a lot to think about. Yours, Yvette Alt Miller

Further investigation whas shown that the shooter is indeed a lunatic who had confronted Ms Giffords on other occasions. I know hindsight is 20/20, but on the day of the shooting the person approached Ms. Giffords and was turned away. He then left, and returned with his weapon and began firing. If a high profile individual has received death threats, and their office has been broken into and vandalized, why wasn't there extra ARMED security present? If fact, where was ANY security? The shooter was stopped by an old lady and a college student! I definately believe in divine protection, but the scriptures also tell us to be "cautious as serpents, and yet innocent as doves" (Mt 10:16). The presence of armed officers would have been a visible deterrent to this nutcase as he would have been hesitant to carry out his dastardly plan in the face of probable resistance. And bodyguards with concealed weapons could have responded to quicky end the threat or possibly have spotted the shooter and reacted before he got off a shot, much less multiple shots. Even unarmed uniformed security, might have given him pause, ar at the least could have been extra eyes on the event. As I stated before, SHE HAD BEEN RECEIVING THREATS! The people putting on this event could have hired an entire protection team for a grand or so. I know, I do it for a living. Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems like better precautions could have been taken. Like I said, hindsight.... My sincerest prayers and condolences to the Gifford family and all the other victims. Peace and Respect.

As a concerned resident of the UK I see nothing but evidence of an overcharged emotional / political environment. Yet again the anger felt by those who happen to hold 'opposing viewed' has erupted to produce these tragic events. The result is not reconcillation or solution but only heartbreak.As a member of the media (a reporter at ITN Reuters etc here in the Uk) i can only testify to the increasing level of vitriol that is stirrd up by all involved when discussing issues. Be they religious, economic or whatever, some steam has t be taken out of the system. It's not just the democrats, Sarah Palin needs to take out the images of her political rivals 'framed' within the sights of a gun from her website. All parties need to cool down or else reap the consequences. May we pray they she and all the victims of this terrible event are blessed with a speedy recovery. This need to stop right now!

If people were trained with, and allowed to carry weapons, someone might have stopped the shooter before he killed and injured 20 people. Gun-control proponents of course have the option of praying after the damage is done.

thank you for putting this article on time. i do wish her a speedy recovery regardless of her or any other victim's religious views.

I live in Southern Arizona, in Gabrielle Giffords Congressional district. I was at my local synagogue, studying Parshat Bo, when a congregant informed the congregation that Gabrielle Giffords and others were just shot in Tucson. Everyone was horrified and shaken. We all prayed that nobody had died and that everyone would quickly recover. Not all of us voted for Gabrielle Giffords, but we all prayed for her. Gabrielle Giffords is a human being, a Jew, an Arizonian, and our Congressional Representative. She, as well as all the other people who were shot, was in need of our prayers. That is all that matters. Not one person at the synagogue blamed any group or political party for this shooting. However, Yvette Alt Miller, in her article, “The Shooting of Gabrielle Giffords” infers blame on others (Conservatives, Southern Arizonians, Tea Party, and an unkind American society) for this terrible shooting incident before many of the facts are known. In writing the article about Gabrielle Giffords, Yvette Alt Miller used many of the "hidden rhetorical devices" that she described in her “The Art of Misleading” article (posted on aish.com). Yvette Alt Miller is an expert in identifying the “common tricks that the media uses in obfuscating the truth” in discussing "charged political issues." Therefore, I do not think that her deception inferences were unintentional. I hope that part of Yvette Alt Miller’s Teshuva is to stop using "hidden rhetorical devices" when writing about any "charged political issues". Let us all pray for Gabrielle Giffords recovery as well as for all the other victims (and their families) of this horrific shooting.

First and foremost let us remember and honor the memories of the victims of a mentally deranged person and that they should be in our prayers. But I’m very disturbed by the tone of this article. That being said, the author spent roughly one third of the article disparaging the people of Arizona and implying that the political climate had something to do with the acts of an apparently unhinged individual. In a “kinder America”, the authors’ phrase, perhaps we would be less concerned with respecting the “civil rights” of troubled individuals such as the assassin and more concerned with getting them some help. According to the Torah I know, that would be the Jewish response. The accusations of anti-semitism and the fact that Representative Giffords previously served in the Arizona legislature and has been re-elected to Congress twice don’t seem to match. Representative Giffords actually has a pretty conservative voting record. The other congressman from Tucson, Raul Grijalva, is a lot more liberal and a lot more controversial. Why would a conservative go after her and not him? Maybe the answer is that the assassin is mentally deranged and that politics really had nothing to do with this. I don’t really know but neither does the author. In an effort to portray the citizens of Arizona as intolerant reactionaries, the author has slandered the people of Arizona. It is very easy to sit in Chicago (or wherever she is) and pass judgment on others with limited information that conforms to your preconceived bigotries. However, the Torah I know calls this lushon hora and it is not to be tolerated. Perhaps it is the author should consider some teshuva of her own. Again, my response is to pray for those murdered and injured and leave the moral judgments about the people of Arizona to HaShem.

Please recall that the 'Tea Partiers' first attracted attention by disrupting the Town Hall meetings of members of Congress that they were targeting (figuratively). Is it surprising to you that this should culminate in physical targeting?

I do not believe this act of extreme violence had anything to do with her being Jewish. This young man was absolutely psychotic and completely delusional. We may never know what caused him to do such a terrible thing. I believe if this was just against "Gabby", he would have only shot her not 19 more people. Unfortunately, our system does not instutionalize the people that should not be on the streets today. I pray that we will all heal from this episode and look to God for guidance.

It is indeed a tragedy and we should definitely pray for her to have a complete and speedy recovery... NEVERTHELESS, she is not Jewish in spite of whatever feelings she might have in her heart. May the Almighty grant her a refuah sheleimah and shed some light onto humanity,

The violence against Rep. Gifford has nothing to do with being Conservative. Furthermore, there are synagogues and other Jewish institutions in the Tucson area and they are not being particularly targeted. What IS a problem in the area are criminals and drug gangs coming across the border. Whether one is Jewish or not, or Democrat or Republican, we all are pulling for Rep Giffords to recover.

My heart goes out to HER and the family of REP Giffords. I would also give my best to the Shooters family, they are victims of this tragic event. Shalom John

Yes it is a tragedy. As for the vandalism of her office and all the threats that was purely anti-semitism and nothing else. She has been very brave and now possibly looked upon as foolish by some unfortunately.

For the first moment after hearing about shooting and seing Gbriel's fase,her eyes,I just felt her aura around me.Listenind do David Gregory I discovered,she is jewish.Couldn't explain this spiritual connection ,I am 78 old,9 years we flew from Nazy,while they came to Kiev.I'll pray for Gabriel life.

I am from Congresswoman Gifford's district. Nobody really cared about her religion -- that was/is her business. It was human insanity that shot her, it is human insanity that makes it all hydrophobically political. This was not a crime of Right OR Left, it is simply a crime. Please pray tht Gabby will be able to recover ande return to her duties representing this district, which she has done so well.

Although I'm totally sympathetic to everything in this post, I feel compelled to point out that Barry Goidwater was a Jewish senator from Arizona who twice ran for president. His most endearing quote, when he was barred from playing golf at a Scottsdale country club, was "May I play 9 holes because my mother was gentile?"

This shooiting is unthinkable, and unforgiveable that one human being can destroy other human beings without thought

in my view, a fundamental improvement of our political climate is to change the nature of our endless, tedious, repetitive, expensive, commercial smear-campaigns. Political campaigns should be understood as educational opportunities, to inform us about the issues, the problems and the choices we face. Publicly financed campaigns will challenge us rationally, not incite us emotionally.

I lived in Southern Arizona and can tell you those old timers don't like newcomers. I knew a little girl who went to school in Tombstone who says those were the meanest kids she ever met. There isn't that much live entertainment down there, so they like to make their own at someone elses expense.

She seems like a very nice person, but she isn't actually Jewish, as her mother wasn't Jewish. Considering yourself Jewish doesn't make you Jewish - if I consider myself American because of whatever reasons doesn't give me the right to live in America. I'm not trying to denigrate what she believes, but i'm just saying she isn't Jewish according to Jewish law. This would be evident if she tried to marry a Jewish person in the synagogue or if he kids wanted a bar mitzvah - it wouldn't happen. There are many people with Jewish ancestory which again doesn't MAKE them Jewish. My grandmother was from Lithuania, but I certainly am not Lithuanian, even though you could argue I have Lithuanian ancestory. As for those people forced to convert, along as their maternal parent was Jewish, it's kind of irrelevant want they believe - they are sitll Jewish. Reform judaism is very different to orthodox ones. Reform allows for all kinds of things which actually go against orthodox Jewish law, but someone who converts to Judaism in the Reform system is NOT considered Jewish by the Orthodox.

I will say AMEN to the statement given by her after the shooting at the museum . my prayers go for her and all the victims of this violent tragedy . I dont agree with the statments made earlier about the tea party . political inclination has nothing to do with violence

May the Lord of Israel be with Gabrielle Giffords, the victims and their families.

Rep. Giffords is truly a brave and strong women, i pray that she and the remainder of survivors have a speedy and complete recovery.

This tragic event happened. Because it happened we are reminded that we do not possess the freedom of thought, action, or religion as afforded in the Constitution. Unfortunately, some who disagree do not know how to debate or make their disagreements known in a civil manner choose violence. This is evil personified.

The violent rhetoric of conservative talk radio and many others are all responsible for yesterday's tragedy. While they may have not pulled the trigger, all have blood on their hands for the violence they purport in their language. What you say has consequences, and those consequences played out yesterday.

This kind of violence is far from unheard of in our own ranks, sad to say. Remember Yitzchak Rabin, slain by Yigal Amir. Not so different.

The Congresswoman considered herself Jewish. She felt that she was a Jew in her heart. Many of us have found that we are Jewish through our ancestry even though we did not know it directly. Many "Christians" were converted Jews either voluntarily or forced to survive. Many records have been destroyed. Example my grandfathers parents came from Eastern Europe and both villages they came from were destroyed and all residents killed during WWII. Many consider ourselves Jewish even if there are questions about ancestry. That is between G-d and us. There is some evidence that the Shooter was a big fan of Hitler and Mein Kampf. If this is so, then it adds a new dimension to the shooting. The Congresswoman is certainly Jewish enough to be considered a enemy of these people and targeted. The Congresswoman and her family needs her prayers and support. Leave the petty "She ain't Jewish enough" arguments for another day.

Sadly, there are a huge number of angry people out there. All too many of them believe they have been neglected by "the system", if you will.

Although Gabriella is a wonderful person, with a Christian mother she is not Jewish.

A long time friend's wife used to teach in Julia Richmond High School - an urban center school in Queens when Yitzchak Rabin was shot. The wife spoke to her class about it and an African American student came up to her after class and said, "...you know, black people are shot in my neighborhood all the time and nobody writes or talks about it, but let one Jew raise a gun to another Jew and it's all over the front page and radio..." i.e. violence is not part of our consciousness.

Of course, my thoughts and prayers are with Rep. Giffords and her family, as well as the other victims, after this horrific event. We all pray for the rapid and complete recovery of the Congresswoman, and the other survivors, and we mourn the loss of life, especially that of an innocent child. We must be careful not to violate geneivat da'at, the prohibition against deception. The attacker and murderer here was a psychotic, a madman with tenuous connections to reality. Your article implies a connection between the Tea Party and this despicable crime, when there is none. This is unfair to those who hold different political beliefs, but would never, EVER commit such a crime. Everyone, even Jews, are allowed to be Conservative if they freely choose to do so. Keep in mind the Congresswoman's statement on intolerance.

We are deeply concerned with this tragedy. Our thoughs goes to Rep. Giffords, the other victims and their families.

Thank you, Michael for sharing this article.