Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle.

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Oppenheimer is the host of Tablet magazine’s podcast “Unorthodox,” and is the author of five books, including “Knocking on Heaven’s Door: American Religion in the Age of Counterculture” and “The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia.” He was the religion columnist for The New York Times from 2010 to 2016.

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Oppenheimer had a virtual conversation with the Chronicle to discuss the book prior to its release. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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\"The — The now vacant Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. BETH KISSILEF

Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle: Why did you decide to write this book now?"} 65:{"position":6,"content":"

Oppenheimer: I was always curious about Squirrel Hill. The morning of the shooting, I was at a bat mitzvah in Newton, Massachusetts, with my eldest daughter. We had left our phones in the car until after the lunch. We got back to our car, I opened my phone, and I had a ton of messages. “Is everyone safe in Pittsburgh? Are you going to Pittsburgh? Did you know anyone in Pittsburgh?” Then I looked at my news app and saw that there had been a shooting at a synagogue in Squirrel Hill. It immediately registered as the neighborhood where my father and grandfather and great-grandfather had all lived.

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My father was a fifth-ge

Mark Oppenheimer’s new book on the Tree of Life shooting is an ode to an iconic Jewish neighborhood

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