Rather than talk about the evil in the hearts of some men, I think it is more important to talk about, the usually less publicized by the media, loving reactions of other people to these despicable acts even years later.

In this I, as a Reform Rabbi, follow a verse in the Qur’an:

“Good and evil deeds are not equal. Repel evil with what is better; then you will see that one who was once your enemy has become your dearest friend…” (Qur'an 41:34)

There has been a wave of interfaith support between Jews and Muslims since the first inauguration of President Trump.

A refugee from Iran raised over $700,000 for the US synagogue in Pittsburgh where a gunman killed 11 Jews. Shay Khatiri, 29, started an online fundraiser to collect donations for the Tree of Life Congregation. As of Monday evening he had raised over $700,000, far exceeding his expectations. Khatiri is a political refugee from Iran and currently a graduate student.

He was inspired to raise money when seeing a Jewish friend’s reaction to the shooting.
“She told me what happened and she was just broken up. Seeing how upset she was, I wanted to donate to the congregation.”
“Everyone talks about how divided we are,” he told CNN. “But in such a tragic moment, Americans are always powerful and indivisible in trauma.”

When vandals damaged headstones in a Missouri Jewish cemetery, Muslim activists raised more than $125,000 to fund repairs.

When a Victoria, Texas, mosque was razed by vandals on January 20, 2017, members of a local Jewish congregation gave the displaced Muslim worshippers a key to their synagogue.
“Everyone knows everybody, I know several members of the mosque, and we felt for them,” said Robert Loeb, the president of the Jewish congregation Bnai Israel.

When vandals toppled more than 100 headstones in a Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia, Muslims and others traveled from other states to repair them. The Muslim Student Associations of Florida State and Florida A&M universities also delivered bouquets of flowers to campus Jewish organizations and local synagogues in a show of solidarity after two cemetery attacks.

Jonathan Greenblatt, head of the Anti-Defamation League, an anti-Semitism watchdog group, received a standing ovation when he said at a conference that if U.S. Muslims were forced to register with the government, he would register as a Muslim, too.

These accounts of simple brotherly love are modern descendants of the following archetypical fable, transmitted orally in both Arabic and Hebrew for many centuries, and finally written down in several different versions in the mid-19th century:

The Tale of Two Brothers

Two brothers who inherited a "valley to hilltop" farm from their father divided the land in half so that each one could farm his own section. Over time, the older brother married and had four children, while the younger brother remained unmarried.

One year there was very little rain, and the crop was meager. This was at the beginning of a long-term drought that would turn the whole valley into an arid, treeless desert where even grain did not grow, and all the springs dried up.

The younger brother lay awake one night praying and thought:
"My brother has a wife and four children to feed, and I have no children. He needs more grain than I do; especially now when grain is scarce."

So that night, the younger brother went to his barn, gathered a large sack of wheat, and left it in his brother's barn. Then he returned home, feeling pleased with himself.

Earlier that very same night, the older brother was also lying awake praying for rain when he thought:
"In my old age, my wife and I will have our grown children to take care of us, as well as grandchildren to enjoy, while my brother may have no children. He should at least sell more grain from his fields now, so he can provide for himself in his old age."

So that night, the older brother also gathered a large sack of wheat and left it in his brother's barn, returning home feeling pleased with himself.

The next morning, the younger brother, surprised to see the amount of grain in his barn seemed unchanged, said:
"I did not take as much wheat as I thought. Tonight I will take more."

That same morning, the older brother, standing in his barn, was thinking the same thoughts.

After night fell, each brother gathered a greater amount of wheat from his barn and, in the dark, secretly delivered it to his brother's barn.

The next morning, the brothers were again puzzled and perplexed.
"How can I be mistaken?" each one thought.
"There's the same amount of grain here as there was before. This is impossible! Tonight I will make no mistake—I will take two large sacks."

The third night, more determined than ever, each brother gathered two large sacks of wheat from his barn, loaded them onto a cart, and slowly pulled his cart toward his brother's barn. In the moonlight, each brother noticed a figure in the distance.

When the two brothers got closer, each recognized the form of the other and the load he was pulling—and they both realized what had happened!

Without a word, they dropped the ropes of their carts, ran to each other, and embraced.

Christians and Jews believe the hill is Jerusalem. Muslims believe the valley is Mecca.

I believe they are all correct; and God willing, someday everyone may see both cities and their holy sanctuaries, Jerusalem’s Temple (Beit HaMikdosh) and Mecca’s Ka'ba (Baitullah), as a pair of lungs breathing the Holy Spirit (Arabic: روح القدس, Rūḥ al-Qudus; Hebrew: Ruakh ha-Kodesh) into the material world. For this breath/spirit of the Living God is central to humanity’s spiritual inspiration from the One God of Abraham, Ishmael, and Isaac.

As the Qur’an states:

“Believers, be steadfast in the cause of God and bear witness with justice. Do not let your enmity for others turn you away from justice. Deal justly; that is nearer to being God-fearing.” (Qur'an 5:8)

May the inspiration of this ancient tale, transmitted orally for so many centuries in both Arabic and Hebrew, help Christians, Jews, and Muslims overcome the many hate-filled actions occurring in today’s world.

Then all the children of Adam and Abraham will learn to live in Holiness, Peace, and Prosperity. And as Prophet Isaiah predicted (19:23–25):

“On that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. On that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, ‘Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.’”