That the police were searching for who did it.
That we were safe where we were.
And that I was confident we would get the person — or people — who had done this.
We tried to be there for them and answer their questions as best we could.
And 13 hours after the arsonist invaded our home, I stood at the window that he had climbed through, receiving an update from the Pennsylvania State Police, and then made clear to the people of my state that nothing would deter me from doing my job — and nothing would deter me from practicing my faith openly and proudly.
And I meant it. After I concluded my remarks, I rejoined my family to celebrate our second Passover Seder.
That day, the police arrested the suspect, but as the investigation continued, people began to ascribe their own beliefs onto what they thought happened — and why.
I believe in the rule of law, and for the rule of law to work, prosecutors and law enforcement officials need to be able to do their jobs and investigate without fear, favor or political pressure. It is not my job to opine on what the motive was or what the charges should be.
As has become typical, people rushed to assert their uninformed opinions to get likes or make a headline or suit their own narrative, seeking some solace or validation that whatever motivated the arson suspect and his actions would suit their view of the world.
Ultimately, prosecutors will determine what motivated this act of violence, and we trust them to do their important work.
But as I said in Butler after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump and as I said in Altoona after the police captured the individual who has been charged with the murder of the UnitedHealthcare C.E.O., this type of violence has no place in our society, regardless of what motivates it.
It doesn’t matter if it’s coming from one side or the other, directed at one party or another or one person or another.
This level of violence has to stop. It is our shared responsibility to do better.
As elected leaders, we have an additional responsibility to speak and act with moral clarity. To not just call out what’s right and what’s wrong but also to do the hard work of bringing people together to find common ground in a world that’s constantly trying to divide us.
William Penn founded our commonwealth as a place where all would be welcome — a place of tolerance and understanding where people of different faiths could live together in peace.
This experience has made me more determined than ever to not only welcome people of all faiths back to the governor’s residence — where we’ve lit Christmas trees, held iftars and danced at a bar mitzvah — but also to do my part to address the political division and violence in America today.
On Thursday at the Harrisburg Bureau of Fire, an elderly man named John Wardle, the Christian chaplain from the Penn Township Volunteer Fire Department, gave me a letter signed by every member of his department. On the back of the letter, he had handwritten a prayer for our family, from Numbers 6:24-26:
The Lord bless you
and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.
I cried when I read this. Because it’s known to us as the priestly blessing, and it happens to be the same prayer that Lori and I have recited to each of our children every night in Hebrew before they go to bed for more than two decades:
יברכך יהוה וישמרך
יאר יהוה פניו אליך ויחנך
ישא יהוה פניו אליך וישם לך שלום
Moments like that have given us strength over the past week. The prayers, blessings and messages of support we’ve received have lifted us up and shown us the way forward in the wake of a traumatic event.
Those moments have served as yet another reminder of our common humanity. A recognition that there is far more that binds us together than divides us — no matter what those who stoke that division would have us believe.
I believe our political divide can be repaired. But our leaders must act with moral clarity and take their cues from the good people of this nation, who in times of tragedy always seem to find our better angels.