Last week, the senseless and tragic events at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh left me and many others asking questions about our world today.

This one hit a little closer to home for me than the many other equally terrible events that have occurred because my mother grew up in Squirrel Hill. Our family is a generation removed and not closely connected to the town anymore, but my friends Andy Fisher and Jeff Solomon very much are.

Andy is the President of CIM Investment Management in Pittsburgh, where he has worked for a quarter-century and oversees $1.4 billion. He was born and raised in Squirrel Hill and lives a few blocks from the Tree of Life Synagogue.  Andy sent me an email last Monday with a clip from an interview that our mutual friend Jeff conducted on MSNBC.

Jeff is the CEO of Cowen Group and is a proud Pittsburgh and Squirrel Hill native.  He was also the guest on the 9th Episode of Capital Allocators, and you can find a replay right after this special episode.

I sat down with Jeff last Wednesday to talk about his experience in the initial days of these tragic events.  That conversation follows.

I want to offer a special thanks to Andy for the thread that led to this episode, and offer prayers and healing to Andy, Jeff, their family and friends directly impacted in Squirrel Hill, and to everyone I don’t know wherever acts of hated have impacted their lives.