Five hundred thirty-seven grave stones. This is the number of Jewish grave stones toppled over this past weekend at the Mt. Carmel Cemetery in Philadelphia. At many of our cemeteries off of Pine Ridge road here in Buffalo there are gravestones that have toppled over. We as a community are trying our best to repair them. Each time I officiate at a funeral and see one that has fallen over it breaks my heart. Cemeteries are sacred places in our community. To think that a group of people would intentionally go and push them over, one by one, is horrific. Imagine the poor families who woke up this week to find out that their relatives’ graves have been vandalized. This is the second Jewish cemetery hit this past month, the other in St. Louis, where 150 gravestones were pushed over. For me, this last one hits home even more, as my wife and I are from the Philadelphia area. And, while we don’t have relatives buried at Mt. Carmel Cemetery, it is likely we know people buried there.
This week’s Torah portion is Terumah which translates as “donation.” It is about the generosity shown by the Israelites in building the Mishkan, or tabernacle, a portable sanctuary that moved with the people on their journey through the wilderness. They gave willingly from their “hearts, gold, silver, and copper, turquoise, purple and scarlet wool, linen and goat hair, red-dyed rams skins.” In the same way, in the hours and days after the cemetery desecration in Philadelphia, Jews rushed over to Mt. Carmel Cemetery and began repairing the stones. They repaired 28 in the first day alone. Right now the Jewish Federation in Philadelphia has a sign-up sheet to help with the work. While it is too dangerous for them to push the stones back up into place, these volunteers will help in other ways to fix up the cemetery. The people signing up are not just from the Jewish community, but are concerned citizens of all backgrounds and faith. This is what it means to have a generous spirit. To fulfill the promise of this week’s Torah portion means not only donating money, but also time and energy. Together they will beautify the Mt. Carmel Cemetery, helping to transform it from a place of desecration, back into the holy place it was intended to be.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Alex
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Last Updated on 03/03/2017 by wpadm