Vandalized Jewish Philadelphia Cemetery Restored
Mount Carmel Cemetery Image by Reuters
By Josh Nathan-Kazis October 23, 2017
A Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia that was vandalized in February is now fully repaired, according to a statement from the Jewish Federation of Philadelphia, which led the restoration.
The $145,000 restoration project fixed damage to the nearly 275 tombstones found toppled and broken earlier this year. The funds came out of $288,000 donors gave to fix the vandalized tombstones. The remainder of the donations were spent on general repairs inside the cemetery.
“The massive outpouring of support we’ve received from the city of Philadelphia and from communities across the world has been truly astonishing,” Jewish Federation of Philadelphia president Naomi Adler said in a statment.
The vandalism drew international attention at the time. It came amid a wave of concerns of growing anti-Semitism, inspired in part by a rash of bomb threats to Jewish institutions. An Israeli Jewish teen was later charged with making those threats.
Philadelphia mayor Jim Kenney will tour the cemetery on Tuesday.
Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at nathankazis@forward.com or on Twitter, @joshnathankazis.
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