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Local Rabbis Offer Words of Encouragement After Jewish Cemetery Vandalized Near St. Louis

Katy Mersmann
/
Columbia Faith & Values

Rabbi Yossi Feintuch of Congregation Beth Shalom in Columbia said he received several phone calls from concerned synagogue members after hearing that a Jewish cemetery in a St. Louis suburb was vandalized over the weekend. They were worried that the Jewish section of the Columbia cemetery would also be attacked, Feintuch said.

 

A member of the congregation board contacted the Columbia cemetery and found out that nothing was out of the ordinary in the Jewish section, Feintuch said.

 

“That kind of gave us a sense of relief, that there was nothing (like) that phenomenon coming into our town,” he said.

 

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, vandals defaced up to 200 headstones in Chesed Shel Emel Cemetery in University City. MU Chabad Rabbi and Director Avraham Lapine said the Jewish community in Columbia has not received threats, but Jewish students at MU are frightened by the incident.

 

“To respond, we have to be more Jewish,” Lapine said. “Don’t hide the fact that you’re Jewish. Come out more openly about it. When we let fear rule, then this is exactly what the people who did this want. They want us to be afraid and they want us to be scared and want us to hide.”

 

Lapine said anti-Semitic incidents such as the vandalism in University City come from individuals, not from a group, and that Americans in general do not seem to be anti-Semitic.

 

Governor Eric Greitens wrote a Facebook post Monday condemning the incident in the cemetery.

 

“This vandalism was a cowardly act,” Greitens wrote. “Together, we can meet cowardice with courage.”

 

Feintuch said it was encouraging to read several comments on the post expressing support for the Jewish community. Some stone masons even volunteered via comments on the post to help restore the defaced headstones, Feintuch said.

 

“We are simply calling on all fellow Americans to be vigilant about any other group that might be targeted for a similar violent action,” he said. “Bad things happen if people don’t do anything to reject, oppose or denounce them.”

 

The Associated Press reports that Vice President Mike Pence visited the suburban St. Louis Jewish cemetery and says there is "no place in America for hatred or acts of prejudice or violence or anti-Semitism."

Pence says at the cemetery in University City that the people of Missouri are inspiring the nation with their "love and care for this place." He is thanking them for "showing the world what America's really all about."

The vice president spoke earlier in the day in the St. Louis suburbs and condemned the incident as a "vile act of vandalism."