Chesed Shel Emeth Jewish Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri
This last weekend, the Chesed Shel Emeth Jewish Cemetery nearly 200 gravestones were damages or knocked over, some needing to be replaced altogether. My father and older cousin were up there today and luckily the ones marking multiple generations of my family were not interfered with.
As of right now the police are not calling this a Hate Crime, due to the investigation still going on, as they look at surveillance video from many cameras in the area. However, the Jewish community here are taking it to be an act of hate. The general sentiment seems to be that if it had been one or two gravestones, it could be chalked up to kids, but this many is interpreted to be a direct statement against Jews, especially with 11 bomb threats to Jewish community centers on the same day. This is on top of 60 similar threats to centers and schools during the month of January.
Is compassion and empathy at that much of a premium these days?
The most disgusting aspect of all of this (while unfortunately not surprising) are the slew of derogatory comments or accusations that this is due to Trump or the 'Left.' It's difficult to find the simple 'this is just wrong' versus trying to spew hate or blame. (Check the video linked above for one example.) Does it freaking matter if they're Republicans, Democrats, Khazars or whatever?
Is compassion and empathy at that much of a premium these days?
The ACT was SAD...The REACTION of so many is HORRENDOUS!
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Image Sources:
Photos were taken by my family.
There's some serious damage. Don't seem to be a small time prank but more organised destruction. Quite sad to see this.
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It was quite shocking. I'd be surprised if the police don't label this as a hate crime. It's mind blowing what people do and rather sad that there seem to be parts of society that actually condone stuff like this. :(
I don't like this trend..and for it generalized to others too, not just Jews.
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Yes, it is. I hope they find the one who did this.
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I feel sad to know about this, what's wrong with those cemetery ? :(
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Some people decided to push over (breaking some) gravestones. Many in the area feel it was targeted to Jews (while the police investigate and decide whether to call it a hate crime.) It's rather mind blowing to me regardless. I couldn't imagine going there to find one of a relative like that. I feel bad for those who did. :(
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I just know this news from independent
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Oh wow, it made it to the UK. I'd seen it on national news channels here in the US...seemed to prompt Trump to finally explicitly state that this sort of stuff is bad. (Previously he just said he wasn't anti-semetic/racist.)
It is awesome to see the story with Muslims contributing to the repairs. Not saying they needed to, rather the people supporting people aspect. I've seen a lot of Jews that have been vocal about supporting Muslims against discrimination recently. This is something I'd love to see trend and on the news more.
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That's low! The dead no longer have a vote.
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So true, well said!
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I wonder though, why do some Jews want to be buried separately? Why isn't it enough to have different symbols? Hopefully someone who knows more about the tradition can give me an answer, I've been curious about this for some time.
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Not all do, especially as the years have gone on. This one was started back in 1888 when everybody (Jews, Christians, etc) tended to separate their cemeteries since they wanted their own specific rights, rituals, symbolism to be incorporated. However, I will add that for Jews a fundamental concept since the beginning is the family/community since there weren't missionaries or work to bring others in. The technical 'rule' (I'm purely referring to the old school concepts, not what many, especially non-orthodox, tend to stick with now) is that if you mother was a Jew (since you don't always know who a child's father is) then you are a Jew. This made the group identity a foundation, particularly in the early years and/or while in places they were put into ghettos (typically sharing varying forms of persecution.)
For many nowadays it's really more of wanting to be buried with their family, which mine just happens to be at that specific cemetery. This aspect generalized out to most people regardless of religion.
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Thanks! So nothing to your knowledge in the religion says to separate the dead? This is pretty much what I wanted to know.
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Np. Yea, i know of nothing that says there's a need to separate, just to be able to do their own thing. I know there are a mix of religions in military cemeteries, seen the crosses, stars and moons myself.
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This is a representation of people with too little compassion, too little education, too little direction in life, and too little respect for anyone or anything - even themselves. It is a sad representation of many people in this world.
I am so very sorry this has happened. My heart goes out to you.
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I agree. Things like this make it harder to keep hope for humanity.
Thank you! Our family was lucky with no stones messed with, but some nearby ones were. I feel bad for those families. It's a definite facepalm moment.
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Must be real cowards to attack the dead. I hope they are caught and punished.
Good to see support from other faiths http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39049102
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It is a truly sad act...rather mind blowing that this was someone way to make a statement. At least nobody living was hurt, but still...
I totally agree on the interfaith support. It's nice to see the general 'people helping people' side of things. While I'm sure many will disagree with me, I view the root of most (if not all) religions to be "Don't be an a**hole." Beyond that does it really matter what name/label is used?
I do hope those who did this get caught. There were ton of surveillance cameras around that area (mostly on nearby business) that hopefully can lead to this.
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