Our dead deserve to rest in peace
The cost of turning American Jewish cemeteries into fortresses safe from anti-Semites bent on wreaking havoc, as they have done in St. Louis and Philadelphia, is twofold: in the billions of dollars and in the defeat of purpose. Even if billions were to materialize, do we want our cemeteries fenced, topped with barbed wire, replete with security cameras and 24-hour lighting and alarm systems?
Other than the obvious long-term solution — an end to cemetery-bent anti-Semitic hate —perhaps a viable solution is voluntary patrols, professionally guided. If, in the short term, our cemeteries can be patrolled on all sides, it would be virtually impossible for the “vandals” (this anemic term for such objectionable haters is woefully inadequate) to enter unnoticed.
It is hard to think of another Jewish focus that is so universally revered, uniting all Jews, than the safety, dignity and peace of Jewish burial grounds. This is something all Jews instinctively understand.
Colorado’s Jewish cemeteries have not been massively attacked. We hope it stays that way. It would be unrealistic, however, not to consider precautions in light of national developments and the lack of a pattern in the present attacks.
Copyright © 2017 by the Intermountain Jewish News
