While members of three congregations were targeted in the anti-Semitic attack of Oct. 27, 2018, many of the donations that followed were sent directly to the one whose building they shared, Tree of Life / Or L’Simcha.
But with those donations, coming in from throughout the world, came a question: Did the donors intend the funds specifically for the host congregation, or were they assuming that because the name “Tree of Life” had become inextricably associated with the attack, that their donations would go toward all those affected?
After months of research into donor intent and other considerations, an independent panel concluded it was some of each. All three congregations have approved recommendations from the panel on how to distribute the $5.45 million that was sent directly to Tree of Life.
Those funds poured in after the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history, when a gunman killed 11 people who had gathered for Shabbat activities and injured two more worshipers and four police officers responding to the scene. All three congregations that shared space the Squirrel Hill building — Dor Hadash, New Light and Tree of Life — suffered fatal losses, and all three are now meeting at other synagogues in the area.
“No amount of money can fully compensate for loss of life, serious wounds and congregational damage,” the panel said in its report. But it recommended the majority of the donations go to “those who were most tragically affected.”
The panel said it “hopes that these payments will serve as a comforting reminder of the expression of compassion that came from thousands of people around the world.”
The fund is different from the Victims of Terror fund, which was created by the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and which raised another $6.3 million. The federation announced the distribution for those funds in March 2019, with the majority going to the individuals who suffered the most immediate impact, and with other funds going to such recipients as the congregations, the first responders and a memorial.
In August, the three congregations asked the same independent committee that handled the federation fund to make recommendations on how to distribute the funds donated directly to the Tree of Life congregation. The committee issued its report in February, and all three congregation’s boards subsequently approved the recommendations.
Just over $3 million will go to the families of the 11 worshipers killed and the two worshipers badly injured in the attacks. Another $215,162 is to be divided among those who were in the building and survived without major physical injury, and $23,905 will go to those worshipers who were outside on the building’s premises during the attack.
Nearly $1.3 million will go toward rebuilding or restoring the Tree of Life synagogue building, which was damaged in the attack and also has long-term maintenance needs.
Dor Hadash and New Light will each receive just over $240,000.
Another $200,000 will be donated in honor of the first responders, and nearly $234,000 will be allocated toward memoralization. Discussions for an Oct. 27 memorial is still at a preliminary phase, said Barb Feige, executive director of Tree of Life.
The committee looked in detail at donations of all sizes to determine donor intent. Some specifically earmarked the donation to individuals or the congregation, while others did not. But there was broad agreement that the bulk of the donations should go to those most directly harmed, said leaders in the three congregations in prepared statements.
Barbara Caplan, co-president of New Light Congregation, said the committee was guided by the Jewish principle of “shalom b’bayit”, seen as “the need to arrive at recommendations that would foster healing in the congregations, among victims’ families and harmony throughout the wider Jewish community.”
Jon Pushinsky of Congregation Dor Hadash, said that discussions “were respectful and open-minded” throughout the process.
Sam Schachner, president of Tree of Life, said all three congregations “will forever keep in our hearts the memories of those who were lost and those who continue to grieve and suffer. We also recognize the goodness of so many from around the world who cared enough to help remind us what we lost and why we remember.”
The committee was chaired by David Shapira, who is chairman of Giant Eagle. Also participating were Susan Brownlee, former executive director of the Fine Foundation; Jared Cohon, president emeritus of Carnegie Mellon University; Steve Halpern, president of Woodland Management; Mark Nordenberg, chancellor emeritus of the University of Pittsburgh; Charles Perlow, chairman of McKnight Realty; and Nancy Rackoff, an attorney at Eckert Seamans.
Peter Smith: petersmith@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1416; Twitter @PG_PeterSmith.
First Published: March 9, 2020, 8:11 p.m.
