The Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region has voted to close the fund for the three area synagogues damaged in June 18 arsons — and to start spending the money on rebuilding.
The federation board reached the decision in a unanimous vote Wednesday of last week, ratifying the recommendation of a committee that has overseen the Unity Fund.
The fund, which has more than $580,000, was officially capped retroactive to Sept. 30.
The fund committee also recommended that any future donations be put toward promoting “educational programs in the Sacramento area schools, teaching our children and their parents nonviolence, understanding and respect for differences,” committee chair Morton Friedman said.
However, federation executive director Beryl Michaels said that if any sizable donations come in, they could still go toward rebuilding.
The committee included representatives from Congregation B’nai Israel, Congregation Beth Shalom and Kenesset Israel Torah Center — all damaged in the firebombings.
To date no arrests have been made in connection with the attacks. However, an observer close to the investigation expects charges to be filed by the end of November. Two large cartons of racist fliers and a notebook filled with names of people involved with the burned synagogues link brothers Benjamin Matthew and James Tyler Williams to the arson, according to Shasta County District Attorney McGregor Scott.
“I think that rebuilding the synagogues is an important statement of our unwillingness to allow these sorts of acts to affect our ability to carry on as a community,” said Skip Rosenbloom, federation president.
As for shifting its focus from fund-raising, Friedman said his committee believed it was time to concentrate on rebuilding Congregation B’nai Israel and Kenesset Israel Torah Center.
Congregation Beth Shalom, which was the least damaged, is already functioning.
Michaels said the committee decided to take $25,000 off the top of the fund to help Shalom School, the area’s only full-time Jewish school, defray its security costs.
After that, the fund is being divided on a percentage basis, with B’nai Israel getting 54 percent, Kenesset Israel at 36 percent and Beth Shalom at 10 percent.
Larry Steiber, Beth Shalom’s representative on the committee, said the percentages were based on need and the extent of damage at each synagogue.
“As such, our damages were the lowest,” Steiber said of his Reform synagogue. “We rededicated our sanctuary about five weeks ago.”
Both B’nai Israel and Kenesset Israel sustained major damage.
“We are no longer at our old facility because it’s totally unusable,” said Steve Haberfeld, Kenesset Israel’s president and committee representative. “The expense of restoring it and bringing it up to current code is $250,000 and we’ve decided it’s not worth it.”
Plans for rebuilding both synagogues are underway.
Kenesset Israel, a modern Orthodox congregation, will build a new structure on a site near the current one on Morse Avenue thanks to the “wonderful boost” of the Unity Fund, Haberfeld said.
“We have taken steps to obtain a use permit and raise money, and it looks like we are a few days away from selecting an architect,” he said. “The expectation is that we’ll have a small, modest…building.
Barbara Ulman, B’nai Israel’s representative on the committee, said her Reform congregation must rebuild the main sanctuary, the administrative complex and the library.
“We are operating on trailers on the parking-lot ground. We are managing, but it’s not ideal,” she said. “We have the social hall and we have the classrooms and we have the trailers. And one is being prepared as a mini-library and two are administration buildings for the staff.”