Synagogue receives security grant

By JEFF STITT

jstitt@yourmvi.com

The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency has awarded a $20,800 state grant to Gemilas Chesed Synagogue in White Oak to bolster security through its Nonprofit Security Grant Program.

Following the Oct. 27, 2018, attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill, the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and area religious leaders from a variety of faiths and organizations began working with local lawmakers, police and fire departments, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and private security experts to develop plans to keep congregants safe from acts of violence within the walls of houses of worship.

Eleven worshipers from three congregations were killed and two others were seriously wounded when, according to federal investigators, Robert Bowers, 47, of Baldwin entered Tree of Life and began firing at worshipers.

Following the Tree of Life massacre, Gemilas Chesed Synagogue Vice President Larry Perl, a lifelong McKeesport resident, was tasked by the board of the 134-year-old synagogue to work with the Jewish Federation, Homeland Security, White Oak police and firefighters, White Oak EMS and an electrician to evaluate what the congregation could do to better protect itself from the threat of violence.

“They went through a homeland security assessment,” he said. “They wrote a big report that assessed our weaknesses and what we need to make our building safer.”

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