The Jan. 4 attack on the Poile Zedek Cemetery in New Brunswick resulted in $500,000 to $1 million worth of damage to 600 stones. Photo by Debra RubinJanuary 31, 2008
A Rutherford man has filed suit asking that four juveniles held in the desecration of a New Brunswick cemetery be held financially liable for the vandalism spree.
Mark Elfant, the grandson of a founder of Congregation Poile Zedek in New Brunswick and a member of its cemetery committee, said he wants to make sure those responsible for leveling much of the historic synagogue’s cemetery pay for their crimes.
Most of Elfant’s deceased relatives, including a sister, are buried at the Joyce Kilmer Avenue cemetery, which is shared with Sephardi Congregation Etz Ahaim in Highland Park.
“I was very upset,” he said. “As I walked around down there I knew I wanted to do something to help repair that cemetery. When I heard suspects had been apprehended and these people were not being charged with a bias crime, I knew something had to be done. I just couldn’t accept that.”
Elfant filed suit in Middlesex County Superior Court on Jan. 23.
The attack on the cemetery caused $500,000 to $1 million worth of damage, and an inventory has found 600 destroyed or damaged stones, according to Elfant.
The names of those charged were not released by the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office because of their age. The suit seeks to have their names made public, reserves the right to have the case transferred to federal court, and leaves open the possibility of its becoming a class-action suit.
For Elfant, a former New Brunswick resident, the damage at the cemetery was personal. His father, Morris — who served as congregation president and was a founder of the Poile Zedek Cemetery Association — is buried there. Elfant’s mother, Anne, is a former sisterhood president active in the cemetery association for more than 50 years.
His grandfather, Benjamin Elfant, was a founder of the 107-year-old congregation — then known as the Independent Laborers’ Benefit Association. Its services were initially held in his grandparents’ Hiram Street home.
The current synagogue, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, was erected in 1923. Benjamin Elfant served as chair of its building committee.
“I still have the loving cup that was presented to [my grandfather] at the dedication of the synagogue,” said Mark Elfant, himself a former congregation president. “My mother is still living and I didn’t want to tell her because I knew how upset she would be, but she heard it on the news. She insisted I bring her down.”
Elfant said several family stones, including his great-grandfather’s, were toppled and still others were badly damaged.
Insurance woes
The cemetery committee is learning that very little of the damage may be covered by insurance, said Elfant. He said headstones are considered individual property that must be put through a relative’s homeowner’s policy. Even setting a toppled stone upright will cost several hundred dollars, less than most policy deductibles.
Elfant said a number of policies will cover only the markers of children or spouses, but not parents. None covers grandparents.
Gerald Gordon, the New Brunswick attorney who filed the suit, is also a Poile Zedek member with family members buried at the cemetery. He said unlike criminal charges brought against juveniles that are sealed once the youths reach adulthood, civil judgments do not go away and will become part of the teens’ credit report.
“A judgment against them will affect their ability to get loans when they want to buy a car or home, their ability to get a credit card, until it is satisfied,” said Gordon. “It will stay with them the rest of their lives. They will be more than aware of what they’ve done and that’s why we did it. This will be with them forever.”
If money is collected from the suit, Elfant said, he intends to donate it to a cemetery restitution and security fund he has set up. Likewise, Gordon is donating his attorney fee to the fund.
Authorities charged that the three juveniles entered the property on the evening of Jan. 1, causing damage to approximately 17 headstones. The same group allegedly returned with another juvenile on the evening of Jan. 4 to knock over the additional headstones.
Fund established
A FUND TO repair damaged headstones and grounds at Poile Zedek Cemetery in New Brunswick has been established by the Jewish Federation of Greater Middlesex County.
Local community members who wish to support restoration of the cemetery may make contributions through United Jewish Communities of MetroWest New Jersey. To contribute, send checks, payable to Middlesex Cemetery Restoration Fund, to the Community Relations Committee of UJC MetroWest, 901 Route 10, Whippany, NJ 07981 or visit their web site. For more information, contact CRC director Lori Price Abrams at 973-929-3080.
Shocking, but no hate crime
Responding in part to complaints by members of the Jewish community, Middlesex County prosecutor Bruce Kaplan issued a press release on Jan. 29 explaining why the New Brunswick cemetery attack was not classified as a hate crime.
Alleged vandals were charged with “desecration of venerated objects.”
He called the vandalism spree a product of “alcohol, teenage boredom, and infantile enjoyment in the discovery that the cemetery’s headstones could be tipped over.”
Kaplan said charging the four with juvenile equivalents of conspiracy, desecration of venerated objects, and criminal mischief exposes them to up to one year of imprisonment for each count of conspiracy and desecration of venerated objects and a maximum of two years imprisonment for each count of criminal mischief.
That seemed to satisfy Poile Zedek’s rabbi, Abraham Mykoff.
“A title or name is not the only issue,” said Mykoff in reference to a bias charge. “There have been situations in other communities where individuals were prosecuted for bias vandalism and the punishment was minimal communal service…. In this case, the authorities have charged them so that if found guilty, substantial punishments would be imposed. This is a solid case with plenty of ammunition.”
However, Rabbi David Bassous of Etz Ahaim said that although he was happy quick arrests had been made, he felt the juveniles “were getting away with a slap on the wrist for the amount of damage they did” by not being charged with a hate crime.
Etzion Neuer, director of the Anti-Defamation League’s NJ region, said he was convinced law enforcement authorities thoroughly investigated all angles of the crime. He too pointed out that although it had not been labeled a bias crime, the juveniles have been charged with destruction of venerated property.
“We find it encouraging the prosecutor is charging them with this,” said Neuer. “When people ask that prosecutors throw the book at someone that has to be backed up with sound law,” said Neuer.
While it may seem to be a bias crime, legal authorities apparently could not back that charge based on the evidence, said Neuer.
“Our office has spent an extraordinary amount of time reviewing the facts and law in this case, and we are convinced every avenue has been explored in deciding whether this is a bias crime,” said Neuer. “Perhaps this is a good opportunity for the public to learn how hate crimes work. In a case like this that was so well-publicized and so shocking it may be equally as shocking to learn it is not a hate crime.”
Kaplan explained that a person could only be charged under New Jersey’s hate crime statute — designed to provide enhanced protection to racial, ethnic, and religious minorities — if criminal mischief is done to “intimidate an individual or group because [in this case] of religious affiliation, or with the knowledge that an individual or group would believe they were targeted because of their religious affiliation.”
“In analyzing any particular incident, it is important to recognize that destruction of a religious object [like a Jewish cemetery] is not automatically a bias crime,” said Kaplan. “Rather, the issue turns on the intent or motive of the perpetrator. In the Poile Zedek case, therefore, the investigation focused on the intent of the juveniles at the time the cemetery was vandalized.”
Despite symbols that would readily identify it as a Jewish cemetery, including a star of David on the front gate, the investigation determined all four teens were unaware they were in a Jewish cemetery.
Kaplan said the youths all lived within walking distance of the cemetery and gained entrance by climbing over its walls; he said they had been drinking on at least one of the two occasions.
“No evidence of religious animosity or anti-Semitism was discovered in the background of the accused,” said Kaplan. “Neither the juveniles nor members of their immediate families are affiliated with gangs or hate groups. Striking to investigators was the degree of ignorance or obliviousness displayed by the juveniles. It became apparent during the investigation that the juveniles did not know, understand, or care about the religious symbols on the gates and headstones at Poile Zedek. The religion of those buried in the cemetery was neither known nor a matter of interest to the juveniles as they went about overturning headstones.”
Kaplan assured the synagogues, families, and community that the case had not been taken lightly by his office and those responsible would be “vigorously prosecuted.”