BROOKLINE, Mass. (AP/WHDH) — A 500-pound menorah stolen from a Jewish temple in a Boston suburb last year is being rededicated after being recovered and repaired.
Temple Emeth in Brookline held the dedication ceremony Friday evening as the eight days of Hanukkah are set to begin Sunday.
The 6-foot-tall copper menorah was one of two that had stood on the temple’s grounds since 1948.
It was ripped from the cement in the temple’s rotunda in November 2018 and found badly broken on a street in Boston’s West Roxbury neighborhood.
The owners of an auto body shop near the temple and other local residents helped restore the structure free of charge.
“I’m going to retell the story so people know what he did, I’m going to bless the three of them,” Rabbi Alan Turetz, of Temple Emeth, told 7’s Byron Barnett.
They’ll be honored Friday for their efforts, which required more than a month to repair the menorah’s lamps, and arms and set a new concrete foundation.
Turetz said their generosity has reaffirmed his faith in people.
“Who would have ever expected from this event, which was in itself was very distressing, that something so noble would emerge,” Turetz said.
Jewish groups warn that anti-Semitic crimes are on the rise in the U.S., but authorities believe the thieves may have been trying to steal the towering candelabra for its valuable metal.
They say the menorah was chained to a large vehicle and dragged about a mile before being discarded.
No arrests have been made in the case. Anyone with information is asked to call Brookline police.
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