$6.3 Million In Tree Of Life Synagogue Donations Divided

PITTSBURGH, PA - More than $6.3 million donated to the Victims of Terror fund created after the Tree of Life synagogue massacre will go primarily to the victims’ survivors, injured police officers and the three congregations affected by the shooting.

The Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh, which established the fund after the worst anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history, announced how the money will be disbursed Tuesday. About 8,500 people, companies and organizations made contributions to the fund from 48 states and at least eight countries.

Eleven people were shot to death while attending services in the synagogue on Oct. 27. The accused killer, Robert Bowers has pleaded not guilty to 63 federal charges related to the shootings. Twenty-two of the charges are punishable by death, and the U.S. Department of Justice is still mulling whether to seek the death penalty.

The money collected in the slaughter’s aftermath is being distributed with the realization there is no single “right way” to distribute donations collected after such a tragedy, the committee report released Tuesday states.

“No amount of money can compensate for the loss of a loved one’s life; no amount of money can fully compensate for a life that has been violently knocked off course and suddenly filled with unanticipated and daunting obstacles; and no amount of money can ever completely heal our hearts or our communities.”

Here’s how the money is being distributed:

• $4.8 million in “compassion payments” to the families of those killed, two survivors, those trapped in the building during the shooting and some individuals outside of the building during the massacre.

• $500,000 to the injured police officers.

• $450,000 to Tree of Life/L'Simcha Congregation.

• $300,000 for a victims’ memorial and anti-Semitism education efforts.

• $100,000 to New Light Congregation.

• $100,000 to Congregation Dor Hadash.

You can see the committee’s full report here.

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