(JEWISH GROUP) A defunct synagogue, reminder of a once-proud community, collapses in Pennsylvania's coal region
An abandoned synagogue in Pennsylvania’s coal region, which until the early 2000s had served Jewish residents of Mahanoy City for more than 80 years, collapsed late Thursday night, officials and neighbors told the local media.
Emergency crews responded to reports of falling walls and scattered debris at the former Beth Israel Synagogue, a brick building whose cornerstone was laid in 1923.
No injuries were reported, according to Skook News, a news site serving Schuylkill County. Crews began demolishing what was left of the building and carted away the debris.
“It’s sad to see the buildings go, I lived in Mahanoy City or I worked here my whole life, and one by one these historic buildings seem to be going,” Paul Coombe, president and historian of the Mahanoy Area Historical Society, told television station WFMZ.
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I see this almost as a sad symbolism of what is happening today.