The Christian Century

Members of the Temple B’nai Jeshurun in Des Moines, Iowa, wanted to throw the book at two teens, a boy and his girlfriend, who had scribbled neo-Nazi graffiti on their synagogue. Instead, Rabbi Steven Fink met with the youths as part of a restorative justice process. At the meeting, several Holocaust survivors told their stories. The male perpetrator told about his childhood of abuse and of running away from home and linking up with the Aryan Nation. The youths were told that in the Jewish tradition they had to earn forgiveness. Each performed 200 hours of service for the synagogue, at the end of which the charges were dropped (Des Moines Register, April 22).