Tefillin
Photo: Herzl Yosef
NYC synagogue search 300 tons of trash for missing tefillin
Following a congregant's tefillin falling into a trash can and being sent off to an upstate garbage dump, dozens of synagogue members have taken up the search and have sifted through 300 tons of trash.
Members of a New York City synagogue have sifted through 300 tons of garbage at an upstate landfill in an unsuccessful search for a religious item that fell into a trash can.
Dozens of synagogue members were bused upstate to search at High Acres Landfill for an embroidered bag containing a congregant's tefillin—small black boxes containing parchment scrolls inscribed with verses from the Torah. A surveillance camera showed the bag tumbling from a cubby into a garbage can last week.
Photo: EPA
The synagogue's rabbi contacted the Sanitation Department and was told the trash was hauled by train to the landfill in Fairport, near Rochester.
Landfill spokeswoman Nicole Fornof says Wednesday that the synagogue members have returned home after searching half the trash possibly containing the item; they may return next week.
