A Chabad House in Long Beach, NY, was vandalized and some Sifrei Torah stolen.
According to a report by CHI, The Rov of the Shul – which was recently taken over by the Chabad House – went on Motzei Shabbos to make things were secure after Shabbos, and was shocked at the sight he was met with.
“I found our beautifully renovated sanctuary vandalized, talleisim strewn on the floor, the holy ark broken off the hinges and a number of holy Torah’s stolen with two lying on the ground,” the congregant told CrownHeights.info. “Most of the sliver crowns were missing as well.”
The Nassau County Police are investigating the incident.
RABBI ELI GOODMAN, THE ROV OF THE SHUL, TELLS YWN THE FOLLOWING:
This Shabbos we had a soft opening at our new location at 570 West Walnut where we celebrated a most beautiful Shabbos and Bat Mitzvah of a local family. I went to the Shul around 11.30 pm last night to ensure everything is secure and everything is put away.
I found our beautifully renovated sanctuary vandalized, talleisim strewn on the floor, the holy ark broken off the hinges and a number of Torah’s stolen with 2 lying on the ground. Most of the sliver crowns were missing as well.
911 was called immediately and detectives together with Crimes scene unit from Nassau County are investigating.
All local Shuls should take extra care in ensuring the security of their facility.
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6 Responses
Some antisemite stold them.
Shuls usually have a very heavy-duty safe inside the decorative outside of the Aron Kodesh. How sad that this happened, and I hope they recover the Sifrei Torah.
Its really sad to see these increasingly frequent episodes of anti-semitic vandalism. Perhaps the the highest priority of any shul that has not already done so would be to install a fire and theft resistant aron for their sifrei torah.
how sad, to watch the magic of our world disappear amidst hatred___not being fearful of words I presume this is another message the world intends to send____i hope they receive our words as well with full force and without misgivings or fear___
Newsday reports: Hunter McElrath, 23, was charged with burglary after he was discharged from the hospital on Sunday, Walsh said.
He was a person of interest in the burglary after police found him naked, wearing a prayer shawl and coming out of the water on the beach Saturday. He was arrested for disorderly conduct and released by police before he was taken to the hospital.
The Denver police asked to publicise that there is no evidence that this act of vandalism was done out if anti-semitism. It may just have been part of a “crime spree”