A thug vandalized tefillin, siddurim and a tallis outside the Beit Yosef Knesset HaGadol in Givatayim early Monday morning, throwing them on the floor at the entrance to the shul.

The shul was unlocked, but the vandal did not try entering inside. Instead, security camera footage shows him arriving at the shul on a scooter and removing a tallis, tefillin, and sefarim from his bag that had already been ripped apart, and scattering them at the front entrance to the shul.

The police have launched an investigation into the disturbing incident.

The Chief Rabbanim, Rav Dovid Yosef and Rav Kalman Bar, responded to the report: “The heart breaks at the sight of siddurim, tefillin, and tallitot that were vandalized and disgracefully discarded. Harm to sacred Jewish objects is harm to the heart of the entire Jewish people, especially in a place of unity, ahavat Yisrael and kiruv levavot.”

The Chief Rabbis called on the Israel Police and law-enforcement authorities to act decisively to locate the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

The police said, “During the night, the police hotline received a report of a suspect who arrived on a scooter and stopped outside a shul on Gilboa Street in Givatayim. The suspect took sacred objects (tefillin and sefarim) out of his personal bag, vandalized them, and fled the scene. Officers from the Givatayim station arrived at the scene and began searches alongside an investigation, collecting findings and evidence.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)