Public rallies in support of vandalized Hackensack, Maywood synagoguesTuesday December 27, 2011, 10:16 PM
BY LINH TAT
STAFF WRITER
The Record
HACKENSACK — Responding to two anti-Semitic incidents in Bergen County this month, the public at large joined members of the Jewish community Tuesday to send a message that hate-based acts would not be tolerated.
MICHAEL KARAS / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Joanne Rose, a secretary at Temple Beth El and the person who discovered the graffiti at the Hackensack synagogue, wipes away tears during Tuesday night's service. About 160 people gathered at Temple Beth El in Hackensack for a “Service of Rededication,” in a united message of peace and to commemorate the last night of Hanukkah. The evening included singing, readings and speeches by religious leaders of different faiths as well as civic leaders.
“My message today is not for you who are here today. My message is for those who write graffiti. … We’re calling you out,” said Daniel Kirsch, former chair of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Bergen County.
“In … America, there’s a place for everyone. But there’s no place for you,” he said, garnering the loudest applause of the evening.
On Dec. 10, anti-Semitic graffiti was spray-painted on the property of Temple Beth Israel, a Reconstructionist synagogue in Maywood. A week-and-a-half later, on the first day of Hanukkah, swastikas were scrawled on the façade of Temple Beth El, a conservative synagogue in Hackensack.
The Rev. Donald Pitches, president of the Bergen County Council of Churches, an organization of Christian churches and clergies, said before the ceremony that it was important for individuals, regardless of religious background, to stand up against any act of hate.
“Anti-Semitism and violence and desecration on any house of worship really is an attack against all of us,” he said.
Mayor Jorge Meneses of Hackensack reiterated a message he has previously delivered, vowing that the city, through its Police Department, would take measures against anyone found responsible for the graffiti.
“When these things happen, it’s not [only] that particular community that suffers and feels awful. We as a whole city feel it, too,” he said.
Tuesday’s ceremony aimed not only to send a strong message to those who defaced the synagogues that their acts would not be tolerated, but also to provide healing, organizers said.
For Illana Galed, 23, of Hackensack, being asked to light the menorah at the end of the service alongside her mother helped in the healing process. Her grandparents both survived the Holocaust.
“I did it for my mother and my grandmother,” she said of her role in the service. “When you see a swastika, you don’t want history to repeat itself.”
Larry Lesh of Maywood braved the wet weather to attend the ceremony. Though he was raised in Maywood, he celebrated his bar-mitzvah at the Hackensack synagogue decades ago and said it was his “duty” to return and support the community. After the ceremony, he said the evening did provide relief.
“It helped me in the sense that I could see that we have support from the government. We’re not in this alone. And we can’t be in this alone,” he said.
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The back storyOn Dec. 10, anti-Semitic graffiti was spray-painted on the property of Temple Beth Israel, a Reconstructionist synagogue in Maywood. On Dec. 21, the first day of Hanukkah, swastikas were scrawled on the façade of Temple Beth El, a conservative synagogue in Hackensack.
Authorities believe the two incidents are connected.
Hackensack police have been working with investigators from Maywood and the state Department of Criminal Justice. They said Tuesday there were still no suspects but that the case remained active.
Last week, the Anti-Defamation League offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
Anyone with information may call Hackensack police at 201-646-7777 or Crime Stoppers at 201-488-4222.
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Email: tat@northjersey.com