Photo courtesy of Rabbi Gabriel Botnick
A Star of David and the word “Jude” was found etched onto the front door of Temple Mishkon Tephilo in Venice over the weekend.
Rabbi Gabriel Botnick told the Journal in a phone interview that he received a voicemail from the police on Aug. 10 saying that a passerby had seen an unidentified person earlier in the day carve the marking onto the shul. Botnick saw the marking on the morning of Aug. 12.
“It’s somewhat typical in [Nazi] Germany and what people would do to Jewish businesses,” Botnick said, adding that this was the first time an act of anti-Semitism has occurred at Temple Mishkon Tephilo.
“Seeing ‘Jude’ written on there as clearly a neo-Nazi-type term… that was very upsetting to me,” Botnick said. “That’s not anything I’ve ever encountered in this neighborhood.”
Botnick said the temple is in contact with the police as well as the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles Community Security Initiative for recommendations on how to respond to the vandalism.
ADL Los Angeles Regional Director Amanda Susskind said in a statement to the Journal that “the word ‘Jude’ carved into a synagogue is unequivocally anti-Semitic. The word, which means ‘Jew’ in German, was painted onto Jewish establishments in Nazi Germany to marginalize, boycott and terrorize the community,” she said.
American Jewish Committee Los Angeles Acting Chief of Staff Dganit Abramoff similarly said in a statement to the Journal, “There should be zero tolerance for anti-Semitism in our city. We stand in solidarity with Miskhon Tephilo and Rabbi Botnick, who worked with us in the aftermath of the Pittsburgh massacre to stand up against hate. Those who attempt to instill fear in our community only make us stronger.”