Reform synagogue vandalized in central Israel, in second such incident in 10 days
Times of Israel · LC · trust 26/100
The Darchei Noam synagogue in the central city of Ramat Hasharon was vandalized on Sunday night by unknown assailants, the second Reform synagogue targeted in less than 10 days.
The assailants threw rocks at the synagogue and smashed a window at the entrance, Darchei Noam said in a statement, adding that it did not yet know who was behind the “heinous act.”
As of Monday afternoon, the attackers had not yet been apprehended, and it was unclear whether police had opened an investigation into the incident, although the mayor of Ramat Hasharon said he had demanded one.
The attack on Darchei Noam, said Mayor Itzik Rochberger, “is a serious act of vandalism, and it will not be tolerated here.”
Rochberger said that “Ramat Hasharon is a city of freedom, tolerance, pluralism, and coexistence between secular and religious people.
“We will not allow extremist elements to damage property, instill fear, and sabotage the fabric of our shared life,” the mayor added in a statement carried by local news outlet Sharon Online.
The violence took place just over a week after the well-known Kol HaNeshama synagogue in Jerusalem was vandalized by a group of youths. The assailants in that incident broke a window, entered the building, and tore an LGBTQ Pride flag in the main sanctuary, according to the synagogue.
Democrats MK Gilad Kariv, a Reform rabbi who directed the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism before entering politics in 2021, posted an image on X of the damage to Darchei Noam.
He noted, in his post, the general uptick in violence against businesses that operate on Shabbat and against places of worship and religious figures affiliated with other religions or with non-Orthodox denominations of Judaism.
“We will not falter for a moment,” he vowed. “Facing the Judaism of the ‘paths of hatred,’ we will continue to promote the Judaism of the ‘paths of joy’ and ‘paths of peace,’ he said (Darchei Noam translates to Paths of Joy.)
“In the face of incessant incitement, we will continue to promote incessant hope,” continued Kariv. “They will smash and break — we will repair and build.”
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