An unidentified suspect was caught on security cameras Sunday night vandalizing prayer items outside a synagogue in Givatayim, tearing tefillin, tallitot and prayer books in what community leaders condemned as a shocking and deliberate act of desecration.
“In our community there is a great deal of unity and love of Israel," said Rabbi Shlomo Batzri, leader of the Beit Yosef synagogue where the vandalism occurred, head of the local community and son of renowned Kabbalist Rabbi David Batzri. "It is shocking that something like this was done in such a horrifying way. We are examining the incident and the reasons behind it."
Israel’s chief rabbis, Sephardic Chief Rabbi David Yosef and Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Kalman Ber, expressed “deep pain and shock over the desecration of sacred items.”
“The heart breaks at the sight of prayer books, tefillin and tallitot that were vandalized and discarded with contempt," they said in a statement. "An attack on sacred Jewish items is an attack on the heart of the Jewish people, especially in a place defined by unity, love of Israel and bringing people closer together.”
The chief rabbis called on law enforcement to act decisively to locate the perpetrators, bring them to justice and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.
Givatayim’s acting city rabbis, Rabbi Asher Wiesel and Rabbi Chen Sayada, also condemned the desecration outside the synagogue. “Givatayim is not a place for religious strife or attacks on synagogues under any circumstances,” they said in a joint statement.
“It is a city where all communities live in harmony and peace. That is how it has been, and that is how it will remain. The appalling act at the synagogue entrance last night was a futile attempt to ignite tension in the city and to hurt the feelings of Jews everywhere. We trust the law enforcement authorities to exhaust the full severity of the law against the offender who deliberately desecrated sacred items and the synagogue itself, and thereby make clear that there will be zero tolerance for such serious acts.”