A synagogue in Brooklyn, N.Y. was vandalized during Rosh Hashanah services on Sept. 30, Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports. Police are currently searching for two young females as suspects.
Video from Williamsburg News shows two youths throwing milk crates into the windows of the Rivnitz shul. At least one other can be seen appearing to be a lookout.
VIDEO: At Throop av x Bartlett st, 4 youngsters punched out a window of the Rivnitz shul with a heavy object during High Holiday prayers on Rosh Hashana, please contact @NYPD90Pct or @WspuShomrim 7182370202 with any info. pic.twitter.com/q2Mvavpdey
— WILLIAMSBURG NEWS (@WMSBG) October 2, 2019
News 12 Brooklyn reporter Katie Lusso shared a photo of one of the synagogue’s broken windows from the incident:
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called the vandalism “a shocking act of violence” in an Oct. 2 tweet and vowed to bring those behind it to justice.
“Officers are protecting religious institutions during High Holy Days, and we’ll keep our Jewish community safe,” de Blasio tweeted.
This is a shocking act of hate. We WILL find the perpetrators and hold them responsible. If you have any information, share it with the NYPD.
Officers are protecting religious institutions during High Holy Days, and we’ll keep our Jewish community safe.https://t.co/2dYtAhzJmX https://t.co/hywdFdiOui
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) October 2, 2019
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced in an Oct. 2 press release that the New York State Police Hate Crimes Task Force will be assisting the New York Police Department in investigating the matter.
“I am disgusted and enraged by yet another anti-Semitic act of vandalism, the desecration of a synagogue in Williamsburg over Rosh Hashanah, one of the holiest days in the Jewish calendar,” Cuomo said. “It is simply unconscionable.”
https://twitter.com/Michael_Sn0w/status/1179502592512147462
Anti-Defamation League (ADL) New York and New Jersey Regional Director Evan Bernstein said in a statement that the ADL is “deeply disturbed” over the vandalism.
“At a time when the Brooklyn Jewish community is already on edge in the wake of a series of anti-Semitic incidents, it is extremely upsetting to see this congregation targeted during what is otherwise supposed to be a joyous celebration of the Jewish New Year,” Bernstein said. “We all have an important role to play in sending a clear message that these kinds of incidents will not be tolerated in our city.”
In regards to the video footage of a synagogue in #Brooklyn being vandalized on #RoshHashanah, "it is extremely upsetting to see this congregation targeted during what is otherwise supposed to be a joyous celebration" – Regional Director @bernstein_evan. Full statement below: pic.twitter.com/l4X8p7ofu0
— ADL New York / New Jersey (@ADL_NYNJ) October 2, 2019
Another Williamsburg News video shows an unidentified perpetrator pulling down a Jewish woman’s headscarf and wig on the evening of Sept. 30.
SHOCKING ATTACK on Jewish women during high holidays, gangsters pulled down her headscarf and wig on Sunday night in front of her kids at Marcy x Myrtle ave (close-up video) pic.twitter.com/ksQQwmlS5U
— WILLIAMSBURG NEWS (@WMSBG) October 2, 2019
Former New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind, a Democrat, tweeted, “We cannot allow this to continue! The Jewish community is being terrorized! Enough!!!”
BREAKING: Jewish woman attacked in Williamsburg; headscarf yanked off her head.
We cannot allow this to continue! The Jewish community is being terrorized!
Enough!!! pic.twitter.com/CLRBIHUKwn
— Dov Hikind (@HikindDov) October 2, 2019
