"The feeling is terrible, it is a feeling of pain and deep crying."
By ALON HOCHMONSynagogue broken into in Petah Tikva, Dec. 18, 2021(photo credit: PETAH TIKVA MUNICIPALITY)
Thieves broke into two synagogues near Segula junction in Petah Tikva on Sunday night, defiling Torah scrolls and stealing silver items and money from tzedakah boxes.“Unfortunately, we witnessed disturbing sights after two synagogues in the city were broken into, Ahavat Daniel and Chen Hatzafon,” Petah Tikva Mayor Rami Greenberg said. “The burglars were not satisfied with taking the money, but also defiled Torah scrolls. Such an act cannot be ignored. Therefore, Petah Tikva Municipality security officials, together with the police, will do everything possible to bring the despicable thieves to justice.”“The atrocity was discovered by the synagogue’s maintenance man, Aharon Tabib,” he said. “It should be noted that because of the coronavirus regulations, it is forbidden to pray inside the synagogues, and since the Chen Hatzafon Synagogue adheres to the regulations, they have been praying only outside. The maintenance man entered the building to ventilate the place and then encountered the horrible sight.”Boaz Kot, one of the worshipers, said: “It’s a sick act, an indescribable horror. They broke into the synagogue, threw away everything they came across: books, Chumashim, tallitot [prayer shawls], tefillin. They broke open the ark, threw one of the Torah scrolls on the floor, broke into the gabbai’s [caretaker] room as they broke down the steel door and in the end took nothing. They didn’t even take the money from the charity funds; they just threw it on the floor.”“It’s unbelievable what they did here,” Kot said. “We worshipers do not believe that a Jew does such a thing, and neither is any person who follows any religion capable of doing such a thing.”Because of the coronavirus regulation, we pray outside, and, in fact, because of the regulations the synagogue is sad,” he added. “The feeling is terrible. It is a feeling of pain and deep crying. But we as believers are these days finishing the writing of a Torah scroll called the ‘Synagogue Community,’ and therefore we are optimistic, and this is our response to this criminal act.”
