Following the arrest of three local teenagers in connection with the ransacking of a synagogue, residents of the quaint Cape Cod community of Barnstable, Mass., are moving quickly to address an apparent hate-crime in their midst. Officials at the Barnstable High School, where the teenagers were enrolled, will be hosting a unity rally Tuesday night with local organizations, town and police officials expected to participate.
According to Rabbi Yekusiel Alperowitz, whose Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish Center was found vandalized last week and will address the rally, students at the school are preparing a large “G-d Bless America” banner with the signature of all of their classmates for the gathering. He said that he has been heartened by the support of school officials and clergy members.
“The community is being very supportive,” he stated. “People from all religions are contacting us and offering support. The high school sent us an official apology letter and they are cooperating with all of our proposals.”
Jewish Center member Betty Gladstein discovered the vandalism Wednesday morning, finding the doors kicked in and religious items strewn about, and called the Barnstable Police Department. According to media reports, investigators determined that images of Adolf Hitler and anti-Semitic symbols on the rabbi’s computer were downloaded during the break-in.
Lt. Sean Balcom said that police recovered some stolen items from two suspects found at an apartment building behind the synagogue, while another juvenile was arrested at the high school.
The day after the robbery, Town Manager John C. Klimm, Town Council President Fred Chirigotis, and Sue Rohrach, an aide of State Sen. Robert A. O’Leary, met with Alperowitz to discuss the vandalism.
The rabbi spoke of creating “a community of tolerance and unity,” Klimm said in an update posted on the town’s Web site. “I [speak] for all town employees that we view these acts of violence and vandalism as mindless and immoral, an affront against our community.”
The Anti-Defamation League of New England, which is co-sponsoring Tuesday’s rally, also denounced the vandalism.
“We condemn this attack against a peaceful house of worship,” said Derrek Shulman, the ADL’s regional director. Although a recent audit shows anti-Semitic incidents decreasing overall, “incidents like [this] remind us that we still have a long way to go.”
On Sunday, after a larger-than-usual attendance at Shabbat services, Alperowitz said that during his sermon, he spoke about the need to respond positively to the attack, and suggested meeting the suspects and their families. He also proposed the establishment of an annual “Good Deed” award for five local teenagers that the Chabad House will sponsor.
“This clearly was not just a regular case of vandalism,” said Alperowitz. “It is especially disturbing that these youth targeted and desecrated a building based on its religion and its message of good.”
The Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish Center has established a fund to help combat hate in its community, which can be found online by clicking here.
Shalom Klein contributed to this article.
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