Vandals Hit 3 Synagogues, Kosher Meat Shop in Valley

Four incidents of anti-Semitic vandalism, including $4,000 in damage to stained-glass windows at a North Hollywood synagogue, were reported in the East Valley this week.

Vandals threw a cinder block through the stained-glass window Tuesday night or Wednesday morning at Temple Beth Hillel on Riverside Drive, Los Angeles Police Detective Taky Tzimeas said. About the same time, a large rock was thrown through a glass door at Shaarey Zedek Congregation, causing about $400 in damage, Tzimeas said. An outdoor bulletin board also was damaged.

At a third temple, Chabad of North Hollywood, vandals apparently shot BB pellets through the glass of an outdoor bulletin board during the same period, said Aaron Abend, rabbi at the temple.

A day earlier at Roz Kosher Meats in Sherman Oaks, someone hurled a rock through the plate- glass window, which had been painted with the Star of David, said the shop’s owner, Isaac Roz.

The kosher butcher shop is on Riverside Drive about six blocks from Temple Beth Hillel, and the Chabad temple is about two blocks from Shaarey Zedek on Chandler Boulevard.

Detectives were focusing on the Temple Beth Hillel and Shaarey Zedek incidents, but no leads have developed yet, Tzimeas said.

“I don’t know if it’s kids or not,” the detective said. “I don’t know if it’s a prank or if it’s serious . . . we’re really concerned about these.”

Last month in the West Valley, two synagogues and a community center under construction were sprayed with anti-Semitic graffiti. Investigators have concluded that those incidents were not related and they have no suspects, Detective Fred Duitsman said. “I feel they’re all kids,” he added.

About 20 incidents of anti-Semitic vandalism have occurred in the Valley since the beginning of the year, said Jonathan Bernstein, assistant director of the Los Angeles office of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith.

Since the West Valley vandalism cases, the league has been advising the 35 or so Jewish temples in the Valley that “it should be cleaned up as quickly and quietly as possible,” Bernstein said.