Synagogue Faithful Pick Up the Pieces After Firebombing : Worship: Jews observe <i> Shabbat</i> and rejoice that the main sanctuary was spared from the flames. Investigators have no suspects in the attack early Thursday morning in North Hollywood.

Ashes lingered in the air and anger mingled with gratitude at Yeshiva Aish HaTorah on Friday night as about 60 Orthodox Jews gathered to observe Shabbat a day after their North Hollywood synagogue was firebombed.

The smell of smoke from the gutted building next door permeated the main sanctuary, which was not touched by flames, as Rabbi Zvi Block comforted the worshipers with the story of Rabbi Chanina.

Rabbi Chanina was said to have been wrapped in the Torah and burned to death by Roman soldiers.

As he was burning, Chanina’s students asked the rabbi what he saw.

The rabbi replied, “I see the Torah parchment burning, but the letters of the Torah, they are soaring to the heavens,” Block said.

The lesson of the story, Block said, is that “you can destroy the physical aspects of our religion, but you can’t destroy the eternal message, the soul of our people.”

Block said his congregation will prove the truth of that lesson by continuing their steadfast observance of their Orthodox Jewish law.

“They destroyed the building, only they didn’t destroy our belief, our message. Our faith in God is stronger than that,” Block said. “We will stay strong and fight back and be more devoted to our religion and our heritage. We will rebuild our building and it will be more beautiful.”

Meanwhile, fire and police investigators said Friday they had not identified who was responsible for planting the incendiary device that set fire to the synagogue shortly after midnight on Thursday.

The fire gutted one of the congregation’s two small buildings before firefighters could extinguish it.

Some religious artifacts, including sacred books and prayer shawls, were destroyed in the flames.

But the mood of the sunset service was far from somber.

Although some worshipers, such as Yakov Kaufman, a 39-year-old law librarian from North Hollywood, said they were “a little bit nervous” about being at the synagogue, the sanctuary was filled nearly to capacity with men and boys.

In accord with Orthodox tradition, the few women present sat off to the side behind a white curtain.

A cluster of young girls hung around in the courtyard.

The faithful sang with gusto the traditional song to welcome the Shabbat, which began at sundown and ends at sunset tonight.

And in his remarks to the congregation, Block said that two miracles had occurred on the night of the fire, proving that God was protecting the synagogue.

Two Torahs--the five books of Moses handwritten on lambskin parchment--survived the blaze, although flames raged around them.

The second wonder, he said, was that the building that houses the main sanctuary was not touched by the flames, although it was just feet from the building that burned.

“These are open miracles, clear for anyone to see,” the rabbi proclaimed.

Block also said that the congregation has received an outpouring of support and sympathy from the Jewish and non-Jewish communities, and will soon make plans to rebuild the facility.

Steve Rubin said he and most other congregation members will continue to attend services there because they have “faith in God that those responsible for the bombing will be apprehended, and that he will protect us, as he did the Torah scrolls.”