Synagogue Hit by Arson for Second Time

For the second time in three weeks, a synagogue here was damaged by fire Sunday, the latest in a string of suspected anti-Semitic incidents in Ventura County and the San Fernando Valley.

Officials said the fire, which caused an estimated $8,000 damage to Temple Adat Elohim, was arson but they have not determined how it was started.

“It was definitely a set fire. It didn’t look like anything was stolen,” said Peter Cronk, a Ventura County fire investigator. Officials said the blaze was started outside the building about 4:49 a.m. and damaged a wall of the sanctuary and part of the roof.

Cronk said the blaze is the second arson fire at Temple Adat Elohim in less than three weeks. On March 11, a door was set afire, causing minor damage, he said. The temple has also been the target of anti-Semitic graffiti in recent months.

Marty Ricks, president of the temple’s board of directors, said the blaze, which occurred on the third day of Passover, suggests a pattern of anti-Semitic vandalism.

“Whoever is doing this doesn’t want to give up. It’s somebody who really wants to burn us down,” he said. “Up until this occurrence, I thought it was just kids trying to have some fun. It is more than that.”

Board member Sandy Greenstein of Agoura noted that there were no slurs or swastikas spray-painted on the walls, as occurred in February and during last year’s Hanukkah season.

Another Thousand Oaks synagogue, Temple Etz Chaim, and Temple Beth Torah in Ventura were defaced by spray paint at Hanukkah, and someone stole a Hanukkah display from the front of a Jewish family’s home in Agoura.

On Jan. 10, a firebomb gutted a synagogue in North Hollywood owned by Yeshiva Aish HaTorah Institute, causing an estimated $120,000 damage. No arrests have been made.

Ricks said the fire makes him question whether the temple should remain active in the community. “Things like this happen, and you wonder: Should we be out at the forefront or more low-key?” he said.