Jewish Temple Building Defaced

Vandals desecrated a building at Temple Beth Torah this weekend, spray-painting swastikas and anti-Semitic slurs and ransacking two offices, according to Ventura police.

The United Jewish Appeal Federation of Ventura County, which rents the building from the temple on Foothill Road, was defaced inside with profanity, swastikas and a possible gang sign, police said Monday.

“It’s devastating and startling,” said Nancy Cole, president of the federation, which raises money for the county’s Jewish community. “It’s a reminder that these things do happen here and that there are people who are filled with hate.”

Ventura police are investigating the incident as a hate crime. Detectives believe the crime occurred early in the weekend. An employee of the federation discovered the damage about 8 a.m. Monday morning. Police arrived about an hour later.

The vandals apparently broke in through a small window, police said. In addition to spray-painting the door and two walls, they also threw a computer and dozens of files onto the floor and dumped several gallons of water on the papers. There was no alarm on the building.

Police said the vandals were probably inside the building for only five minutes. The incident caused several hundred dollars in damage, police said.

Ventura Police Sgt. Bob Anderson said he believes the crime was committed by local youths, though he doesn’t know how many. Anderson said he doesn’t believe the vandals are associated with a white supremacist gang.

“This does not look like an act by a sophisticated, organized hate group, and it doesn’t appear to be a real extreme hate crime,” Anderson said. “More than likely, it was done by some misguided teenagers. But at the same time, crimes like these are intolerable and so we take them very seriously.”

This is the first attack at Temple Beth Torah since 1990, when vandals spray-painted slurs during Hanukkah. That same week, vandals also defaced Temple Adat Elohim and Temple Etz Chaim, both in Thousand Oaks.

There were two other incidents at Temple Beth Torah that same year. In one, bullets pierced a sign at the temple. In the other, vandals spray-painted an anti-Semitic slur.

In 1996, vandals spray-painted a swastika on the front door of Temple K’Hilat Ha’Aloneem in Meiners Oaks.

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Temple officials said they believe the vandals chose the federation building, rather than the synagogue, because it is dimly lit, quiet and farther from the road.

“I’m disappointed that there are young people who feel the need to scapegoat and who hate and act on that hate,” said Rabbi Lisa Hochberg-Miller. “It’s bothersome, but when I take it in context, we’ve had very few anti-Semitic acts up here.”

Hochberg-Miller said local temples have been more watchful since August, when a white supremacist went on a shooting rampage at the Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills.

Temple Beth Torah hired a security guard for several weeks this fall and reviewed safety procedures at the synagogue. Hochberg-Miller said there are plans to install more lights on the complex, and last weekend’s vandalism will speed up the process.

Rabbi Shimon Paskow of Temple Etz Chaim said the incident serves as a reminder that temples throughout the county must do whatever they can to prevent hate crimes. His temple employs a part-time security guard and has a security alarm system.

“We have to be alert,” Paskow said. “And when we catch vandals, we must prosecute them to the full extent of the law, so they don’t get away with it.”

Representatives from the Anti-Defamation League expressed outrage at the incident. “It could be graffiti on the wall or a synagogue burning,” said Marjan Keypour, assistant director with the Anti-Defamation League. “When it comes to acts of hate, these acts should be taken seriously.”

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Keypour and others hope the incident will urge local residents to stand up against discrimination.

“This is a terrifying act,” she said, “but it can also be an opportunity for people of Ventura County to come together against hate crimes.”

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the Ventura Police Department at 339-4465.