Gathering in a Unified Stand Against Hate

The walls of Temple Knesset Israel showed no sign of past desecration. Yet, the congregants and community members gathered at the Los Feliz synagogue Saturday said they would not forget.

Nearly one month since their temple was defaced with a swastika, members of Temple Knesset Israel attended a multicultural interfaith service in a collective stand against hate. As the Jewish community prepares for the arrival today of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, members of different religions joined in reflection on the broad meaning of reconciliation and healing.

Leaders from the Jewish, African American, Central American, Latino and Asian communities took turns and spoke out against the recent spate of hate crimes committed across the nation. Joe R. Hicks, executive director of the Los Angeles Commission on Human Rights, said the solution is to come together.

“I came to stand with you. I came to say you are not alone,” Hicks told about 120 people. “It’s important that when any act of desecration happens that we come together. If we don’t, the people who did this have won.”

On Aug. 14, members of the Vermont Avenue synagogue were shocked to find the entrance to the temple preschool marred with a swastika and the words “Jews die.” The incident caused outrage and some fear among the congregation and neighborhood. The synagogue’s president, Harvey Shield, said the temple has hired security officers to guard building entrances during worship.

Los Angeles police have arrested Bruce Edward Marshall, 33. He is being held on $50,000 bail, police said Saturday, and will be arraigned on charges of felony vandalism to a church for the purposes of intimidation.

Desecration of Temple Knesset Israel happened only four days after white supremacist Buford O. Furrow allegedly stormed into the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills and wounded three children and two workers. Authorities said Furrow fatally shot Filipino mail carrier Joseph Ileto an hour later.

At Saturday’s service, Angela Sanbrano, executive director of the Central American Resource Center, invoked Ileto’s name and said it was important for all people to fight against racism.

“Those who defaced your temple are the same ones who persecuted my people when they sought refuge in this country. It is the same person who killed Joseph Ileto because his skin was the wrong color, in the eyes of a racist,” she said. “We must continue to struggle until racism is erased from the earth.”

Temple member Pauline Nightingale made a plea for banning handguns that she said could have prevented the shooting at the Jewish community center.

“What’s wrong with the United States of America?” asked Nightingale, a retired judge. “Aren’t we civilized?”

After the service, several members of the neighborhood said such gatherings were helpful in forging ties among people of different races and religions who normally never cross paths.

“The beauty in this is that I came someplace that I’ve never been before. I met some people I never knew,” said Democratic Rep. Xavier Becerra of the 30th District. Becerra suggested having a similar gathering in East Los Angeles.

Jack Goodman, 87, a synagogue member since 1958, said it was unfortunate that it took such an incident to bring the community together.

“Why is it that when something bad happens, good people come together? We don’t take the time to get involved with each other. That’s the answer,” he said.