Two spray-painted swastikas were found outside Minneapolis’ Temple Israel, the largest synagogue in Minnesota, on Monday morning.
Swastikas spray-painted outside entrance to Temple Israel in Minneapolis
Officials condemned the hateful imagery and said security camera footage was still being reviewed.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
December 16, 2024 at 8:34PM
The symbols were found spray-painted in red on a pillar and a door on the temple’s Emerson Avenue S. entrance, according to Rabbi Marcia Zimmerman, and a report has been filed with police.
“It is heartbreaking to see such a hateful image directly underneath the words emblazoned above our doors, words that have guided us for generations: ‘My house shall be a house of prayer for all peoples,’” Zimmerman said. “Temple has always been a sacred space, a welcoming place to all who enter with a spirit of community and peace.”
In an interview, Zimmerman said security cameras caught someone spray-painting the imagery at about 7 a.m. Monday. The footage is still being analyzed.
Minneapolis police confirmed they are investigating the case and have obtained surveillance footage which shows the suspect and a vehicle. The suspect has to be identified and no arrests have been made.
The vandalism comes at a time of increased antisemitism and uncertainty in the Jewish community about its safety. In an April poll from the Jewish Federations of North America, more than half of Jewish Americans reported being at least somewhat concerned for their personal safety. Almost a third of respondents said they were very concerned or concerned all the time.
Zimmerman said the synagogue has fielded an increased number of disturbing and threatening phone calls since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas, an Islamist militant group.
None of those threats have been deemed credible, and Zimmerman said Monday’s vandalism will not disrupt any programming in the coming days and weeks. The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah will be celebrated from Dec. 25 to Jan. 2.
“We will continue to be here,” she said. “We can’t allow hate to define us. We have to continue on with pride.”
Zimmerman said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison have reached out with support after hearing of the vandalism.
“When hate is embraced or tolerated, it is emboldened,” Frey, who is Jewish, wrote in a post on X. “I’ve seen antisemitism increase over the last year, yet too few have spoken out against it, opting for the safety of silence. No matter one’s ethnicity or race, when any group is targeted, it’s on all of us to condemn it.”
Temple Israel, at 2323 Fremont Av. S., opened in 1928 at a time of heightened antisemitism in Minneapolis, Zimmerman said. The five entrance doors that run along Emerson Avenue represent the five books of the Torah. And their position on Emerson Avenue, which can be seen from busy Hennepin Avenue, was done intentionally to show a “message of strength and pride and being Jewish, as well as welcoming people of different faiths.”
“We take great pride in that,” she said.
Staff writer Liz Sawyer contributed to this report.
“It’s heartbreaking and tragic that two people were killed and three others were injured in the blink of an eye,” said Police Chief Brian O’Hara.
