Manchester Temple Copes With Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting, Anti-Semitic Graffiti
MANCHESTER, NH (CBS) - A Jewish temple in Manchester, New Hampshire is reeling from the shooting tragedy in Pittsburgh and from several vandalism incidents that occurred nearby.
Rabbi Beth Davidson says her congregation, Temple Adath Yeshurun, learned that a swastika had been spray-painted in a park just blocks from them. The news came shortly after hearing that two congregants had lost loved ones in the mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue.
"Our response has gone from disbelief to immense sorrow to anger to fear," Davidson said.
Joyce Feinberg, one of the shooting victims, had previously visited Temple Adath Yeshurun to attend her sister-in-law's bat mitzvah. Another congregant lost two cousins, Cecil and David Rosenthal, in the tragedy.
Manchester Police discovered the spray-painted swastika on the floor of a gazebo in Wagner Park, less than a quarter of a mile away from the Temple. Police say several cars were also vandalized with spray-paint and obscene words were spray-painted on someone's front door.
Police believe the incidents occurred late Friday night into the early morning hours of Saturday.
"It was driving home, in a very personal way, the hatred that drove someone to murder people," Davidson said.
Now, Davidson says her congregation is holding a service to begin to heal.
"I think it's up to each and every one of us to safeguard our friends and our neighbors and people we don't even know by telling people who sell this kind of hatred that it's not acceptable," Davidson said.