Arizona Synagogue’s Menorah Damaged by Hanukkah Vandals
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
(JTA) — A large menorah and a Holocaust memorial were damaged at a synagogue in Sun City, Arizona.
The attack on Temple Beth Shalom is being investigated by the local sheriff’s office, though it has not been classified a hate crime, local media is reporting. The damage was discovered on Sunday morning, the first day of Hanukkah. The synagogue had celebrated a bar mitzvah the day before, the NBC affiliate Channel 12 News reported.
The copper and metal menorah has been in front of the synagogue for more than 30 years.
Tire tracks in the front yard of the synagogue indicate that someone smashed a truck into the menorah; it also appears that someone then tried to pull it down, according to reports. It will cost about $7,000 to fix the menorah, synagogue Rabbi Sheldon Moss told local station KPHO.
A Holocaust memorial on the synagogue’s campus also was damaged.
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