Jews Help Rebuild Florida Mosque Burned In Hate Crime Attack
Image by New Tampa Islamic Society
Jews helped power an online fundraiser to rebuild a Florida mosque burned in a hateful arson attack last Friday, said the organizer of the donation drive.
“I couldn’t understand why people were donating in what seemed like weird amounts to the cause,” Adeel Karim, member of the Islamic Society of New Tampa, wrote on Facebook.
“There are sums of 18, 36, 72 dollars etc. Then I figured out after clicking on the names Avi, Cohen, Goldstein, Rubin, Fisher,” he added, saying that he learned Jews donate in increments of 18 because the Hebrew word “chai,” meaning “life,” adds up to 18 in Hebrew numerology.
The mosque has raised more than $60,000 to repair its damaged building since it was vandalized, and in the meantime is using a nearby church as a prayer space.
Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Dive In
-
Fast Forward Jewish family killed in New York plane crash
-
Fast Forward Israelis can no longer enter the Maldives after Palestinian-solidarity ban goes into effect
-
Fast Forward Northwestern University defaced by anti-Israel graffiti during passover
-
Fast Forward Eyeing an escape route in the Trump era, these American Jews are moving to Canada
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion My Jewish moms group ousted me because I work for J Street. Is this what communal life has come to?
- 2
Fast Forward Suspected arsonist intended to beat Gov. Josh Shapiro with a sledgehammer, investigators say
- 3
News Student protesters being deported are not ‘martyrs and heroes,’ says former antisemitism envoy
- 4
Politics Meet America’s potential first Jewish second family: Josh Shapiro, Lori, and their 4 kids
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Jewish family killed in New York plane crash
-
Fast Forward Israelis can no longer enter the Maldives after Palestinian-solidarity ban goes into effect
-
News Harvard is defying the Trump administration — after its own crackdown on academic freedom
-
Opinion The Passover attack on Josh Shapiro was terrifying. But don’t assume it was antisemitic
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.