Temple Mishkon Tephilo Image by facebook

The word “Jude” was carved under a Star of David on the front door of a Los Angeles synagogue on Saturday, the Jewish Journal reported.

A bystander saw an unidentified person create the symbols into the Temple Mishkon Tephilo in Venice and called the police, which notified Rabbi Gabriel Botnick. It was the synagogue’s first anti-Semitic incident, Botnick told the Jewish Journal. “Jude” means Jew in German.

“It’s somewhat typical in [Nazi] Germany and what people would do to Jewish businesses,” he said. “Seeing ‘Jude’ written on there as clearly a neo-Nazi-type term… that was very upsetting to me. That’s not anything I’ve ever encountered in this neighborhood.”

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In response, Temple Mishkon Tephilo has been in touch with the police, the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles Community Security Initiative.

“There should be zero tolerance for anti-Semitism in our city,” American Jewish Committee Los Angeles acting chief of staff Dganit Abramoff told the Jewish Journal. “We stand in solidarity with Miskhon Tephilo and Rabbi Botnick, who worked with us in the aftermath of the Pittsburgh massacre to stand up against hate. Those who attempt to instill fear in our community only make us stronger.”

Alyssa Fisher is a writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

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