An Orthodox woman pushes a stroller in Lakewood, N.J., in 2013. The population in the largely Haredi Orthodox town has boomed in the past couple of decades. (Credit: Dennis Fraevich/Flickr)

By Adam Kovac May 23, 2023

Police in the New Jersey town of Lakewood are investigating after an explosive device was thrown in a heavily Jewish area on Saturday. 

Video obtained by local news outlet the Lakewood Scoop and uploaded to YouTube showed the residents walking on the sidewalk when the two trucks slowed and stopped next to them. The residents can be seen crossing the street behind the trucks, when they drive off. Second later, the explosion can be seen and smoke begins to rise from a nearby wooded area. 

Lakewood police captain Gregory Staffordsmith said in an email that the department received a call just before 9:30 p.m. on Saturday reporting the explosion and smoke. An officer was dispatched to the scene, where a resident told him two vehicles had been driving slowly through the area before they heard a loud boom.

Antisemitism Notebook

Your weekly guide through the news and the noise of how rising antisemitism and disputes over how to address it are shaping American Jewish life.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Staffordsmith said a small object with a lit fuse was thrown from one of the trucks and that the pedestrians had been 50 to 100 feet away. Nobody was injured in the incident. 

Lakewood is a predominantly Jewish area. In 2019, NJ.com estimated that two-thirds of the 100,000 residents were Orthodox Jews. The town has been the site of several antisemitic incidents in recent years. In November 2020, a dead pig was left outside a rabbi’s home while in May of that year, a man was arrested for posting threatening messages to Facebook against Jews in the area who ignored COVID-19 public health restrictions. 

No arrests have been made and Staffordsmith asked that anyone with information contact Detective Kevin Donnelly at 732-363-0200 ext. 5346.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount