Bulgarian Synagogue Hit With Anti-Semitic Vandalism On Shavuot

New Target: The Central Synagogue in Sofia, Bulgaria. Image by Wikipedia
“Death to Jews” and a swastika were painted on the notice board of the Central Synagogue in Sofia, Bulgaria.
The vandalism took place on June 4, the first day of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, the Sofia Globe reported.
Security cameras located outside of the synagogue recorded the vandalism; the recordings were turned over to local police, according to the newspaper.
Four people ages 19 and 20 were arrested in connection with the vandalism, the World Jewish Congress reported over the weekend, citing the Bulgarian Jewish umbrella body Shalom, the Organization of the Jews in Bulgaria.
Shalom said in a statement in reaction to the incident: “The Shavuot holiday is dedicated to the time when Moses received the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai and transmitted them to the Jewish people after the Exodus from Egypt. The transmission of the Ten Commandments is the biggest act of God and a gift to the people to learn how to live in this world. Encroachment on one of the symbols of Judaism in Bulgaria is a fact that proves once again that we must all urgently start a dialogue against these acts of hatred, xenophobia and anti-Semitism in order to preserve the universal human values.”
Sofia’s Central Synagogue is one of two synagogues still operating in Bulgaria, according to the World Jewish Congress.
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