Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Miami Jews Unnerved by Muslim Women at Synagogue

Miami-area Jews are reported to be on edge after Muslim women wearing hijabs entered a local synagogue two times asking questions about the congregation.

The women visited Congregation Beth Israel twice, the first time on Feb. 12 right before the start of Shabbat, according to local reports, citing police. They reportedly asked about times of services and programs, the numbers of participants and the busiest times at the synagogue, the local ABC affiliate reported.

One of the women pulled out a Koran during a visit. Similar visits occurred at two other Miami-area synagogues, according to reports. A male and female Muslim also approached two children in the area asking them similar questions, according to ABC.

The FBI reportedly is involved in the investigation. No crime has been committed.

“North Miami Beach Police are in receipt of a suspicious incident at a temple in North Miami Beach. We are working with multiple agencies to identify the people involved,” said a statement issued by police and published by the local CBS affiliate.

WSVN News 7 in Miami reported that law enforcement sources told the news station that one of the women seen in surveillance video from the synagogue has terminal cancer and was visiting different houses of worship with her mother to learn about different religions.

A message from our CEO & publisher 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.

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.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

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 credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link 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.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.