Hours earlier than the start of Hanukkah on Thursday, a menorah exterior the Chabad synagogue in Olney, Maryland, was tipped over with injury to lights and considered one of its arms.
Cops have been referred to as to the synagogue by an eyewitness at round 4:30 p.m. after receiving phrase of the vandalism, the Montgomery County Police Department informed WTTG, the District of Columbia Fox affiliate.
“I rushed over and was very distraught and disappointed; it was very clear that the menorah was vandalized,” Rabbi Bentzy Stolik informed WTOP-FM.
Pictures posted on Facebook by synagogue co-director Devorah Stolik, the rabbi’s spouse, present that whereas the rightmost arm of the menorah was nonetheless lit, the subsequent arm over was damaged.
Other lights on the menorah have been bent, and the centermost mild on the tallest arm, representing the shamash candle used to mild the others every evening, had additionally gone out.
The synagogue has been working to get safety cameras put in, a mirrored image of two months of rising tensions associated to the Israel-Hamas struggle.
“The fact that we’re getting cameras up is absolutely a response to the mood of what’s going on. … But that being said, in terms of the heart and soul in the spirit of the holiday, Hanukkah is all about overcoming challenges, and these challenges don’t stop us,” Mr. Stolik informed WTOP.
In her put up, Ms. Stolik struck a defiant tone befitting the vacation, which commemorates the miraculous eight-day preservation of holy oil for the menorah within the Second Temple of Jerusalem amid the 167-160 B.C. Jewish revolt of the Maccabees in opposition to the Seleucid King Antiochus IV Epiphanes.
“The world still has pockets of darkness, but we fight with more light!! … shine your menorah and shine it strong, don’t be afraid!! Now more than ever the world needs our light!” Ms. Stolik wrote.
Police are investigating the incident however don’t have a suspect in custody, the division informed WTTG.
