THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 18, 1995 TAG: 9508180361
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LORI A. DENNEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
A new temple to house members of a reform Jewish congregation has been hit three times by vandals over the past two weeks, but the latest damage inflicted more than a physical hurt.
Construction workers arrived Thursday morning to find swastikas and anti-Semitic images permanently etched into three of the building's air conditioning units.
The three commercial-sized units sit atop the roof of the 11,000-square-foot building just off Rosemont Road in the Chimney Hill area. So far, damage to the building - which had been scheduled for completion in October - has been estimated as high as $36,000.
``It's very disturbing,'' Rabbi Israel Zoberman, leader of the Beth Chaverim congregation, said Thursday. ``I haven't been the same since I got the call this morning. To think that the hate is still somewhere in our midst - that someone would begrudge our presence so.''
The Anti-Defamation League has offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrators.
Zoberman plans to hold a news conference at noon today at the construction site and hopes he will be joined by fellow clergy, members of other congregations and community leaders.
Zoberman said he hopes the meeting will rally the community to discover the vandals and why they are spreading a message of hate.
``It's not just a danger to part of the synagogue but to society,'' said Zoberman, as he and several others surveyed the damaged air conditioners. ``In light of the fact that this has been ongoing, this violates everyone.
``It's someone who lives around and in our midst, and that has to be discussed.''
Wednesday morning, construction superintendent Bill Corby arrived at the job site to find electrical wires cut and missing.
The week before, on Thursday morning, Corby arrived and found that an electrical panel inside the building had been tampered with and 4,000 feet of electrical wire stolen. He also noticed the letters ``NIX'' etched into one section of drywall.
Corby estimates that the vandals broke in through a boarded-up classroom window on the first floor and then made their way to the roof by climbing the only inside ladder that offers rooftop access.
The vandals then etched several anti-Semitic signs on the metal gratings of all three air conditioners. In one unit, dusty footprints can be seen where the vandal or vandals climbed inside to tamper with the wires, although no immediate damage was noted.
The congregation of Beth Chaverim, a reform Jewish congregation, has for eight years shared a place to worship with members of Ascension Catholic Church.
Their new building was about 75 to 80 percent finished, Corby said.
``Now,'' said Zoberman, ``we don't know how far this will set us back. I don't even want to think about it.''
The damaged units are covered under the contractor's building insurance, and the incidents have been reported to police.
Nationwide, 2,066 incidents of hate crimes were reported last year, the highest number on record, said Samuel K. Kaplan, director of the Virginia-North Carolina Anti-Defamation League, based in Norfolk. People under age 20 committed 80 percent of those crimes, he said.
``We need to take a strong stance against these sort of actions, regardless of their age or youthful indiscretions,'' he said. ``They need to realize there are consequences.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
STEVE EARLEY/Staff
Rabbi Israel Zoberman leads the Beth Chaverim congregation. ``To
think,'' he says, ``that the hate is still somewhere in our midst.''
KEYWORDS: VANDALISM ANTI-SEMITISM by CNB