THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 21, 1995 TAG: 9508180599
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
Apparently it was two youths 14-year-old boys - who vandalized the Beth Chaverim Synagogue under construction on Rosemont Road in Virginia Beach. The two have been accused of sketching swastikas and anti-Semitic images into three of the air-conditioning units.
Perhaps some solace can be taken from the fact they are young.Time still might teach them to respect the dignity of all human beings.
Whether they were young or adult, however, the pain they inflicted was terrible and real.
Rabbi Israel Zoberman of the Beth Chaverim congregation, which is building the temple, said Thursday:
``This is very disturbing. 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.''
In an unusual and much-publicized arrangement, the Beth Chaverim congregation has shared a place of worship these past eight years with members of Ascension Catholic Church. The basis of the two congregations' relationship has been love and understanding - the opposite of whatever sickness drives someone to vandalize a synagogue.
In a show of solidarity at a press conference Friday noon, several local religious leaders from various faiths condemned the vandalism.
``Religious intolerance anywhere is a threat to tolerance everywhere,'' said Ralph Reed, executive director of the Christian Coalition. ``Today it may be directed at a rabbi and a synagogue. But tomorrow it may well be directed at a Catholic priest, a Baptist church, an evangelical house of worship or a Muslim mosque. As people of faith - whether Jews or Christians - we must speak with one voice in repudiating religious bigotry whenever it raises its ugly head, no matter who may be its victim.''
Nationwide, 2,006 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. The only good news in the hate-crime statistics is that 80 percent of those crimes are committed by people under age 20. Better to be bigoted young than old. Better still to love than hate.
If vandals had minds they might realize that one of the necessary building blocks of this ever-amazing nation is religious tolerance. The entire community is hurt by the hateful marring of a synagogue. Life holds pain aplenty without us willfully inflicting more on each other. by CNB