Ablaze: Arson attack damages Russian synagogue

An Obninsk synagogue was vandalized and subject to arson last week, according to the  Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia.

A vandal set fire to an electrical box, but the Federation of the Jewish Communities of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) said Sunday that the blaze was contained and power was restored before scheduled Shabbat evening prayers.

“The swift response by local authorities and community members prevented further damage, but the psychological impact on the community remains significant,” said the CIS federation.

The Kaluga Oblast house of worship’s windows were damaged and part of the fence was broken, but the Russian Jewish federation said the vandal was unable to break inside and no one was injured in the attack.

The attack is reportedly still being investigated, but the Russian community suggested that the vandal had specialized tools for the attack.

“Despite the minor damage to the synagogue, what happened should not be ignored,” Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia president Rabbi Alexander Boroda said.

“An attack on a religious site, no matter what the purpose, is extremism. The perpetrators must be severely punished, because their crime is not limited to material damage. Now that this is not the first attack on a synagogue, what happened could provoke a chain of new crimes by fringe groups and radicals. We hope that all measures will be taken to ensure the attackers do not go unpunished and that their example shows that such actions are unacceptable.”

String of attacks on Russian synagogues

Russian Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar expressed concern to the CIS Federation, which he said came under the same context as recent terrorist attacks in the Russian Republic of Dagestan.

On June 23, dozens of Russians were murdered and dozens more wounded by terrorists when two churches, two synagogues, and a police traffic post were attacked in Makhachkala and Derbent. Father Nikolai Kotelnikov of the Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin in Derbent had his throat slit by the jihadists. An icon at the church and the Kele-Numaz Synagogue were set on fire.