Make Vandalism of Synagogues a Federal Crime, Orthodox Rabbi Urges Congress

An Orthodox rabbinical leader is urging Congress to make vandalism of synagogues and churches a federal crime and recommended that the Justice Department create a special section to deal with such vandalism. Rabbi Louis Bernstein, first vice president of the Rabbinical Council of American, told its midwinter conference here yesterday that physical attacks on religious institutions were “cutting into the very fabric of our society” and that “society, therefore, must protect itself lest it be destroyed in the process.” Calling on Congress and Attorney General John N. Mitchell to take the “necessary steps,” the spiritual leader of Young Israel of Windsor Park, Bayside, N.Y., declared that it was “obvious” that local police and security forces were unable to “cope” with the problem without federal cooperation.

Rabbi Bernstein attributed the vandalism to the “confusion of young minds who justify their destructiveness by moral rationalization that they are fighting an unjust establishment and that houses of worship are regarded as being part of that establishment.” Rabbi Bernstein added that “Those who seek to destroy have no blueprint for building,” as “theirs is the psychology of anarchy and nihilism” and they “desire to destroy us and bring about a system of autocratic government, whether of the right or of the left.” Stating that “stern measures by the highest level of government” were required to preserve American religious freedom Rabbi Bernstein announced that the Rabbinical Council, which is based in New York City, would contact New York State’s Congressional leaders regarding appropriate legislation.