Police are investigating the fire bombing of a synagogue on the Lower East Side early yesterday. Rabbi Shulem Bubin of Congregation Agudath-Elazar, 381 E. Eighth Street, said the incident started when a group of youths gathered near the synagogue at about 12:30 a.m. and began throwing stones at the four-story building.
As the Rabbi was trying to call police, some youths tossed three Molotov cocktails into the synagogue’s backyard. The Rabbi’s 80-year-old father, Rabbi David-Rubin, and his wife, woke up and ran to the fire escape where they saw youths move from an adjacent lot to the front of the building. Some of the youths brought a gasoline tank, spilled its contents near the door and lighted it, the Rabbi reported.
Rabbi Shulem Rubin believes the fire bombing was due to the fact that on July 17 he witnessed some youths breaking into a building across the street and called the police. The youths were arrested and the Rabbi was asked to testify in court July 26. Rabbi Rubin told police that Hispanic teenagers have been harassing him in an effort to frighten him from testifying
Rabbi David Rubin started the synagogue some 21 years ago. The area used to be predominantly Jewish but is now mostly Hispanic.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
