Fire suspected to be of incendiary origin destroyed seven scrolls of the Torah of Congregation Ohab Sholom, one of the oldest synagogues in Brooklyn, yesterday. No other part of the synagogue, located at 19-21 Varet street, was harmed.
The fire broke out at noon, two hours after the last person had left. Since smoking or carrying a match near the Ark is prohibited by rabbinical law, it is believed that the cause was not accidental.
Chief McGarry of the 108th Hook and Ladder Company, said he regarded it as possible that the blaze was maliciously set. Rabbi Isaac Sodden, leader of the Congregation for the last fourteen years, declared that “this is the first time we have had a fire. It is mysterious that the blaze began with the Ark of the Covenant and only destroyed the scrolls.”
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