Damaged Menorah Draws Support from Muslims

A Toledo, Ohio Muslim organization has voiced its support and concern to local Jews after a menorah was damaged outside the Chabad House-Lubavitch in Sylvania Township.

Two lower arms of the oversized menorah, an eight-branched candelabrum visible alongside Sylvania Avenue at Nantucket Drive, were broken off and two spotlight bulbs stolen last week. Sylvania Township police said an investigation is ongoing, but they added that they don’t believe it is a hate crime.

“The Muslim Community of Toledo … offers its deepest regret and sympathy to the Jewish community of Toledo and joins in demanding an inquiry and appropriate punishment for the perpetrators of this crime,” Dr. S. Maseeh Rehman, president of the United Muslim Association of Toledo, said in a letter. “It should be well known to all that Toledo, Ohio, is a compassionate city of religious and racial harmony, and such acts cannot and will not shake the faith of its residents to live with peace and mutual respect.”

The letter was sent to Rabbi Yossi Shemtov of Chabad House-Lubavitch, a Jewish outreach group that works to edify, educate, and inspire all Jews. The large silver-colored menorah has been a roadside fixture for years outside the Jewish center, located in a residential area on Nantucket and Sylvania west of Talmadge Road.

Rabbi Shemtov declined to comment Tuesday, but Peter Silverman, speaking for Chabad, said that “we’re treating it very seriously and working with police and other authorities to find out who did it. It doesn’t seem to be random vandalism; it was clearly against a Jewish holy symbol.”

Mr. Silverman added that Chabad House “very much appreciates the voice of support from others in the community.”

Robin Bush of Temperance and a member of Chabad House said she assumes it was “not a hate crime; it’s kids.” But she added that she was not surprised to see the local Muslim community showing its support.

“I expect that from them because Rabbi Shemtov has that kind of relationship with the Muslim community,” Ms. Bush said.

Sylvania Township police said in its report that evidence from the scene, including a pair of gloves, was bagged and sent to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification for DNA analysis after the damage was discovered early Friday.

Toledo City Councilman D. Michael Collins, who has discussed the menorah incident with representatives from the Jewish and Muslim communities, said he was glad to see the two religious groups that historically have been at odds elsewhere standing together in Toledo.

“I think it’s very significant that with all the troubles occurring in the Middle East between Israel and the Arab nations, here we have in Toledo, Ohio, the Arab-Islamic community recognizing and reaching out to the Jewish community with compassion for the deplorable acts that took place with the menorah,” Mr. Collins said.

Dr. S. Zaheer Hasan, a spokesman for UMAT, said Muslims have “a moral duty to condemn [the vandalism] and to offer our support because we strongly believe Toledo is a compassionate city where we are respectful and supportive of each other’s diversity and faith. We do not wish for any place of worship to be desecrated or disrespected, and we want to spearhead racial and religious tolerance in this town for the rest of the country.”

Yehia “John” Shousher, a leader of the local Muslim community, said he can sympathize with those who worship at Chabad House because a window at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo was shot out after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Afterward, more than 1,500 Christians and Jews gathered outside the Perrysburg mosque and prayed for the safety of those who worshipped within.

“I remember how we felt when the window was shot at the mosque, and I know how they must feel after what happened to the menorah,” Mr. Shousher said.

The MultiFaith Council of Northwest Ohio has applied for Toledo to be officially certified as a “Compassionate City” by the Compassion Action Network International.