Florida Chabad House Vandalized

Sometime Monday night, somebody threw a concrete parking slab into a sliding glass door of the Chabad of East Boca, shattering the glass and breaking the concrete into pieces.

But was it drunken St. Patrick’s Day revelers, or was it a targeted attack at the congregation? The vandalism, which happened between 9 p.m. on Monday and 8 a.m. on Tuesday at 120 NE 1st Ave., in Boca Raton, has little motive behind it, according to police and Chabad officials.

But, according to members of the Chabad, the impression it has left within the community is devastating.

Rabbi Ruvi New said a student of the Chabad’s school discovered the broken glass and concrete just after 8 a.m. on Tuesday.

From the looks of it, someone – or a group of people – took the parking slab with Rabbi New’s name on it and threw it against the door, he said.

While the glass was cracked, no full entry inside the building was made, he said. The building does have security cameras, but they were not working at the time of the incident.

Boca Raton police Officer Sandra Boonenberg said police were called to the scene just after 9 a.m. on Tuesday. They found no signs of a hate crime, such as an anti-Semitic message or symbol on the building, she said.

She said police suspect it could’ve been a drunken reveler celebrating St. Patrick’s Day that might’ve caused the damage. The city saw an influx of people downtown on Monday night celebrating the holiday, and Boonenberg said there were several bars near the Chabad hosting parties.

Down the street in the 300 block of NE 2nd Street, mailboxes had been vandalized, and police were receiving calls on Tuesday reporting damaged property, she said.

New said the synagogue is welcomed in the community, but when something like this happens – even if the Chabad wasn’t the specific target – people in the synagogue can get scared, he said.

“Overall, the reason this is so jarring is because it’s unusual,” he said. “We are happy to be living in this community … and when this kind of thing happens, it’s isolated and jarring and it sets off a lot of negative memories in people.”