For Synagogue Defacers, An Important Lesson - No Punishment thanks to Rabbi

[Yisrael]

For Synagogue Defacers, An Important Lesson
June 22, 2007

A hate crime turned into a teachable moment for five Staten Island teenagers who defaced a North Shore synagogue last month - as reported HERE on YW.

The teens, all eighth-grade boys and girls, were not prosecuted for scrawling swastikas on the doors of Temple Israel Reform Congregation in the borough’s Randall Manor section. Instead, they and their parents met last week with Rabbi Jacob Jungreis of Brooklyn, a Holocaust survivor who described his life as a young boy in Hungary, where he was taunted by his neighbors for being a “dirty Jew,” and as an 11-year-old headed for Auschwitz.

Rabbi Lester Polonsky, spiritual leader of Temple Israel, said at the end of the two-hour meeting, “there was an understanding of the depth of the tragedy of the Holocaust.”

Jeffrey Ganz, president of the congregation of Temple Israel, applauded the rabbi’s decision not to punish the teens for what he and others believe was more a misguided prank than a malicious crime.

(SILIVE)

[newman]

If they'd stuck KKK symbols on a black community centre they'd have got the death penalty.

[Yisrael]

This is the original news story:

Staten Island, NY - The sight made Rabbi Lester Polonsky's bones go cold.
For the second time in a month, a symbol of hatred and genocide greeted him his congregation in Staten Island.

A crudely formed black swastika desecrated the mahogany front door of the Randall Manor synagogue. Another, larger swastika, drawn sloppily and backward, was scrawled on a side entrance of the brick building, about 30 feet away.
The vandal's tag stood out like a slap against the synagogue's welcome plaque, where the limestone is still slightly discolored from sandblasting away the painful emblem of Nazi Germany left there just 18 days before.
"It's very heart-wrenching," said Polonsky, who in his 30 years as a Jewish leader, never encountered such blatant anti-Semitism. "It gave me a sick feeling all over again."

Police responded immediately, they snapped photos of the hateful markings for investigation by the North Shore's 120th Precinct graffiti unit and the citywide Bias Crime unit, said Detective Kevin Tierney, community affairs officer of the 120th Precinct.
"This is not going to be tolerated," he said, noting that a report about the second hate crime had already gone to the top brass on the Island and had likely made its way to the desk of Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.
A police car sat outside the synagogue in the afternoons and evenings in the two weeks following the initial incident, and officers had been asked to step up vigilance in the area, said Tierney. Although patrols were scaled back over the last few days, they will recommence until the vandals are apprehended or other security measures are in place.

"What gets me is, as soon as the car left, the knuckleheads came back," said Tierney, who could not comment on the status of the investigation.
If the perpetrators are caught, they could face hate-crime charges in addition to criminal mischief in the second degree. The charges carry a maximum of 15 years in prison, with the jail time more than doubled because of the abhorrent nature of the graffiti, according to a spokesman for the district attorney's office.

[Yisrael]

You can e-mail the "temple" here: [email protected]

This clown is their president:

[Yisrael]

And this fool is the "Rabbi":

[OdKahaneChai]

Well, they didn't really deface a synagogue.

[Yisrael]

Well said.

[Yisrael]

But to the anti-Semite there isn't any difference between a Deformed, Conserved, or Orthodox synagogue.

If they see they get away with one, they will attack another.

I think this "rabbi" and president should stop beating around the bush, it's time for them to get down on their knees and kiss David Duke's @$$.

[Yisrael]

Maybe this Rabbi wants to have a sensitivity talk with the Iranian Hitler?

[mord]

This clown does'nt understand these punks get off hearing about the holocaust

[mord]

You can e-mail the "temple" here: [email protected]

This clown is their president:

I think fatso ate the anti semites looks like he eats anything

[newman]

Yet more limp-wristed guilt-ridden nazi kissers. They should be in Israel's knesset.

[cjd]

This clown does'nt understand these punks get off hearing about the holocaust

When I read that the same thought ran through my mind. People that do stuff like that need to have a record and do some form of jail time even if it is monitored community services and long probations. The problem with giving outlandish sentences for graffiti crimes such as 15 years is nuts because  nobody has the guts to enforce the law with sentences like that. Being nice to people like that is a waste of time. Possibly having kids like that work off their sentences mowing laws and cleaning up the grounds at the synagogue may do more to teach them a lesson.

[newman]

This clown does'nt understand these punks get off hearing about the holocaust

When I read that the same thought ran through my mind. People that do stuff like that need to have a record and do some form of jail time even if it is monitored community services and long probations. The problem with giving outlandish sentences for graffiti crimes such as 15 years is nuts because  nobody has the guts to enforce the law with sentences like that. Being nice to people like that is a waste of time. Possibly having kids like that work off their sentences mowing laws and cleaning up the grounds at the synagogue may do more to teach them a lesson.

I'd like to see those "kids" do some prison shower time with some seriously well endowed black dudes

[cjd]

This clown does'nt understand these punks get off hearing about the holocaust

When I read that the same thought ran through my mind. People that do stuff like that need to have a record and do some form of jail time even if it is monitored community services and long probations. The problem with giving outlandish sentences for graffiti crimes such as 15 years is nuts because  nobody has the guts to enforce the law with sentences like that. Being nice to people like that is a waste of time. Possibly having kids like that work off their sentences mowing laws and cleaning up the grounds at the synagogue may do more to teach them a lesson.

I'd like to see those "kids" do some prison shower time with some seriously well endowed black dudes

In a way you may have a point. Defacing Synagogue's is a horrible crime. Repeat offenders should get everything thats in the law books including a cell mate that will show them some TLC like you describe.

[newman]

No mercy for anti-semites. that rabbi is p_ss weak though.