Synagogue in Billings struck by vandalism
By BECKY SHAY
Of The Gazette Staff
It was an unsettling Sabbath for members of Congregation Beth Aaron, whose synagogue was vandalized.
Saturday morning they found chocolate and vanilla pudding dried in distasteful brown and yellow blobs on the south front of the synagogue, which is at 2031 Broadwater Ave.
It is ignorance that leads to intentionally vandalizing a house of worship, no matter the denomination, said Al Page, a member of the board of directors at the synagogue and chairman of its house committee.
"It's very unfortunate when people have to do this," Page said. "If you're going to do this on the outside, maybe you should go inside and see what goes on."
It appeared as though the vandals opened the plastic containers and hurled them at the synagogue. Several of the Hunt's brand pudding snack cups, red foil tops still attached, were scattered around the synagogue entryway when members arrived.
Police were called, and an officer retrieved some of the packages as evidence, Page said.
The vandals struck between about 10:30 p.m. Friday, when Page left the synagogue after a presentation, and when others arrived for a gathering about 10 a.m. Saturday, he said.
Billings police Sgt. Mike Moreni said the vandalism is "very intentional and probably not random," and that police are looking into a similar incident that occurred recently.
The Sabbath, celebrated on Saturday, is a day of rest and worship in Judaism. Members of Congregation Beth Aaron planned to hire a firm to power wash the streaks of pudding off the building, which the congregation moved into in 2005.
Pudding was apparently smeared intentionally on a security camera near the door, and a blob clung to the covered entryway about 30 feet overhead. Maybe most disturbing to members was the streaks of brown pudding on the round window above the doors that features a Star of David.
"The building is fine," Page said. "But the Star of David, that's a religious symbol."
Although people were dismayed at the vandalism, Page said members were grateful that nothing more damaging was used in the attack.
"It could have been paint or rocks," Page said.
Synagogues around the nation and world have been on heightened security this week since Hezbollah threatened Israel and said it would retaliate anywhere in the world for the assassination of one of its top commanders. In Washington, the FBI put its domestic terror squads on alert for threats against synagogues or Jewish centers in the United States.
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