Portland Synagogue Vandalized With Antisemitic ‘Die Juden’ Threat, Fire Marks
by Shiryn Ghermezian
Portland, Oregon. Photo: Another Believer/Wikimedia Commons.
A antisemitic death threat written in yellow paint was discovered on Monday morning outside Congregation Beth Israel in Portland, Oregon, along with fire burn marks, local media reported.
Staff members of the Reform synagogue in northwest Portland found the phrase “Die Juden” on a wall of the building mere days after Yom HaShoah, Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, according to The Oregonian. “Juden” is the German word for “Jews,” and the congregation’s Rabbi Michael Z. Cahana believes yellow paint was specifically used to reference the yellow stars Nazis forced Jews to wear during the Holocaust.
The scorch marks were discovered on a side door to the synagogue and in the entryway, the outlet said.
“The hatred, the bigotry is still alive and it’s still a part of our community,” Cahana said. “It’s easy for us in Portland to think this doesn’t happen around here. That we’re free of antisemitism and hate speech, but the reality is it’s very much a part of our world. It’s very much of a part of the Pacific Northwest.”
The rabbi reported the death threat to the Portland Police, the FBI’s hate crimes unit, the Anti-Defamation League, the Secure Community Network non-profit, and the Oregon Fusion Center, which works with law enforcement to assess threats.
US Sen. Ron Wyden, who is a member of Congregation Beth Israel, denounced the vandalism in a Twitter post on Monday. “Hate speech and vandalism must never be allowed to terrorize Portland or any community,” he tweeted. “I stand with Rabbi Cahana and our entire synagogue by adding my voice to his when he says we all must be vigilant against these attacks.”
Cahana told The Oregonian he hopes congregants don’t become fearful following of the incident.
“But be aware,” he said. “And how poignant it is to have this just a few days after having our community’s Holocaust survivors in our sanctuary, where we were honoring their eyewitness, their experience. It really recommits us to being vigilant against antisemitism.”
Staff members of the congregation have previously seen scorch marks on the synagogue’s property but they believe those were a result of small fires made by people smoking drugs, the outlet reported.
