Jerusalem Reform synagogue pelted with eggs on Rosh Hashanah in second attack in a month

Jewish youths threw eggs at congregants of the Kol HaNeshama Reform synagogue in Jerusalem’s Baka neighborhood on Rosh Hashanah, the community reported on Tuesday.

There were no injuries in what marked the second assault on the community within a month.

Security cameras caught images of the assailants, including their faces, and the footage has been handed over to police and a complaint filed.

The incident occurred on Sunday, the second day of the two-day holiday.

Speaking to the Kan public broadcaster, Kol HaNeshama’s Rabbi Debi Shoua-Haim said that the youths, who, by their attire, appeared to be religious Jews, arrived at the building early in the morning and began asking friendly questions, but their tone soon changed to remarks that, she said, “bordered on sexual harassment.”

Many of the community members, both men and women, went out to talk with the youths about the Kol HaNeshama community.

She noted that, by their appearance, the youths did not seem like the kind of people who usually pray with the congregation.

The youths then left, with security footage showing they entered a building opposite the synagogue, then returned with eggs that they threw at congregants as they arrived at the synagogue, Shoua-Haim said.

“There are people in Jerusalem and Israel who don’t accept egalitarian Judaism, who don’t accept men and women together” or a community that accepts everyone regardless of gender or sexual orientation, she said.

Last month, assailants broke into the synagogue and tore down a gay pride flag that was hanging in the entrance hall.

Shoua-Haim said attacks such as the removal of gay pride flags happen every few months and have been increasing in recent years.

Despite the footage given to police, which showed the assailants’ faces on both occasions, no suspects have yet been apprehended, she said, nor has there been a response from the municipality.

“Where are the police amidst hate crimes, homophobic crimes?” she asked.

Shoua-Haim said that after the previous attack, some two dozen communities, including Orthodox congregations, wrote a letter of support for Kol HaNeshama, which they printed as a large poster and then displayed at the entrance to the  synagogue.

In a post to the community’s Facebook page, Kol HaNeshama reported the Rosh Hashanah incident and urged police to “swiftly find the perpetrators.”

“We continue to draw encouragement from the support we have received from our neighbors in nearby communities, of all streams of Judaism,” the post said. “That support shows that even in the darkness, a beam of light can penetrate and give hope.”

The Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism said in a post on Facebook that it is “hard for us to begin the year like this — again we were attacked, and this time in the midst of a holiday.

“In the past, we have approached the police and handed over security pictures and videos in which you can see the attackers. And still no one has been brought to justice.

“This is not a prank. This is violence against Jews because of the way they choose to practice their Judaism. And when there is no enforcement, violence increases.”

The incident was the third attack on Reform communities in the past month.

Days after the flag was torn down in Kol HaNeshama, the Darchei Noam synagogue in the central city of Ramat Hasharon was vandalized.

The assailants threw rocks at the synagogue and smashed a window at the entrance, Darchei Noam said in a statement at the time, adding that it did not know who was behind the “heinous act.”

The Israel Police is under the auspices of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. Critics accuse Ben Gvir of limiting enforcement against violence directed at movements and communities that he opposes.