Rabbi: ‘No evidence’ of antisemitic attack in synagogue fire

Rabbi: ‘No evidence’ of antisemitic attack in synagogue fire

A rabbi at the downtown Birmingham synagogue where authorities recently found burning clothes and a propane tank said the fire was not motivated by antisemitism, according to an article in the Times of Israel.

Rabbi Steven Henkin addressed congregants at the historic Temple Beth-El on Friday, according to the story. Authorities who investigated the blaze have someone in custody and determined the person set several fires in the area.

“There is no evidence of an antisemitic attack,” Henkin said, according to the Times of Israel. “He has admitted to lighting it and said it had nothing to do with us being a synagogue.”

Communities around the country have been rocked by public displays of antisemitism following recent remarks by Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West. Banners with anti-Jewish messages appeared in Los Angeles and Jacksonville, Florida, connected to hate groups.

On Thursday, the FBI warned synagogues in New Jersey of credible threats. Staff and the FBI office in Newark, N.J. later tweeted that the individual who made the threat no longer posed a danger to the community.

Police were called to Temple Beth-El early Friday morning. They found a propane tank wrapped in burning clothes and an unattended backpack. Bomb technicians responded to the scene, but no explosives were found in the bag.

Law enforcement arrested a man later that day, but they haven’t released a name or any information about charges. Temple Beth-El is more than 100 years old. Several sticks of dynamite were found outside the temple in 1958, possibly in retaliation for congregants’ support of the civil rights movement.

“It doesn’t really matter whether it was antisemitic or if it wasn’t. When we didn’t know, it certainly felt like it could have been,” Henkin said. “As a community, we should all be grateful that it wasn’t and it still makes us a little fearful and scared and anxious that, with everything going on in the world as it is, we are aware that it just as easily could have been.”