Stolen Torahs Worth $30K Returned to New Jersey Synagogue
— Two Torahs valued at $30,000 that had been stolen with some $50,000 of silver religious pieces were returned to a New Jersey synagogue.
Thomas Dobles, 39, a former caretaker at Congregation B’nai Jacob in Jersey City, was arrested Aug. 25 as part of the investigation into the theft, WABC-TV reported. The pieces of silver Judaica have not been returned.
Two burglaries were discovered at the nearly 60-year-old synagogue on Aug. 22 and 23. The Jersey Journal reported that members of the nondenominational congregation immediately suspected the robberies were an inside job.
The synagogue’s newly installed rabbi, Aaron Katz, told News 12 New Jersey that members of Dobles’ family had been working at the building for over 20 years.
“We have confidence in this person,” Katz said. “I think [the robbery has] broken this confidence.”
The synagogue’s co-president, Andy Siegel, told The Jersey Journal that the Torah scrolls could be older than 100 years old.
“It was very disturbing,” Siegel said. “This is our heritage.”
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism so that we can be prepared for whatever news 2025 brings.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
