Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

‘Jude’ Etched On Front Door Of Los Angeles Synagogue

The word “Jude” was carved under a Star of David on the front door of a Los Angeles synagogue on Saturday, the Jewish Journal reported.

A bystander saw an unidentified person create the symbols into the Temple Mishkon Tephilo in Venice and called the police, which notified Rabbi Gabriel Botnick. It was the synagogue’s first anti-Semitic incident, Botnick told the Jewish Journal. “Jude” means Jew in German.

“It’s somewhat typical in [Nazi] Germany and what people would do to Jewish businesses,” he said. “Seeing ‘Jude’ written on there as clearly a neo-Nazi-type term… that was very upsetting to me. That’s not anything I’ve ever encountered in this neighborhood.”

In response, Temple Mishkon Tephilo has been in touch with the police, the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles Community Security Initiative.

“There should be zero tolerance for anti-Semitism in our city,” American Jewish Committee Los Angeles acting chief of staff Dganit Abramoff told the Jewish Journal. “We stand in solidarity with Miskhon Tephilo and Rabbi Botnick, who worked with us in the aftermath of the Pittsburgh massacre to stand up against hate. Those who attempt to instill fear in our community only make us stronger.”

Alyssa Fisher is a writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

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 during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.