Closter shul brings members to Israel — many for the first time

Hate was his motive, says prosecutor

The 19-year-old accused of firebomb and arson attacks on two area synagogues pleaded not guilty at his first arraignment in Hackensack Superior Court on Wednesday, while his attorney requested a change of venue outside of Bergen County for the trial.

Authorities arrested 19-year-old Anthony M. Graziano of Lodi late Monday night in connection with attacks on Congregation K’hal Adath Jeshurun of Paramus and Congregation Beth El in Rutherford. Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli elaborated on the events leading to Graziano’s arrest during a press conference Tuesday afternoon in Paramus. Graziano allegedly used gasoline in the Paramus arson and Molotov cocktails in Rutherford. In both cases, Graziano rode his bike to the synagogues.

Interfaith gathering draws clergy, politicians, and neighbors

Hundreds of people gathered in the gymnasium of a Catholic college in Rutherford Saturday night, to show support for Rabbi Nosson Schuman of Congregation Beth El who received a firebomb in his bedroom last week.

Schuman suffered mild burns while extinguishing the fire. But on Saturday night he held and strummed a guitar as he sat with his family and area clergy in an arc of folding chairs facing the packed bleachers.

The evening's program mixed the songs of Shlomo Carlebach and Christian hymns with heart-felt remarks from Christian and Muslim clergy, politicians, and residents of Rutherford who were shocked and personally insulted that hate had come to town.

Communal leaders, local officials meet over escalating incidents

With the Jewish population of Bergen County on heightened alert, some 200 religious and community leaders gathered last night to discuss the recent string of anti-Semitic incidents in the county with law enforcement and government officials and communal leaders. The meeting was held at the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey (JFNNJ) under the joint auspices of the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) and the Synagogue Leadership Initiative (SLI).

Tension has mounted as the incidents have escalated. They began shortly before Chanukah, when vandals defaced a Maywood synagogue with Nazi symbols. Ten days later. a Hackensack synagogue was similarly vandalized.

Then the incidents moved up to a more dangerous level with the attempted arson at a Paramus synagogue in the early hours of Jan. 4. This was followed exactly one week later by a full-blown firebomb attack at Congregation Beth El in Rutherford one week later.

The attack nearly had tragic consequences because the congregation building also houses the home of Rabbi Nosson Schuman and his family. One firebomb was thrown through a window and ignited his bed. Schuman was able to put out flames and then he, his wife, five children, and his father escaped the building, avoiding serious physical injury. The attack, however,  left a residue of fear mingled with hope.

“I knew there were people who hated me,” the rabbi said at a press conference following the JCRC/SLI meeting, but he cited the outpouring of interfaith support. “What I see is the beauty of the American people,” he said.

Latest attack was most dangerous yet

A firebomb attack on a synagogue in Rutherford is being investigated as an attempted homicide and a hate crime, Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli announced on Wednesday.

“You’re looking at 40 to 50 years in prison,” said Molinelli, addressing the “person or persons who are doing this act” at a Wednesday afternoon press conference.

“Turn yourself in and end this now,” he said. “We will ultimately solve this crime and make arrests.”

Around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, several Molotov cocktails were thrown at Congregation Beth El, an Orthodox synagogue on a quiet residential street in Rutherford. One entered the second floor bedroom of the congregation’s rabbi, Nosson Schuman, and ignited his bedspread.

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Rep. Anthony Weiner resigned and apologized in the wake of a scandal in which he lied about sexually explicit exchanges on social media outlets.

“I am here today to apologize for the personal mistakes I have made and the embarrassment that I have caused,” Weiner (D-N.Y.) said at a news conference Thursday at a home for the elderly in Brooklyn where in the past he has announced his intention to run for office.

WASHINGTON – From accolades like “compelling” to accusations like “Auschwitz borders” to radio silence, to label the Jewish response to President Obama’s speech on Middle East policy as diverse understates matters.

The very breadth of the Middle East policy speech — 5,600 words and covering the entire Middle East and decades of history — helps explain the wildly divergent responses from Jewish groups and opinion shapers, even among some who are otherwise often on the same page.

One could as easily pick out points for Israel — slamming the Palestinian Authority’s pact with Hamas as well as its bid for unilateral statehood — as one could the demerits — for many, the most explicit endorsement of the pre-1967 lines as the basis for future borders by any American president.