Vandalism at a Vermont Synagogue

Earlier this month, I attended a lovely Friday Shabbat outing with Shir Shalom of Woodstock, VT, at a nearby lake. The following night, I attended a Tishah Be ’av service at the Upper Valley Jewish Community synagogue in nearby Hanover, NH, on the campus of Dartmouth College. As the Tishah Be’av service began, we heard the news that Shir Shalom had been vandalized the night before, while we were at the lake. Someone had painted “Free Palestine” on their fence.

How devastating! It was an evening of irony as the congregants of Shir Shalom had planned a vigil after their Tishah Be’av service to remember the victims of the war in Gaza and the terrible humanitarian crisis. The congregants conducted their vigil in the town square and then, as a community, cleaned the graffiti off their fence, confused and upset at the perpetrators.

The Jewish community in Vermont is fairly small, maybe 20-30,000 out of a population of 650,000. There are maybe a couple of dozen synagogues and other Jewish institutions. The congregants at Shir Shalom and Upper Valley, sad and angry at the events of Oct 7, are likely for the most part, in opposition to the continued hostilities. But antisemites cannot see Jews for who we are, with different perspectives within our Jewish community. Those who vandalized Shir Shalom lump all Jews together as one and hate all Jews regardless of our religious, social, or political identities. It is how Jews were regarded in Nazi Germany that, regardless if they practiced their faith or were completely blended into society, Nazis hated them. This is antisemitism when others try to decide who we are.

In brotherhood,
Irvin Varkonyi
Co-chair, FJMC Committee to Combat Antisemitism
FJMC International