NORWICH – People of all faiths came together in prayer Friday to show their support for the local Jewish community, still reeling after its synagogue was violated last week by vandals.
Around 180 attended the emotional Interfaith Prayer Service at the Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Norwich. Some in the pews were weeping as the group held hands, sang Jewish and Christian prayers and hymns, and denounced the work of the “bad guys,” as one little girl referred to them, who defiled the Jewish house of worship.
“This is an event that has been catalyzed by a horrible happening,” said Rabbi Dawn Rose, spiritual leader of the Norwich Jewish Center, “and yet my heart is glad. Because I look out and see all of you, and you are making a statement: What happened at our synagogue will not stand.”
Sometime between last Saturday and Wednesday, the three-story Jewish Center on South Broad Street was forcibly entered and ransacked. Sacred items, decorative windows, furniture, light fixtures, and dishes were smashed. An anti-Semitic message was left behind in graffiti. The damage is estimated to be in the tens of thousands of dollars.
“I saw what happened on the news before I went to bed, I just broke down in tears,” said Deborah Durler of Norwich, an Episcopalian. “I think the Jewish people have been through enough. They don’t deserve this ... It’s heartbreaking.”
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