[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 38 (Tuesday, March 6, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S2690]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  VANDALISM OF AHAVAS TORAH SYNAGOGUE

  Mr. SMITH. Mr. President, it is with great sorrow that I bring to the 
attention of the Senate the recent vandalism and desecration of Eugene, 
OR's only conservative synagogue, Ahavas Torah Synagogue, on February 
22, 2007. The targets of this vile act were two sacred Torah scrolls 
and accompanying prayer books. Police officers responding to neighbors' 
calls found the building ransacked and a locked wooden chest containing 
the Torah scrolls pried open; the scrolls themselves were torn and 
damaged.
  This event comes as a shock to the dozen families who make up 
Eugene's small Orthodox community, but unfortunately is not an isolated 
event. In 2002, Temple Beth Israel Synagogue was vandalized during a 
Shabbat service; in 2001 the congregation received hundreds of hate-
filled letters; and in 1994 the synagogue was fired upon with armor-
piercing rifle rounds.
  I am compelled to speak out against this deplorable act of vandalism 
at the Ahavas Torah Synagogue, which proves that hate crimes still pose 
a serious threat to our Nation's security and values. All forms of 
hatred and intolerance should be combated with every available tool and 
America's leaders need to send a clear message that acts of violence 
targeted at individuals of any group will not be tolerated. For this 
reason, I have been a cosponsor and strong supporter of hate crimes 
prevention legislation.
  The Talmud teaches us that he ``who can protest an injustice, but 
does not, is an accomplice to the act.'' Even though the existence of 
hatred is foretold in the Torah, acts of anti-Semitism and hate must be 
stopped before anyone can truly worship safely and freely.

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