Multiple Jewish Synagogues and Businesses Vandalized in Chicago Over Weekend

Just after International Holocaust Remembrance Day, multiple Jewish synagogues and businesses were vandalized on Chicago’s Northwest Side over the weekend, local media outlets reported.

On Saturday morning, two Jewish-owned businesses, Kol Tuv Kosher Foods and Tel Aviv Kosher Bakery, had their windows, as did a nearby synagogue, and on Sunday afternoon the F.R.E.E. synagogue and Hanna Sacks Bais Yaakov High School were vandalized with swastikas.

A Jewish man was also assaulted in the area, suffering minor injuries.

One person of interest has been detained by Chicago Police, who are investigating the incidents.

Debra Silverstein — the alderman of Chicago’s 50th Ward — stated, “These incidents are particularly upsetting as they come mere days after Holocaust Remembrance Day and in light of a worrying increase in antisemitism across the nation. I want to assure everyone that the City of Chicago stands firmly with the Jewish community. The police are taking these incidents very seriously, as am I and all the City leadership. Hate has no place in this neighborhood, and bigotry will not be tolerated.”

Rabbi Levi Notik — the rabbi at F.R.E.E. — commented, “We need to increase in more good deeds and acts of kindness to overcome this this dark hatred.”

The spate of antisemitic incidents in Chicago came two weeks after the hostage-taking incident at a synagogue on Colleyville, Texas.

In the three months leading up to the Colleyville attack, the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) Information Hub tracked 34 media reports of incidents globally in which synagogues and Jewish centers were targeted, including 22 in the U.S. alone (65% of total).