AJC Joins in Interfaith Gathering for Firebombed New Jersey Synagogue

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Jan 15, 2012, 10:30 ET

NEW YORK, Jan. 15, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC joined with New Jersey political and religious leaders in a public demonstration of solidarity with Congregation Beth-El last night. Rabbi Nosson Schuman and his family escaped after Molotov cocktails ignited a fire in their home next to the Rutherford, New Jersey synagogue last Wednesday morning.

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"The outpouring of empathy and support reaffirms our faith in the foundation of American society," said Buzz Warren, President of AJC's Metro New Jersey Region, who met with Rabbi Nosson Schuman and offered AJC's resources and assistance moving forward. "Unfortunately, even one or a few people infused with hatred means the Jewish community must remain ever vigilant."

Other AJC representatives attending included Rabbi Noam Marans, AJC's director of Interreligious and Intergroup Relations, who addressed the gathering, and John Rosen, director of AJC's New Jersey Region.

New Jersey law enforcement authorities have called the arson and attempted homicide a bias crime, and the FBI has joined in the investigation. Federal charges could be forthcoming. It was the latest, and by far most serious, in a spate of recent assaults on Jewish institutions in New Jersey.

Senator Robert Menendez, Representative Bill Pascrell and Steve Rothman, as well as Christian, Jewish and Muslim clergy addressed the hundreds who assembled at a local school for the interfaith gathering last night.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee