by Rabbi Yakov Saacks, Director of The Chai Center in Dix Hills, NY
The following is true, yet really unbelievable.
Just a couple of months back on May 20, as the Jewish people were celebrating the conclusion of the most important holiday of Shavuos, protests were taking place all over the country over the execution of George Floyd by an out of control police officer who will face jail time, deservedly so. These protests, like so many, were hijacked by a mob who I believe took advantage of the crisis and robbed neighborhoods blind.
One of the places that had the protests which led to violence was in the city of Los Angeles, but not where you think. Los Angeles has City Center, the famous Hollywood Boulevard, Rodeo Drive, Miracle Mile, Staples Center, Beverly Hills, Chinatown, UCLA, California State University and so many others places of interest. However, that night the protests were in a specific place in the uptown Los Angeles neighborhood called Fairfax. I am sure you can guess what is special about Fairfax – nothing in fact, other than it is an area that is heavily populated with synagogues and kosher stores.
In addition to destruction and graffiti inflicted upon the synagogues, a number of kosher restaurants, bakeries and stores were ransacked by protesters, looting much of the merchandise and causing extensive property damage. Some of the stores impacted include Ariel Glatt Kosher Market, Mensch Bakery and Kitchen, and Syd’s Pharmacy and Kosher Vitamins, all located in this small area.
Some of the synagogues damaged as a result of vandalism, graffiti and looting by protesters include Congregation Kehilas Yaakov, Tiferes Tzvi and Congregation Beth Israel, one of the oldest synagogues in Los Angeles and the spiritual home to many Holocaust survivors over the years. At the latest count, at least five synagogues in the area were vandalized, as were three Jewish schools.
So, after the end of Shavuos, the holiday in which Jewish people joyfully commemorate the giving of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, the Jewish community of Los Angeles concluded it with a new ritual of going to clean off the hateful graffiti from their houses of worship, while picking up the broken glass. One small business owner described a “late Saturday night with people driving down the Fairfax district streets screaming, ‘effing Jews.’”
Kristallnacht?
I am not trying to be cute by calling this Kristallnacht, which means night of broken glass, I mean it literally.
One would think that after this kind of hate and the destruction of Jewish schools, shuls and many obviously owned Jewish businesses, you would hear it on the news in New York and not only in L.A. One would reason that this will be talked about in Jewish communities all over the world. Did you hear about the screaming mob cursing Jews and smashing Jewish institutions and businesses? I don’t know about you but I heard a quick blurb from a relative who lives in Los Angeles. Otherwise, I heard nothing at all. In truth, even after researching it for this unhappy article, I have not picked up on one meaningful response. For clarity’s sake, this was an attack on Jews for no other reason than they are Jews by an anti-Semitic mob in a large U.S. City. They were not incidental victims. The Jews were chosen that night. I see no other viable explanation.
Here is the source of anger. Over the past few months, I have received hundreds of emails, seen thousands of Facebook and Instagram posts and watched and listened to hundreds of hours as to the pros and cons of Black Lives Matter. What has been glaringly missing in my email box and social media is the atrocities committed against a neighborhood of U.S. Jews in 2020!
Every Jewish institution, including the one that I direct, has articles condemning racism after the George Floyd killing. I personally have written extensively on the matter. Have you heard a peep from any Jewish organization about the Los Angeles Kristallnacht? For that matter, have you heard any non-Jewish institution, political or otherwise, condemning the attack? Did you even know about the attack? Even in Los Angeles, one can hear crickets.
A few weeks ago, a group of far-left Jewish groups published an open letter to the community demanding that American Jews pledge allegiance to a “new covenant” which demands endorsement of Black Lives Matter. Hillel signed on. San Francisco Jewish Federation signed on. The Reconstructionist movement signed on. Did these same three organizations condemn the Los Angeles Kristallnacht?
This is why I am speaking out. I want no part of the hushed silence of racism because it happened to Jews. I spoke out and condemned the killing of George Floyd. I speak out now to the systemic racism of anti-Semitism even by some Jews.
What is most troubling to me and should be to the reader is that the same folks lecturing us on the dangers of remaining silent in the face of hate are themselves silent when the hate is directed toward Jews. It is indeed a sad day when the anti-racist activists who protest, march and sue are silent when something happens to the Jew.
You don’t fight anti-Semitism by running away from it. And certainly not by running toward it.
You are so right
Yes,we just have to STOP saying “Peaceful protests were HIJACKED”.These are intentional riots!
Thank you Diane I didn’t know anything about this of course they didn’t put it in the press we certainly know that Black Lives Matter and the people behind it or anti-Semites but the Jews who get on their knees are suckers, Make me sick this Jewish guilt with communist roots goes way back to the turn of the century in New York City and it’s spread like a disease throughout the country and Jewish communities. Do your research find out about the The settlement houses , ladies garment workers and the unionist movement. And many of the people came… Read more »
BLM is openly against Israel!
How can Jewish orgaizations sign up to it?!
We must differentiate between opposing racism and the organization “Black Lives Matter”!
Wake up, before it’s too late!!
Hillel and JFS are not aligned with Jewish values and have lost touch with Judaism years ago. I have a very good friend who is a director at Hillel, she is is Anti-Israel, actively pro BDS and is anti religion, however she runs the entire chapter. She was specifically recruited for her anti Israel views and the fact that she grew up frum so she could steer students towards this type of social activism. There is a big difference between a chabad on campus and a hillel. Those who are part of Hillel and are truly their for the Judaism… Read more »
your comment is heartbreaking 🙁
So true!!
We can be our own worst enemy.
BLM,…….??….. very few people realize their insidious agenda.
Thank you for speaking out.
Where are those crown heights do Gooders that we’re so proud to walk on eastern parkway with BLM and we’re bragging about it all over social media
SHAME ON YOU
The biggest antisemites are jews unfortunately BLM is not peaceful it’s actually racist
I don’t mean this in a good way. This is insanely reductionist, harmful and silences the existence of black Jews. It’s erasure. And do not EVER compare this to kristallnacht. What a privileged person you must be to even jump to that comparison.
You have got to be kidding. There are few black Jews in the U.S. other than the lunatics who call themselves “Black Hebrews” (a racist cult). Do you really think that actual black Jewish businesses or synagogues would be exempt from the anti-Semitism seen in L.A.? And is it really necessary, when the focus of the article is on a specific place and specific people with specific characteristics, to mention others who were not involved? As for Kristallnacht, Rabbi Saacks made it clear that he wasn’t comparing this to the events of November 9, 1938, he was using the term… Read more »
its been exposed as a terrorists group. anything to do with them is pathetic.
I live in LA. This was not a deliberate attack against the Jewish community. Stores were looted all over town including Melrose Ave. The vast majority were stores that are not Jewish. The mob destroyed indiscriminately. I am not pro BLM and am not defending any rioters, but comparing this to kristelnacht is absurd. The reason you didn’t hear much about it is because we all understood this was not anti semitic specifically, it was rampant destruction of everything.
Where I come from, if you write a curse followed by the word Jew, it is anti Semitic.
Where I come from (LA) hundreds of stores and businesses were vandalized. A handful were Jewish. But I guess the facts don’t really matter. Let’s not cry anti semitism when it’s not; so that when it really is, our cries will have some legitimacy.
Enough of your liberalism
That’s facts
What about the mobs, including black and leftists, driving by and screaming “f—Jews.”
What about the shuls that were graffitied with antisemitic graffiti…
Let’s not downplay it…
To “Not True”: If it wasn’t antisemitism, why the swastikas and the anti-Israel graffiti?
I, too, live in LA. And let me assure you, this WAS a deliberate attack against the Jewish community. Have you seen the “Free Palestine” graffiti on shuls on Beverly Blvd? Have you heard the BLM rioters chanting about Palestine? Also, you know which stores were vandalized on Melrose? The fancy ones. I live less than a mile from Ariel Glatt. Ariel Glatt is a small grocery store. There is no fancy furniture, no Gucci shoes, and maybe a couple hundred dollars of cash there. They were attacked because of the “Kosher” sign. Anti-Semitism, pure and simple. Liebers, a caterer… Read more »
Did I not read there were swastikas painted on synagogues if so they were targeting Jewish establishments.
Constitutional Conservative radio and TV host Mark Levin covered this story with Rabbi Berg shortly after it happened and has reminded his audience of millions about it periodically since. These Marxist Seperatists are antisemitic, anti Israel, anti God, Anti America and need to be dealt with in the most efficient of manners.
why are you listening to Mark Levin? you want to be brainwashed by non Torah rhetoric?
Couldn’t agree more especially around the antisemitic graffiti. Though, the damage and ransacking of stores didn’t seem very targeted to be honest,
BLM? Ppppplease. An excuse for unchecked behavior.
Thanks for the article.
Patrisse Cullors is one of the Black Lives Matter movement’s co-founders, a queer activist, and has promoted far-left policies including the abolition of prisons. In A 2015 clip taken from an interview for The Real News Network, Cullors says, “I think of a lot of things: The first thing I think of is that we actually do have an ideology frame.” She continues, “Myself and Alicia, in particular, are trained organizers. We are trained Marxists. We are super versed on ideological theories, and I think what we really try to do is build a movement that can be utilized by… Read more »
All Jewish stores & businesses in Crown Heights, NY, LA & everywhere should, Check & make sure their Mezuzas are Good & Kosher, Put & Install Immediately Full Store Gates on All Glass Windows/Doors, The Mobs & Riots unfortunately are just starting & it only looks like it will be getting worse, Full Gates on all stores, If all the fancy Stores in Manhattan would of had store gates instead of their thick fancy shmancy glass that after enough hitting on it all broke then the Pogrom in Manhattan on June 1st 2020 would of been much much less destructive,… Read more »
If Joe Biden wins, God forbid, this will get a lot worse.
Macy’s boarded their windows with plywood, and topped this with barbed wire coils. In addition they hired about 20 security men to stand guard. Their store in Manhattan was not touched. Not every store can be Macy’s unfortunately. Mob rule cannot be tolerated any place in America. Antifa is such a group !!!
The authors (who is not from LA) assumptions and misrepresentation of facts can only be taken as a poor attempt to cry wolf. Walking the streets of LA the morning after the riots, i witnessed first-hand the carnage and graffiti on nearly every single building along the route of the riots from West Hollywood to Rodeo Drive and yes the Jewish businesses and institutions on that route that were also hit. Your incendiary suggestion that the riots were a targeted attack against the Jewish community is based on zero fact and grossly untrue. The damage caused over those 3 days… Read more »
Besides for the point that Jews shouldn’t support BLM which is true you are wrong for calling it a kristallnacht you are obviously not from la cuz if you were u would know that fairfax isn’t a big Jewish community anymore and they looted about 10 Jewish establishments in all compared to hundreds of non Jewish ones in the area you are absolutely not factual
One of the LA BLM organizers specifically stated that they wanted to spread an anti Israel message when going through the Jewish community. Seems pretty targeted to me.
Mezuzahs: It is important for everyone to have their Mezuzahs and Tefillin regularly checked, Especially now as we are approaching the month of Elul shortly, As well to make sure that all Door posts in your home have Mezuzahs. Store Gates: We saw what just one night of looting in Manhattan looks like, as well Manhattan “supposedly” is the place with the most Police stationed, Every high end store with their luxury high end strong glass windows had their windows broken at best & fully looted & ransacked at worst. Store Owners in Crown Heights that do not have gates… Read more »
To “Comment Not True” You have a point BUT, Instead of focusing on how some “random people”, attacked, looted & destroyed a bunch of “random” stores and the Yiddishe area “happened” to be one of the places that they passed thru to destroy, It would be wise to focus more on how to prevent this from happening again by better protecting all the Shuls, Yeshivas, Businesses & Stores in the La Brea area by installing Gates/Bars on Shuls, Yeshivas, Stores & Businesses so the next time (hopefully not and IYH everyone will be safe but unfortunately with the current violence… Read more »
Let us not forget that the ADL continues to pander to Sharpton on an ongoing basis.
This is a major part of the problem.
There is Talk & There is Action, I am not from LA, But i have seen 2 months ago the Horrifying videos of the Damage to the Frum Community in Fairfax LA, As well the videos of the brave Yidden on Motzei Shavous fighting back against some rioters to protect their families & community, But talking about how these rioters, which are thugs at best, did not really mean to target the Frum area, it was just that Fairfax community was “in their way between Downtown LA & Beverly Hills” (which btw beverly hills has BH a very large frum… Read more »
So many keep suggesting gates. Why would you remain living there if you feel it is so dangerous that you have to lock yourself (home/shul/store) in behind gates? Read between the lines – look at the writing on the wall. Make Aliyah – move to Eretz Yisrael. Moshiach Now!
Did you see what is going on in israel these days. It seems that the government is singling out the chareidim. The fact that goyim hate jew is one thing, but for jews to hate jews is another.
https://youngisrael.org/us-news/young-israel-condemns-anti-semitism-at-black-lives-matter-march/
What these ignorant people do not seem to know, is history, it was the Arabs in North Africa who were running the Slave trade ( they even sold them to their own people ( the Arabs) they sold them to the Americans and the British. These demonstrations are just an excuse for anti semitism, and their hatred of Israel. Another point they do not seem to know ( or ignor) is it is Israel who has given the most help over the tears to the Black African people, they have helped them with Agriculture, making water safe to drink ,… Read more »
The article definitely has good points, while the general protests didn’t seem targeted directly at Jews-especially in LA, we definitely got hit hard, and it gave excuses for anti semitism to be be expressed, but it kinda felt like all evil unraveled from the protests turning into dangerous rioting and looting, it was a time for thugs and mobs to come out and act freely, as well as strong anti semitism.
But one thing is clear (not from the riots) we definitely see that the BLM movement is in fact anti semitic.
We need police accountability, and we need to acknowledge that racism still exists. We also cannot tolerate anti-Semitism.
When 9 unarmed blacks are killed by police in a year, most of them in a struggle with police, when there are around 800,000 police in the country with millions of interactions with black people, it is a statistical anomoly that blacks are killed. Our thin blue line does an amazing job, especially when allowed to by mayors. If you don’t like the rioting going on in NY, next time vote Republican/Conservative.
Something that was not mentioned in this article, is that Magen Am, a private security company, has been protecting the Jewish neighborhoods in LA 24/7 since the riots. They are really doing great work.
I live in LA, they chose Pan Pacific Park to host the protests. That park is probably the best public venue in the city to hold masses of people and a rally. There are rallies there for all kinds of events throughout the year. (The Museum of the Holocaust is also in that park. And it wasn’t attacked) It happens to be right in the middle of the Jewish community.