Jewish men who arrived as usual for the morning service at the Tiferes Shimon synagogue in Bnei Brak were horrified on Tuesday to find the place torn apart.
Four Torah scrolls were stolen, two of them brand new. A fifth Torah scroll was thrown to the ground, along with a number of holy books.
הזעזוע בבני ברק: הגבאי בראיון ל: הגנבים התחזו לשיפוצניקים וגנבו ארבעה ספרי התורה, ספר כבד וישן הושלך בביזיון ארצה >> https://t.co/Lap9tQ90no pic.twitter.com/NRTfKNafWk
— חדשות בחדרי חרדים (@behadrei_bhol)
The caretaker of the synagogue, Moshe Cohen, told the B’chadrei Haredim news outlet, “We’re in shock. We don’t understand what took place here. We haven’t got a clue.”
However, Cohen also said that he believes “The thieves knew where they were going and knew which Sifrei Torah to take,” because they left the oldest scroll.
Israel Police were summoned and gathered evidence at the scene. The synagogue had previously been warned to upgrade its security according to the report, and in fact did invest in security cameras.
But the thieves ransacked every cabinet with wires “until they found the laptop and stole it and the disc containing the footage.”