By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO – A branch of a large, free-standing menorah in front of the Chabad House at San Diego State University was torn off early Friday morning by young men–probably students– who were using the religious symbol to do pull-ups, according to Chabad Rabbi Chalom Boudjnah and two witnesses.
The rabbi said he initially thought the incident was simply a matter of students committing mischief rather than a case of anti-Semitism, but after talking to the two witnesses, he said he is not so sure. When a group of perpetrators was confronted by Adam Lavie, a resident of Chabad House at 6115 Montezuma Road, one perpetrator yelled, “Here come the Jews,” before scrambling to a nearby car.
In all, said Lavie, there were three incidents of students using the menorah as gym equipment, approximately at 12:15 a.m., 12:25 a.m. and 12:45 a.m. Friday morning.
Lavie witnessed the last two incidents, videotaping one and getting the California license plate number 48887E2 on a 2016 Silver Toyota Tacoma into which he said one group of perpetrators jumped to make a getaway. The first incident was witnessed by Omer Zalmanowitz, who was returning to Chabad House from the SDSU campus library at the time. The library remains open until midnight.
Lavie said that a report was filed Friday morning with the San Diego Police.
He noted that during one of the incidents, one of the young men involved stopped a young woman who was passing by to ask her to take a photo with him, explaining that he was participating in a scavenger hunt and needed proof of his presence. He said another young man in the group videotaped his colleagues doing pull ups.
Zalmanowitz told San Diego Jewish World that he heard one of the people in the first group describe hanging on the menorah as “sacrilege.” Nevertheless the young man participated.
Because there were several groups that exercised on the menorah, with one participant describing the night’s activities as a “scavenger hunt,” there was the possibility that this was part of an organized activity, perhaps of a fraternity pledge class. This, however, could not be immediately verified.
Rabbi Boudjnah noted that there have been other instances of vandalism to the menorah, and said he is considering having a fence built for protection. He added that the menorah has stood in front of the Chabad House for many years as an important symbol of Judaism and there it will remain.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com