Reform synagogue in Ra´anana defaced with graffiti

The graffiti, which was discovered on Thursday morning, is written in large blue and red spray paint on the outside wall of the Kehilat Ra\’anan synagogue. The vandalism referenced rulings by the Rambam on non-believers. 

Police have opened an investigation into the incident. 

The synagogue has been vandalized on a number of occasions in the past, including once in April 2011, when unknown assailants broke six windows on two sides of the synagogue, and spray-painted a Star of David and the words "it has begun" on an exterior wall. 

The vandalism this week came a few weeks after reform rabbis began receiving state-paid salaries at the end of December. The new funding goes to the rabbis of four regional councils and totals NIS 300,000. 

The move followed a petition issued to the High Court in 2005 by the Reform Movement demanding that rabbis from non-Orthodox streams who serve as heads of religious communities receive state salaries. 

Following the incident, the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) sent out a press release in which the head of the Israel Movement for Reform and Conservative Judaism, Rabbi Gilad Kariv said "this Price Tag incident will not deter us from serving the public of thousands of families in Ra\’anana that are interested in Judaism that is tolerant and practices equality."

The statement also quotes the Kehilat Raanan Rabbi Tamar Kolberg as saying "its hard to grasp the depth of the trauma caused by the sight of the graffiti on the walls of the Kehilat Raanan building. I call on the Israeli community to awake from its slumber and take steps to bring an educational and social revolution that will allow all of us a meaningful Jewish way of life based on the greater worldview shown in the Torah."