Menorah vandalized 4 times in 2 years, Jewish group claims

Chabad at UC has reportedly experienced 4 menorah vandalism incidents in the past few years.

The culprit has not yet been identified.

A menorah at the University of Cincinnati’s Chabad Jewish Center was vandalized in late May, according to a report by The Algemeiner.

UC Chabad Rabbi Yitzi Creeger told The Algemeinethat this is the fourth time the menorah has been vandalized in the last few years.

The culprit apparently failed to notice a security camera surveilling the front of the Center as he approached the menorah and pulled it out of the ground. The subject then ran off with flailing arms.

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Twitter users responded to the initial tweet bringing attention to the crime by @StopAntisemitism, a non-partisan group “exposing antisemitism.”

In the comments of their tweet featuring video of the attack, one user said “I went to uc this is frightening.” 

Another said, “This hurts my heart” with a broken heart emoji. 

The subject has yet to be identified and apprehended by university police.

In April 2022, Ohio adopted the Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (HIRA) definition of anti-Semitism to help combat “the rise of antisemitism in the US.”

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The definition applies to all “state agencies, departments, boards and commissions, including all public colleges and universities” in Ohio.

HIRA’s definition states that “[A]ntisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

Campus Reform has reached out to the University of Cincinnati, Chabad at the University of Cincinnati, and the Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Cincinnati; this article will be updated accordingly. 

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