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Twelve Torah scrolls stolen from Paris synagogue in suspected antisemitic burglary
Only Torah scrolls were stolen in the overnight break-in, prompting French Jewish leaders to condemn the burglary as antisemitic
Twelve Torah scrolls have been stolen from a synagogue near Paris in what Jewish leaders and local officials believe was a targeted antisemitic attack.
The burglary took place overnight on Sunday at the Grand Synagogue of Levallois, in the north-western suburbs of the French capital. Police have launched an investigation after two intruders allegedly broke into the building and escaped with the scrolls.
Rabbi Chalom Lellouche discovered the theft on Monday morning as he arrived to prepare for a bar mitzvah celebration. He alerted the Jewish Community Protection Service (SPCJ), which searched the synagogue before contacting police.
The investigation remains ongoing, and no arrests have been announced.
Levallois mayor Agnès Pottier-Dumas condemned the theft, saying the choice of what had been taken pointed to an antisemitic motive.
“It was with shock and anger that I learned this morning that the Jewish community of Levallois had been struck at what is most sacred and precious to it,” she said.
She added: “Whatever the motives of those who committed this sacrilegious act, which has profoundly shaken the Jewish community to its core, the antisemitic nature of this despicable crime must be denounced.”
The mayor noted that the thieves appeared to have deliberately taken only Torah scrolls while leaving behind other items of greater financial value.
“We also hope that these sacred scrolls, whose value is beyond measure, can be recovered. And for those who believe, we stand united in prayer with the Jewish community, wounded by this heinous act,” she said.
In a video statement, Rabbi Lellouche and Philippe Cohen, president of the Levallois Jewish community (ACCIL), said the burglary was more than an ordinary theft.
“It was clearly a criminal act, but also an antisemitic one,” they said.
The pair also suggested the burglars were experienced, saying they had managed to bypass the synagogue’s security measures.
“This is a spiritual trauma for all of the Jewish community of France, and indeed across the world,” they added.
The synagogue was fitted with surveillance cameras and other security systems, but the suspects were still able to gain entry and leave with the scrolls.
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