Hundreds of holy books were burned in an arson attack on the ancient synagogue of the Sadygora Hasidic community in Chernivtsi, and were buried in a special ceremony.
A burial ceremony for hundreds of burned holy books was held on Wednesday at the ancient synagogue of the Sadygora Hasidic order in the city of Chernivtsi, which was set on fire two weeks ago.
Hundreds of thousands of prayers have been held at the ancient synagogue since its construction 200 years ago.
Fortunately, the parchment Torah scrolls were not damaged by the fire, as they were stored in another hall, but the synagogue’s damages are still anticipated to cost nearly half a million shekels to repair.
Israel's ambassador to Ukraine, Michael Brodsky, reported that a suspect in the arson was arrested, and that according to initial information, he suffers from a mental illness. Despite this, the city's Jews are convinced that the background to the act is antisemitism.
Following the arson, dozens of Jewish Hasidim arrived as part of an emergency delegation led by the Rebbe of Sadigura, Rabbi Mordechai Shalom Yosef Friedman, the grandson of the synagogue's founder.
Moshe Kreiz, a Jewish resident of the city who lives near the synagogue, said on Thursday that the motive is clear to him.
"The antisemitic arsonist made sure to burn down our entire ancient and magnificent synagogue. He didn't steal anything. He could have stolen the charity box, which was full of money, but he didn't do that,” he said.
'Only interested in hurting us Jews'
“He wasn't interested in stealing; he was only interested in hurting us Jews there. He came to make a pogrom for us like Kristallnacht. Everything is completely burned down, we will have to renovate the synagogue from the foundation to the rafters."
"These are sights of the Holocaust, of Kristallnacht," said a member of the delegation of the Sadigora Hasidim.
The delegation collected the burned books and buried them near the synagogue.