Synagogue Attacks Leave Bergen Seeking Vigilance

HACKENSACK— Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli on Wednesday asked residents to be extra vigilant after a fourth apparent attack on Bergen County synagogues in three weeks.

The latest attack occured at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, when someone attacked a Rutherford synagogue with incendiary devices. 

"We need all law enforcement and we need the public to have a much higher level of awareness," Molinelli said.

The prosecutor said one or more people threw incendiary devices, like Molotov cocktails, through the bedroom window of the Rabbi Nosson Schuman of Congregation Beth El in Rutherford at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday. The rabbi was asleep, along with his wife, five children and two parents. 

The device didn't explode, but ignited, lighting Schuman's bed on fire. He managed to extinguish the fire, suffering minor burns in the process, Molinelli said.

Molinelli said there is no evidence to suggest the attack was related to an  at  on Arnot Place in Paramus or two incidents of . 

U.S. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg, D-NJ, released a statement calling the string of attacks "despicable," saying it requires immediate action from the local, state, and federal authorities.

"In the past weeks, these attacks have escalated from vandalism to attempted murder," he said in the statement. "The culprit or culprits must be stopped and brought to justice for terrorizing our communities and destroying sacred houses of worship.”

The Bergen prosecutor's office is treating the Rutherford incident as an attempted homicide.

The Anti-Defamation League of New Jersey is offering a $2,500 reward to anyone who can offer information that leads to an arrest.

Rep. Steve Rothman was among several officials at the press conference. He called on the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to aid in the prosecutor's investigation.

Molinelli said the ATF is helping examine the incendiary devices. The FBI is also investigating, said Special Agent Bryan L. Travers, a spokesman for the Newark field office.

"We've got every federal resource now at the disposal of our county prosecutor and his team," Rothman said.

Paramus police have increased patrols around religious institutions since the apparent arson at K'Hal Adath Jeshurun.

Rabbi Arthur D. Weiner of the  said the Rutherford incident raised the congregation's level of concern, already heightened after the incidents in Paramus, Maywood and Hackensack. Weiner, who has been at the center 16 years, said he was confident in law enforcement.

"I don't recall anything like this in all my years here in Paramus," said Weiner.  "We are going to continue to be vigilant, but we have a religious mission in this community that we intend to try to fulfill."

Molinelli said anyone with information could call the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office Major Crimes Unit anonymously at (201) 226-5651.