Anonymous thieves burst into the ancient Abuhav synagogue in
Tsefas in the wee hours of the morning of the 21st of Kislev
and attempted to steal 600-year-old Torah scrolls.
The synagogue's alarm system alerted one of the synagogue's
daily worshipers. He surprised the thieves, who had already
broken down the front door and were attempting to break the
closets' locks.
Police said that although the thieves fled, their identities
are known and the police are in the process of tracking them
down.
Detectives who arrived at the synagogue at three in the
morning discovered that the thieves had availed themselves of
the synagogue's first aid supplies, and had even taken
bandages, a fact which arouses the suspicion that one of them
was hurt while breaking into the synagogue. The thieves
managed to steal tzedokoh boxes which contained only a
few shekels and also to cause heavy damage to some of the
locked closets, where they had hoped to find money or ancient
artifacts.
This is not the first time the Abuhav synagogue has been
broken into. Two years ago, the ancient crown of the
synagogue's sefer Torah, as well as some pomegranate
adornments were stolen. As a result, sophisticated alarm
systems were installed.
