VERNON HILLS, Ill – Vernon Hills police are investigating an act of vandalism at Congregation Or Shalom on Hawthorn Parkway.
On Sunday night, a retaining wall was covered with antisemitic slogans made with spray paint. The graffiti included a phallic symbol and expressions against Jewish people.
The vandalism has been characterized as a “cowardly act.”
“As the curse of antisemitism has breached our property, we can choose how to respond,” Congregation Or Shalom Rabbi Ari Margolis said in a post on Facebook. “Do we meet hate with hate, or to allow this to push us into a cycle of fear? Or do we choose to rise to the moment and meet hate with love and with hope.”
The Lake County community has come out in support of the congregation and its members.
“We must never accept or normalize antisemitism,” Schneider said in a post on Facebook. “I stand with Congregation Or Shalom, and I know our community does to. Hate has no home in Vernon Hills, in the 10th District, or anywhere in America. Period.”
The Vernon Hills Police Department issued a statement. “Regardless of the particular target, hate crimes are an attack on our entire community,” said Vernon Hills Police Chief Patrick L. Kreis. “Conduct of this kind has no place in Vernon Hills.”
Anyone with information is urged to contact investigators at pdtips@vhills.org.