After anti-Semitic graffiti, a quiet lesson on love

The congregation of Temple B'nai Israel in Revere has a hero, although no one knows his name.

On Sunday, members arrived at the temple for a morning service and breakfast to discover two of the building's walls covered in anti-Semitic graffiti.

"To me, this is not vandalism," said Rabbi Mark Sokol. "When you take a can of spray paint and put a swastika on a temple, that's a hate crime."

After police received a call at 5:45 a.m., they found a vulgar, anti-Semitic expression written in red spray paint at the front of the temple and a side area marked with two swastikas, said Revere Police Lieutenant John Goodwin.

"It's a very sensitive subject, so we will most certainly take a look into it," Goodwin said.

Nearby on Wave Avenue, three cars were vandalized, with windows broken and what appeared to be the same paint, but there were no anti-Semitic slurs, Goodwin said, adding that local youths were probably responsible.

Marilyn Dorfman, a temple vice president and one of the first to see the graffiti, said she was filled with "shock and horror and pain and disgust."

Police had already arrived at the temple when Dorfman got there at 7.

"The police could not have been nicer," she said. "One of the cops said he would paint it over at 4:30 when he got off work."

But there was no need.

While the congregation went inside to have the meeting, a man pulled up to the building and began painting over the graffiti, Dorfman said. Her husband, Ira, was outside the temple when the man started painting.

Dorfman said her husband asked the man's name, but he wouldn't give it and would not let her husband photograph him.

"The guy said, 'I just live in the neighborhood,' " Dorfman said.

Sokol said the group was studying texts on honesty when the stranger painted over the graffiti. The man took some care with his paint job, Sokol said.

"The guy tried very hard to mix paint and match it to the color of the temple," Sokol said. "To me, that feels like a very loving act."