Crowd gathers to turn scrawlings of hate into messages of hope

About 200 join to show support of Newton temple

Benjamin Borhegyi (center) joined his father, George, at a gathering to support Temple Shalom in Newton yesterday. (Yoon S. Byun/ Globe Staff)

NEWTON - Responding to swastikas spray-painted outside two places of worship last week, about 200 people gathered outside Temple Shalom in Newton yesterday to condemn the incidents and spread a message of hope and tolerance.

A swastika was found on a sign outside Temple Shalom on Nov. 15 as members arrived for a bar mitzvah and a bat mitzvah, rites of adulthood for a boy and girl. Another swastika was found Wednesday on a curb outside of Eliot Church, a United Church of Christ affiliate.

"We've wiped away the hateful symbol, but it is our presence here as one community that enables us to say no to hate," said Rabbi Eric Gurvis of Temple Shalom, as he began yesterday's rally.

Gurvis thanked the Newton Police Department, residents, and community leaders for their support after the vandalism.

"I know that out of something very bad, we're going to make something good," said Newton Mayor David Cohen. Addressing residents' potential safety concerns, Cohen urged the crowd not to be afraid and "to be whoever you are."

"We have to reaffirm our commitment to diversity," he said.

Reverend Richard Malmberg of the Second Church in Newton, former chairman of the Newton Interfaith Clergy Association, highlighted his church's more than 50-year relationship with Temple Shalom and denounced the painting of the swastika on the sign as a "cowardly and vulgar act of vandalism."

"This is a place where intolerance is not tolerated," Malmberg said.

Among a handful of speakers, Gurvis told the crowd to turn "outrage into blessing" and stressed a need to promote understanding in the community and find constructive ways to deal with disagreements.

"Acts such as the one perpetrated last week are no way to disagree," Gurvis said.

Derrek Schulman, New England regional director for the Anti-Defamation League, said after the event that the civil rights organization is working closely with Temple Shalom, law enforcement officials, and educators "to give a voice to the outrage and make something positive out of it."

The Anti-Defamation League and the Second Church in Newton are jointly offering a $4,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest of those responsible for the swastikas, Schulman said.

The incidents are under investigation and no arrests have been made, said Lieutenant Bruce Apotheker, spokesman for the Newton Police Department. No evidence links the two swastikas, Apotheker said in an interview after the gathering.

Elizabeth Connolly, a member of Temple Shalom's congregation, said after the event: "The message was that we have to come together as a community and respect one another and respect one another's differences. Doing that will defeat the forces of hate."