To cover hate with more love: Burned Pasadena temple's mural restored after more antisemitic vandalism

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Set us as preferred Dozens of people gathered Thursday at a Pasadena temple site to stand in solidarity with their Jewish neighbors, many still reeling from the fact that their sacred space has been the target of several vandalism acts this year.The gathering was prompted by an incident last week when Jenna Leventhal was on her way to drop off her daughter Ava at summer camp.

Cruising down a familiar stretch of Altadena Drive, she passed the site where the century-old Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center once stood before it burned down in last year’s Eaton Fire.Almost by instinct, Leventhal turned to look at the empty, rail-guarded lot.Parts of the original exterior wall survived the flames, only to be vandalized with antisemitic messages earlier this year in January.

The original graffiti was quickly removed, and a mural was commissioned in its place.But to Leventhal’s surprise, the new mural was defaced with swastikas and a message reading, “ZIONSIM IS NOT WELCOME”— the word Zionism was misspelled.“Ever since the mural was put up, I look at it out of pure joy,” Leventhal, a senior director at the USC Shoah Foundation, which archives testimonies of Holocaust survivors, told the Times.

“[The discovery] was shocking and upsetting.”She immediately called the temple’s leader, Rabbi Josh Ratner, who notified authorities.The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Altadena Station launched a hate crime investigation, which remains ongoing, Captain Ethan Marquez confirmed this week.

It remains unclear how many people were involved in the crime.For a community that has already endured immense loss, the antisemitic graffiti felt deeply personal.“It is very difficult when we need to be worried about security,” said Dianne Burr, a member of PJTC for more than 20 years.“We want people to be able to feel that this is ...