Hundreds gather to relight Juno Beach sand menorah destroyed with swastika by vandals

JUNO BEACH — A sand-sculpted menorah stood tall for five days by the Juno Beach Pier as a representation of goodness and light to the Jewish community. Then a vandal destroyed it and defaced it with a swastika on Tuesday.

Members of the Jewish Community Synagogue in North Palm Beach commission an artist to mold a sculpture of a menorah in the sand every Hanukkah. They paid the artist to rebuild the menorah at the same spot in time for a communal lighting on Wednesday night, the festival's seventh night, one that saw about 200 people turn out in the pouring rain to cheer its restoration and the community's resilience.

Onlookers worried the candles wouldn’t light amid the wind and rains that pelted the sand and were thrilled to see the effort succeed. Rabbi Leib Ezagui and Palm Beach County Commissioner Gregg Weiss celebrated by dancing arm in arm after they lit all of the candles.

“This is how we show the world what it means to be Jewish,” Ezagui said to the crowd. “You never see a soldier with an umbrella because they are on a mission. Every one of you here tonight are soldiers, spreading the light.”

Juno Beach police are investigating the incident and had not arrested anyone connected to the vandalism as of Wednesday night. A full report was not immediately available.

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More than 100 people gathered to watch the lighting of the candles embedded in the menorah sand castle on Dec. 7, which was the first night of Hanukkah.

It wasn’t until Tuesday morning that members of the synagogue received frantic calls from beachgoers who found the menorah knocked down and a large black swastika symbol on the small mound of sand that remained.

Karen Holland of Juno Beach stood at the very front of the crowd Wednesday night, trying to get a close view of the revived sculpture. She said she was strolling the beach Tuesday morning when she saw the sculpture vandalized and was one of the first to call police.

“At first, I thought (the destruction) was something that occurred naturally because of bad weather, but I knew it was vandalism because of the swastika on it,” Holland said. “I was surprised and it broke my heart. But they rebuilt it so fast.”

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Ira Jacobson, a member of Jewish Community Synagogue and the Florida director of Herut, a nonprofit that supports Israel, woke up to the news.

“The swastika is a symbol of death,” said Jacobson, who lives in Jupiter. “This is a horrible situation, but we will build on it and come back stronger and brighter than ever. Every time someone tries to douse our flame, we are going to relight it.”

Jacobson said that while it was a horrific act of hate, he was not surprised when he heard the news because he is noticing increasing acts of antisemitism in the area.

“We just want to live our lives, but antisemitism is not local or state, but worldwide,” Jacobson said. “This is pure racism. I believe the war in Israel just brought out the people waiting for an excuse to target the Jewish people.”

Amy Terwilleger, an attorney who lives in Palm Beach Gardens, attended the lighting on Dec. 7 with her two kids. She said it was a beautiful, family-friendly celebration with music, food, sparklers and toys for kids.

“The menorah wasn’t hurting anyone and it wasn’t a political statement,” Terwilleger said. “It is a symbol of love, unity, peace and light. For someone to take that and create a symbol of hatred is unnecessary and sad. There’s no reasonable explanation for it.”

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In a statement issued Tuesday, Ezagui said the vandalism will not stop the synagogue from building another menorah sand castle next year.

“Our dream of hope and peace was shattered once again! The menorah is our symbol of hope and resilience. Mr. Hate: your actions may have targeted this symbol, but the resilience of the menorah and the Jewish community will shine brighter," the statement read.

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In a prepared statement, Weiss said whoever committed the vandalism "will be held accountable. Palm Beach County has laws and ordinances in place to ensure that such incidents are thoroughly investigated, and those responsible will face legal consequences."

Kerryn Lehman of Palm Beach Gardens is the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor. She attended Wednesday night's lighting with her daughter and she said there was a message in the gathering for people so young.

“It’s heartbreaking when things that we thought were over years ago are kind of resurfacing,”  Lehman said. “I see signs of antisemitism every day, and what happened this week was scary. It’s cold, wet and bedtime (for my daughter), but I thought it was important that she saw this. This is unity.”

Maya Washburn covers northern Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida-Network. Reach her at mwashburn@pbpost.com. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Antisemitic act: Menorah defaced with swastika in Palm Beach County