The rabbi of a synagogue in Miami Beach, Florida is speaking out several days after Temple Emanu-El was vandalized during Hanukkah.
On Saturday night, the side door of the synagogue was defaced with a swastika and the tag “RSS,” according to police. The anti-Semitic graffiti was discovered on Sunday morning when a staff member arrived for work.
“Every time something like this happens it’s very shocking – particularly during the week of Hanukkah when we try to increase light in the world – and you have an act like this that is meant to bring darkness in the world,” Rabbi Mark Philippe told Local 10.
The graffiti was only visible until Miami Beach Police arrived and took photos. After that, the synagogue repainted the door.
Philippe said that this was the second time the building had been defaced with anti-Semitic graffiti.
“If someone feels entitled to do this in a synagogue, what can they do to other ethnicities? We need to respond to that, we need to say hatred is not something that we should let [happen].”
An employee of an art gallery inside the synagogue said that there was no footage of the incident due to a security camera being moved away from the door, NBC Miami reported.
Police are continuing to investigate.