Synagogue sign defaced

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(Closeup of markings defacing synagogue sign. Click to enlarge or print.)


(United Orthodox Synagogue has been a Plainfield landmark for decades.)

A new sign in front of United Orthodox Synagogue on West 7th Street has been defaced.

PT noticed it late yesterday afternoon while driving by. The sign has been defaced by markings over the tablets depicting the summary of the Law from Exodus 20.

Whether they are drug or gang markings is not apparent to PT -- both kinds of markings have been seen elsewhere in the city over past years.

The new sign appeared a little over a week ago. PT's curiosity was piqued because the new sign identifies the congregation as United Orthodox Tomchei Tmimim Synagogue -- where before it had been simply known as United Orthodox Synagogue.

Inquiring of a friend, I was told that the synagogue, which has had trouble for years in gathering a minyan, has recently drawn on young men studying at a Yeshiva to bolster the congregation. The sign seemed to PT to signify a renewed spirit of pride in the congregation and an attempt to mark it out to passersby as a special sort of house of prayer.

The syngagogue's adjacent former shul now houses the Plainfield Boys and Girls Club.

PT has lived on West 7th Street for nearly a quarter century and drives by this Plainfield institution several times daily. NEVER in all those years has there been the least sign of disrespect for the congregation or its building. This is dispiriting, to say the least.

Will the authorities reach out to reassure both the congregation and Plainfield's residents that such behavior will not be tolerated?

Let's hope so. Soon.

-- Dan Damon

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