When congregants of the Tiferes Shimon Shul in Bnei Brak arrived on Tuesday morning for shachris, they were horrified to see the shul had been broken into, including the Aron Kodesh, and Sifrei Torah had been stolen, B’chadrei Chareidim reported.
In addition, another Sefer Torah was thrown to the ground along with Sifrei Nevi’im.
Shul gabbai Moshe Cohen is quoted explaining the shul was broken into and four Sifrei Torah were stolen, two being new. A fifth Sefer Torah was thrown to the ground along with Sifrei Nevi’im.
“We are in shock. We do not understand what took place here. We haven’t a clue,” he said.
He said he thinks that “the thieves knew where they were going and knew which Sifrei Torah to take,” as they left the old one.
A passerby at about 4:30 AM reported that he saw a vehicle parked near the shul, and two individuals got out. When asked to identify themselves, they told him they were contractors.
Aharon, another gabbai of the shul, told B’chadrei Chareidim the passerby felt something was out of place with the two at the time.
Police were summoned and crime scene technicians began gathering evidence from the crime scene. Gabbai Cohen reported that for the time being, the police have no leads as to the perpetrators, but are not ruling out a connection with another break-in which also occurred last night as well.
He added the shul was warned of such events over recent years, and they invested in surveillance cameras. However, the thieves broke into every cabinet with wires until they found the laptop and stole it and the disc containing the footage.
הזעזוע בבני ברק: הגבאי בראיון ל@EliShlezinger: הגנבים התחזו לשיפוצניקים וגנבו ארבעה ספרי התורה, ספר כבד וישן הושלך בביזיון ארצה >> https://t.co/Lap9tQ90no pic.twitter.com/NRTfKNafWk
— חדשות בחדרי חרדים (@behadrei_bhol) June 11, 2019