BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — The rabbi of a Jewish student center near Indiana University plans to use a rock that was thrown through the center's window as part of a 12-foot menorah to be displayed during Hanukkah.
Jewish leaders said they believe the vandalism at Chabad House and a similar act at the Helene G. Simon Hillel Center might have been motivated by hatred. Rocks were hurled through windows at the two centers just days before Hanukkah, which begins Wednesday, leading center officials to suspect the centers were targeted on the basis of religion.
"The vandal knew very well who he was throwing the rock at," Rabbi Yehoshua Chincholker said. He said a sign identifies the center as serving Jewish students.
Someone also threw a rock through the back window of the Chabad House's sanctuary during the day last Tuesday.
No one was in the building at the time, Indianapolis station WRTV reported. Carl Corenblum, an IU student from Alabama, discovered the damage later.
"I just felt pretty shocked," Corenblum told WRTV. "I just walked in to say prayers and saw all the glass shattered and really wasn't expecting it."
A cook at the Helene G. Simon Hillel Center discovered Saturday that someone also threw a rock through a kitchen window there. No one had been in the center since Tuesday night, Rabbi Sue Silberberg said.
"It (the Hillel Center) was clearly targeted," she told The Herald-Times. She added, "The fact that it happened at Chabad House also makes me think it is an act of hatred."
Both incidents were reported to police. Bloomington police Lt. David Drake said Monday that city and campus police were cooperating in the Chabad House investigation and IU was investigating the Hillel Center vandalism. Campus police had contacted the FBI because there was a possible hate crime, he said.
Silberberg said the rock didn't match other rocks that can be found near the building, meaning someone must have brought the rock from somewhere else.
Chincholker told The Associated Press on Monday that the rock used at Chabad House was limestone, a type of rock for which southern Indiana is famous. The community was built on limestone, which was used in building, provided livelihoods and is a vital part of the area's history, he said.
"I'm trying to say when this rock was thrown, this is an abuse of the limestone," Chincholker said.
That's where he got the idea to incorporate the rock into the center's Hanukkah celebration as a symbol of tolerance. He plans to use the rock as the base for the shamash, the candle that will be used to light other candles in a 12-foot menorah during the eight-night ritual.
Chincholker said he has raised about one-fourth of the $3,000 needed to cover the cost of the menorah, which has already been ordered. He doesn't expect the menorah to arrive in time for the start of Hanukkah on Wednesday but plans a lighting ceremony once it does arrive, perhaps Sunday.
It isn't the first time Chabad House has been targeted, Chincholker said. Last year, someone threw a rock through a different window, and two years ago, someone removed the letters that spell the word "Jewish" from the center's sign.
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