Temple De Hirsch Sinai canceled services at its campus in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood Saturday after receiving a false bomb threat.
More than 200 Jewish institutions across the country received hoax bomb threats over the weekend, including seven Western Washington synagogues from Bellingham to Tacoma, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
Of the Washington synagogues that received threats, only Temple De Hirsch Sinai in Seattle canceled services, according to ADL’s Pacific Northwest Office.
The synagogues are in contact with local police departments and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating the threats.
“The FBI takes hoax threats very seriously because it puts innocent people at risk,” said Amy Alexander, an FBI spokesperson. “We urge the public to remain vigilant, and report any and all suspicious activity and/or individuals to law enforcement immediately.”
Temple De Hirsch Sinai’s Senior Rabbi Daniel Weiner said the response to Saturday’s threat is “a testament to the security networks and systems that we have built up over the years working well … We have incredible and very careful safety measures in place, both in terms of things we are doing internally in the congregation and with our connection to larger security networks and law enforcement.”
The threats, which the FBI did not find to be credible, are a “product of toxic, hateful rhetoric against the Jewish community in our society and in the larger culture,” Weiner said.
“People have to understand that it may feel empowering to say something that is evocative and controversial and extremely negative, but those words have power and those words have consequences,” Weiner said.
The string of threats come against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war, which began with an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, and has continued with the bombardment and invasion of Gaza.
Saturday’s slew of bomb threats follow rising numbers of antisemitic incidents and crimes in the Pacific Northwest and across the country, said Miri Cypers, regional director for the Anti-Defamation League Pacific Northwest office.
In 2022, the ADL recorded 65 antisemitic incidents and crimes in Washington, the highest ever for the state at the time.
The agency has recorded more than 2,031 antisemitic incidents nationwide since early October, an almost 340% increase compared to a year ago.
The ADL includes anti-Israel incidents in its count only if those acts or sentiments target institutions or people because they are Jewish, according to Stephen Paolini, an associate regional director for the ADL’s Pacific Northwest office.
The city of Seattle reported 33 incidents of bias or hate crimes based on religion in 2022, with 25 of those cases involving anti-Jewish bias. That’s down from 2021, when the city reported 44 incidents of bias or hate crimes based on religion, of which 27 involved anti-Jewish bias.
At least seven Seattle and Mercer Island institutions have received suspicious envelopes, some containing white powder, since Nov. 3.
Mercer Island’s Herzl-Ner Tamid was vandalized with anti-Israel graffiti last month.
Temple De Hirsch Sinai on Capitol Hill was vandalized on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day in April. The synagogue was also vandalized six years ago with graffiti saying “The Holocaust is fake history,” with the ‘S’ characters as dollar signs. Seattle police investigated that vandalism as a hate crime.
