Twelve Torah scrolls were stolen Sunday night from the Grand Synagogue of Levallois (ACCIL), located on the outskirts of Paris, the synagogue’s rabbi and the Jewish Community Protection Service (SPCJ) confirmed on Monday.
Early accounts indicate that two people forced their way into the building and took the scrolls, despite the site being equipped with cameras and extensive surveillance systems.
Rabbi Chalom Lellouche said he discovered the theft on Monday morning as he was preparing to host a bar mitzvah. After he reported the incident, SPCJ carried out a full search of the premises before alerting police. An investigation is now underway.
“It was with shock and anger that I learned this morning that the Jewish community of Levallois had been struck at what is most sacred and precious to it,” said Levallois Mayor Agnès Pottier-Dumas.
Pottier-Dumas said both municipal and national police were notified immediately and had been working on the case since Monday morning.
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A ‘clearly criminal act’ but also antisemitic
“Whatever the motives of those who committed this sacrilegious act, which has profoundly shaken the Jewish community to its core, the antisemitic nature of this despicable crime must be denounced,” she said. The mayor noted that only the Torah scrolls appeared to have been targeted, while more expensive items with no religious significance were left behind.
“We also hope that these sacred scrolls, whose value is beyond measure, can be recovered. And for those who believe, we stand united in prayer with the Jewish community, wounded by this heinous act.”
Rabbi Chalom Lellouche and Philippe Cohen, president of ACCIL Levallois, later issued a joint video statement condemning the seriousness of the theft.
“It was clearly a criminal act, but also an antisemitic one,” the men said.
They also noted that the assailants were clearly professionals, having successfully skirted the walls and evaded the security systems.
“This is a spiritual trauma for all the Jewish community of France, and indeed across the world,” added Chellouche and Cohen.
