A fire destroyed a New Jersey synagogue early Friday morning as the rabbi, his wife and four of their children narrowly escaped without injuries.
The fire at Congregation Beth El, in a residential neighborhood in Rutherford, started around 2:50 a.m., Mayor Frank Nunziato said. There is no indication that the fire was caused by arson, he said.
By the time the first firefighters arrived, the synagogue was already consumed by flames, and a part of the structure was beginning to collapse. As it grew to a four-alarm fire, the Rutherford Fire Department eventually received help from 14 departments in the area.
The congregation’s rabbi, Yitzchok Lerman, and members of his family were sleeping in an apartment inside the synagogue when the fire started. The rabbi, his wife and four of their children managed to narrowly escape the building before it began to collapse, Mr. Lerman said. The family’s two other children were away at camp, he said.
“We saw orange flames outside our window so we quickly grabbed our children and ran out,” he said. “I turned around to save our Torah scrolls, but the flames had already engulfed the entire building. It was that quick.”
The family fled so quickly they were barely able to get dressed, Mr. Lerman said. By 9 a.m., the rabbi was standing in the street in front of the destroyed building in pajamas and a borrowed shirt.
Frank Wilson has lived across the street from the synagogue for 30 years. He always told the leaders of the congregation to contact him in an emergency, he said.
That emergency arrived on Friday. Mr. Wilson woke up to see the synagogue in flames and the rabbi and his family walking up the driveway. Mr. Wilson invited them inside and offered them water and comfort, he said. On Friday morning, his house was used to store the congregation’s prayer shawls, yarmulkes and prayer books, to be used in future services.
“This synagogue is part of this neighborhood’s charm,” Mr. Wilson, 67, said. “They’re good neighbors. We watched their kids grow up. We want them back.”
The synagogue will not hold its regular Friday evening service, Mr. Lerman said. A service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday in tents on the property using a borrowed Torah, he said. Mr. Lerman said he planned to work with Rutherford firefighters to search the property for remains of the congregation’s Torah. The remnants will be gathered and buried according to Jewish tradition, he said.
Firefighters did not know on Friday morning what had caused the fire, Mr. Nunziato said, but there were no indications that it was arson. The synagogue, which was founded in 1919, occupied a large building that was once a residential home, and contained old wood and varnish that might explain the speed with which the fire engulfed the structure, the mayor said. Fire officials were beginning to investigate the cause on Friday.
The synagogue was attacked in January 2012 by a 19-year-old man who rode by on his bicycle and threw a Molotov cocktail at the building. The man also was charged with firebombing a synagogue in Paramus.
Steve Goldberg is a member of Congregation Beth El. Wearing a yarmulke and a prayer shawl, he stood across the street from the smoldering ruins of the synagogue on Friday, tears streaming down his cheeks.
“We joined this synagogue after the firebombing to show support,” said Mr. Goldberg, 64, a resident of the nearby suburb of Clifton. He said he planned to attend the outdoor service on Saturday. “That’s what we do as Jews. We continue to show up.”
Christopher Maag is a reporter covering the New York City region for The Times.
The post New Jersey Synagogue Burns to Ground as Rabbi and Family Escape appeared first on New York Times.
