Synagogues in the United States and abroad in recent years have become not only places of worship, but magnets for violence.
One of the deadliest attacks came on Oct. 27, 2018, when a man with an AR-15 style rifle shouted antisemitic slurs as he opened fire inside a Pittsburgh synagogue, killing 11 congregants and wounding four police officers and others. The mass shooting occurred at the Tree of Life Congregation in a heavily Jewish neighborhood. The shooter was sentenced to death.
Other recent attacks in the United States:
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The only synagogue in Jackson, Miss., was set on fire on Jan. 10 by a 19-year-old driven by a hatred of Jewish people, the authorities said. The synagogue, Beth Israel, was the oldest in the state.
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A rabbi and three congregants at the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, a Dallas suburb, were held hostage for 11 hours on Jan. 15, 2022, before the police rescued them. The suspect was killed, and officials called the incident an act of terrorism.
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A gunman entered a synagogue about 25 miles north of San Diego on April 27, 2019, and opened fire, killing a 60-year-old woman and injuring three others on the last day of Passover, a holiday that celebrates Jewish freedom. The shooter was sentenced in September 2021 to life in prison without the possibility of parole for carrying out the attack at the Chabad of Poway synagogue.
Such attacks are not limited to this country. Jewish communities in Europe and beyond have faced deadly threats, several in recent weeks:
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Three synagogues in Toronto have been damaged by gunfire this month. On March 2, the beginning of the holiday Purim, police officers responded to gunfire at Temple Emanu-El. Less than a week later, two other synagogues were struck. No one was injured in the shootings, but the buildings were damaged.
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A synagogue in Liège, Belgium, was damaged by an explosion in the early morning hours of March 9. No injuries occurred. The Belgian section of the European Jewish Congress said the episode was “part of a worrying surge in antisemitic acts committed in Belgium.”
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In one of the deadliest attacks abroad, a man drove a vehicle and then attacked people with a knife outside a synagogue in Manchester, England, on Oct. 2, 2025, killing two and injuring at least three others before he was shot and killed by armed officers. The attack occurred on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, while people gathered for services at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation.
Pooja Salhotra covers breaking news across the United States.
The post Places of Worship, Magnets for Violence: Synagogue Attacks Have Risen appeared first on New York Times.
