Authorities investigating email threat that forced Bellingham synagogue to cancel services
A security threat forced one of Bellingham’s two synagogues to cancel its services Saturday, which is the Jewish holy day.
Bellingham Police were assisting Whatcom County Sheriff’s deputies with an investigation at Congregation Beth Israel, which is off Yew Street Road just east of the Bellingham city limits, police spokeswoman Megan Peters told The Bellingham Herald.
Rabbi Joshua Samuels notified Beth Israel’s congregants about the situation in an email.
“This morning we received a security threat via email. We are taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety of the building and the community. Therefore, we will need to cancel both Torah study and Tot Shabbat today. If you were planning on participating in either of these, please do not come to the synagogue and alert your friends,” Samuels said.
Tot Shabbat is services for kindergarten-age children.
“We are very sorry to do this but feel it it necessary,” Samuels said in the email.
Jodi Litt, president of Congregation Beth Israel, told The Herald that there were no injuries or damage to the temple.
“All internal safety and security protocols were followed, and law enforcement was contacted. Appropriate resources were deployed to investigate, and no injuries or damage came about as a result of the incident,” Litt said in an email.
Saturday’s threat comes amid a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack where Hamas militants killed more than 1,200 Israeli civilians and took hundreds more people hostage, according to the Anti Defamation League, a social justice organization.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights and advocacy group, recently released data showing an “unprecedented” increase in complaints about anti-Muslim or anti-Arab bias in the first month after the Hamas attack and Israel’s military retaliation.
The Associated Press reported this week that Israel’s 10-week air and ground assault has killed more than 18,700 Palestinians, about two-thirds of which are women and children.
The Bellingham City Council recently approved a resolution calling for a cease-fire in the region.
