The B’nai Shalom Synagogue in Olney, Maryland was recently vandalized in what can only be described as a vicious act of hate and racism.  Vandals spray-painted swastikas and anti-Jewish slogans along the walls, in the parking lot, and on the light posts. Most offensively, one of the slogans scrawled on the campus was “Work Will Set U Free,” a reference to the ominous sign written above the dreaded Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz. This tragic example of bitter anti-Jewish racism should serve as a wake-up call to the Montgomery County community — and similar regions across the nation. Hate and racial divisiveness continue to plague our society.

I hope you will join me in prayer for the B’nai Shalom congregation and for Jews everywhere who continue to feel the bitter sting of such senseless hatred. And I hope that we, as Christians, will show the love and kindness manifested and exemplified by Christ. Though we have major differences of belief with Jewish synagogues, we stand with them in denouncing racism and hate in society.