Dallas Rabbi's Car Painted With Swastika in Midst of Legal Fight With City

In what's turning out to be a stellar week for tolerance in Dallas, the rabbi of Congregation Toras Chaim, the embattled Orthodox Jewish congregation that meets in a Far North Dallas home, says someone painted a swastika on his car sometime Wednesday. "I feel completely violated. As a Jew, the...

By Stephen Young

March 12, 2015

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In what's turning out to be a stellar week for tolerance in Dallas, the rabbi of Congregation Toras Chaim, the embattled Orthodox Jewish congregation that meets in a Far North Dallas home, says someone painted a swastika on his car sometime Wednesday.

"I feel completely violated. As a Jew, the swastika is the most offensive symbol that there is. They didn't just attack me, they attacked every Jew in the city of Dallas. I am very grateful, however, that the members of Congregation Toras Chaim are banding together to ensure that there is no disruption in our activities," Rabbi Yaakov Rich said in a press release.

After successfully getting an earlier lawsuit from neighbors dismissed, Rich and his congregants were sued by the city earlier this month for operating without an appropriate certificate of occupancy.

In the first suit, residents of Congregation Toras Chaim's neighborhood said that the worshipers caused traffic and parking problems, lowered property values and were a general nuisance.

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