Arson attacks at synagogues

The charred remains of priceless prayer books scattered on the floor are all that remain after arson attacks left two north London synagogues wrecked.

In Hendon, more than £250,000 of damage was done by vandals who broke into the UK headquarters of Jewish educational body Aish HaTorah.

The building's synagogue and offices were destroyed and irreplaceable notes belonging to several Rabbis - representing their lifetime's work - were lost. Two handwritten Torah scrolls were ripped and desecrated.

A day earlier, vandals smashed a CCTV camera at the South Tottenham Synagogue before breaking a window and throwing a burning rag inside. Many prayer books were incinerated - some more than 100 years old and others which were smuggled out of Germany and Poland by Jews fleeing the Nazis in the 1930s.

Rabbi Michael Biberfeld said his congregation mourned the loss of the priceless books. He said: "Some of them have never been reprinted after the Holocaust. The people who saved them from the Nazis in Germany and Poland after Kristallnacht in 1938 risked their lives. For them to be destroyed is a tragic end."

Among the most significant works was a six-volume set of Mishna Berura, the code of the Jewish law, written 100 years ago by Rabbi Kagan who signed every copy. "It was a very important devotional piece," said Rabbi Biberfeld.

Hours after the attack the congregation held a service. Rabbi Biberfeld said: "There were 60 of us there and we are determined to carry on, albeit with a little smoke in our eyes and noses."

Rabbi Naftali Schiff, executive director of the centre in Hendon Way, which was set ablaze late on Friday, said: "Photographs of the desecration of Kristallnacht in 1938 are imprinted on the Jewish psyche of my generation and seeing scrolls of the law torn and lying on the floor of my own synagogue in London is devastating.

"This mindless act of hatred and destruction rings yet another warning bell across the country to men and women of reason, tolerance and mutual respect to join together to ensure the flames of extremism and intolerance are not allowed to engulf these shores."

Although police are not linking the attacks they admit it is "unusual" for two synagogues to be targeted in such a short space of time. More than 100 British synagogues have been desecrated since September 2000.

Lord Janner, president of the Parliamentary committee against antisemitism, visited the Tottenham synagogue after the attack. He said: "They had set light to a prayer shawl which reminded me of what I had seen years ago as a war crimes investigator in Germany."