“We’ve faced hate before, and every time we’ve responded the same way,” Jake Cohen, executive director of Congregation Beth Israel, said. “By staying together and by refusing to let fear define us.”
( Apr. 28, 2026 / JNS ) Police are investigating antisemitic graffiti discovered outside Congregation Beth Israel, a 150-year-old Reform synagogue located on Shoal Creek Boulevard in Austin, Texas, on April 23.
The vandalism, which was spray-painted on a retaining wall near the synagogue’s parking lot, included a swastika and the phrase “Death to Israel,” according to local authorities and StandWithUs.
Senior Rabbi Brian Leiken and Jake Cohen, executive director of the synagogue, stated that “Congregation Beth Israel was the victim of hate.”