A synagogue in Detroit says it received a false bomb threat last Friday, presumably by an antisemite seeking to strike fear in Jews.

In a message sent from Adat Shalom’s Conservative Rabbi Aharon Bergman to his congregants, he said the incident was a “cruel hoax designed to terrorize our communities.”

The rabbi said that the synagogue’s office received a call from a number with an out-of-state area code at approximately 3 pm on Friday, with the individual on the other end of the line saying they had placed a pipe bomb in on synagogue premises.

The area was quickly evacuated, and police and fire personnel were called to the scene.

“We will not allow these terrorists to win,” Rabbi Bergman said. “However, out of an abundance of caution, and in order to allow the police to fully investigate every part of the building,” they would only be conducting services over Zoom.

He noted that the bomb threat came shortly after Purim.

“Purim reminds us to always be strong and never give up who we are It was true for our ancestors. It is true for us today,” he said.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)