I

t was nine thirty in the evening last Thursday when Rabbi Mendy Krinsky first smelled the smoke. When he stepped outside, he was shocked to discover a fire at the entrance to his house, which doubles as the Chabad House and shul of Needham, Massachusetts.

Rabbi Krinsky quickly picked up a fire extinguisher and put out the fire while his wife called the police. Now the flames have been extinguished, but the fear remains.

“It is very shocking and unsettling,” he told Mishpacha in a phone interview.

Rabbi Krinsky says that despite the troubling incident, he has received much heartwarming support from neighbors and members of the Chabad community.

“We’re very blessed that the police are really are on top of this,” Rabbi Krinsky said. “It’s impossible for a fire to start in that place by itself. So somebody set the fire. It was a miracle that nothing worse happened, and baruch Hashem, He’s the real protection.”

Police are treating the incident as a possible hate crime, and no suspect has been apprehended as of press time. On the same night, another Chabad house in nearby Arlington, Massachusetts, was also targeted with a small fire. Rabbi Krinsky said there are now police stationed outside his home.

On Motzaei Shabbos, no fewer than 300 people showed up at the Needham Chabad House to participate in Havdalah and express their solidarity. Those in the crowd included local politicians, rabbis from the area, and non-Jewish neighbors.

“That was an amazing thing for me,” he told Mishpacha. “The outpouring of love and support from the community was incredible. It was overwhelming. It was beautiful. So many e-mails and texts and calls and donations.”

This arson attempt is only one in a series of violent acts against Orthodox institutions and individuals in the last month, including the shooting at Poway Chabad near San Diego, and yet another arson attempt at a shul in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago on Saturday night. In that incident, there was minor damage, and police have identified two suspects.

Rabbi Krinsky said he is on guard, but not fearful. He said Jews should never try to hide in public, and he emphasized that love will always triumph over hate.

“We don’t have to be intimidated by fear,” he said. “We can’t be defined by anti-Semitism. We have to know who we are, and know that our mission is to be closer to Hashem and spread light in the world. We have to be strong. We can’t be intimidated.”

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 761)