Swastikas on JLA Building

Julie Gruenbaum Fax – Jewish Journal

Rabbi Eyal Rav-Noy arrived at the Jewish Learning Academy on Pico Boulevard on Sunday morning, Aug. 23, to discover swastikas, along with a profanity written in mirror image, painted onto a door of the building. Rav-Noy reported the graffiti to the West Los Angeles division of the LAPD, which is investigating the incident.

The graffiti appeared to have been painted with a brush on the door of the men’s bathroom, which is in an outdoor corridor at the building’s back parking lot. Random brush strokes also marred other surfaces of the building, located west of Beverly Drive.

Rav-Noy had led Shabbat services there the previous day and confirmed that the graffiti was left sometime overnight. It is the first incident he has seen since he began leasing the space three-and-a-half years ago.

JLA, affiliated with Chabad, runs adult education and youth classes for those new to the Jewish tradition, and Rav-Noy leads Shabbat services peppered with explanations. Rav-Noy leases the ground floor of the building with his brother, Rabbi Michy Rav-Noy, director of the Friendship Circle, which pairs teen volunteers with special needs kids.