Windows smashed at DC kosher restaurant, cops say. Why timing worries Jewish community
Some Jewish community members are speaking out against vandalism at a kosher restaurant in Washington, D.C., raising concerns about the timing of the incident.
Officers responded to a call at Char Bar, located in Northwest D.C., on Nov. 9 after a concerned citizen reported the windows had been smashed, D.C. police told WRC-TV. McClatchy News reached out to the Metropolitan Police Department on Nov. 11 but did not immediately receive a response.
“We serve the Jewish community. It’s not even political or anything,” Char Bar owner Michael Chelst told WTTG. “We are just serving people with Kosher food who can’t have Kosher food elsewhere.”
Char Bar manager Yehuda Malka told WUSA he originally thought the vandals were coming for the restaurant’s new pastrami recipe, but some Jewish community members said the timing of the incident is especially concerning, as it falls on the anniversary of Kristallnacht.
“The vandalism of a Jewish business is deeply disturbing on its own. Its timing on the 86th anniversary of Kristallnacht, ‘the night of broken glass,’ raises many more questions and concerns that must be answered,” said the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington in a Nov. 10 statement on X, formerly known as Twitter.
According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Kristallnacht is observed in remembrance of violent attacks instigated by Nazi party officials on Jewish-owned businesses, homes and places of worship.
The attacks, which occurred in 1938, left an estimated 7,500 Jewish-owned businesses and hundreds of Jewish institutions destroyed, according to the museum.
“It’s pretty clear that it’s a hate crime,” Chelst told WRC-TV. “There’s seven other places with glass on this street, and they didn’t hit any of those.”
Police told WTTG the incident is being investigated, but at this time there isn’t enough evidence to classify it as a hate crime.
This story was originally published November 12, 2024 at 1:46 PM with the headline "Windows smashed at DC kosher restaurant, cops say. Why timing worries Jewish community."
