A rabbi and his household barely escaped with their lives after a historic 125-year-old synagogue in New Jersey consumed by a raging early-morning fireplace collapsed mere minutes after the household fled the premises.
The conflagration on the synagogue in Rutherford, NJ, residence to Congregation Beth El, began round 2:50 a.m. Friday and rapidly engulfed the constructing. Rabbi Yitzhock Lerman, his spouse and 4 youngsters have been sleeping in an house inside the home of worship when the blaze ignited.
In the course of the day, as investigators work on the scene, fireplace begins once more following the early morning hours when a big fireplace utterly destroyed Congregation Beth El synagogue at 185 Montross Ave. in Rutherford, NJ, on Friday, Aug. 8, 2025. (Photograph by Kyle Mazza/Anadolu by way of Getty Photos)
They managed to make it outdoors simply because the constructing began to break down, mentioned John R. Russo, chief of the police for Rutherford, which is situated roughly 13 miles west of New York Metropolis.
In 2012 the synagogue was the goal of an antisemitic assault after a 19-year-old man on a bicycle threw a Molotov cocktail on the construction. The reason for Friday’s fireplace is beneath investigation, and there’s no indication that it’s prison in nature, Russo mentioned.
Members of the Bergen County Crime Scene Unit and investigators work on the scene the place a big fireplace utterly destroyed Congregation Beth El synagogue at 185 Montross Ave. in Rutherford, NJ, on Friday, Aug. 8, 2025. (Photograph by Kyle Mazza/Anadolu by way of Getty Photos)
The synagogue, based in 1919, was initially a residential residence and contained loads of outdated wooden and polish, which may clarify how briskly the fireplace unfold, Rutherford Mayor Frank Nunziato mentioned.
Initially Printed: August 8, 2025 at 10:13 PM EDT
