Synagogues

The first of six juveniles arrested for painting anti-Semitic graffiti on a synagogue last month has been sentenced to perform 200 hours of community service. The 16-year-old Los Angeles youth, who has been linked to the white-supremacist skinhead movement, was ordered by a Juvenile Court referee Thursday to perform community service and partially pay for the expenses of removing the graffiti from the walls of the Tifereth Israel Synagogue in the San Carlos area of the city.

The state's first public Holocaust memorial has been dedicated at Temple Beth El, honoring those murdered by the Nazis. More than 300 people turned out at the synagogue's recent opening of the Jerry and Rochelle Slivka Holocaust Memorial, named for a Portland couple who survived the Holocaust. Created by sculptor Robert Katz, the granite memorial was commissioned by the Slivkas in memory of their family and the 6 million Jews exterminated during World War II.

Reform Judaism's Union of American Hebrew Congregations has admitted seven new synagogues for a total of 902, the first time U.S. and Canadian affiliates have exceeded 900. The new member synagogues are in Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania and Washington state. In all, 16 congregations have joined in the past year. "Clearly, the strength of our programs and the power of our religious philosophy are important attractions," said President Eric Yoffie.

Russia formed an elite task force Sunday to investigate bomb blasts near two Moscow synagogues and hinted that it suspected neo-Nazi activists. Interior Minister Sergei V. Stepashin said it wasn't clear that the synagogues were the targets of the bombings, however, noting that both blasts occurred near police medical facilities, the Interfax news agency reported. No one claimed responsibility for either explosion, the Federal Security Service said.

The 125-year-old Wilshire Boulevard Temple would be unusual if it were only the oldest synagogue in Los Angeles. The imposing Byzantine structure with a 100-foot dome would be uncommon if its only claim to fame were that its 2,500 families constitute one of the most influential Reform congregations in the nation.

A congregation of Jews who believe that Jesus Christ is the long-awaited Messiah has been accused of false advertising by all the other synagogues that share space with it in Fresno's yellow pages. Jewish leaders in Fresno have asked Pacific Bell to stop listing the Congregation B'nai Yeshua Messianic Synagogue under the heading "synagogues." "A messianic Jew is an oxymoron. Someone who believes the messiah has come is not a Jew," said Rabbi Robert A. Seigel of Temple Beth Israel.

Judaism's Reform movement announced an innovative plan this week to reduce or eliminate synagogue dues for young, unaffiliated Jews in an effort to attract them to congregational life. Nearly half of all American Jews do not belong to a synagogue, according to the latest edition of the American Jewish Yearbook.

Synagogues and mosques around the nation approached their SABBATHS under a heightened STATE OF ALERT. Security efforts were boosted as leaders sought to assure worshipers. "You can have many armed guards but if there is anxiety in the minds of the people, they will still stay away," said Rabbi Arthur Schneier of Park East Synagogue in New York. Abdul Rahman Raja, president of the Islamic Center of Kansas City, said: "We are concerned for our congregation because there have been verbal threats. .

Two synagogues that merged last July under the new name of Adat Shorashim have decided to dissolve their relationship because of what spokesmen called a clash of personalities and ideas. The 520-family Temple Ner Maarav of Encino had moved in with Congregation Beth Ami, a 320-family synagogue in Reseda, in anticipation of building a $5.5-million facility for the merged synagogue on land owned by Ner Maarav in Encino.

Two brothers accused of murdering a gay couple were arraigned Tuesday on charges of torching three Sacramento-area synagogues and a building housing an abortion clinic. Benjamin Matthew Williams, 31, and James Tyler Williams, 30, pleaded not guilty to last summer's attacks, which caused more than $1 million in damage.