Case 05: The Stained Glass Vandal
Solution
To win, you must have:
- Named Joe Landes as the brickthrower.
- Explained that he was motivated by righteous indignation at what he considered sacrilegious images in the stained glass.
- Found Joe's shoe with the mud on it. The lab must have reported that the mud on it matched the mud on the west side of the Temple and the shoe fit the tracks found at the scene.
The Story
Joe Landes had figured prominently in the formation of the Beth El Jewish Center. It was the only synagogue in the area and its first congregation consisted of fifteen families of Orthodox Jews. Later, when Pine View Development was built nearby, the young Jewish families who moved in also joined Beth El. As they swelled the membership, the congregation became increasingly less Orthodox. Newly-elected members of the Beth El Board of Trustees began to advocate a less traditional Service. When old Rabbi Kesel retired, the Board voted to hire Joseph Moscowitz, a young Rabbi with a Conservative, or less strict, background.
The influx of affluent families enabled the Beth El congregation to raise funds to build a larger synagogue. Once again, Joe Landes was an active fund-raiser and made large donations of his own. However, Joe found himself increasingly at odds with the other Board members over religious matters. Their disagreements came to a head when the artist the Board had hired to design the synagogue's stained glass windows submitted drawings that showed actual images of animals. Joe was horrified. He argued that the Board should reject the drawings and ask the artist to submit windows of a more abstract nature. The rest of the Board disagreed. They felt a Temple was no place for modern art. The Rabbi supported the majority of the Board, declaring that the prohibition against making images was aimed at idolatry, not artistic representations. Joe felt he had to act. He quit the Board and stopped going to Services.
On the Sabbath after the windows were completed, the entire congregation turned out and filled the sanctuary. Joe was outraged at this sacrilege against his synagogue. He collected a number of bricks and used them to destroy the windows he detested.