The mayor of Niles and leaders of a local synagogue are responding to the arrest of a Niles man accused of hate crimes against a Jewish community in Chicago’s West Rogers Park neighborhood.
Niles Mayor George Alpogianis issued a statement on Feb. 2, condemning the recent vandalism of synagogues and a Jewish girls’ school that Chicago police say were the acts of a man who resides in Niles.
“We are disheartened to hear that the man charged with the disgusting recent hate crimes in Chicago is a resident of Niles,” Alpogianis said in the statement. “Niles is a community proudly rooted in diversity, and the tradition of embracing each other’s differences is a big part of why our neighbors love living here …. Let me assure the Chicagoland community that the actions this individual has been charged with are not representative of what it means to be a part of the Niles community, and hatred like this will never be tolerated here.”
Shahid Hussain, 39, of the 6900 block of West Keeney Street, is facing four counts of a hate crime and multiple charges of criminal damage and defacement of property following a series of incidents in West Rogers Park discovered on Jan. 30, Chicago police said.
Hussain was identified as the person who allegedly spray-painted a swastika on F.R.E.E. (Friends of Refugees of Eastern Europe) Synagogue and spray-painted a storage container on the property of Hanna Sacks Bais Yaakov High School near the 2900 block of West Devon Avenue Sunday, according to police. He then allegedly yelled at a man nearby, a police report said.
Hussain is also charged with allegedly smashing windows at a synagogue in the 3600 block of West Devon Avenue, and one in the 2800 block of West North Shore Avenue, police said.
The crimes hit home for Rabbi Lazer Hershkovich of Chabad and F.R.E.E. of Niles. His synagogue, which is located in unincorporated Maine Township and also serves the communities of Niles, Park Ridge and Des Plaines, is affiliated with F.R.E.E. Synagogue in West Rogers Park.
“They were preparing meals for people in need while he came to spray the swastika there,” Hershkovich said.
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The original F.R.E.E. Synagogue in the neighborhood was destroyed by arson in 1993 and rebuilt in its current location, he said.
Hershkovich called the allegations that a Niles resident was involved in the recent vandalism “shocking, upsetting and sad.”
“It’s not the Niles that we know,” he said.
Hershkovich’s father, Rabbi Naftoly Hershkovich, director of Chabad and F.R.E.E. of Niles, said when he moved to the neighborhood 35 years ago, a neighbor greeted him by saying, “Welcome to our United Nations,” a reference to the ethnic and religious diversity of Maine Township that still exists today.
“God wants us to be good to people,” he said. “God is not Jewish, God is not Muslim, God is not Christian. God is God. God created the whole world and it’s for everyone.”
As a Russian immigrant, Naftoly Hershkovich said he experienced antisemitism in his homeland, as did other Russian Jews. It has taught him the importance of standing up for one’s self, he said.
“When trouble comes, you don’t run away from trouble,” Hershkovich said.
Hate, Lazer Hershkovich said, occurs when people stop leading meaningful lives.
“It’s a time for every single person to reflect, check themselves and ask, ‘Am I living a meaningful life?'” he said.
One way to live with meaning is through performing charitable acts, Lazer Hershkovich said.
“If we give charity every single day, it makes us think about other people,” he said. “It doesn’t matter where you are giving, it doesn’t matter how much you are giving. It is the act of doing it.”
Olivia Olander contributed.