Overview
- Reports vary on the number taken, with coverage saying between ten and twelve Torah scrolls were removed from the Grand Synagogue/CCL community center in Levallois-Perret.
- The theft was discovered by Rav Chalom Lellouche while he was preparing the synagogue for a bar mitzvah, prompting an immediate security response.
- Initial accounts describe two masked suspects who entered the building by an upper access point and left quickly, and the SPCJ says the operation appeared planned and targeted.
- Police are reviewing security-camera footage, gathering witness testimony, examining a vehicle believed to be linked to the case, and had bomb-disposal teams check the site; the suspects remain at large and no motive has been confirmed.
- The theft has deeply shaken the local Jewish community and drawn public condemnation from Mayor Agnès Pottier-Dumas because the stolen Sifrei Torah are central, sacred objects, and authorities warn the incident could lead to tightened security at places of worship.