LIGHT OVER DARKNESS FLAG TAKEN IN HATE CRIME REPLACED.Byline: Rachel Uranga Staff Writer WESTLAKE VILLAGE - Eyes welling with tears, Victoria Monina, a 71-year-old Holocaust survivor, hung a blue and silver ``Happy Hanukkah'' flag over her garage Tuesday, replacing the one vandals burned two days earlier. The Ventura County Sheriff's Department The Ventura County Sheriff's Department (VCSD) provides law enforcement for the unincorporated areas of Ventura County, California, USA, as well as several cities within the county. The cities that VCSD serves are Camarillo, Fillmore, Moorpark, Ojai, and Thousand Oaks. is investigating the vandalism as a hate crime, although Detective Patrick Dain said the motive remains unclear. ``To see something like that all over, it really hurts,'' said Monina, who hid in homes throughout Greece to avoid persecution by the Nazis during World War II. ``I lost all my family in the Holocaust.'' On Tuesday, more than a dozen neighbors and synagogue synagogue (sĭn`əgŏg) [Gr.,=assembly], in Judaism, a place of assembly for worship, education, and communal affairs. The origins of the institution are unclear. One tradition dates it to the Babylonian exile of the 6th cent. B.C. members gathered on Monina's quiet tree-lined street. They placed a 6-foot-tall menorah menorah Multibranched candelabra used by Jews during the festival of Hanukkah. It holds nine candles (or has nine receptacles for oil). Eight of the candles stand for the eight days of Hanukkah—one is lit the first day, two the second, and so on. in front of her home and watched her light the candles and hang the flag. ``The whole message of Hanukkah is light over darkness,'' said Rabbi Moshe Bryski of the Chabad of the Conejo in Agoura Hills, where Monina studies Judaism. ``An individual tried to create darkness,'' he said during an impromptu A Windows query and reporting tool from Cognos with support for a large variety of databases. It is capable of generating cross tabs for spreadsheets such as Excel, Lotus for Windows and Quattro Pro for Windows. news conference. ``It pains every single one of us when an event like this happens.'' ``Victoria has seen enough darkness in her life,'' Bryski said. He handed Monina a second flag to hang alongside the first, a symbol of defiance against hate, he said. Bryski said the menorah was to stand tall in Monina's yard as a symbol of strength against anyone who would try to intimidate in·tim·i·date tr.v. in·tim·i·dat·ed, in·tim·i·dat·ing, in·tim·i·dates 1. To make timid; fill with fear. 2. To coerce or inhibit by or as if by threats. Jews. Ventura County ranks 10th in the state for hate crime offenses, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a report released by the state Department of Justice earlier this year. Rachel Uranga, (805) 583-7602 rachel.uranga(at)dailynews.com |
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