MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- The FBI has gotten involved in an investigation into whether a fire at a Miami Beach synagogue began because of a hate crime.

A suspicious fire gutted the Chabad Shul in the 2400 block of Pine Tree Drive in Miami Beach early Tuesday morning.

On Wednesday, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz convinced FBI Director Robert Mueller to investigate the blaze and another fire that damaged a Miami Beach temple in October as possible hate crimes.

Rabbi Zev Katz of Chabad Shul said he believes the Torah was stolen from the building because he discovered its wooden handle outside.

"We don't know if we have an arson," said Miami Beach Chief of Police Carlos Noriega. "We don't know if we have a hate crime. We don't know if we have a group of juveniles that committed criminal mischief here or vandalism."

Noriega noted that specific signs that typically indicate a hate crime are missing from the scene at the synagogue.

"The Torah, if it was a hate crime, to me, I would think the Torah would've been destroyed there on the scene, versus taken," Noriega said.

At the temple on Wednesday, city officials joined the Anti-Defamation League and other organizations in a show of solidarity.

The synagogue has received an outpouring of support from people around the U.S.

"People are calling me for places to go to pray, using their synagogues, their churches, prayer books, chairs, tables," Katz said. "It's been really unbelievable."

Noriega said he has his suspicions, especially since the fire happened during Passover. He said the investigation is very complex, and it will take a long time to determine if it was a hate crime. It could take up to six weeks to determine if the fire was caused by arson.

http://www.nbc6.net/news/15972967/detail.html

FBI Has Jurisdiction Over Hate Crimes

MIAMI BEACH (CBS4) ―

Federal, state and local police on Wednesday are investigating a fire that damaged a Miami Beach Jewish community center during Passover. The Chabad Shul, located at 2401 Pinetree Dr., was vandalized early Tuesday and its Torah stolen.

FBI Dir. Robert Mueller said to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, a member of the house judiciary committee, in Washington DC., that his agency will investigate the fires that damaged Miami Beach synagogues in the past six months as hate crimes.

The FBI has jurisdiction over hate crimes motivated by intolerance of a person's race, religion, or national origin.  

CBS4 Tiffani Helberg was told by congregation members that the Torah, a religious scroll of Jewish laws and customs, a centerpiece of its religion, was taken. Pieces of the Torah were found outside.  Its value is more than $40,000.

"We could see all the prayer books there, all burnt up you can find them, but not one inch of the Torah remnants," said Rabbi Zev Katz. "And we found the pole to the Torah outside. Something strange happened; this is definitely criminal activity."

The rabbi said he believed the fire was intentionally set, but Miami Beach fire officials have not confirmed it. The pole that holds the Torah found outside was brought to the attention of investigators as a clue as to what might of happened.

A service on Friday at 7:00 pm  will go on, and it will likely take place outside on the back lawn.

Congregation members have posted a $1,000 reward for information to find who might be responsible.

http://cbs4.com/local/Chabad.Miami.Beach.2.705780.html

A torn blue-and-white prayr shawl and a burned Torah lying a few feet behind him, Rabbi Zev Katz vowed to rebuild his Miami Beach synagogue after a fire gutted it Tuesday. ''We won't cancel anything,'' said Katz, leader of The Chabad Shul, 2401 Pinetree Dr. ``We will have Friday services on the front yard under a tent.''

Firefighters initially cleared the scene of the overnight fire at 6:57 a.m., finding nothing to indicate a crime, Miami Beach Fire Division Chief Javier Otero said.

But police and fire investigators returned a few hours later when congregants found the remnants of the desecrated prayer scrolls and shawls. The fire occured on the third day of Passover, a weeklong holiday during which Jews remember their ancestors' escape from slavery in Egypt.

''Destroying our Torah, which is such a sacred thing, and to do it on Passover, that just really makes it devastating for us,'' congregant Roger Abramson said.

The congregation -- part of Judaism's Orthodox Hasidic movement -- rents the synagogue space across the street from the Hebrew Academy of Greater Miami, Katz said. About 150 people turned out for a Passover seder there Saturday night.

''We started with nothing and built it up to this,'' Katz said, pointing to the burned-out synagogue.

Officials focused part of their investigation Tuesday on a broken window and a three-foot chunk of wrought-iron fence that had been dismantled in the back of the synagogue. An evidence technician dusted the fence for fingerprints and swabbed samples for analysis.

State fire investigators and accelerant-sniffing dogs were being brought in, Otero said.

The damage from the 2:30 a.m. blaze was extensive. ''It burned for a long time before it was reported,'' Otero said.

In October, an early morning fire wrecked the sanctuary and other parts of another Miami Beach synagogue, the Community Kollel, 3767 Chase Ave.

The leaders and congregants suspected arson, and fire officials were investigating. Otero could not immediately say whether the cause had been determined.

Miami Beach Mayor Matti Herrera Bower said she would make sure the city helps the Chabad Shul rebound from Tuesday's fire.

''There is no place for hate crimes in Miami Beach, and I'll be very sad if that's what this turns out to be,'' she said at the scene. ``Every synagogue, every religious dwelling, is an important part of the community. So this hurts the community, and we want to help.''

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_dade/story/505213.html

http://www.crownheights.info/index.php?itemid=11582

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (WSVN) -- Officials believe an act of arson left hundreds of worshippers without a place of faith. Investigators along with the Rabbi at the Chabad Shul of Miami Beach, located near 2401 Pinetree Drive, are calling the fire suspicious. "I really think that this was not an electrical fire," said Rabbi Zeb Katz. "This was definitely a fire that was intentionally started." Now, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary, today asked FBI Director Robert Mueller to investigate the fires that damaged not only this Miami Beach synagogue but also another one six months earlier as hate crimes. "I would hope, and, if you would, look into at my request whether or not the FBI could investigate this as a potential hate crime, I would appreciate it," she said. FBI Director Mueller agreed to investigate the circumstances of the events surrounding the two synagogue fires in Miami Beach. The Rabbi is devastated by the horrible acts performed on his congregation. "Beautiful prayer books that have so many special prayers in it, now they are all gone and all burnt," said Katz. "Our prayer shawl was burnt to the ground." Many people are stopping by and donating money to help out the members of the synagogue. "The Chabad does a lot of great work, and every Passover I get matzos from them and all kinds of things," said one woman as she put away her checkbook. "They're wonderful and an attack against one Jew is an attack against every Jew." The mayor of Miami Beach said these criminal acts will not be tolerated. "I was just going to ask him if anybody could have come and saved the Torah or something," said Miami Beach Mayor Matti Bower. "I'm always an optimist because these are hateful crimes that we can't tolerate here." The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms is also investigating.

http://www1.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/MI83807/&rnd=68943652