Houses of worship in Needham and Hingham targeted by hoax threats

Police responded to apparent hoax threats to places of worship in Needham and Hingham Sunday. At least one synagogue was targeted. 

Just before 1:30 p.m., an employee at Congregation Sha’aray Shalom received an email saying that bombs were inside the synagogue, police said in a Facebook post. Sha’aray Shalom is located at 1112 Main St. in Hingham. 

The employee left the synagogue and called 911. Several nearby homes were evacuated, and Main Street was temporarily closed in both directions. K-9 bomb detection units from Quincy Police and Massachusetts State Police searched the synagogue, but no explosives were found. Main Street was reopened by 3:15 p.m. 

In Needham, police said they received a call reporting a threat to a place of worship in town on Sunday. Police did not identify which house of worship was targeted. The Needham Fire Department and State Police bomb squad responded to the scene. The building was cleared without incident. 

Police believe the incident in Needham to be a hoax, or “swatting” incident, but authorities will stay vigilant. 

“Checks of all of our places of worship will be increased for the foreseeable future,” Needham police said in a Facebook post. 

Cantor Steven Weiss of Congregation Sha’aray Shalom told The Boston Globe that staff immediately suspected the threat was a hoax, as other synagogues have dealt with similar situations recently. 

Congregation Agudas Achim in Attleboro received a bomb threat via email in mid-October. A nearby church welcomed congregants while police swept the building. Police said at the time that Agudas Achim was one of several synagogues targeted by the fake threat, including some in Rhode Island. 

“It’s very clear it’s just another antisemitic act of hate meant to scare the Jewish community,” Weiss told the Globe. 

With neo-Nazis marching in Wisconsin and Elon Musk endorsing an antisemitic conspiracy theory online, experts are warning about a rapid rise in antisemitism in America since the Israel-Hamas war began.

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