Earlier this week, five Jewish headstones were knocked over in a Philadelphia cemetery, the second time that Jewish graves were vandalized this year in the “City of Brotherly Love.” In Manhattan, a 14-year-old was arrested May 17 for the arson of the Lower East Side’s historic Beth Hamedrash Hagodol Synagogue, which was burned to the ground last Sunday night.

And closer to home, less than two months ago, a swastika was spray-painted on a sign on the property of B’nai Israel Synagogue in East Baltimore.

Scores of hate crimes against Jews and other minority groups have made headlines in recent months and deeply concerned national and local community leaders. Addressing an audience of approximately 150 at the Park Heights Jewish Community Center on May 17, Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh promised to fight back against the tide of intolerance.