A Quiet Shabbat in Brentwood as Bomber Manhunt Continues

There was no sign of trouble–and no sign of the LAPD–at Brentwood Jewish sites  Saturday afternoon.

At the Chabad House behind Vincente Foods, a casual visitor could walk in unchallenged to a festive wedding  lunch.

At University Synagogue, everything was quiet and locked up tight when Brentwood Patch stopped by.

University's rabbi, Morley Feinstein, is not worried.

He responded this way to an email query:

As always we are in touch with the authorities at LAPD. FYI -  We are alert but there is no reason at this time to believe there is any direct threat to our synagogue or any other.

–Dennis Wilen

Update 12:10 a.m.:

Police have increased patrols at Jewish temples and cultural facilities in Los Angeles. They're looking for 60-year-old Ron Hirsch, also known as Israel Fisher, a transient suspected of setting off an explosion Friday morning outside the Chabad House in Santa Monica. The blast sent a 300-pound chunk of concrete into a wall at the temple then onto the roof of a nearby home, but no one was injured. Saturday afternoon, several streets in the Sawtelle area of West LA were shut down when a suspicious vehicle was investigated, but no explosives were found.

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Follow late-breaking developments in this story at Santa Monica Patch.

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(Updated at 1:34 p.m.): Parks said police officers will continue patrolling Jewish institutions through the holy season. Passover begins at sunset on Apr. 18 and ends on the 25th.

He added that, of the eight or nine synagogues and cultural centers in his region, "90 percent of them are aware of the incident. We're just checking to make sure [they are,] and that there are no [suspicious] devices."

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(Updated at 1:23 p.m.): Sgt. Jay Trisler confirmed to Santa Monica Patch that the SMPD is patrolling synagogues and other Jewish institutions in Santa Monica as well.

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Los Angeles police officers are patrolling synagogues and Jewish cultural centers on Saturday, in the wake of Thursday's blast at the Chabad House Lubavitch of Santa Monica. Authorities are seeking a transient, Ron Hirsch, whom they believe may have been responsible for the explosion.

Hirsch "is known to frequent synagogues and Jewish Community Centers in search of charity from patrons," police said.

In addition to patrolling the Jewish institutions, police are making sure their leaders are aware of the suspect.

"That's one of our priorities, to make contact with people in leadership at the facilities," LAPD Sgt. Richard Parks told Santa Monica Patch on Saturday afternoon.

Parks is with the Pacific Station, located at Culver Blvd. and Centinela Ave.

"Since we have quite a few [Jewish institutions] in our division, it's prudent for us to make [people] aware" of the situation, he said, adding that Hirsch's transient status may mean he is no longer in Santa Monica.

On Friday afternoon, the confirmed that the blast was in fact caused by an explosive device. Following the incident, in which no one was injured, police initially said an explosive device had been responsible. They later attributed the blast to "mechanical failure."

Later that day, the SMPD announced that a police investigation had linked the explosive device to Ron Hirsch. After police issued an alert indicating Hirsch is "extremely dangerous," the Anti-Defamation League sent an alert of its own to hundreds of Jewish institutions in the Los Angeles area.

ADL Regional Director Amanda Susskind speculated to Santa Monica Patch on Saturday morning that the explosion was probably not an act of terror or anti-Semitic in nature.

"[The incident] seems more in the nature of a disturbed individual," she said.

More on the synagogue blast:

• Synagogue Blast Was Probably Not a Terrorist Act, Anti-Defamation League Director Says

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