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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/18057/full/18057/s-f-anthrax-scare-a-hoax-puzzles-local-authorities/ <br /><br /> <b>S.F. anthrax scare a hoax; puzzles local authorities</b> <br /> Friday, June 28, 2002 | by <p>ALEZA GOLDSMITH </p> <br /><br /><p>The San Francisco Police Department is investigating an anthrax hoax attributed to a fictitious Jewish charity.<br /><br /> At least 13 legal-sized envelopes containing a nonhazardous white powder were hand-delivered to at least 13 homes in scattered San Francisco neighborhoods sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning, according to Lt. Morris Tabak of the department's special investigations unit.<br /><br /> The identical white envelopes were not sent through the mail but were slipped through mail slots, gates or onto front steps. They bore no addressee or return address—only the typewritten phrase "San Francisco Jewish Charity Awards Committee." No actual address was given for the committee, which does not exist.<br /><br /> A 10-digit number and a message offering a prize, "if this number matches the number inside," was typed in the center of the envelopes. No enclosures were included apart from the powder, which in most cases was "puffing out of the sides," said Tabak.<br /><br /> Preliminary tests performed by the San Francisco Fire Department determined the substance "to be either talcum powder or household flour," said Tabak.<br /><br /> Police have found no connection among the recipients—who lived in areas including the Richmond, Park and Taraval districts and Bayview-Hunter's Point.<br /><br /> The recipients were of "all races, religions and ethnicities," said Tabak. "The envelopes seem to have been arbitrarily thrown around."<br /><br /> Police do not have any leads but are in the process of checking the envelopes for fingerprints. Because the hoax involved no threats and "we can't say these were meant to intimidate anyone with bodily injury," Tabak said the incident is not being investigated as a hate crime.<br /><br /> The Anti-Defamation League's San Francisco office is monitoring the investigation. Jonathan Bernstein, executive director of the ADL's Central Pacific region, said the agency has yet to determine whether the hoax "should be a serious concern to the Jewish community."<br /><br /> Bernstein said he doubted that anti-Semitism was a motivating factor in the prank. "It just sounds like someone who wants to get attention."<br /><br /> Still, Bernstein noted that the scheme does put Jews "in a negative light. The person or persons who did this clearly were using the Jewish community's name for evil, sinister purposes."<br /><br /> Stacie Hershman, campaign director for the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation, expressed disappointment that the hoax appears to smear the act of tzedakah. "It is unfortunate that they would implicate the Jewish community in such a terrible act," she said.<br /><br /> This is not the first time that the Bay Area Jewish community has been tainted by an anthrax scare. A Jewish educational institution in San Francisco received a letter containing a white powdery substance soon after Sept. 11, said Bernstein. He declined to name the institution.</p> <p> </p>

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