Failed burglary at downtown shul

Police are looking for a guy who allegedly tried to steal a safe yesterday from a Chasidic center on School Street.

According to a a message on the Jewish-Boston mailing list from Zvhil - Mezbuz Beis Medrash, 15 School St., the guy walked into the center with a brown canvas-type bag around 9:40 a.m. and headed straight for the rabbi's podium, "where he tried to remove a small safe that is installed there."

What the thief didn't know was that even had he cracked the safe, all he would have found were the shawl and leather straps the rabbi uses during prayer and a book of commentary on Jewish law.

He's described as a white guy of average height and build, wearing a light-colored cap and jeans.