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A maintenance person discovered the vandalism at about 7 a.m. on a Sunday morning. The San Carlos area, a couple of miles north of San Diego State University, has also been victimized recently with hate literature targeting Jews and blacks.

"This did not look like amateurs, but more like the work of a supremacist group," said Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal, the synagogue's spiritual leader.

"There was lots of graffiti. Among the messages were `Die, Jew boy' and `Die kike,' as well as other obscenities."

The graffiti was sprayed on the synagogue's front entrance which, according to Rosenthal, is in an enclosed area that cannot be seen from the street.

There was no structural damage to the building, he added.

All of the graffiti had been painted over by midday Sunday. Members of an adult b'nai mitzvah class helped, and Rosenthal praised a company called All Klean, which came out immediately and did the bulk of the job for "practically nothing."

Workers water-blasted the paint off the exterior of the building. An afternoon performance by the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra went ahead as scheduled.

"I believe we're dealing with a very small group," said Rosenthal. "They need to be stopped, brought to justice."

The Anti-Defamation League is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible.

The ADL is taking this matter "very seriously," according to its San Diego regional director, Morris Casuto.

Anti-Semitic vandalism is not new in San Diego, nor is it a first for Tifereth Israel. In December of 1987 the synagogue, along with the city's Temple Emanu- El and the offices of the San Diego Jewish Times, was sprayed with graffiti.

Tifereth Israel was also desecrated in November of 1988, Emanu-El defaced again in 1992, and the Jewish Times was firebombed in April and again in August of 1989.

Anthony B.J. Black, president of Tifereth Israel Synagogue, called the latest incident "deplorable."

"By having to publicize it, we do exactly what [the vandals] want. It's a tragic situation, but it needs to be done. People have to know."

Hate literature was also found on the campus of San Diego Hebrew Day School, according to principal Elaine Lepow, although there was no destruction or graffiti.

Lepow described some of the literature as "small, a little larger than a postage stamp," and said it displayed swastikas and a message, "Smash the system." Another lengthier sheet was titled, "Help Save Our Race's Future."

Rabbi Simcha Weiser, the school's headmaster, and Lepow planned to talk with students about the incident.

Lepow also reported anti-Semitic vandalism in the Mount Helix area over the weekend. The facings of some houses were spray-painted with swastikas and a message, "We're coming, get ready." These messages were clearly visible from nearby roads.