Some synagogues canceled prayers as French Jews faced warnings amid violent protests

For some French Jews, Saturday's unrest brought an unsettling warning: conceal outward signs of Jewish identity and avoid gathering outside synagogues.

One community member told Fox News Digital that some congregations had even canceled afternoon prayers on the Sabbath as demonstrations across France descended into violence.

Ahead of the protests on Saturday, he said, as a precaution, "Lots of synagogues sent out emails to their people saying, 'We're canceling Mincha on Shabbat afternoon.

Please don't go out.

It's going to be dangerous,'" Samuel Arrouas, a French Jewish community member who divides his time between Paris and Israel , told Fox News Digital.

Mincha is the Jewish afternoon prayer service.

Arrouas, who returned to Israel before Saturday's protests, described his shock over the messages.

"I'm 40-years-old.

First time I heard this," he said.

FRANCE'S MASSIVE INTEL FAILURE SPARKS RESIGNATION OFFERS AMID DAYS OF RIOTING Arrouas said warnings also advised Jews against visibly wearing kippahs, traditional skullcaps, or tzitzit, ritual fringes worn by observant Jewish men.

Worshipers were discouraged from lingering outside synagogues after services.

"You go to prayers, and you immediately leave," he said.

Before leaving France, Arrouas said he encountered masked demonstrators carrying Palestinian flags near Paris Dauphine University.

"It's very scary," he said.