Dear Community Members,


We write today in response to a situation of anti-Jewish hate that some teens engaged in locally, as well as the horrible war currently taking place in Israel.

 

Yesterday, clergy representing all of the synagogues in the Port Washington school district met with the Port Washington School District Superintendent, Dr. Michael Hynes, and Schreiber High School principal, Dr. Kathryn Behr, to express the anxiety and fear that many Jewish families feel about the antisemitic incident that occurred last week and the horrific, barbaric acts of terrorism in Israel in recent days. 

 

We are grateful to Dr. Hynes and the Port Washington School District for recent communications about both the local incident and what is happening in Israel. However, we felt that there is much more that can and should be done. To that end, we agreed to the following:

 

· To communicate that there are significant consequences for the young people involved in the incident last week (the details of which cannot be shared because the offenders are minors). We expressed the importance of helping the young people involved in this incident learn that what they did was wrong and hurtful, and guiding them to make amends and engage in teshuvah (true repentance). 

· To set up another meeting in early December between the school administration and Port Washington’s Jewish clergy about shared concerns regarding antisemitism, and ways we can collaboratively address it with our young people.

· To reach out to other local multi-faith clergy in order to set up regular meetings with  the school administration to further discussion on fostering dignity and respect for all in our community.

· To collaborate on strategies for working with parents and other local community organizations, with the purpose of creating avenues to celebrate moral development in our children, in addition to academic excellence and athletic accomplishments.

Each one of us is committed to working together as a team on behalf of our collective Jewish community and the larger Port Washington community with Dr. Hynes and the school district. 

 

Sincerely,

 

Cantor Claire Franco, The Community Synagogue

Rabbi Alysa Mendelson, Port Jewish Center

Rabbi Michael Mishkin, Temple Beth Israel

Rabbi Shalom Paltiel, Chabad of Port Washington

Rabbi Lyle Rothman, The Community Synagogue

Rabbi Jodie Siff, Reconstructionist Synagogue of the North Shore

Rabbi Irwin Zeplowitz, The Community Synagogue