During what should have been one of the most joyful times in the Jewish calendar a vandal scrawled a swastika in the infield of the baseball field behind the Solomon Schecter School in Williston Park. This hate-filled idiot also scribbled a profanity and damaged the sukkoh, a temporary structure used in the week-long harvest celebration.
The Nassau County Police Department and the local precinct are treating this as a serious crime. Although the damage itself was minimal, the message it sends is frightening, especially for the children who attend this school. More than half of the students at Solomon Schecter had family members who died in the Holocaust.
We hope that we can soon report that the vandal or vandals have been arrested.
Although this act was despicable, a far more powerful message was sent to the students, teachers and administrators at Solomon Schecter in the light of day by the people of Williston Park.
On behalf of the Village of Williston Park, Mayor Paul Ehrbar visited the school and spoke to the children. “I was outraged and disappointed. This type of behavior is unacceptable anywhere, including Williston Park,” he said. “I told them the behavior was not indicative of the behavior of residents in Williston Park but an action by some uncaring, disrespectful individual most lacking in any understanding and compassion.”
And then representing a larger community, Mineola School Board President Christine Napolitano brought a bouquet of roses to a meeting with the head of the school, Cindy Dolgin. Napolitano said she brought the flowers “on behalf of the school board and every decent person in the community.”
In the wake of this vile incident the Peace Club at Mineola High School is planning multi-school event, that will include students from their school, Chaminade, a Catholic High School, and Solomon Schechter.
“We need to get together with members of the community to make sure nothing like that happens again,” said Napolitano. “We need to take some steps to see that some education takes place.”
The response to what Dolgin herself called “a terribly unfortunate thing done by some stupid kids,” has made it clear that good people of Williston Park and Mineola will not tolerate bigotry in any form. In the end the community’s response speaks much louder than the action of one or two hate-filled cowards.
A Blank Slate Media Editorial
