Antisemitic Mob Outside My Synagogue – What to Know

Park East Synagogue, an Orthodox congregation on Manhattan’s Upper East Side—a neighborhood long considered welcoming for Jewish families, is a place my family and I consider our second home. As a Jewish advocate and retired public-school history teacher, I’ve become familiar with the rise in antizionism and Jew hatred since 10/7. But a mob descending on my synagogue was beyond my expectations.

Last week, Park East Day School, the K-12 school affiliated with Park East Synagogue, hosted a father-son school basketball game. My husband planned to play, and my son and his friends were excited to cheer on their fathers. Instead, my husband and I stood outside in the cold, supporting our synagogue and our child’s school in the face of a masked mob masquerading as advocates for Palestinian rights.

200 plus protesters blocked the entryway to Park East Day School, chanting “We don’t want one state, we want ’48,” “Intifada Revolution,” and “Death to the IDF” as we tried to enter our synagogue. Blocking an entrance to a synagogue and day school and stopping a pick-up basketball game is not free speech– it is harassment and intimidation directed at Jews.

No community, Jews or anyone else, deserves to feel intimated and scared going to their place of worship.

What happened outside my synagogue was unacceptable. But, Jews, and all Americans who value freedom of religion and basic respect can take a stand. 

Change begins with us: talk to your children, your family, and your friends, especially those who don’t yet recognize the problem. Through my work with the Gevura Fund and The NYC Public School Alliance, organizations dedicated to fighting workplace antisemitism- particularly as it relates to K-12 and labor unions, I’ve seen how informed and engaged people can make an impact. The responsibility is ours–please reach out to me and open a line of communication and help us prevent the spread of Jew hatred.

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