Letter

Dear Friends,

I apologize for filling your inbox with a second message this evening. However, in response to my email a congregant asked about something she saw in the Bergen Record online (NorthJersey.com), which I did not discuss. Perhaps you noticed it or will notice it tomorrow morning when you read the paper and will wonder as well whether we are the Temple in Tenafly mentioned in this report:

“The Jewish Federation, the Hackensack and Maywood temples, temples in Fair Lawn and Tenafly and two Record reporters received anti-Semitic letters last week. The letters had first-class stamps on them and New York City return addresses belonging to two Jewish activists, authorities said. The envelopes contained an 8-by-10-inch collage of photos of nine financial figures, many of whom have been implicated in financial scandals dating back to the 1980s.”

We did receive such a letter last Thursday. It was addressed to me with a return address with the name “M. Hoenlein,” that is, Malcolm Hoenlein, the executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. Before I had a chance to read my mail I received a call from Rabbi Neal Borovitz, Chairman of the JCRC, asking if I had received a letter fitting this description. When I located it he relayed the instructions of law enforcement with whom he was in touch not to open it but to give it to the Tenafly police. We did.

After speaking with Rabbi Borovitz I learned that the letter contained no threat to me nor to the Temple, nor was it directly connected to the serious incidents experienced by other congregations in the region. Rather, it was a nasty little flyer entitled “Wall Street Jews” with photos of Jewish financiers reproduced from magazines, many who had been involved in scandals. All the rabbis who had been quoted in the Record after the attack on the rabbi and synagogue in Rutherford received the same flyer, as well as the others mentioned above.

According to a memo I received later that day from Marilyn Mayo, Director of Right Wing Research for the ADL:

“We have received reports of this mailing, which depicts Jewish businessmen and financers on magazine covers in a derogatory manner, being sent to various Jewish leaders and lay people around the country. The implication is that the Jewish businessmen and financers (such as Bernie Madoff and Lloyd Blankfein) are behind the financial crisis and are corrupt. The page is titled, “Wall St Jews…Occupy Wall Street.” There is no indication that the mailing has anything to do with the Occupy Wall Street movement….We believe that this mailing is the work of the same anonymous person who began circulating similar material in 2009, titled, ‘100 Really Scary Jews.’”

In other words, there is an anti-Semitic crackpot out there somewhere who gets his kicks sending these lovely flyers to Jewish leaders. While it is disconcerting to receive a letter like this, it should certainly not surprise us that such nuts exist out there. Most importantly, there is no reason for us to worry that this letter means that we are being targeted in any way or have any reason to be afraid.

Of course, those of us on staff at Temple Sinai will continue to be vigilant and I urge you to do the same. The Tenafly police have been wonderful and continue to check in on us. Their advice and the advice of other experts continues to be, “If you see something say something.” In the meantime, I hope to see you at Temple and, if so, please come say, “Hi.” It’s good to be part of a community at times like these.

Kol Tuv – All the best,

Jordan