A letter of thanks to the person who painted the Swastika on the rock in White Rock – Los Alamos Reporter

On By Vaseline

RABBI DR. JACK SLAUGHTER
Los Alamos Jewish Center

Best swastika painter:

I am the Rabbi of the Los Alamos Jewish Center and am writing to thank you for painting the swastika on the rock at White Rock. I apologize for writing to you late and also for using the Los Alamos Daily Post and the Los Alamos Reporter as vehicles for this communication.

My reaction to the news was delayed because we were just finishing the celebration of a major Jewish festival called Passover when you were painting the swastika. That holiday commemorates freedom from slavery, and Jews are indeed blessed to live in the United States, free to worship as we wish and to live without fear despite being a minority.

I was also finishing a lecture on the 38 American Jewish Nobel Laureates in Physics (out of a total of 96 American Nobel Laureates in Physics), despite the fact that Jews make up less than 2% of this country’s population. Anyway, I’m sorry I couldn’t write to you sooner.

As for using the newspapers to communicate with you, as far as I know you didn’t sign your artwork so I couldn’t write to you directly. Perhaps you could let me know who you are so that I can thank you personally.

In light of the fact that the swastika was hijacked by the Nazis in the mid-twentieth century as a symbol of hatred and intolerance, especially towards Jews, you may be wondering why I would like to thank you. I have long been concerned about the alarming rise in anti-Semitism (or, as it is more commonly described, hatred of Jews) in this country. This was even before the horrific Hamas atrocities of October 7 last year, when terrorists murdered, stabbed, shot, raped, beheaded and burned young Israelis at a music festival, as well as other civilians in surrounding communities, forcing children to watch the slaughter of their children. parents, cutting off women’s breasts, killing defenseless elderly people, and kidnapping and continuing to hold innocent civilians hostage.

I have been preaching sermons on the subject of Jew-hatred at several churches in Los Alamos and Santa Fe to help spread the message that this is a serious issue, and I will be speaking to Los Alamos leadership about this soon. Police and the Los Alamos Public Schools Superintendent. But you helped me tremendously by showing that even here in Los Alamos, a highly educated, science-oriented city, hatred of Jews is on the rise and needs to be addressed. I doubt I could have made my point as effectively without your help. I would like to add that it was heartwarming that non-Jews in the city reached out to me and my fellow congregants to express their support. I also thank you for this, albeit indirectly.