Monticello, NY – Fighting Hate With Learning

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    Monticello, NY – On Oct. 11, police showed up at Daniel Price’s home, saying they wanted to ask some questions about other kids crims, as soon as Price stepped outside, police after arresting three of his friends.

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    Not far away, on Southwoods Drive, the White Rock Bungalow Colony had been vandalized.
    In September, swastikas and Hitler’s name had been spray-painted in the synagogue at the Orthodox Jewish colony. Spray paint obscured the faces of revered rabbis in old photographs and marred the spines of the Talmud and the Bible. In June, vandals had sprayed fire extinguishers all over the grounds. Firecrackers were flung at frightened residents.
    For the past few years, White Rock owner Shoshana Mermelstein has given police lists of problem kids.

    Price says they didn’t fully understand what swastikas and Hitler mean to the Jewish people.
    But they knew the words and the acts and that name were hurtful. They knew it was wrong.
    So in a grand new experiment, Judge Frank LaBuda, worked out a seminar with Anthony “Frank” Conneely, Sullivan County Community College professor emeritus, and Rabbi Shlomo Rothenberg of Mountaindale.

    The teenagers will still be convicted of felonies, and they’ll still get jail time. This class isn’t meant to absolve them of guilt.
    The purpose is to teach, to enlighten, to try something novel and constructive, have the boys meet with rabbis and really learn something. “And maybe – maybe – we’ll give them some sort of a break.”
    Did they truly not understand that swastikas and Hitler’s name and birthday represent 6 million horrible deaths?

    “It was a real eye-opener,” Daniel Price says soberly, quietly. “This class is something that should be taught in high school.
    “I realized that no matter what, we’re all human beings. We all live on the same planet, all breathe the same air. No matter what race or religion, we’re all human beings.”


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