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Tredyffrin Jews Respond to
Antisemitic Incidents
Jarrad Saffren | Staff Writer
Courtesy of Howard Griffel
I n this era of rising antisemitism, it can
pop up anywhere, out of nowhere and
for seemingly no reason.

Why Zoom bomb a random
synagogue in the Philadelphia suburbs?
Why put a swastika sticker on a sign in a
synagogue parking lot in South Jersey?
Why ask a librarian in the Central Bucks
School District to take down an inoffen-
sive poster with a quote from Holocaust
survivor Elie Wiesel about combating
oppression? These are just some examples from
the Philadelphia area over the past
few years. The perpetrators are often
nameless and faceless, as in those first
two cases. Or, as in the case of the
Central Bucks School District leaders,
not really that antisemitic if pushed. (The
district allowed the librarian to put the
poster back up the next day.)
But perhaps no local outbreak
of antisemitism is more random and
unexplainable than the recent spate in
Tredyffrin Township. The Chester County
town with almost 30,000 residents has
Jews in its community, but it does not
have a synagogue, a JCC or any other
major center of Jewish activity.

Yet in late March, antisemitic graffiti
was found at separate businesses at
the Gateway Shopping Center and on
Valley Forge Road, respectively. A day
after that, a resident discovered “antise-
mitic symbols at Valley Forge Middle
School,” according to a patch.com
article. A month later, on Adolf Hitler’s
birthday, April 20, “swastikas were
found on Chesterbrook Boulevard,” at
Jenkins Arboretum, the Forge Mountain
neighborhood, the intersection of
Walker and Thomas roads and behind
the Gateway Shopping Center.

Tredyffrin Township Police arrested
a 15-year-old for the March incident
at Valley Forge Middle School. He is
charged with “numerous counts of crimi-
nal mischief and ethnic intimidation”
through the juvenile system, accord-
ing to Lieutenant Tyler Moyer. But his
One of the swastikas found in Tredyffrin Township
The yard signs that Tredyffrin Jews placed on lawns during a rally in the
Forge Mountain development on June 4
motivation is unknown since the police
have not had a chance to interview him.

The culprit behind the April outbreaks is
still at large.

“We realize that this is multifaceted.

We’re struggling to figure out the why.

Why is there suddenly this national
uptick that, now, we’re finding in our
backyards?” said Lisa Schreiber, a Jewish
Tredyffrin resident organizing a commu-
nity response. “I have three children in
high school, and I’m constantly talking
about: Where is this coming from? Is it
social media? Is it the celebrity part like
Kanye West putting this garbage out?
Is it their parents at home? This is likely
coming from multiple sources, so I’m
guessing it requires multiple solutions.”
Schreiber moved to the town with her
family 13 years ago. Though they moved
there “sight unseen” and did not realize
how few Jews lived in the community,
they experienced few incidents before
2023. Yet after the March incidents,
which occurred near her home, Schreiber
decided that a town with no organized
Jewish presence needed to have one.

She connected with 25 Jewish families
in the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District,
forming the T/E Jewish Connections
group. The group started its work by
asking the Tredyffrin Township Board of
Supervisors to take a stand. At its May
23 meeting, the board obliged with a
resolution condemning antisemitism.

Around the same time, T/E Jewish
Connections took to GoFundMe to raise
more than $7,000 for future advocacy.

On June 4, the group, Howard Griffel, a
Jewish township resident working with
Schreiber, and other Jewish residents
gathered to place anti-hate yard signs
in the Forge Mountain development.

The next step might be billboards on
Lancaster Avenue in the township,
according to Schreiber.

“That would be the public awareness
piece,” she said.

Schreiber and Griffel are also speak-
ing with interfaith leaders on the Main
Line who expressed interest in “trying
to support the Jewish community in
any way they can,” Schreiber said.

And at the end of May, Schreiber and
other parents had a two-hour meeting
with Richard Gusick, the superinten-
dent of the Tredyffrin/Easttown district,
and Oscar Torres, the district’s equity
director. They discussed teaching
the Holocaust “within the context of
the modern-day Jewish experience,”
among other topics, according to
Schreiber. “I’m hoping that will continue over the
summer and into the school year,” she
said of the conversation.

Throughout the process, Schreiber has
gotten advice from the Anti-Defamation
League, the Jewish Community
Relations Council and StandWithUs. She
is encouraged by how much progress
her group has made in a little more than
two months. And it has gotten a positive
response from the community.

“The number of people who care and
who aren’t antisemitic, you know it’s
more than the people that don’t. I have
seen such goodwill come forth in our
community at every level,” Schreiber
said. “As a mother of three children, I
have to teach them that the world is
inherently good.” ■
jsaffren@midatlanticmedia.com JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
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