Healing in a Community

Where were you in November 1938? Most of us weren’t born yet, but the mother of someone who spoke Tuesday night at Highland Park’s Borough Council meeting was in Vienna and witnessed the real Kristalnacht. The shattering of glass in Jewish storefronts in Highland Park terrified her, and as it did for many of us, the quick actions of the Highland Park police (in conjunction with New Brunswick police and Rutgers police) in arresting the culprit brought relief.

It did have a healing effect, the Borough Council meeting, at least I thought so. Elsie-Foster Dublin, councilwoman, led the meeting, and at one point she talked about how when the African American community had problems, Rabbi Malomet had sent her a helpful email. Now, when the Jewish community was upset by an incident, Rabbi Malomet again sent her a calming email. Several Jewish community members, including Rabbi Luban and Rabbi Kaufman, expressed their thanks to the police department for their swift action. And the police commissioner (who was thrilled with all the praise) was sure to point out that Rabbi Kaminetsky had come by the police department that day to find out how the police were doing (I think he operates as a chaplain for the police). And the meeting wasn’t just about the broken glass incident – one person who lives near Raritan Avenue has a terrible problem with noise and someone else has problems with broken sidewalks. The usual small town fare.

There was someone sitting next to me who appeared to be a journalist, as he was taking copious notes. I didn’t take any – my purpose in writing this post is just to say thank you to those who make this a nice community.

• • •

See photos of sunset at Donaldson Park and the dog park. I did update with a few more details the post on the night of broken glass in Highland Park (and in New Brunswick).