For the fourth time this year, the swastika was found in a school in Mount Lebanon School District.
The swastika is made of masking tape and fixed on the back of the dry erase board in the eighth grade classroom. This is the third swastika found at Jefferson Middle School this year. The fourth incident occurred in May at Lincoln Elementary School.
The masking tape swastika was discovered on October 27, the same day the Pittsburgh Jewish Community commemorated the 11 people killed in the Tree of Life building in the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in American history.
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Mt. Lebanon School District sent two letters to parents discussing the discovery of anti-Semitism symbols.
Sarah Shaw, the principal of Jefferson Middle School, wrote in her letter: “On this day or any day, our school and the community do not allow this behavior. This incident reminds us that this difficult and important work needs to be done in JMS. Continue with our community."
Although pointing out that the school district “has no evidence that this timing, no matter how influential it is, is deliberate,” she admitted that “October 27 is a sad day for the Jewish community in Pittsburgh and people of all faiths.”
Shaw’s letter contains links to various resources aimed at combating hatred, including the Anti-Defamation League’s "Talking about Prejudice and Prejudice with Young Children".
School director Timothy Steinhauer wrote in a letter posted on the school district’s website that he had been in contact with the regional rabbi and that the school district “takes such incidents very seriously.”
Steinhauer wrote that the school administration and Mount Lebanon police are investigating the matter, adding that the school has arranged several educational activities.
"Our school does not tolerate discrimination," Steinhauer wrote. "We will take appropriate disciplinary actions against those responsible for this incident."
Laura Cherner, director of the Community Relations Committee of the Greater Pittsburgh Jewish Federation, called the recurrence of Mount Lebanon anti-Semitism "disturbing", but she thanked the school district for its response.
"Doc. Shaw has been very cooperative," Cherner said. "The same goes for Dr. Steinhauer. In terms of management, this is really all you can ask for-but it happens all the time."
Cherner said that there are many reasons why middle school students may exhibit anti-Semitism.
"They are easily affected, so what they see at home, what they see in the news, whether it is played in the background, what they watch online-these will all have an impact on students," she said.
Cerner added that even courses on World War II can be provocative for students seeking attention.
"The important thing is to track it down," she said, "and make sure it doesn't continue to happen."
Rabbi Alex Greenbaum of Beth El Congregation of the South Hills believes that the appearance of the Nazi symbol may be related to the recent eighth grade history unit on World War II.
Two weeks ago, Greenbaum, Rabbi Amy Greenbaum also from Beth El, and Rabbi Aaron Meyers of Nanshan Emanuel Temple were invited to give a lecture at Jefferson Middle School-their lecture is scheduled for Friday, October 29th, which is two The Tianhou swastika was discovered.
Greenbaum said that when children make swastikas at school, “it’s important to know where it came from. In this case, it’s because they learned about the Holocaust in that school. I think this part comes from educating children What happened. They read Holocaust books and there was a Holocaust speaker."
Greenbaum said that the rabbi’s conversation was not planned because of the school’s anti-Semitic incident, but to teach the students the consequences of hatred-although he pointed out that the school did require him to talk about it after the swastika was discovered.
Prior to the publication of the Chronicle, the Mount Lebanon police did not respond to their phone calls. PJC