(JTA) — Anti-Semitic messages were left in the mailboxes of Jewish families in a gated community in South Florida.
The messages left in at least two of the mailboxes in Cooper City in Broward County over the weekend read “X-mas is not for the Jews.” The words “not” and “Jews” were underlined, the Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Monday.
The notes come on the heels of an anti-Muslim epithet spray-painted on the wall of a local Muslim school, according to the newspaper.
“It’s had the opposite effect of whatever they intended because I had an outpouring of support from people of all faiths — it’s turned a negative into a positive,” Greg Popowitz told the newspaper, which described his home holiday decorations as including white lights on palm trees, a Jewish star dangling from a lantern and an inflatable 6-foot-high bear holding a dreidel.
The note left in the mailbox of a local rabbi, who drives a van with a menorah strapped on top, read “WTF is on your Roof? #X-Mas is Better.”
“I don’t know if it’s silly kids or one person who is a hater,” Malky Goodman, the rabbi’s wife, told the newspaper. “There’s people who do stuff for hate for no reason.”
Residents in the Monterra development reportedly have complained about a holiday display that included a Hanukkah menorah next to the Christmas tree.
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