A group of Jewish mon have organized a system of nightlong patrols in nearby Wanamassa–similar to the Maccabec group set up by Hassidic Jews in Brooklyn–in an effort to apprehend vandals who have been smashing windows and defacing the entrance of the Hillel Hebrew Day School in that town. Six large windows in the school building were smashed in a period of five days. Since the school moved into the building six years ago, more than 100 windows have been smashed.
Rabbi Morris A. Shmidman, dean of the school and spiritual leader of Congregation Sons of Israel here, organized the patrol to supplement police surveillance of the area. He said the police have “gone all out” to catch the vandals, “but they can’t just sit there all night.” He deplored the fact that the residents of Wanamassa were “developing an attitude of acceptance of petty delinquency.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
