dcc:

Whoa! This is getting blown entirely out of proportion. Look at the article in the Boston Herald. These were just a few middle school kids misbehaving on one day who stand to be punished by the school. The Herald:

"...Soon, though, the days moved from friendly to silly. Next there was "Hit a Tall Person Day" and, finally, "Hit a Jew Day."

District officials believe a handful of children were directly involved. Those who actually struck classmates could face suspension and required counseling, Tandy said. Others who weren’t directly involved but taunted Jewish students or egged on classmates could face lesser penalties...."

To compare this with pre WW II Austria is just plain nonsense. Austria had a deep tradition of antisemitism going back centuries. Jew in America not only had religious freedom, they were U.S. Senators and held high cabinet positions, they were high ranking officers in the army and navy, they included professionals and respected businessmen, and they had full civil rights and wide acceptance when Austrian Jews couldn't even live in Vienna. Austrian Jews had severe restrictions on their practice of religion (which hampered the development of Reform Judaism) and of their occupations and education. The level of social prejudice on the best day in prewar Austria was far worse than on the worst day in America.

Your elderly cousin may be hypersensitive, but no reasonable equivalence can be said to exist between Hitler's homeland prior to WW II and the good ole USA.

I agree that public school are the incubators of the American dream. It is sad to see so many Jews in recent years segregating their children in lily white Jewish parochial school rather than where they can grow up with children of other religions, races and backgrounds. This has not been so much of a Reform problem, as our more progressive members are more favorable towards integrated public education for their kids, and where that is not a reasonable alternative due to failing schools, choosing private schools which enroll students of all religions, races and national origins. Few things are more important to keeping America free of antisemitism than educating our Jewish children with children of other faiths. It's hard to instill silly prejudices about groups when you have grown up with members of the group, studied and played with them, visited in their homes, been in the same clubs and on the same teams and squads since childhood. Nothing Jewish parochial schools accomplish can make up for the damage they do to Jews and Christians alike by segregating them in the formative years of their life.

At first I was just going to observe that one of the lessons to be learned from this incident is that kids are mean.

I was content with that until I read Larry Kaufman's comment: "Sure, we should feel comfortable sending our kids to school anywhere, but I would opt for an environment that provides some safety in numbers."

Makes sense on the surface, but we don't know anything about that community other than what the newspapers say.

So I'll tell you about my area instead. I live in Montgomery County, Maryland -- a large, diverse, in places wealthy suburb of Washington, DC. Enough Jews live in the area to populate several synagogues. But my 9-year-old son is one of a handful of Jewish students at his school.

So in answer to the question, "What motivated the parents of the Jewish kids to move into a community where they would be so isolated," maybe they aren't isolated, just as we aren't isolated.

One last thing, maybe the 36 kids in that school are the ones Jewish tradition says are keeping the world in balance.

And kids are just mean!

In answer to the question "What motivated the parents of the Jewish kids to move into a community where they would be so isolated?" I live in St. Louis and know the Parkway school district well. The Parkway school district has a high percentage of Jewish students compared to other school districts.

Larry said: "And while I don't want to blame the victims, I wonder what motivated the parents of the Jewish kids to move into a community where they would be so isolated."

Jews have been living in communities with small Jewish communities since America was first settled by Europeans, and have thrived in them. There are a lot of good reasons for a family to live in a town with a small Jewish population. A lot of people love the friendly, small town atmosphere, where everybody knows everybody, traffic jams are something that happen far away, and life is less hectic. Families may have lived there for many generations and have strong ties to the community. Others may be transferred by their employer from one place to another. Where there is a small Jewish population, people often relate to Jews more as individuals. Military families are moved periodically where the servicemen are needed, sometimes living close to many Jews and sometimes being around few. Some have teaching opportunities in a college or university. Also, the communities with small Jewish populations may be reasonably close to larger Jewish communities.

The small Jewish communities are not for everyone, but they are the preferred place for some.

Dennis:
Don't you think the school would have put a stop to it if they had known of some kids starting a Hit a Tall Person Day?

Dennis:
I agree.

Reguarding "I wonder what motivated the parents of the Jewish kids to move into a community where they would be so isolated."

We live in a community where my kids are the only Jews in the district. In the district I teach in (a neighboring one) there are few, if any, Jews teaching or attending the schools. In fact, this year Parent Conferences were held on Yom Kippur and I was required to make them up on my own time!
Is it difficult to live here-Yes! I drive 55 miles to get to a synagogue. We do it because this is where we found jobs. It is difficult to always be the one who stands up for the minority (JWs, Muslims, Jews, etc.) However, there is a benefit. We are forced to face moral choices all the time. I have to stand up for myself, my children, and everyone else. It certainly keeps me from being complacent! Maybe that's the reason why I'm here. :)