By Rabbi Jack Shlachter
Los Alamos

Dear swastika painter:

I am the rabbi of the Los Alamos Jewish Center and am writing to thank you for painting the swastika on the rock in White Rock (link). I apologize for writing belatedly to you and also for using the Los Alamos Daily Post and the Los Alamos Reporter as the vehicles for this communication.

I was delayed in responding to the news as we were just finishing up the celebration of a major Jewish festival called Passover when you were painting the swastika. That holiday commemorates freedom from slavery, and Jews are indeed blessed to live in the United States, free to worship as we choose and to live without fear despite being a minority. I was also busy finalizing a talk about the 38 American Jewish Nobel Physics Prize winners (out of 96 total American Nobel Physics Prize winners), despite Jews being less than 2% of the population of this country. In any case, I’m sorry I wasn’t able to write to you sooner.

As for using the media to communicate with you, as best I know, you didn’t sign your artwork, so I wasn’t able to write to you directly. Perhaps you could let me know who you are so I can thank you in person.

In light of the fact that the swastika was hijacked by the Nazis in the mid-twentieth century as a symbol of hate and intolerance especially towards Jews, you might be wondering why I’d want to thank you. I’ve been worried about the alarming rise in antisemitism (or as it is better described, Jew-hatred) in this country for quite some time. This was even before the horrific Hamas atrocities of last October 7th, when terrorists murdered, stabbed, shot, raped, beheaded, and burned young Israelis at a music festival as well as other civilians in surrounding communities, forcing children to watch the butchering of their parents, cutting off the breasts of women, killing defenseless elderly, and abducting and continuing to hold innocent civilians as hostages.

I’ve given sermons on the topic of Jew-hatred at a variety of churches in Los Alamos and Santa Fe to help spread the message that this is a serious issue, and I’m speaking soon about this with the leadership of the Los Alamos Police Department and the Superintendent of the Los Alamos Schools. But you helped me tremendously by demonstrating that even here in Los Alamos, a highly-educated, science-focused town, Jew-hatred is raising its ugly head and needs to be addressed. I doubt I could have made my point as effectively without your help. I will add that it’s been heartwarming to have non-Jews in town reach out to me and my fellow congregants to show their support. For this too, I thank you, albeit indirectly.

Sincerely,

Rabbi Dr. Jack Shlachter