Yiddish center in the Bronx continues to preserve, share culture despite antisemitic graffiti
NEW YORK - The Sholem Aleichem Cultural Center in the Bronx was defaced with paint and pro-Palestinian graffiti one week ago. In his first on-camera interview, the co-president of the center tells CBS New York the importance of preserving the culture, especially during times of hate.
"To put paint on a front door and to scribble what looks like a political slogan on a building that has nothing to do with politics is clearly an antisemitic gesture," said David Braun, the Co-President of Sholem Aleichem Cultural Center.
Halloween night brought a gloom to the historic Sholem Aleichem Cultural Center in the Bronx. The NYPD says an unidentified person spraypainted "Free Palestine" on the building and covered the door in paint and broken eggs.
"I think it shows how pervasive antisemitism is," said Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, who represents the Norwood section of the Bronx where the incident happened. "It's always been sort of bubbling under the surface,"
Although the remnants of the incident linger, the perpetrator is likely unaware of the beacon of light that remains inside. Inside, you can hear the sound of Yiddish -- a 1,000-year-old language spoken by Central and Eastern European Jews and threatened at the plight of World War II.
"The Yiddish alphabet is largely phonetic," explains Braun.
The center has worked to preserve the endangered language for decades, one of the only places in the country to do so. It's a language fully embraced by New Yorkers, with famous cultural texts like "Fiddler on the Roof" inspired by it.
"New York bagels, especially, that's a Yiddish word. Bagel comes from the word 'Baden', which means in Yiddish to bend," said Braun.
The building at one point was an after-school center teaching children their family's generational language, literature and the writings of famous Yiddishts.
The center on Bainbridge Avenue has been around for 62 years. Braun says this is the first time there's ever been an incident of antisemitism.
"If people really appreciated who they are, where they come from and where their neighbor comes from, they won't waste time buying paint and vandalizing a building most likely," said Braun.
The NYPD's Hate Crimes Task Force was notified, and the investigation is ongoing.
The center created a GoFundMe to raise money for more security measures and to install cameras around the property. Click here for more details.
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