After the Swastikas, Non-Jewish Residents Stand Up for Their Jewish Neighbors

In early March, residents of Upper Moreland, a small township near Philadelphia with only 26,000 residents, were shocked when spray-painted swastikas appeared on their local elementary and middle schools. An 18-year-old allegedly spray-painted the hateful imagery and vulgar messages on the schools on March 8 and was arrested and charged the following week.

Like her neighbors, Tobie Schupack, a proud Jew who is active in her synagogue, was stunned by the open display of antisemitism. After all, this was a small town – nothing like that had ever happened there. Only a handful of Jews live there. When she sent her children to the local high school, there were just three or four other Jewish kids.

Almost immediately after the swastikas appeared, local community members made an announcement: there would be a rally against hate. Tobie showed up, along with dozens of people from her town – the majority of whom are not Jewish – and listened to them speak up about how crucial it is to combat antisemitism and hate.

“I was impressed that they took immediate action and called this meeting,” Tobie, a grandmother and pharmaceutical marketing research consultant, said. “I learned that this was not started by any official organization. It was couple of community members who said they want to do something right away.”

They spoke about the importance of standing up for each other and not letting hate get a foothold in their town. Tobie appreciated the fact that it was a grassroots effort.

“The speakers talked about how they couldn’t wait for elected officials to speak out,” she said. “They needed to be the ones to do it.”

The rally organizers brought in a speaker from a local Holocaust foundation who discussed antisemitism. Though it wasn’t planned, Tobie felt compelled to say something.

“I decided on the spot that I should be the next speaker,” she said. “I got up there not really knowing what I was going to say. I thanked the community and told them how I’d lived there for over 40 years even though there weren’t that many Jewish people there. I said how you would drive up my street every Christmas, and we’d be the only house without Christmas lights.”

She also brought up the fact that she had older first cousins who had died in the Holocaust.

“People talk about the Holocaust like it’s ancient history, but I mentioned how I had first cousins who survived it, and first cousins who died in it.”

Tobie Schupack is one of the few Jews who lives in this small city. She spoke up.

Members of her community nodded along while Tobie touched on an important note.

“I said how when hate affects one group, it affects another, and you can’t escape that,” she said. “It always spreads. I know that as a Jewish person, when I see hate towards another group, I think, when is the arrow going to spin and land on other groups or my group? I communicated the idea that we are all in this together.”

The coming together of her community was refreshing and surprising, especially after October 7, when she said the silence from her non-Jewish friends and community members was, “deafening. After the attacks, I asked the rabbis I know, ‘Have you heard from any of the churches?’ and they said to me, ‘No, have you?’ It was hurtful to experience that level of silence, where people couldn’t even say, ‘I’m sorry this happened,’ which doesn’t mean it’s right or wrong. It was just acknowledgement that I was looking for.”

The rally changed things for Tobie, who felt empowered to speak up and show how proud she is of her Jewish identity.

“It gave me a warm feeling,” she said. “As long as I’ve lived here, people have spoken out for good causes, but not necessarily Jewish ones. It was clearly antisemitic graffiti that brought them there.”

She continued, “The fact that all these people who weren’t Jewish who would show up on a Sunday afternoon for an hour or two made me feel good. It made me feel like they have my back.”

Law enforcement officials eventually apprehended and charged an 18-year-old Upper Moreland resident for the crime.

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