A Massachusetts town official who made disparaging remarks to a Jewish colleague should resign, the Anti-Defamation League said. Maureen Kenney, a selectwoman and member of the school committee in Randolph, reportedly said of a request by the town’s Jewish superintendent of schools for five days paid leave following a family death, “It is not the standard in industry. Besides, don’t you Jews plant them within 24 hours?”
Richard Silverman, the superintendent, said that after protesting Kenney’s remarks, she responded, “I don’t see any side curls on your head, so why do you need five days of bereavement leave for?”
In a statement Wednesday, the New England Anti-Defamation League office called for Kenney’s resignation, saying her comments were “an insult to the entire community,” according to news reports. “Bigotry against anyone is bigotry against everyone.”
(Source: ADL / JTA)
' } });
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
6 Responses
she would have been the first to volunteer for the nazis
i hope they make an example of her!!!!!!!!
My principal in Attleboro, MA screamed at me when I told her I would miss MCAS make-up day because of Shavuos. In an article in the Boston Globe, a principal told a new student that she could be absent for all the Jewish holidays but she would not be rehired the following year.
let her be planted!
many years ago (if I remember correctly) in Pittsburgh a woman was facing dismissal from a school for wearing a head covering – the principal declared it a forbidden religious symbol. on the day that the goyim out ashes on their heads, her lawyer took the principals picture on school grounds. she won her case
in another incident, my wife was asked to not return to a teaching job because she was talking to the students about Shabbos and Kashrus – yes, I know what you are thinking – however, she was teaching Jewish children in a reform Sunday morning Hebrew school
Mass is a very liberal state, though the comments were clearly insensitive.
I think the second comment is very instructive, ““I don’t see any side curls on your head, so why do you need five days of bereavement leave for?””
Just as Ann Coulter replied to Deutsch in response to his question of why she offered to take him with her to church, “Well, you could be [an] observant [Jew], but you’re not…”.
In both cases, these non-Jews seem to imply that they respect Jews for observing their faith, though I claim no knowledge of either Jew’s level of observance.
Irish Catholic…so what’s new??