What is going on in Teaneck?

We know that surfaces tend to be inaccurate indicators of what’s going on beneath them. We know that lives only look idyllic if you see them from the outside, because the human condition means that no life can be idyllic for more than a short time, before the boring stuff — paying bills, getting gas, wrangling kids, cleaning up after the dog, finding parking — intrudes. And then there’s the genuinely painful part — disease, death, all those things that get us eventually.

But Teaneck has seemed like a wonderful town to be Jewish in. There are just so many Jews there! So very many shuls, of just about every kind (okay, no Reconstructionist). So many restaurants, bookstores, cafes, supermarkets to cater to Jewish tastes. Such a warm, tightknit community. So much learning, so much talent, so much joy.

And such a good relationship with non-Jewish neighbors.

October 7 seems to have changed everything, not only in Israel, but here as well. Suddenly, Teaneck went from being the Emerald City for Jews to a showcase for Jew-hatred. Pro-Palestinian protestors (who maybe know which river and what sea, but maybe just are propelled by pure hate) show up to scream vitriol outside synagogues. What’s going on here? What does such a drastic change, made so quickly, mean?

Some things already are clear.

First, the Jewish community is growing closer. It’s not as if its members don’t know who is Orthodox, Conservative, or Reform; who is secular, who unaffiliated, who a left-wing Yiddishist. But right now, people care far, far less. Instead, they care about each other.

Second, the Jewish community is growing increasingly unwilling to go along with what’s being shoveled at it. Protests about real issues is one thing; protests in front of synagogues featuring speakers whose grim volunteer job is scraping murdered bodies off the ground is entirely another.

As Jewish community members are quick to point out, the police have provided support that’s strong, kind, consistent, and careful, and that matters. So has much of the town’s government.

In a way, Teaneck, to use a cliché, is the canary in the coal mine. Its position as deeply Jewy, close to Paterson, close to the bridge, close to the highway, easily accessible, easily visible, and target-rich apparently makes it a desirable mark. Other towns should watch and learn. But Teaneck’s Jewish community also is watching and learning.

We don’t know what will happen. We hope it goes well, as it will might. But we are cursed with living in interesting times.

–JP

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