In a world in which we see so much division and hatred, it was a heartwarming moment of reassurance that when one child is missing, everyone’s child is missing.
I was out walking my dog Sunday evening. The Oscar presentations were over, but the drama was about to begin. An Asian family stopped their car and asked me if I had seen a missing child. I had not, but I asked what I should do if I found the child. They told me to call the police.
I returned to the house and told my wife that the family had lost their six-year-old child. She asked me what the child looked like. I told her the boy must be Asian.
I soon discovered that the missing child was Menachem Goldberg, and he was not Asian, but what I witnessed during the next couple of hours was a beautiful expression of community spirit. As word went around that a six year old had been reported missing, the entire neighborhood came out — Hasidic Jews, assimilated Jews, Asians, whites, African Americans. On the exact same blocks in which I had filmed looting during the June 2020 protests, a broad, diverse community was searching together for a child.
What I witnessed during the next couple of hours was a beautiful expression of community spirit.
In a world in which we see so much division and hatred, it was a heartwarming moment of reassurance that when one child is missing, everyone’s child is missing.
Menachem Goldberg turned up safe and well hiding at home, a couple of hours later. But after securing an extra 10,000 steps and seeing more of my neighbors’ back gardens than I had ever imagined, I returned home pleasantly happy to know that I live in a neighborhood where an Asian couple was out searching for a Jewish child, as if he was their own.
Stephen D. Smith is Finci-Viterbi executive director of the USC Shoah Foundation. The first episode of “The Memory Generation” was released on April 15, 2021, and can be found here: https://www.memorygenerationpodcast.com/episodes
With the alarming rise in antisemitism across many college campuses, choosing where to apply has become more complicated for Jewish high school seniors. Some are even looking at Israel.
Jewish Journal
A Little Ray of Hope in Los Angeles
Stephen Smith
I was out walking my dog Sunday evening. The Oscar presentations were over, but the drama was about to begin. An Asian family stopped their car and asked me if I had seen a missing child. I had not, but I asked what I should do if I found the child. They told me to call the police.
I returned to the house and told my wife that the family had lost their six-year-old child. She asked me what the child looked like. I told her the boy must be Asian.
I soon discovered that the missing child was Menachem Goldberg, and he was not Asian, but what I witnessed during the next couple of hours was a beautiful expression of community spirit. As word went around that a six year old had been reported missing, the entire neighborhood came out — Hasidic Jews, assimilated Jews, Asians, whites, African Americans. On the exact same blocks in which I had filmed looting during the June 2020 protests, a broad, diverse community was searching together for a child.
In a world in which we see so much division and hatred, it was a heartwarming moment of reassurance that when one child is missing, everyone’s child is missing.
Menachem Goldberg turned up safe and well hiding at home, a couple of hours later. But after securing an extra 10,000 steps and seeing more of my neighbors’ back gardens than I had ever imagined, I returned home pleasantly happy to know that I live in a neighborhood where an Asian couple was out searching for a Jewish child, as if he was their own.
Stephen D. Smith is Finci-Viterbi executive director of the USC Shoah Foundation. The first episode of “The Memory Generation” was released on April 15, 2021, and can be found here: https://www.memorygenerationpodcast.com/episodes
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