Brooklyn Leaders Announce ‘Breaking Bread’ Initiative To Combat Hate

NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — After Saturday’s attack in Monsey and a string of attacks on Orthodox Jewish people in the city, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams have announced a joint initiative to combat hate.

They’re calling it the “Breaking Bread, Building Bonds” initiative with the goal being to educate children from all backgrounds about anti-Semitism.

While announcing the new program, Adams said that hate stems from ignorance and people not knowing each other or understanding history.

He adds that it’s important to explain to children the weight that hate symbols carry, noting that when he showed a group of young people a swastika, “Many of them didn’t know the significance of that swastika.”

To break the insularity of Brooklyn’s many communities, Adams, Jeffries and Rabbi Abe Friedman announced the program to build bridges among the many communities in Brooklyn through a series of 100 dinners.

They note that each meal will invite 10 kids from completely different backgrounds to sit and learn about one another’s cultures.

While some were skeptical if just 1,000 children could have an effect on ending hate and ignorance in a borough of millions, the community leaders remained hopeful.

“We can’t continue to go down this path where we are not learning from each other, it is only going to force a greater level of hate,” notes Adams.

The three have already been granted seed money to begin the program and are hoping for more funding to expand the initiative.

 

WCBS