JANUARY 19 • 2023 | 19

cooperated with the officers
at the Richmond Police
Department and Chief
of Police Tom Costello,
providing investigators the
antisemitic death threat note,
access to security camera
footage from multiple
cameras in the building, log
entry records of individuals
utilizing the security swipe
card readers for entrance to
the building and restricted
areas, names of individuals
who work in Richmond
Middle School or have access
to the building, and names
of individuals who have keys
to the area where the note
was found, including those
individuals who work in
other buildings with district
grand master keys.
The district also provided
log entry records of district
copiers and fingerprints of
some employees have been
taken by the Richmond
Police. These fingerprints,
along with the antisemitic
death threat note, are in the
police crime lab in Lansing
for analysis.”
The letter continues, “The
distress this incident has
cause employees, students
and parents/guardians, and
the stress families have
undergone over the past 48
hours is beyond measurable,”
wrote Walmsley. “Richmond
Community Schools has no
tolerance for discrimination
or acts of hate in our
community and encourages
respectful dialogue. … the
district takes swift action
toward students who violate
our zero-tolerance policy.
“I call on the silent
majority in our community
to hold accountable the

adults who speak of
acceptance, but demonstrate
otherwise through hate
and malicious speech,
particularly on social media.”

MORE UPDATES TO THE
COMMUNITY
On Jan. 8, Walmsley
revealed that the target of
the threatening antisemitic
letter was Michael Woodberg
and his family. Woodberg
began his position on Dec.
13, 2022, and resigned before
the start of the new year.
Walmsley, saying that
Woodberg described the
position as his “dream
job,” wrote: “Woodberg
was excited for his first
administrative experience
and work with outstanding
administrators, teachers and
support staff — all dedicated
to the success of students. He
was equally excited to build
relationships with the middle
school students, who warmly
welcomed him from day one.
“As you can imagine,
the threat affected Mr.
Woodberg and his family
and permanently changed
the way they operate and
view the environment
around them. While Mr.
Woodberg is going to
be missed, I support the
decision he made for his
family and himself and wish
him nothing but health,
happiness and success in his
future endeavors.”

In his Jan. 8 letter,
Walmsley wrote of a second
threat, this time in an email
received by an unnamed staff
member on Friday, Jan. 6.
The email indicated that
the staff person would be
harmed if they did not

resign.
Walmsley stated:
“While this had personal
information and threatened
to harm specific individuals,
it was different from the
previous threat in that it
came from an anonymous
email and was not left in the
building. The police were
immediately notified, and an
investigation was launched
regarding the second threat.
Police did not find any
evidence in the threatened
teacher’s classroom.”
The statement from the
superintendent continued:
“Late last night, I had a
telephone conversation with
Chief Costello regarding
the latest incident and
opening school. After
consulting with the police,
I determined that school
would open as planned.
Prior to the latest threat,
school and police officials
determined they would
have opened the school
with uniformed officers in
each of the district’s three
buildings. The police officers
are monitoring the safety of
the students and staff and
security of the building.”

‘ANTISEMITISM
UNPACKED’
According to an audit
released in April 2022 by the
Anti-Defamation League,
antisemitic incidents reached
an all-time high in the
United States in 2021, with a
total of 2,717 incidents of
assault, harassment and
vandalism.
At press time, the
organization’s hate-tracking
page has already listed over
one dozen hate acts against

Jews in 2023, including
the incident at Richmond
Community Schools. Locally,
Jews have endured threats
most recently at Frankel
Jewish Academy in West
Bloomfield, Temple Beth El
in Bloomfield Township and
additional threats with anti-
Jewish undertones, which
were called in by a teen to
Oxford High School.
Because of this climate,
Congregation Beth Ahm
in West Bloomfield, in
partnership with ADL,
will hold “Antisemitism
Unpacked,” a community
forum at 7:30 p.m. Monday,
Jan. 30. Ryan Woloshin,
national ADL associate
director of antisemitism
programs, will speak.
“We asked the ADL to run
this program because I’ve
heard several stories recently
from congregants and
others about encountering
antisemitism,” said
Beth Ahm Rabbi Steven
Rubenstein.
“These incidents
haven’t been very
threatening; in
fact, sometimes
it isn’t even clear
if the offending
person is being
antisemitic or
not. Jews are encountering
jokes, comments and other
actions, but they are caught
off guard and aren’t sure how
to respond.
“My hope is that this
program will help people
feel a greater degree of
control of situations and
give them some ideas of
how to respond to situations
in which they might find
themselves.”

Rabbi
Steven
Rubenstein