Bracelet in Manalapan Rec Center Parking Lot Unnerves Local Mom

MANALAPAN, NJ — A Monroe Twp. mother of three found this bracelet lying in the parking lot of the Manalapan recreation center Thursday afternoon and said at first she became very alarmed, thinking it may be a swastika.

However, the orange and yellow bracelet appears to be more similar to a rakhi, a Hindu symbol of sibling brother and sisterhood. Hindus actually just celebrated the festival of Raksha Bandhan, or Rakhi for short, this past Monday, Aug. 7.

Laura Schiller, 34, who lives in Monroe, found the bracelet. After posting the photo on Facebook, several Indian friends told her it resembles a rakhi.

Still, Manalapan is an area where many Reform and Conservative Jews live, and Schiller, as a Jewish woman herself, said it was a little scary to stumble on it at first. As Patch has reported, there was a bias incident in Manalapan in April: Someone spray painted swastikas and anti-Semitic writing on the pavement at the Clark Mills school playground.

Schiller said she grew up in nearby Marlboro and she has never personally experienced any anti-Semitism. There is also a sizable Hindu community in that area.

"My twin daughters were at the Manalapan splash park nearby and then one of them reached down to grab it. I told her, 'Don't touch it!' and we frantically drove off," she said. "People are telling me it's a Hindu symbol and I'm hopeful that's what it is. Still, as a Jewish parent sending my kids to Jewish pre-school, it's a little scary these days. You hear about JCCs getting bomb threats and so on. I was just concerned when I first saw it."

When Patch called, the Rec Center staff said they were unaware of the bracelet and would go into the parking lot to see if it was still there. Schiller did not contact police.