Zoe Bell and Braden Hamelin | Staff Writers
Security is a top concern for synagogues with the High Holidays approaching and an increase in antisemitic incidents since Oct. 7.
A January report by the Anti-Defamation League recorded more than 3,000 antisemitic incidents between Oct. 7, 2023, and Jan. 7, 2024 — at least 628 of those incidents were reported against Jewish institutions such as synagogues and community centers. These numbers are sharp increases from previous years, according to the ADL.
The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington’s security service, JShield, held two training sessions and Q&As, one on Sept. 8 for the Maryland and Washington, D.C., community and another on Sept. 15 for the Northern Virginia community, to ensure their preparedness for the season.
As part of their “Together and Secure” series, the security training covered situational awareness, active threat response and how to manage emergencies effectively, according to the Federation’s website.
“We’re operating under a heightened threat in the Jewish community in general,” said Rusty Rosenthal, the Federation’s executive director of regional security. “We are also approaching the anniversary of Oct. 7 as well as elections coming up. So it’s kind of a confluence of events that we wanted to make sure people were thinking of and aware of security as they continue to engage in their Jewish life.”
He added that many members of the Jewish community who aren’t as active in their synagogues may show up to shuls for the High Holidays, and it is crucial that they also receive security training.
“This may be the one time of year that they’re considering going to the synagogue for the High Holidays, so we wanted to make sure that we were reaching out to that segment of the community that we may not be touching on a regular basis,” Rosenthal said.
Several area synagogues have made an investment in security over the past few years, with the hiring of security directors, implementing new protocols and technology, applying for security grants and attending JShield events.
Rosenthal added that a key aspect of the JShield training is preaching constant vigilance and keeping a mind to security at all times, even outside of synagogue or other Jewish spaces.
“One of the biggest things that I like to emphasize is that you don’t need to practice situational awareness just because you’re coming to synagogues for the High Holidays. It’s actually a life skill that everyone should be aware of and practice in all aspects of their life,” Rosenthal said.
Eli Russ, the security director at Kesher Israel: The Georgetown Synagogue, works with Rosenthal. Russ said the D.C. synagogue’s approach to security is “we’re always ready,” which for Kesher Israel means working with partners to communicate about potential threats, implementing physical infrastructure and employing armed guards and professionally security-trained volunteers from the nonprofit Community Security Service.
He added that the need for security is great and “unfortunately constant,” describing Kesher Israel as a “hotspot for antisemitism.”
Since Russ joined Kesher Israel in October 2021, synagogue staff have been tracking antisemitic incidents at Kesher Israel — 23 of the 42 logged incidents have occurred since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
He said these statistics indicate an uptick in antisemitism, including one hate crime in which congregants were assaulted and yelled at outside Kesher Israel in December 2023.
“Like every other synagogue, we’ll be raising the bar,” Russ said. “When I’m talking about High Holidays with my security volunteers at Kesher, I call it the ‘Jewish Super Bowl’ in terms of security because the stakes are so high; there’s many, many people from all different ideologies who attack synagogues and Jewish community members, Kesher notwithstanding. We need to be prepared, like we always are, but have it be even more serious.”
At the same time, Russ said “we don’t want to have a synagogue that’s a fortress or a castle.”
For congregants across the area, it’s important that their synagogues balance the presence of security without taking away from the warm, welcoming atmosphere they’re attempting to create with their High Holiday programming.
That’s a challenge that Craig Goldberg is taking on this year as he prepares for his first High Holiday celebrations as the director of safety and security at Washington Hebrew Congregation, one of the largest congregations in the DMV area.
“We don’t want to lose what makes us special, and that is being a warm, welcoming institution, where people can go to worship, pray, celebrate, spend time with loved ones, and we don’t want to lose that; our caring, our humanity,” Goldberg said. “We just want to ramp up our security a little more to ensure that we’re able to do that in a safe and secure manner, and people can feel more at ease and at peace.”
Goldberg said while having the additional measures might cause some inconveniences, the additional peace of mind for congregants will offset the cost of mild inconvenience.
Goldberg started in the role on Aug. 1 and has prepared the synagogue with new protocols and community outreach so that everyone is prepared for the additional security measures, including metal detectors and extra armed police.
“Communication is a key part of this. We plan to communicate in advance of the High Holidays to all of our members so they know what to expect in advance. And that communication started with the hiring of my position. Washington Hebrew put out an announcement explaining that I was hired and the ‘why’ behind it,” Goldberg said. “Washington Hebrew has been communicating that more than ever, security is being stressed.”
Russ, Goldberg and Rosenthal expressed the importance of prioritizing security all year to remain safe.
“It’s important to have the Federation, and JShield specifically, thinking about [security] constantly, not just because it’s the High Holidays and not just because we’re approaching Oct. 7, but so that we can help the community become more secure and resilient based on the things we’re doing all the time, so when there is a spike in threats or activity, the community is already prepared because we’ve already been putting in the work before anything should happen,” Rosenthal said.
