#congregation Beth Israel

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

A sign reading “We Support Israel” outside a synagogue in Bethesda, Maryland was vandalized with antisemitic graffiti this week, according to the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington.

“The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington is deeply disturbed by the discovery yesterday of antisemitic graffiti on a ‘We Support Israel’ sign outside Congregation Beth El of Montgomery County,” the group said in a statement on Wednesday.

The Jewish Federation noted that the incident came just two days after similar antisemitic graffiti was found near Bethesda Elementary School in Maryland this past weekend. “Israel rapes men, women, and children” was spray-painted on a school sign, and “Free Gaza” was reportedly painted onto a nearby crosswalk and sidewalk.

“We call on our community and allies to continue making it clear that antisemitism and hate speech have no place in Greater Washington,” the Jewish Federation said in its statement. “We are in close contact with local law enforcement, and we appreciate their swift responses to these incidents to ensure our community’s safety.”

The Bethesda area has a large Jewish population — about 45 percent of Maryland’s Jewish community lives in Montgomery County.

The latest incidents of vandalism came amid a troubling wave of antisemitic incidents in Maryland.

Baltimore police announced on Saturday that they arrested a man who is suspected of a hate crime for setting a fire outside the Jewish Museum of Maryland earlier this month. The museum is located between two historic synagogues on Baltimore’s Lloyd Street: the Lloyd Street Synagogue and the B’nai Israel Congregation. The fire on Aug. 4 was set outside the museum but also right next to B’nai Israel, which reportedly shares a security gate with it.

Weeks earlier, Baltimore’s mayor and police chief denounced a slew of antisemitic incidents in which the homes of Jewish families in the Glen section of the city were graffitied with swastikas. As many as 10 homes were targeted in the spree of hate, according to a local NBC affiliate, shocking locals who were dismayed that the incidents occurred in their neighborhood.

Such outrages aren’t new. In December, for example, vandals twice slashed a pro-Israel sign displayed on the lawn of the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation in Pikesville, local media reported. In a later incident in March, a gang of teenagers mugged and assaulted two Jewish men who were walking into their synagogue. The youths reportedly chased one of the men and stole a “large amount of cash” from the other. More recently, an Israeli flag was ripped and stolen from the porch of a doctor’s office earlier this summer.

Across the state of Maryland, which had the seventh most antisemitic incidents in the US in 2023, outrages targeting the Jewish community increased 211 percent compared to the prior year, according to the Anti-Defamation League’s latest data.

[nycreligion]

Lost and found department: synagogues of Manhattan

Illustration by A Journey through NYC religions Ellen Levitt is one of the most interesting detectives in the city. Her job as a writer is finding lost synagogues. The book about her sleuthing in Manhattan, Staten Island and Governeur’s Island is available for purchase. The Last Synagogues of Manhattan is a densely packed treasure trove of architectural observations, naming practices, and…

[infiniteglitterfall]

Uggghhh, what is UP with Canada?!

In Vancouver, the Schara Tzedeck synagogue's windows were smashed on April 19th.

In Toronto on April 19, five windows at the Kehillat Shaarei Torah synagogue were smashed with a hammer.

In Toronto on April 26, someone set a sign on fire at Beth Tikvah Synagogue....

....And again on April 28.

In Toronto in May, Jewish community members started escorting a kid to school because he was being bullied by peers who told him, "We're going to do to you what Hamas did to Israel," pushed him, kicked him, threw stones at him, and told him, "we need to kill you." This had been going on for six months. (His family had gone to both the school and police repeatedly at this point and it had only escalated; the kids throwing stones at him on the way to school was new.)

In Toronto on May 17th, Kehillat Shaarei Torah's windows were smashed again.

On May 25th before dawn, two people shot at Bais Chaya Muska, a Jewish girls' school in Toronto.

On May 29th, in the middle of the night, someone shot at the Belz Yeshiva Ketana school in Montreal.

In Vancouver on May 30, someone poured fuel on the doors of the Schara Tzedeck synagogue, then firebombed them.

In an article on June 7, Rabbi Lisa Grushcow of Emanu-El-Beth Sholom synagogue in Montreal said people have yelled “Hitler was right!” and “Jew!” at her congregants as they arrive for Shabbat services and that Jewish kids are being bullied in local schools.

On June 1 in Toronto, a man smashed the window of the Anshei Minsk synagogue with a rock.

On June 3 in Kitchener, someone smashed the front door of Beth Jacob synagogue.

On June 19th in Montreal, three small bullet-like holes were somehow made in the windows of Falafel Yoni. (I don't know, all the articles go out of their way to say they don't know WHAT made the holes.) Falafel Yoni is owned by a Jewish man who was born in Israel, and has appeared on boycott lists despite the owner never having said anything political about Israel.

On the same day, down the street from Falafel Yoni, someone smashed the windows of a nearby gym whose co-owner is Jewish and had also been born in Israel.

On June 30 in Toronto, someone threw stones at the Pride of Israel synagogue, then at Kehillat Shaarei Torah, smashing windows (again) in the latter.

On the weekend of July 27th, a father and son in Toronto were arrested for planning a terrorist attack and murder on behalf of ISIL, which is wild.

On July 29th, someone torched a bus belonging to the Bobov Hassidic school in Toronto.

And smashed the windows of a DIFFERENT Jewish school in Toronto, Leo Baeck Jewish Day School, and set it on fire.

On July 31 in Toronto, guess which synagogue had three signs set on fire? That's right: Kehillat Shaarei Torah.

Plus one sign set afire at Toronto's Temple Sinai Congregation the same night, presumably by the same arsonist, who might even have been the stone-hurler of June 30.

There are probably ones I missed. Just putting this list together took like three hours, though. I kept having to go, "Wait, surely that can't be the same synagogue AGAIN" and "they only mention the closest major intersection, which one was this?!" and "that can't be a different one, how many windows did they smash??" and go look for more sources. Plus a couple of articles were giving conflicting dates for one of the incidents.

And nobody ever gives actual dates, they just say shit like, "Blah blah blah was reported Monday...." so I have to look at the article date and then look at a damn calendar.

I went back as far as April because everything I found was referring to earlier incidents. Back to April. February and March were relatively quiet, at least in the news. Although interestingly, February is when the most hate crimes in Toronto had been reported, at least as of ... oh, I see.

As of March.

On the bright side, I did discover that Kehillat Shaarei Torah consistently has great jokes on its sign.

[beardedmrbean]

AUSTIN, Texas - A federal judge handed down a sentence for the man who set an Austin synagogue on fire two years ago. 

Members of Congregation Beth Israel looked on as Franklin Sechriest was sentenced to 10 years for setting fire to their synagogue on Halloween 2021. Sechriest pleaded guilty to federal arson and hate crime charges in April.

"The staff, as well as members of the congregation, have been living with this for two years. And we're still living with it because the sanctuary is still not usable. There's still yellow tape across the doors and the doors are still burned," said Senior Rabbi Steven Folberg. "But I think that for myself and for some of us, there is a sense of relief that we can move forward, that this piece of this is done, and that we don't have to keep revisiting it and revisiting it in the same way that we have."

In the courtroom, Sechriest could be seen throughout the morning looking back at his parents and mouthing, "I’m sorry." 

He apologized to the court as well, saying, "I will never forgive myself." He also promised to continue to "atone" for his actions and denounce the "evil ideology." 

According to his defense attorney, that ideology was the result of indoctrination by online hate groups that Sechriest had stumbled upon while seeking community during COVID. 

His defense attorney also asked for leniency due to Secriest’s diagnosed medical issues, which include Autism and OCD.

"I don't think that any of those issues had anything to do with what he did," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Devlin after the sentencing. "He made voluntary choices. He made intelligent choices on his end, and he engaged in a lot of premeditation, a lot of planning, and it was very deliberate."

The judge ultimately agreed though he expressed empathy toward those struggling with mental health and their parents.

"There is nothing more that you could have done," said Judge David Ezra, addressing Sechriest's parents. "It wasn’t your fault."

However, Judge Ezra said the biggest factor in his decision was the danger he felt Sechriest could be to others going forward.

"We applaud the decision to sentence the Congregation Beth Israel arsonist to 10 years in prison," said Jackie Nirenberg, regional director for ADL Austin, in a statement shared with FOX 7. "We are grateful to the FBI San Antonio office and the Austin Fire Department for their thorough investigation into the incident, and the prosecutors from the US Attorney's Western District of Texas office for sending a message that hate and antisemitism will not be tolerated in our community." 

Sechriest is not eligible for parole and will have three years of supervised release after he completes his sentence. The judge is also going to recommend that Sechriest be committed to a federal medical facility.

[softmatzohtruther]

There's something I've been thinking about, and since this is my personal blog, I figured I'd write it out and maybe share it -- maybe I'll get to the end of this post and close it without saving, maybe I'll tuck it away into my drafts. I don't know yet.

I am ethnically Jewish, but I wasn't raised in the culture. My family situation is complicated, due to divorces, remarriages, and relocations, but I usually just tell people that I'm patrilineal, raised secular, and that I'm reconnecting with the community, with a potential conversion in my near future. After nearly 10 years of independent study and hanging around with other Jewish people both online and offline, and then moving into a city that has a large Jewish community, I decided this year to take a more earnest stride into Jewish communal and religious life.

This started with me signing up for social events around the High Holidays, and that's how I found myself in the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History on the evening of Yom Kippur. I'd been to the museum a few years before for a film festival, so I had seen some of the things they had on display, but I've not yet actually toured the building. This time I was there for an event being held in one of the empty conference rooms, meeting with a friend to have a pre-fast dinner before sundown and then joining in group prayer. It was an emotional evening for me for many reasons, particularly because it was my first time observing the holiday in the ritual sense, and that it seemed like an appropriate time to meditate on the nature of the new life that I'm trying to live. But it was also a memorable evening for me for another reason.

If you ever find yourself in Philadelphia, you can visit this museum yourself. Admission is free. On the ground floor, there is a piece on display across from the elevator, and I noticed it there as I was leaving the event. At first, I thought it was misplaced, because the display is a chair, and a cup of tea.

These items were donated by the Congregation of Beth Israel, a reform synagogue in Colleyville Texas. It was a somber sight for me on that night in September. I had only really heard a vague overview of what had happened there barely two years ago -- if you read the Wikipedia article linked above, you will notice it happened in January of 2022. And I remember that the one thought that crossed my mind as I stood in front of that chair is that when you enter a history museum, you expect to see things that are old, maybe from the 40s or something. And you will. But you'll also see the chair a rabbi threw at a man who was holding his synagogue hostage in 2022. Because this part of our history is still ongoing.

Read this part of the article:

A livestream of the synagogue's services on its Facebook page streamed the ongoing situation, including the forceful taking of hostages. In the livestream, Akram could be heard speaking to authorities, who attempted to negotiate with him. At one point, Akram claimed (apparently falsely) to have a bomb. The livestream also streamed Akram saying that he had flown to the city where Siddiqui was imprisoned with the intent of taking hostages. He also said that he chose to take hostages in a synagogue because the U.S. "only cares about Jewish lives" and because "Jews control the world. Jews control the media. Jews control the banks."

And that has been in the back of my mind constantly since a group of people in this city decided to protest outside of a fucking falafel restaurant chanting "we charge you with genocide." It's this idea that Jews are responsible for the acts of every other Jew, and on top of that, Jews are responsible for everyone else, too, when convenient. Like a sort of universal scapegoat. It makes me furious, of course, but mostly it just makes me sad.

I have zero regrets about throwing my lot in with this side of my family, my heritage, my history... but it is unbelievably heavy at times. Still, I feel like I have to carry it. Stronger people than me have died for it, but I will do what I have to do. I do have hope for the future, and more broadly speaking I have hope for the world, too.

מיר וועלן זיי איבערלעבן. עם ישראל חי

[mariacallous]

(JTA) – At least two more synagogues in the United States evacuated their congregants over the weekend following bomb threats, the latest in a series of such calls that have put dozens of congregations on high alert heading into the High Holidays.

One of the synagogues was threatened during the pre-Rosh Hashanah Selichot services on Saturday night, in a sign that the perpetrators of the wave of attacks are paying careful attention to when synagogues are holding events before calling in their threats.

Since mid-July, at least 49 synagogues in 13 states have received the threatening calls, none of which have been linked to credible bomb threats, according to the Anti-Defamation League. That was up from 26 congregations four weeks ago —and the ADL expects the threats to continue when the High Holidays begin with the start of Rosh Hashanah on Friday evening. 

“Every weekend this network of swatters continues to identify targets and are calling in fake bomb threats,” Oren Segal, vice president of the ADL’s Center on Extremism, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, using a term referring to pranks that draw out a large number of police officers. “So that number is increasing and will potentially keep increasing.” 

Segal said the calls are part of a coordinated campaign orchestrated by antisemitic trolls and focused on synagogues that livestream their services, so the perpetrators can watch reactions to the threats in real time. But he noted that some institutions have been targeted even though they don’t livestream their events, and that the culprits are also developing a growing interest in non-Jewish institutions such as mosques and Black churches.

The synagogues that received bomb threats this weekend were Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills, California, in the Bay Area, and Congregation B’nai Israel in St. Petersburg, Florida. In both cases, the synagogues emptied out as police conducted full safety sweeps of the premises. 

The threat on Beth Am, a Reform congregation, was called in during Friday night services, at a time when the synagogue was hosting U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo and Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of the liberal Israel lobby J Street. Both guests were reported safe by leaders of the Bay Area congregation.

“As a community, we remain resolute and determined in the face of this act of antisemitic harassment,” read a letter Beth Am congregational leaders sent to their community just before midnight on Friday, after the synagogue had been swept and cleared, according to J. The Jewish News of Northern California, which first reported on the incident. 

B’nai Israel, a Conservative congregation, received the threat as congregants were exiting the Selichot services on Saturday night. The St. Petersburg police department and B’nai Israel’s rabbi, Philip Weintraub, confirmed details of the synagogue’s evacuation with JTA.

“It was not disruptive to our worship,” Weintraub told JTA, adding that the police “took it very seriously.”

A spokesperson for the St. Petersburg Police Department told JTA that the investigation was still ongoing, but that law enforcement would treat the incident as a false bomb threat, which is punishable with prison time. Florida has grappled with a recent rise in antisemitic activity, and a new state law aims to make it easier to prosecute “ethnic intimidation.” But that measure hasn’t yet succeeded in curbing a statewide epidemic of antisemitic fliers, some of which were dropped outside the West Palm Beach area over Labor Day.

The Santa Clara County sheriff’s office, which oversees law enforcement in Los Altos Hills, did not return JTA requests for comment on its own bomb threat investigation.

In mid-August, two other synagogues in California also evacuated their livestreamed Shabbat services over a single weekend due to bomb threats.

There have been other evacuations of Jewish institutions that have gone unreported because they have chosen not to publicize them, Segal said. 

“They don’t want to necessarily, I presume, give these trolls the satisfaction of letting everybody know every time they’re evacuated,” he said, adding that institutions should make such decisions “based on what they think is best for the community.” In some instances, when synagogues have issued a statement about an evacuation, the perpetrators have used those statements to boast of their success, Segal said.

This is not the first time false bomb threats have been called into a series of Jewish institutions. More than 100 such threats were called into Jewish community centers in the early months of 2017 — most of which, it was later discovered, came from a teen in Israel. In 2020, dozens of JCCs received a separate series of emailed bomb threats. 

Weintraub is determined to not be rattled by the experience. Instead, he takes comfort in knowing the congregation already heeds security precautions recommended by police. Heading into Rosh Hashanah, he said, he isn’t scared.

“My understanding is their goal is to shake us, and I’m not going to be shaken,” he said.

[reportsofawartime]

ブッシュ家と繋がりのある投資会社オースティンがトランプ暗殺未遂事件の1日前にトランプのTruthSocial株を1,200万株空売り 『トランプに何が起こるか知っていたのだろうか？』 オースティンの幹部はパパブッシュ政権で国務長官を務めた、レーガン及び子ブッシュ政権でも様々な役職を務めた 子ブッシュは反トランプ 直接的な関与があるかは不明だが十分にあやしい動き オースティン・プライベート・ウェルスから寄付金を受け取っている団体の一部 ↓ ・ADL（日常生活動作：ユダヤ系） ・ACLU（米自由人権協会） ・Hadassah（ユダヤ人女性組織） ・Shalom Austin（テキサス州にあるユダヤ人の中心地） ・Camp Young Judaea（ユダヤ・イスラエル人のキャンプ） ・Austin Jewish Academy（ユダヤ人学校） ・Congregation Beth Israel（改革派ユダヤ教シナゴーグ） ・Jewish Community Center（ユダヤ教団：日本にも支部有り）

[vaspider]

hey, do you know of any queer/trans-inclusive temples in southeast portland (or easily accessible by transit from southeast portland)? i understand if you don't want to name any on tumblr for privacy reasons but i'm looking into potentially converting and figured i would reach out and ask. alternatively if you know of good ways to find temples that are specifically queer/trans-inclusive i'm open to doing my own research as well, i'm just not certain where to start. thanks in advance!

This is something anybody could Google so I don't know that I think it's an issue to link you to Shir Tikvah, on NE Sandy. A bunch of bus lines go up Sandy. :) There's also a Reform congregation, Beth Israel, which is in NW but very accessible on transit. There are a few trans folx there, but I think Shir Tikvah might be more what you're looking for.

(Welcome to Portland!)

[pargolettasworld]

“It’s weird because I’m not scared,” said Rabbi Eric Woodward of Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel. “At our synagogue, we take safety and security very seriously, and I think this is a really loving community here in New Haven.”   "Even with high-level threats about a month ago when extremist groups were calling for a “National Day of Hate,” Woodward said about 250 people showed up at the service that day “to show up and be Jewish and be proud.”

“I think that people are scared of this, but the fear doesn't get them down,” Woodward said. “I think fear leads them to be brave.”

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

The Temple Musicians

31 And these [are they] whom David set over the service of song in the house of the LORD, after that the ark had rest. 32 And they ministered before the dwelling-place of the tabernacle of the congregation with singing, until Solomon had built the house of the LORD in Jerusalem: and [then] they waited on their office, according to their order. 33 And these [are] they that waited with their children. Of the sons of the Kohathites: Heman a singer, the son of Joel, the son of Shemuel, 34 The son of Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Eliel, the son of Toah, 35 The son of Zuph, the son of Elkanah, the son of Mahath, the son of Amasai, 36 The son of Elkanah, the son of Joel, the son of Azariah, the son of Zephaniah, 37 The son of Tahath, the son of Assir, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, 38 The son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, the son of Israel. 39 And his brother Asaph, who stood on his right hand, [even] Asaph the son of Berechiah, the son of Shimea, 40 The son of Michael, the son of Baaseiah, the son of Malchiah, 41 The son of Ethni, the son of Zerah, the son of Adaiah, 42 The son of Ethan, the son of Zimmah, the son of Shimei, 43 The son of Jahath, the son of Gershom, the son of Levi. 44 And their brethren the sons of Merari [stood] on the left hand: Ethan the son of Kishi, the son of Abdi, the son of Malluch, 45 The son of Hashabiah, the son of Amaziah, the son of Hilkiah, 46 The son of Amzi, the son of Bani, the son of Shamer, 47 The son of Mahli, the son of Mushi, the son of Merari, the son of Levi. 48 Their brethren also the Levites [were] appointed to all manner of service of the tabernacle of the house of God. 49 But Aaron and his sons offered upon the altar of the burnt-offering, and on the altar of incense, [and were appointed] for all the work of the [place] most holy, and to make an atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded. 50 And these [are] the sons of Aaron; Eleazar his son, Phinehas his son, Abishua his son, 51 Bukki his son, Uzzi his son, Zerahiah his son, 52 Meraioth his son, Amariah his son, Ahitub his son, 53 Zadok his son, Ahimaaz his son. 54 Now these [are] their dwelling-places throughout their castles in their limits, of the sons of Aaron, of the families of the Kohathites: for theirs was the lot. 55 And they gave them Hebron in the land of Judah, and its suburbs around it. 56 But the fields of the city, and its villages, they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh. 57 And to the sons of Aaron they gave the cities of Judah, [namely], Hebron, [the city] of refuge, and Libnah with its suburbs, and Jattir, and Eshtemoa, with their suburbs, 58 And Hilen with its suburbs, Debir with its suburbs, 59 And Ashan with its suburbs, and Beth-shemesh with its suburbs: 60 And out of the tribe of Benjamin; Geba with its suburbs, and Alemeth with its suburbs, and Anathoth with its suburbs. All their cities throughout their families [were] thirteen cities. 61 And to the sons of Kohath [who were] left of the family of that tribe, [were cities given] out of the half tribe, [namely], [out of] the half [tribe] of Manasseh, by lot, ten cities. 62 And to the sons of Gershom throughout their families [were given] out of the tribe of Issachar, and out of the tribe of Asher, and out of the tribe of Naphtali, and out of the tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities. 63 To the sons of Merari [were given] by lot, throughout their families, out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities. 64 And the children of Israel gave to the Levites [these] cities with their suburbs. 65 And they gave by lot out of the tribe of the children of Judah, and out of the tribe of the children of Simeon, and out of the tribe of the children of Benjamin, these cities, which are called by [their] names. — 1 Chronicles 6:31-65 | Noah Webster’s Bible Translation (WBT) The Holy Bible; Webster’s Bible Translation by Noah Webster, a revision of the King James Bible, Published in 1833 is in the public domain. Cross References: Exodus 6:18-19; Exodus 6:21; Exodus 27:1; Numbers 3:27; Numbers 13:6; Numbers 35:1; Joshua 10:38; Joshua 14:13; Joshua 15:10; Joshua 21:4-5; Joshua 21:7; Joshua 21:11; Joshua 21:13; Joshua 21:34; 1 Samuel 1:1; 2 Samuel 6:17; 1 Kings 2:35; 2 Kings 18:18; 1 Chronicles 6:66; 1 Chronicles 25:1; Ezra 7:5; Ezra 10:25; Jeremiah 1:1; Ezekiel 40:44

[todieforimages]

Congregation Beth Israel-Gadsden, Alabama

Congregation Beth Israel built their synagogue in 1922. This was 12 years after the congregation was founded in 1910. It was an active synagogue until 2010 when the doors were closed after decades of declining membership. On March 25, 1960, the synagogue was firebombed by a Nazi sympathizer. Amazingly, only two people were injured, and it was the two men who ran out of the Temple to catch the…

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Peter Reitzes

A member of the Raleigh City Council in North Carolina who has come under fire for regularly attacking Israel and Zionists received a major blow to her re-election bid this week, with the local Democratic Party opting to endorse her opponent as the embattled lawmaker continued to receive backlash from Jewish and progressive leaders.

 Following two recent reports by The Algemeiner, Mary Black came under increased scrutiny from the media, community members, and fellow Democrats for spending a disproportionate amount of time lashing out at the Jewish state, despite her job having no apparent responsibilities concerning Middle Eastern affairs.

Amid the uproar, the Wake County Democratic Party — who endorsed Black in 2022 — came under pressure not to endorse Black this year.

On Monday, the Wake County Democratic Party — which includes Raleigh — endorsed Black’s opponent, Mitchell Silver, who is a former New York City Parks Commissioner and Raleigh Chief Planner. Political insiders tell The Algemeiner it is now unlikely Black will be re-elected even as an incumbent in this nonpartisan election.

A local columnist explained, “In a county and city that vote heavily Democratic, the party’s endorsements will guide many voters. That’s especially true this year when a presidential and gubernatorial election will bring a wave of voters to the polls who are unfamiliar with local officials and issues.”

There is widespread agreement that Black won her seat in 2022 in large part based on the endorsement of the party.

Nonetheless, Black dismissed the importance of being passed over by the party.

“I’m actually kinda happy to not be endorsed by the dems this time [sic],” she posted on social media. “That means I can talk shit without fear … I can be a menace now.”

Local Jewish and Democratic leaders told The Algemeiner that they were both “thrilled” and “relieved” that the party did not endorse Black.

“The caucus is thrilled to see that the Wake County Democratic Party shares our belief that Mitchell Silver is the most qualified candidate for District A. Mitchell will continue his long track record of delivering results for Raleigh,” said Conner Taylor, 2nd vice chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party Jewish Caucus.

Rabbi Eric Solomon of Beth Meyer Synagogue, the largest congregation in Raleigh, added that he was “relieved that the Wake County Democratic Party did not endorse Council Member Mary Black, a city councilor who exploited her position of power to incite against her district’s Jewish community.”

[nycreligion]

Lost and found department: synagogues of Manhattan

Illustration by A Journey through NYC religions Ellen Levitt is one of the most interesting detectives in the city. Her job as a writer is finding lost synagogues. The book about her sleuthing in Manhattan, Staten Island and Governeur’s Island is available for purchase. The Last Synagogues of Manhattan is a densely packed treasure trove of architectural observations, naming practices, and…

[beardedmrbean]

More than four in ten Jews in the United States feel their status in America is less secure than it was a year earlier, according to a new survey by the American Jewish Committee.

The survey, conducted in the fall of 2022, was released Monday by the AJC, a prominent Jewish advocacy organization.

The survey was taken in a year of high-profile incidents of antisemitism, including a hostage-taking at a Texas synagogue and anti-Jewish statements shared by celebrities on social media. Former President Donald Trump dined with two openly antisemitic guests, drawing criticism from his own Jewish supporters.

According to the AJC survey, 41% of the respondents said the status of Jews in the U.S. is less secure than it was the year before, while 55% said it was the same. Only 4% thought it was more secure.

The results show anxieties increasing since a comparable survey in 2021, when 31% of respondents thought their status was less secure than a year earlier.

Four in five Jews said in the 2022 survey that antisemitism has grown in the past five years; nearly half said it’s taken less seriously than other forms of bigotry or hate.

A quarter of the respondents said they were directly targeted by antisemitic expressions, either in person or on social media, with 3% reporting a physical attack. Nearly four in 10 changed their behavior to lower risks to their safety.

Similarly, nearly four in ten reported avoiding visible expressions of Jewishness in public, such as wearing a skullcap. Smaller percentages reported taking similar steps on campus or at work.

Other findings:

—Nearly 90% of U.S. Jews — and the same percentage of the country's total population — believe antisemitism is a serious problem, up from 73% in 2016.

—Of the Jews surveyed in 2022, 63% said that they see law enforcement as appropriately responsive when it comes to antisemitism, a substantial drop from 2019 when that number was 81%.

The survey collected data from a nationally representative sample of 1,507 adults of Jewish religion or background. It was conducted from Sept. 28 through Nov. 3.

News of antisemitic incidents surfaces almost daily in the U.S. Earlier this month, for example, numerous antisemitic flyers were distributed in suburban Atlanta, including at the home of Georgia’s only Jewish state legislator.

Rep. Esther Panitch, a freshman Democrat, denounced the flyers from the floor of the House of Representatives, with dozens of colleagues surrounding her to show solidarity.

“This weekend, it was my turn to be targeted,” Panitch said. “Unfortunately, it’s not the first time to be afraid as a Jew in the United States.”

On Thursday, Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, took his campaign against antisemitism to the United Nations, urging diplomats from many nations to speak out against the rising global hatred of Jews and stressing: “Silence is not an option.”

Emhoff pointed to celebrity comedians too often using antisemitism “to draw cheap laughs, high profile entertainers and politicians openly spouting tired antisemitic tropes (and) others making comments laced with not so subtle innuendo.”

Among the most dramatic antisemitic incidents in 2022 was the January hostage standoff at Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, a suburb of Forth Worth.

A pistol-wielding British man took four people at the synagogue hostage and held them for 10 hours before they escaped, and the captor was killed by the FBI.

[mariacallous]

WASHINGTON (JTA) — As the High Holidays near, Rabbi Mara Nathan doesn’t expect the recent wave of fake bomb threats directed at synagogues to significantly change the way she and her congregation worship together. 

After all, her synagogue will already have its usual, extensive array of security measures in place: from bomb-sniffing dogs and security checks for each attendee to coordination with the local police department and FBI office. But she said emotions were running high as news reports piled up about synagogues evacuated after facing threats, often while livestreaming services. 

“I think we’re on high alert,” said Nathan, the senior rabbi at San Antonio’s Temple Beth-El, a Reform congregation, “maybe a little more than usual.”

Nathan’s approach underscores how synagogues across the country have responded to the reports of rising antisemitism in recent years, and how a recent wave of nearly 50 spurious bomb threats is affecting — and not affecting — their procedures. The bomb threats, which have led to the evacuation of congregations from California to Florida, come after many synagogues have adopted a posture of readiness following the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting and other violent antisemitic incidents. 

“Law enforcement and the synagogues have to respond to it because you don’t ever know when it’s actually going to be the real thing,” said Evan Bernstein, the CEO of the Community Security Service, which trains volunteers to patrol their synagogues. “When multiple things like this happen, people become numb and maybe won’t respond in the same way if, God forbid, something is legitimate.” 

That reality was laid out at a briefing on Capitol Hill Tuesday focused on securing Jewish institutions during the High Holidays, which begin with Rosh Hashanah on Friday night. The briefing focused on the false bomb threat incidents, which security consultants predicted would continue because they lead to significant disruption with minimal effort. 

“The increase in the bomb threats and the swatting incidents are designed to get a law enforcement response,”  Michael Masters, CEO of the Secure Community Network, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, using a term that refers to making prank calls in order to generate a police response. “They’re designed to create fear, they’re designed to create confusion.”

Leaders of the Secure Community Network, which coordinates security for Jewish institutions nationwide, told members of Congress and their staffers at the hearing that the bomb threats have become a popular tool for extremists. SCN and its partner organization, the Jewish Federations of North America, organized the 90-minute briefing. 

“They actually targeted a livestreaming of the service so that they can witness the police coming in and disrupting the service during this swatting session,” said Kerry Sleeper, a former FBI assistant director who is now a senior adviser to Masters’ group, referring to a bomb threat during services in July at Beth Israel Congregation in Ann Arbor, Michigan. 

(The Ann Arbor synagogue has for years been the target of anti-Israel and antisemitic protesters. Courts have rejected attempts by some of the congregants to stop the protests.)

“Here’s one my fren [sic] did yesterday,” said a message on Telegram, a social platform popular with extremists, which was attached to a video of a rabbi conducting services. “It’s funni [sic] bc when we swat them they have to shut down the synagogue for the day.”

One long-term result extremists are hoping for would be to inhibit Jewish expression, Sleeper said. “The question has to be obviously, do you have the comfort, the security to enter into a house of worship after there’s been a bomb threat or the threat of a shooting?” he said.

Masters said that ahead of the High Holidays, when sanctuaries see their highest attendance of the year, synagogues need to review security procedures in order to avoid panic if a threat is received.

He described methods that could head off panicked reactions during High Holiday services, including making contact with the local police department, reviewing an orderly evacuation plan and ensuring that police have officials in place to report whether an attack is indeed underway.

“In many jurisdictions, law enforcement is very proactive about sending someone to the synagogue, or at least doing a drive-by so … they know whether something or not is happening,” he said. “Having a point of contact at the synagogue that the law enforcement knows who they’re supposed to find, so they can do a coordinated response.”

The briefing also focused on a proposed increase of federal grants to protect synagogues and other religious institutions. The 18-year old program has grown exponentially in recent years as threats against Jewish and other institutions have increased, and there is an effort underway to raise funding from $250 million last year to $360 million.

“It is truly indispensable to the physical security of churches, synagogues, mosques, and all other faith based places of gatherings across the country,” Eric Fingerhut, CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, said at the briefing. “There’s not a security camera or secure door that isn’t in some way costly and needing the help and support of these resources.”

Fingerhut added that Jewish federations have collectively spent hundreds of millions of dollars to enhance security for local institutions. 

Sen. Chris Murphy, the Connecticut Democrat, said the briefing exhibited “the panoply of efforts we need to undertake in order to decrease the risk of physical harm to those who are in Jewish communities, for those who are showing up in synagogues, Jewish day schools.”

Increased preparedness due to the bomb threats is one of a few ways synagogues across the country are girding up ahead of the High Holidays. In New York City, the Community Security Initiative, which helps coordinate security for local institutions, is funding the purchase of one new patrol car each and other resources for four Jewish civilian security patrol groups that operate in heavily Orthodox neighborhoods in Brooklyn, where a rash of street-level incidents have added to safety concerns. Last week, Bernstein’s Community Security Service launched a partnership with the Orthodox Union, an umbrella group with hundreds of member synagogues nationwide.

The bomb threats have reverberated across the country. At the Chicago Loop Synagogue, president Lee Zoldan told JTA that local law enforcement — with whom Zoldan said the synagogue has a “very good relationship” — often keeps a presence in front of the building, which is located in downtown Chicago.

Zoldan said law enforcement officers are aware of the recent wave of bomb threats and that the synagogue has shared its holiday schedule so that police know when people will be in the building. In addition, a few months ago the synagogue purchased a metal detector, and is considering asking worshippers to be screened upon entrance for the High Holidays. Zoldan said the measure was a response to the rise of antisemitism in the United States, rather than any specific threat.

“Anything we can do to enhance security, we are going to do,” she added.