Jewish organizations bolster security following spate of antisemitic attacks

Following a violent week in Boston where a rabbi was stabbed outside a Brighton Jewish school, and two Black people were killed in a Winthrop rampage where a local synagogue may have been the intended target, local Jewish institutions are making serious investments in security.

“When a rabbi is stabbed in a Jewish neighborhood in the middle of the day, it sends shockwaves of fear,” Robert Trestan, New England regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, previously told The Herald.

Shortly after the Winthrop attack, Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins said that the suspect, 28-year-old Nathan Allan, had “hate in (his) heart.”  His “troubling antisemitic rhetoric” led her to believe his target as he stole a box truck and raced down the street was a nearby synagogue, Temple Tifereth Israel, rather than the building he crashed into.

“We understand that we were probably the original target, but we actually didn’t get hit,” said Josh Schreiber, the rabbinic intern at Tifereth Israel. “That does change a little bit now that a Jew has been a victim for being Jewish,” he added, referencing the Brighton attack.

Schreiber told The Herald that the synagogue had received a $10,000 grant from the Center for Jewish Philanthropies in Boston to bolster its security. A CJP spokesperson confirmed this donation, and said it was part of a broader Communal Security Initiative, which has provided “security education, training, consultations and assessments” to Jewish organizations throughout the greater Boston area.

The spokesperson said the CJP has also provided Shaloh House, where Rabbi Shlomo Noginsky was stabbed on July 1, with $22,000 since 2019 in security grants, and has also helped the organization “navigate the federal nonprofit security grant process,” she said.

Rabbi Dan Rodkin, executive director of Shaloh House, said he plans to increase the school’s security even more, drawing from federal security grants. “It’s impossible for anyone to get into the building,” he said.

Already, there are several cameras, bulletproof doors and panic buttons throughout the building.

Rodkin said the recent attacks underscored the need to to increase security.

“It’s kind of (an) alert to us and to everyone that security (has to be) top priority,” he said.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3jEBMvP