2 more attacks on Jews heighten concerns about security in and around US
synagogues
[June 04, 2025]
By LUIS ANDRES HENAO and MARIAM FAM
For the leaders of U.S. Jewish institutions, the recent attacks in
Boulder, Colorado, and Washington, D.C., are stark reminders of their
responsibility to remain vigilant despite years of hardening their
security measures and trying to keep their people safe.
Now, they’re sounding the alarm for more help after a dozen people were
injured in Boulder while demonstrating for the release of Israeli
hostages in Gaza on Sunday. And just over a week earlier, two Israeli
Embassy staffers were fatally shot outside a Jewish museum in
Washington.
After that shooting, 43 Jewish organizations issued a joint statement
requesting more support from the U.S. government for enhanced security
measures. Specifically, they asked Congress to increase funding to the
Nonprofit Security Grant Program to $1 billion.
“Every Jewish organization has been serious about security for years. We
have to be,” said Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform
Judaism. “The grants are to harden the buildings, for things like
cameras and glass, and some kind of blockage so they can’t drive a truck
into the building."
“These are the everyday realities of Jewish life in the 21st century in
America. It’s a sad reality, but it is an essential responsibility of
leadership to make sure that people are first and foremost safe.”
Shira Hutt, executive vice president at The Jewish Federations of North
America, said existing federal funds were inadequate, with only 43% of
last year’s applicants to the grant program receiving funding.
Citing the attack in Boulder, she said increased funding for local law
enforcement is also crucial.
“Thankfully, the attack was stopped before even further damage could
have been done,” she said. “This is really now a full-blown crisis, and
we need to make sure that we have all the support necessary."
One of the Jewish Federation's state-based affiliates, JEWISHcolorado,
on Tuesday launched an emergency fund to raise $160,000 in support of
the Boulder community. Its goals include enhancing safety and security
measures for Jewish institutions and events.
Strengthening alliances and pushing for results
Leaders of Jewish Federation Los Angeles urged government, business and
philanthropic groups to “supercharge an alliance so we can build mutual
understanding, dispel conspiracy theories, and provide rapid response
when any group is under threat.”
“Jews here in Los Angeles are terrified but determined,” said the
federation’s president, Rabbi Noah Farkas. “We do not need more
community meetings, we need results and we are counting on our local
government and our law enforcement partners to do more.”
The security costs at 63 Jewish day schools have risen on average 84%
since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct, 7, 2023, according to the Teach
Coalition, the education advocacy arm of the Orthodox Union, an umbrella
group for Orthodox Judaism.
The coalition is advocating for more state and federal security funding
for Jewish schools and camps, as well as synagogues.
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Rabbi Fred Greene of Congregation Har HaShem in Boulder, Colo.,
talks with fellow celebrants of a tribute at a makeshift memorial
for victims of an attack outside of the Boulder County, Colo.,
courthouse Tuesday, June 3, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David
Zalubowski)
The attacks in Washington and Boulder only heighten the urgency,
said its national director Sydney Altfield.
“Some people see this as an isolated instance, whether it is in
Colorado, whether it’s in D.C.,” she said. “But we have to step up
and realize that it could happen anywhere. … It is so important that
our most vulnerable, our children, are secure to the highest
extent.”
In Florida, Rabbi Jason Rosenberg of Congregation Beth Am said
members of the Reform synagogue in the Tampa Bay area “are feeling
very nervous right now and having some additional security might
make people a little bit more comfortable.”
He said that “there’s a definite sense that these attacks are not
isolated events, that these attacks are, in part, the result of a
lot of the antisemitic rhetoric that we’ve been hearing in society
for years now.”
However, he said part of his message as a faith leader in such a
climate has been to encourage resilience.
“We can’t let this define us. … We can’t stop doing what we do; we
can’t stop coming to synagogue; we can’t stop having our
activities,” he said. “Our job is to add holiness to our lives and
to the world, and we can’t let this stop us from focusing on sacred
work.”
Security concerns inside and outside
Jacobs, the Reform Judaism leader, said the latest attacks in
Washington and Boulder signaled that new security strategies were
needed.
“Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim were murdered outside of the
event at the D.C. Jewish Museum,” he said.
“And that presented a whole additional sort of challenges for law
enforcement and for each of our institutions doing security, which
is: you can’t just worry about who comes in; you actually have to
worry about who’s lurking outside, and so, that is part now of our
protocols."
The attack in Boulder, he said, took place during a “peaceful
protest” where demonstrators were calling for the release of Israeli
hostages in Gaza.
“We have to worry about what happens inside our institutions. … We
also have to be thinking and working with law enforcement about what
happens outside.”
Jacobs recalled that when a Christian leader recently visited a
Reform synagogue, he was “stunned by the security protocols,” which
included procedures that Jacobs likened to passengers passing
through airport security.
“I said, 'Well, what do you do in your churches?’ and he said,
‘Well, we like to be welcoming.’ And I said: ‘We don’t have that
luxury. We want to make sure our people feel safe, otherwise people
will stop coming.’"
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Associated Press reporter Tiffany Stanley contributed to this
report.
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