Security is top of mind as the Jewish New Year begins in across the world, and also in Minnesota. For Jewish congregations, the upcoming High Holy Days — always a compelling mix of celebration and repentance — will be more charged than usual.
Rabbi Marsha Zimmerman of Temple Israel in Minneapolis says that security remains a top priority with the start to Rosh Hashanah.
"The protocol is to make sure that worshipers can worship in peace and in safety," Rabbi Zimmerman explains.
She also acknowledged a heightened sense of anxiety within the Jewish community due to recent political tensions, but emphasized a collective refusal to fear define that.
"We can't let that take away our observance and our joy and our desire to keep the thousands and thousands of years of tradition within Judaism," says Zimmerman.
Zimmerman added a rise in virtual services has enhanced safety and accommodated changing congregational needs.
"There has always been, for a very long time security at Temple Israel, and we have the security that's seen and unseen," she says.
The Jewish new year also comes less than a month after a shooting at Annunciation Church in south Minneapolis that killed two children, and injured several other kids and parishioners.
"Everybody is feeling a bit anxious. It's based in reality, and we can't let violence define us," Zimmerman told WCCO.
She says creating a secure environment for prayer is a year round mission for them and for Jewish communities across the state.
Attacks put Jewish Americans on edge
The recent assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk has put Americans nationwide on edge. For Jewish Americans, there was a stretch earlier this year that violently dramatized the threat of antisemitism.
In April, during Passover, the home of Pennsylvania’s Jewish governor, Josh Shapiro, was firebombed. In May, two Israeli Embassy staffers were fatally shot outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington. On June 1, an attacker threw Molotov cocktails at people in Boulder, Colorado, rallying to demand release of Israeli hostages in Gaza; one of those wounded in the attack — an 82-year-old woman — died of her injuries on June 25.
Those attacks occurred as monitoring groups and security experts were reporting an unprecedented surge in the number of antisemitic incidents and anti-Jewish threats in the U.S. since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on Oct. 7, 2023. Leaders of several major Jewish organizations held a briefing Wednesday on Capitol Hill to press their case for more federal funding to help bolster security at Jewish institutions.
“This is a domestic terrorism crisis,” said Eric Fingerhut, president and CEO of Jewish Federations of North America. “We need to be on a war footing to respond.”
In Houston, Rabbi David Lyon of Congregation Beth Israel, used dire language in an email to The Associated Press.
“There is nothing similar to other recent years,” he wrote of the specter of antisemitism. “This is calculated, organized, and funded hate.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.