2025 Summer Newsletter
Grounded in Tradition: Securing Our Community
The Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts is deeply committed to ensuring the safety and security of the Jewish community within the region, a commitment rooted in the enduring principles of Jewish tradition and the importance of safeguarding lives and institutions.
The Torah and Halacha provide a framework for community security by emphasizing the importance of protecting life and fostering mutual responsibility. These principles include:
- Self-Defense. The Federation through its partnership with SCN has provided Threat Vulnerability and Risk Assessments to many of the buildings in the area in order to access Federal grants to harden the facilities. We have provided classes including BeAware: An introduction to Situational Awareness, Active Threat Training, Stop the Bleed, as well as others.
- The Role of Shomrim: The Torah’s laws regarding guardians entrusted with protecting property demonstrate the significance of custodianship and ensuring well-being. We have worked with individual synagogues and institutions to train staff, helped provide subsidies for police presence, and done training for volunteers like Greeter programs to build a better awareness to threats and danger.
- Communal Responsibility: The concept of “All of Israel are guarantors for one another” underscores the interconnectedness of the Jewish people and shared responsibility for the safety of the community as a whole. This has extended even further as a group of National Philanthropists have put together matching funding through the BeAware program which matches, dollar-for-dollar, each donation for our Security Initiatives. You can make a tax-deductible donation here, to benefit our entire community.
Recognizing the increase in threats against Jewish institutions, Jewish Federation of Western Mass has partnered with the Secure Community Network (SCN), the official security organization for the Jewish community in North America. This collaboration helps the Federation improve regional safety by connecting it to SCN’s national network, which uses comprehensive security programs including:
- Training and Resources like LiveSecure, provides training, tools, and resources to Jewish community centers, synagogues, schools, and summer camps to improve their security.
- Access to SCN’s Expertise and its National Jewish Security Operations Command Center, offering resources, facility assessments, training, and incident response help.
- Coordination with Law Enforcement: The Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts and SCN work with federal, state, and local law enforcement, sharing intelligence and coordinating responses to threats.
- Proactive Threat Mitigation: SCN monitors online platforms for potential threats to Jewish individuals and institutions, providing information to help with security measures.
Jewish Federation of Western Mass launched “SecureMass: A Jewish Community Security Campaign” to ensure the safety and resilience of the community, considering security a sacred duty. This campaign highlights the importance of community support and cooperation with law enforcement to prevent and quickly address security threats.
By integrating Jewish tradition with modern security practices and partnerships, the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts is committed to the safety, security, and resilience of the Jewish community, allowing Jewish life to flourish.