Jewish communities throughout the United States are strengthening security protocols and sharpening emergency response plans as Rosh Hashanah and the High Holidays approach.
Magen David Adom, Israel’s national emergency medical service, has joined with the U.S.-based Community Security Service to train synagogue security volunteers in communities nationwide. Senior paramedic Aryeh Myers told News Media that many Jewish Americans are increasingly uneasy amid a reported rise in antisemitic incidents.
“There is this heightened sense of concern, of worry that these attacks are now a question of when rather than if,” Myers said in an interview.
Israeli senior paramedic Aryeh Myers leads a First 7 Minutes training session for volunteers in New York. (Community Security Service)
Myers has conducted First 7 Minutes trainings in the United States and abroad for Jewish, Christian and secular organizations. The program focuses on preparing volunteers to take critical action in the immediate aftermath of an attack, before police, firefighters or emergency medical teams arrive.
His trainings focus on first aid, how to communicate most effectively with first responders and how best to assist them once they do arrive.
Volunteers receive training on how to respond after a mass-casualty attack. (Community Security Service)
“Our expertise is in response to mass casualty events…. We respond on the national level to everything from delivering babies, to terror attacks to war situations,” Myers said.
“The advantage that Magen David Adom brings is unfortunately having that level of experience, that we have seen multiple mass casualty attacks and multi-casualty attacks and have learned from those,” he added.
MORE STORY: Schools Close Early for Funeral of A66 Youth After Vigil Disorder
Jewish communities across the globe have faced increasing levels of antisemitism in the years since the October 7 terror attacks in Israel.
Many U.S. universities became hotbeds for anti-Israel and antisemitic attacks amid Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
A new report from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) found that Jewish teachers have also faced rampant antisemitism from teachers unions.
The organization surveyed 307 Jewish members of teachers unions, many of whom admitted to censoring themselves and being disappointed with how unions handled concerns about antisemitism.
The Anti-Defamation League warns in a new report that antisemitism is not only found at on-campus protests, but also in classrooms. (Drazen Zigic/iStock/Getty Images Plus)
“What we found is not the work of a few bad actors. It is a structural and cultural failure,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement. “Jewish educators deserve to feel safe and protected in their union spaces. And instead of that, they are self-censoring and fearing backlash for raising concerns.”
Sydney Altfield, CEO of Teach Coalition, an organization that advocates for Jewish schools, said the report was particularly concerning because teachers unions were meant to represent and protect all educators.
“What strikes me is that these unions are supposed to be homes for everyone, and [they’re] not being that,” Altfield told News Media.
One of the key findings of the report was the high rate at which Jewish educators were self-censoring out of fear of retaliation. According to the ADL, 70% of respondents “somewhat or strongly agreed” that bringing up concerns about how Jews were treated in union spaces “could lead to reputational or professional consequences.”