Law enforcement agencies across the United States are facing calls to increase patrols and security visibility near Jewish schools, synagogues and community institutions as the Jewish High Holy Days approach on Sept. 11 — a date that also marks the 25th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks.
“Every Jewish child deserves access to a safe place to learn, and every individual deserves to worship in peace,” said Sydney Altfield, CEO of Teach Coalition, a New York-based advocacy organization active in seven states.
Altfield warned that Jewish day schools and places of worship have faced growing threats, saying they have “increasingly become targets.”
The renewed security push comes amid troubling national data on antisemitism. Antisemitic incidents made up nearly 63% of all religion-based hate crimes in the U.S. in 2025, marking the third-highest total of anti-Jewish hate crimes ever documented in federal crime statistics, according to an analysis by the Anti-Defamation League.
In New York City, hate crimes rose 9.4% through July compared with the same period in 2025, NYPD figures showed. More than half of those reported incidents targeted Jewish New Yorkers, even as the city recorded historically low levels of murders and shootings.
Some Jewish leaders blamed Mayor Zohran Mamdani, an outspoken critic of Israel who has accused the Jewish nation of committing a “genocide” during the war in Gaza and also called for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The mayor has said he has zero tolerance for Jew hatred.
The alarming rise of antisemitism and anti-Jewish hate crimes across America has the Jewish community on edge ahead of the Jewish High Holy Days.
The High Holy Days are traditionally a time when the Jewish community faces heightened security concerns — and that fear is exacerbated this year as the beginning of Rosh Hashanah marks the 25th anniversary of the tragic terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
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The Jewish holidays include Rosh Hashanah on Sept. 11, Yom Kippur on Sept. 20 and Sukkot on Sept. 25.
The New York City metropolitan region has the largest Jewish population outside of Israel.
Teach Coalition, a project of the Orthodox Union, operates in seven states: New York, New Jersey, Florida, Pennsylvania, Maryland, California and Nevada.
Typically, the NYPD increases its patrols around Jewish institutions during the High Holy Days, as it did earlier this year during the Jewish holiday of Purim.
“The NYPD will have a security briefing as we get closer to the holidays,” an NYPD rep told The Post on Sunday. “And yes, in prior years, we have increased patrols during this time.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul, while addressing the Central Synagogue in Manhattan on Friday, also pledged to boost security for synagogues and Jewish communities across the state ahead of the holy days.
A bigoted madman recently unleashed a horrific, antisemitic assault at the place of worship.
“If you need more money, if you need more protection, I will send the New York State Police here,” Hochul said, the Jerusalem Post reported. “We will fortify this place not only now but certainly ahead of the approaching High Holidays.”
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, during her own remarks to Central Synagogue on Aug. 21, promised that Jewish institutions across the Big Apple will “not be left to protect themselves” against rising antisemitism.