As the Jewish community marks the second night of Hanukkah, the holiday comes amid heartbreak.
On Sunday, 15 people were killed in a mass shooting at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Australia.
“We are in grief, and we are just horrified by what happened,” said Guila Franklin Siegel, chief operating officer of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington.
Siegel says security is often top of mind.
“As you’re heading out the door to a particular event, you wonder about safety issues,” she said.
“[…] Antisemitism has not only continued to escalate, but it’s become increasingly violent.”
Antisemitic hate crimes spiked nearly 60% in 2023, after the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel, according to FBI data.
One American University student from Israel says shortly after Oct. 7, 2023, Tomer Ben-Ezer, people on campus were spitting on him, and someone defaced one of his piano recital posters with the words, “death to the Zionists, Hitler was right.”
Two FBI agents came to the recital to ensure his safety.
“What I’ve went through during that time is something I won’t wish on my worst enemy,” he said.
And more recently, this past May, a shooter opened fire outside the Capital Jewish Museum in D.C., killing two staffers from the Israeli Embassy.
‘When one member of the Jewish community is attacked, we all feel that pain,” Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt with Congregation B’Nai Tzedek in Potomac, Maryland.
Weinblatt says they’ve also stepped up security in the past two years.
“We want people to be able to feel safe and secure and confident that they can observe their religion in a way in which we as Americans believe that everyone should be able to do,” he said.
This week, in light of the attack in Australia, D.C., Fairfax County and Montgomery County police all say they’re increasing patrols at Jewish institutions.
“What we want to do is reassure folks at a time where they should be celebrating,” said Darren Francke, assistant chief of police for Montgomery County. “That they can celebrate, that we support them and that we’re looking out for their safety.”
from Local – NBC4 Washington https://ift.tt/0OLTNuc
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