A New Normal?

A counter-protest held at the BAYT, a shul in Toronto, this past March. Photo: Getty Images

Pro-Palestinian agitators have found a new venue for their hate-filled protests—our shuls.

I’ll admit it.

One of the first things that went through my brain as I tried to process the atrocities of October 7 was a sense of relief that my daughter had come back from Jerusalem with her husband and baby for Sukkot, because, somehow, New York just felt safer to me. But the notion that she, or any of us, could have a sense of security in the United States disappeared almost as quickly as my sukkah did, and just a few short weeks later, I was happy to see her go back home to Jerusalem which, once again, felt like the better place to be.

Things have gotten ugly in North America since October. Much of the sympathy for the devastating brutality that Israel endured vanished once the IDF began retaliating against Hamas. While the Jewish State certainly has strong supporters in this country, there is a very vocal segment of the population that quickly recast Israel as an aggressor, accusing it of genocide. Hating on Israel was suddenly in vogue.

Anti-Israel demonstrations led to protesters shutting down roadways and bridges, and eventually social media evolved into a battlefield of its own. Turning to the next chapter in their playbook, agitators set their sights on new venues for their vitriol-filled protests—our shuls—bathing our communities in hate and bringing the threat of violence directly to the heart of our neighborhoods.

From Rabbis to Generals

Throughout North America, rabbanim have found themselves navigating uncharted waters. Rabbi Adir Posy, director of the Department of Synagogue Initiatives at the Orthodox Union, noted that nerves have been fraught in Jewish communities nationwide, causing rabbanim to deliver Shabbat Hagadol-level derashot in their shul every week since the start of the war. From hardening their security protocols to inspiring stressed-out ba’alei batim, rabbis have found themselves leading the charge on an unfamiliar battlefield and facing the need to assemble a toolkit of skills to lead their congregations through challenging times.

That reality became abundantly clear over the winter when pro-Palestinian groups made plans to demonstrate outside several shuls in New York, New Jersey, Montreal and Toronto, which were hosting the Great Real Estate Event, an annual Israel real estate exhibition aimed at potential buyers. Taking to social media, agitators called upon their followers to join them in protesting what they described as the “sale of stolen Palestinian property” to Jews, accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza and calling for its destruction. Although none of the real estate events were shul-sponsored, rabbanim and officials at each of the targeted facilities found themselves facing the possibility of a major threat, one that clearly surpassed their existing security protocols.

“If you don’t do anything, it’s dangerous,” explained Rabbi Ya’akov Trump of the Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst, whose shul was the site of a March 12 protest. “And if you do something, it’s also dangerous. There was no playbook for this, and we had to deal with a lot of issues that were unexpected as we tried to navigate the best way to handle things.”

Many discussions ensued about the planned demonstrations, and multiple approaches were suggested, their pros and cons weighed and debated. Ignoring the protesters had the advantage of not turning a small rally into something larger, which would give the demonstrators credibility and media attention, but it also handed agitators a golden opportunity to broadcast their messages without any opposition. Similarly, staging counter-protests offered a means of denouncing the pro-Palestinian narrative, but that approach had the potential to backfire spectacularly if overly zealous members of the Jewish community steered things in unwanted directions. It was clear that these weren’t the kinds of situations that anyone had trained for in rabbinical schools and that no matter what the rabbanim decided to do, they were heading into a significant confrontation.

“The most crucial question was knowing where people were at,” recalled Rabbi Trump. “Everybody was anxious, but there were different groups. There were those who were angry and wanted a reaction, such as a counter-protest. And there were those who were scared and didn’t want to let such kinds of people come into our neighborhoods. I felt that my role in leadership was to navigate between those two extremes.”

Learning from Experience

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to circumstances like these, and the protests that took place in front of North American shuls during the spring all varied. What worked well in one instance might have proved disastrous in another, while approaches that were less than successful at Shul A may have worked well at Shul B. All served as teachable moments, providing lessons that could be and have been used, as the hate-filled campaigns have continued at other shuls.

“You need to be sensitive to the realities all around you,” noted Rabbi Elliot Schrier of Teaneck’s Congregation Bnai Yeshurun, which held a successful counter-protest on April 1. “Ignoring the protesters might work—and has worked—in some communities, but when we tried that in our community, it sent all the wrong signals and emboldened the other side, while our people felt bullied and harassed. And while we thought a counter-protest would draw more media attention, which we wanted to avoid, it turned out that the media was there anyway.”

A planned protest in front of Baltimore’s Congregation Shomrei Emunah had a very different outcome. With the FBI relaying its assurances that the demonstration would be a non-event, arranging a counter-protest would have likely drawn additional agitators. Shomrei Emunah was advised to ignore the upcoming rally, which turned out to be the right course of action, with a relatively small number of pro-Palestinian demonstrators turning out.

Still, it is hard to prepare for anything when you are dealing with groups that don’t play by the rules. A planned demonstration against a June 23 real estate event at Los Angeles’s Adas Torah had shul officials meeting with local law enforcement to create a game plan, but it was clear early on that the demonstration was deteriorating into a disaster. There were no measures in place to keep protesters apart from show participants, and police in riot gear initially did little to keep the peace as members of the two groups tangled. The confrontations that ensued outside Adas Torah spilled out onto the streets of the heavily Jewish Pico-Robertson neighborhood, with reports emerging of local women and children being attacked by demonstrators and pro-Palestinian protesters spraying Jews with mace and bear spray. The protest’s antisemitic overtone caught the attention of the White House, with President Joe Biden denouncing it on social media as appalling, dangerous and unconscionable.

I’m not going to try to sugarcoat it—this is the new normal for us, and a tiny taste of what our parents, grandparents and great grandparents experienced.

“We are learning on the fly,” acknowledged Rabbi Schrier. “I was one of those who had initially been telling people: ignore, ignore, ignore. But realizing to our shock and horror that it wasn’t working flipped the switch for many of us. We will make mistakes along the way, but we will learn from them as we deal with realities on the ground.”

Rabbi Daniel Korobkin of Beth Avraham Yosef of Toronto (the BAYT) was determined to push back against the demonstrators who protested outside his shul, and he has been taking firm steps to prevent future hate rallies. He has been in close contact with Mayor Steven Del Duca, who, within days of the shul protest, proposed a new bylaw that would prohibit protests within 100 meters (approximately 109 yards) of houses of worship, schools, childcare facilities and hospitals. Violators could face fines of as much as $100,000.

Counter-protestors on March 10 in Teaneck, New Jersey. Photo: Kevin R. Wexler/USA Today Network

“The mayor spoke in our shul about the new law, which would create safety bubbles around vulnerable places, especially those where there are minority ethnicities,” said Rabbi Korobkin. “The bill passed the city council, but it faces opposition from the pro-Palestinian community and will be legally challenged. Still, our hope is that we never have to do this again.”

Better Safe than Sorry

Boosting security has become a high priority for shuls, especially those that have been previously targeted.

“We’ve been very vigilant about security,” said Rabbi Schrier. “We have a lot of new volunteers, and our security team has been devoting an extraordinary amount of energy to keeping our shul safe. It is an unpleasant reality, and I’m not going to try to sugarcoat it—this is the new normal for us, and a tiny taste of what our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents experienced.”

Seeing history repeating itself has been a sobering experience for Orthodox Jews throughout North America. “This is not the first time this has happened in Jewish history,” observed Rabbi Trump. “We’ve had a reprieve in America, but we as the Jewish people are resilient and proud. This is an important wakeup call to be entering this space in Jewish history again.”

In addition to bringing in extra manpower and taking additional measures to protect their facilities and their congregants, rabbis have been hard at work building strong relationships with law enforcement, a matter of critical importance for them and their shuls.

“We are making sure there is proactive and constant communication with law enforcement,” said Rabbi Posy. “Have the conversations often. And when there are events, reach out as early as possible to let them know who, what, when, where and how many people will be in attendance. You don’t want to just give law enforcement a notification; you want to be partnering with them.”

Similarly, the OU has been advocating for tighter security in Jewish communities at the national level, meeting with high-ranking officials at the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. Rabbi Posy is confident that the OU’s advocacy and its efforts to secure additional security funding have been bearing fruit in our communities. [See the sidebar later in this article about the OU’s advocacy efforts.]

Rabbi Schrier was adamant about the importance of Jewish communities demonstrating that they are ready to stand up to bullies instead of handing over their proverbial lunch money and cowering in fear. The need for communal leaders to remain calm and resolute in the face of threats is also vital, so they can provide their members with much-needed chizuk during difficult times.

“One of the key principles ingrained in rabbanim is to make a spiritual connection with every occurrence,” observed Rabbi Posy. “Immediately after what happened in Adas Torah, everyone was urged to come to shul and say extra Tehillim, so that the main takeaway was the need to get closer to Hakadosh Baruch Hu.”

A lot of people are feeling more connected and more engaged, and the protest has made us prouder of who we are, prouder of our heritage, prouder of the State of Israel and prouder of the Jewish people.

“We need to give people encouragement and reassure them that they are safe, especially here where there was so much psychological pressure,” added Rabbi Schrier. “Part of chizuk is fending off intimidation and harassment, but part of it also is leaning into it and using it to build Jewish pride. A lot of people are feeling more connected and more engaged, and the protest has made us prouder of who we are, prouder of our heritage, prouder of the State of Israel and prouder of the Jewish people.”

A planned demonstration against a June 23 real estate event at Los Angeles’s Adas Torah had shul officials meeting with local law enforcement to create a game plan, but it was clear early on that the demonstration was deteriorating. Photo: Getty Images

And what do rabbanim do when they themselves are in need of moral support?

“Supporting the rabbis is a term we have heard a lot since October 7,” admitted Rabbi Posy.  “The best tool in the arsenal of rabbanim is other rabbanim, and there has been a lot of networking and supporting going on among them. The OU and personalities like OU Executive Vice President Rabbi Moshe Hauer are a great resource, and we let rabbanim know that we are there for them and their communities, providing chizuk on the communal level.”

In addition to turning to his family, his rebbeim and his peers when he is in need of a boost, Rabbi Schrier also focuses his attention across the Atlantic.

“Perhaps it’s cliché, but I really derive much strength from our brothers and sisters in Israel,” said Rabbi Schrier. “You look at what they’re facing and the way they’ve risen to the occasion, and it helps contextualize the smaller challenges we deal with and gives me strength to do my part.”

Lessons Learned

Seeing community shuls used as lightning rods for political discontent has been an unsettling phenomenon. Protesters are well aware of that reality and use it to gain the upper hand.

“They have two ways to win,” explained Rabbi Trump. “One is when we hide in our basements in fear and are scared to be Americans because of their crazy extremism. The other is for them to cause a reaction that they can reframe, something they did in Toronto, where they feigned getting attacked or injured, and made it seem like they were conducting a peaceful protest that was disrupted by Jews. They are trained to do this, and this isn’t the first time Jews have been singled out for things they didn’t actually do.”

The shul protests have been particularly unsettling for North America’s Jewish communities for multiple reasons. While tragic incidents that impact the community are nothing new, viewing these demonstrations against the backdrop of the ongoing campus protests makes it painfully clear that antisemitic sentiments are spilling out into the community at large, explained Rabbi Yaakov Glasser, managing director for community engagement at the OU.

“Freedom of worship is what attracted Jews to settle and build communities in the United States. It is highly disconcerting that these freedoms, which provided such a rich context for Jewish communal growth, have themselves become the subject of assault from our fellow citizens,” said Rabbi Glasser.

Rabbis have been hard-pressed to deal with this latest challenge, and the many hours they have focused on demonstrations and security measures have detracted from the time they can devote to other serious matters. Similarly, making financial investments in communal safety initiatives means there are fewer funds available for other important needs.

The lackluster response by law enforcement and government officials at several of the shul protests has also contributed to the climate of concern overshadowing Orthodox Jewish communities.

“That has created a real paradigm shift in people’s sense of stability and security in the United States, and it is different than what we have seen before,” said Rabbi Glasser. “Even though some of the antisemitic protests that happened in the United States in the past were far more violent in terms of their outcome, I think these protests are shifting people’s mindset in a real way, and that is a real point of transition for the community.”

Further increasing the levels of anxiety on the communal level is the knowledge that the demonstrations are being organized and attended by people who may be living right next door.

“These are our neighbors, the people we shop with, the people we go to the library with, the people we share our community with, and the people we share our local governments with,” noted Rabbi Glasser. “What does it say about our ability to live safely and freely when it is the hamon am that is behind this unsettling new movement?”

As a nation whose instinct is to avoid confrontation and altercation, Orthodox Jews find themselves facing a reality that is uniquely theirs, one that weighs heavily on their collective conscience.

“Right now, we are spending millions of dollars on security—is anyone else spending that kind of money on security?” observed Rabbi Glasser. “Is there any demographic anywhere that is wondering about Jews coming to hurt them? I would imagine the answer is no. I do think we are going to have to adjust to a new normal, and people are finding that very difficult.”

OU Advocacy is the leading organization behind the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) that delivers millions in grant money to Jewish schools, community centers and synagogues to update their security infrastructure. Thanks to its efforts, funding for 2024 is a record $675 million. Every dollar goes towards making sure Jewish organizations have the resources to protect lives.

Sandy Eller is a freelance writer who writes for numerous websites, newspapers, magazines and private clients.

These days, instead of strengthening Torah learning and observance, rabbis need to spend much time and effort on security matters. Can we draw any chizuk from the current situation?

Rabbi Elliot Schrier and Rabbi Ya’akov Trump answer in Joining the Ranks of Jewish History