Synagogues increasing security for Jewish New Year after terror attacks
( 2001-09-18 10:34 ) (7 )

The Jewish High Holy Days arrived with synagogues under the watch of extra security guards and police, but worshippers greeted the period of personal reflection with vows not to be intimidated by last week's terrorist attacks.

Three police officers stood in front of a Reform Jewish seminary in Manhattan as a steady stream of people, some wearing red, white and blue ribbons, arrived for services Monday night.

Ilana Schweber, 22, went to worship focused as much on the situation in the Mideast as the terror in her own city. She said she would pray "to have a better next year."

"I don't feel nervousness here," she said.

Richard Cohen, a tax attorney, said despite the horror of last week, he wanted to come out and be with other people. "I feel that you can't live your life in fear. You need to go on living," he said.

Most congregations activate special safety plans during the 10-day period that starts with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and ends with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Security was heightened shortly after terrorists hijacked four commercial jets last week.

Some synagogues were checking bags and restricting parking.

Few saw an imminent threat. But there was concern that -- given recent events -- synagogues will become targets for hate crimes during the holiday period, the most important time of the year for Jews.

"Security experts have always told us that 75 percent of security in sanctuaries is awareness," said David Brook, executive director of Beth El Congregation of Phoenix. "I think we're all more aware of it this year than other years."

Brooke said some congregants had called to express concern about security. Yet many rabbis expected greater holiday attendance than usual, as Jews seek comfort in prayer and community.

Congregation B'nai Jeshurun, a popular synagogue in Manhattan, has hired extra security, banned large bags from the sanctuary, and barred cars from entrances to its buildings.

At Congregation Beth Shalom in Oak Park, Michigan, tickets distributed to members to reserve a space at new year services were to be checked at the door. That's a rare step, said Rabbi David Nelson.

The Park Avenue Synagogue, also in Manhattan, began speaking with local police immediately after the attacks. "We've been advised by the FBI and police not to give out specifics," executive director Barry Modlin said.

Rabbi Matthew Eisenberg of Temple Israel Ner Tamid, in the Cleveland suburb of Mayfield Heights, said his congregation hired an extra officer "but we're not going to let these terrorists make us prisoners in our own country."

Two high-profile hate crimes in California two years ago prompted many synagogues to enact the safety plans they are using now.

White supremacist brothers pleaded guilty to setting fire to three Sacramento synagogues and an abortion clinic. In another incident, a white supremacist opened fire at a Jewish day care center in Los Angeles, injuring three boys, a teen-age girl and an older woman.

Baruch Fellner, president of Keshir Israel in Washington, where Sen. Joseph Lieberman has worshipped, said he sees the safety precautions as more beneficial for their "placebo effect," calming congregations unnerved by recent events, than for preventing any violence.

"Given the kinds of actions that terrorists are prepared to take, they cannot be prevented unless they are discovered in advance," Fellner said.