LiveSecure: Enhancing Security in Jewish Greater Washington

LiveSecure: Enhancing Security in Jewish Greater Washington

The Need for Action: Since 2013, Jewish communities across the country, including in Greater Washington, have faced a nearly threefold increase in antisemitic incidents, with numbers continuing to rise.* In 2021, 2,717 reports of antisemitic incidents, including harassment and assault, accounted for a nearly 34% increase over 2020, and the most ever since tracking began in 1979.*

In our own community, antisemitic incidents increased 17% in Maryland and 23% in Washington, DC, with Northern Virginia exhibiting a slight decrease of 6% from 2020 to 2021*.

While comprehensive data has not yet been released for 2022, recent incidents continue to speak for themselves, and include antisemitic graffiti in Bethesda, MD, on a bus stop bench at Montgomery Mall, and in Loudoun County, VA; antisemitic flyers in DC’s Kalorama neighborhood; antisemitic, racist, and homophobic graffiti in the College Park U of MD Metro station parking garage; swastikas spray painted at Union Station; hateful messaging on Bethesda’s Walt Whitman High School sign; and many others during the last quarter of 2022.

*Data from ADL’s 2021 Audit of Antisemitic Incidents

The Power of Your Gift: Through LiveSecure, Federation will be able to increase the life-saving training, tools, and resources needed to protect those in Greater Washington’s JCCs, synagogues, schools, senior centers, summer camps, and other centers of Jewish life. Every dollar you contribute is matched 50% by national funders.

Our goal is to provide $2.25 million in incremental funding over the next three years to further our communal security and preparedness efforts.

  • Increase trainings by 40 per year, enabling every Jewish organization to receive access to one training every year.
  • Provide 75 more facility assessments to ensure every Jewish organization can receive an assessment every two to three years.
  • Three times as many institutional executives and community members trained to keep community members and staff safe.
  • Leverage millions more in state and federal security funding to provide support for target-hardening and other physical security enhancements and activities.

In Their Own Words: How We’ve Helped Keep Our Community Safe & Secure 

“The work Olam Tikvah has done with Federation and SCN, including security assessments for grants, has helped make our organization safer.”
– Rochelle Goldberg, Executive Administrator, Congregation Olam Tikvah

 

“Capital Camps & Retreat Center has received invaluable advice and training thanks to the partnership between SCN and Federation. Our staff now trains annually to ensure we are up to date on the latest guidance to protect our community and campus. Federation and SCN are always a quick phone call away to provide assistance as needed. We are beyond grateful for our ongoing partnership.”
– Havi Goldscher, CEO, Capital Camps & Retreat Center

 

“In these uncertain times, the Bender JCC relies on vital support from The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, which shares our commitment to safety and security. Our Bender JCC community is particularly thankful for our incredible partner organizations that enable our vibrant Jewish community to come together safely and securely.”
– Joshua Bender, CEO, Bender JCC of Greater Washington