Keeping Our Community Safe This High Holiday Season

With the High Holidays beginning next month and back to school this week and next, many of us are looking forward to this annual time of celebration and togetherness with family and friends. This year, as it has in the past, planning for the Jewish holidays also includes security planning to ensure that our community can worship and celebrate in a safe and secure environment.

At the JCC, we want to assure you that our community’s safety is always our priority and share that at the time of this blog post, there is no credible threat to our JCC.

Every week, in my capacity as Community Security Advisor for Northern Virginia with JShield, the security arm of The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, I’m in conversation with local Jewish institutions—synagogues, schools, community centers—about what’s happening on the ground when it comes to security. 

What I’m hearing is consistent: people are doing more, thinking differently, and responding to a landscape that continues to shift. 

And it’s not easy. 

Security is an ongoing process. It’s not a one-time fix, and definitely not a box you check and forget. 

Many organizations have already changed their posture: adding personnel, revising protocols, tightening procedures, and modifying security systems. Figuring out when and how to deploy security staff isn’t a simple call. It’s a conversation involving lay leaders, professional teams, congregants, members, and sometimes even elected officials. 

And still, security is so much more than equipment or security staff. Preparedness is also about all of us — staff, community members, visitors, and making sure emergency plans are reviewed, updated, and practiced. There’s still a real need to expand who’s engaged in this work. It’s easy to think about the worst-case active threat incident but we should have plans for all types of emergencies such as fire, medical, severe weather, utility outages, as well as those involving violence. The more people who know what to do and how to respond, the stronger and more resilient we become as a community. 

The people part of our security is the core. Security is a team sport — so how can you contribute?

• Support and follow organizations’ security policies. The most expensive security systems are defeated if one person props a door or lets in an unvetted individual.
• Practice good situational awareness. Be aware of your surroundings whether at home, at work, out in public or at the JCC, shul, or other Jewish location. Know to whom you should report suspicious activity (at the JCC, it’s the on-duty security officer!). If you are unsure, call your local police department for guidance.
• Have a personal and family plan in case of emergency.  Fairfax County offers a Community Emergency Response Guide in many languages to support this process. The JCC also has hard copies of this in English in our Lobby.
• Report incidents to your local police and to JShield using their Incident Report Form.
• Participate in trainings to further your knowledge and skills. The Pozez JCC and JShield offer a wide array of opportunities including Situational Awareness, De-escalation, Usher/Greeter, Stop the Bleed, and others. If you have questions, contact security@theJ.org.
• Volunteer in your community — whether as an usher/greeter, medical volunteer, or just as another set of trained eyes and ears who knows the emergency plans.

By practicing these few safety tips, we can be safe and secure during this time and left with an opportunity to celebrate as a community and reflect and mourn those who we have lost. If you have any questions about security, please reach out.

Shana Tova.