H eadlines
Tree Continued from Page 1
were still very much present.

Specifically, Friedman often
heard the story of Leo Frank,
the Jewish businessman in early
20th-century Georgia who was
hanged after being wrongfully
convicted of killing a 13-year-
old female employee. His tragic
story helped spark the creation
of the Anti-Defamation
League, the Jewish nongovern-
mental organization known for
tracking antisemitic incidents.

But for Friedman and other
young Jews of the postwar era,
the story was a warning from a
distant time. It was something
that still had to be prevented,
but it was also something that
used to happen.

“Even when we had security
fears, like there’s a war in
Israel, it was always tangen-
tial,” he said.

During that same period,
Ken Jacobson, the deputy
national director of the ADL
and a 50-year employee, used
to get a recurring question
from fellow Jews.

“Why are you spending
your time on antisemitism?”
they would ask.

For decades, Jacobson gave
the same answer.

“Things have gotten better,
Rabbi Abe Friedman of Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel in Philadelphia
Rabbi Eliott Perlstein of Ohev Shalom of Bucks County
Courtesy of Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel
and we should be happy about
that, but don’t get complacent,”
he said.

“Then Pittsburgh happened,”
he added.

According to the ADL,
antisemitic incidents have
surged in recent years, with
2019 setting a record of 2,107
in the U.S. The ADL began
tracking incidents in 1979.

While those numbers are
jarring, they are still just numbers.

A shooting at a synagogue is
different, Jacobson said.

“It’s a tremendously traumatic
event,” he said. “It’s something
that American Jews have really
never experienced.”
Earlier this month, the
Jewish Federations of North
America announced a $54
million security initiative to
help protect synagogues and
other Jewish institutions.

But local synagogues had
already started looking after
themselves. Friedman’s BZBI went from
using a security guard most of
the time to using one anytime
the building was open. The
synagogue added a door with
a locked barrier between its
preschool/Hebrew school and
the rest of the building.

At Congregation
Beth Solomon, an Orthodox synagogue
in Northeast Philadelphia,
members must enter the building
Courtesy of Rabbi Eliott Perlstein
code before coming in. A security
guard now mans the door outside
Shabbat services. And Rabbi
Solomon Isaacson encourages
congregants to get licenses to
carry guns.

“We have to be aware,”
Isaacson said.

The morning after Pittsburgh,
Rabbi Eliott Perlstein of
Conservative temple Ohev
Shalom of Bucks County called
a meeting with synagogue
leaders. They made what Perlstein
described as a consensus decision.

“At every Shabbat service,
there needed to be a security
guard,” he said. “And at every
day of Hebrew school, there
needed to be a security guard.”
Don’t Schlep It, Ship It! Free Pick Up Available!
No matter whether it’s golf clubs, good china,
priceless art, oversized luggage –
if you can point to it, we can ship it!
Inspired Hearts Home Care Services offer Care That Comes To You.

Now you can feel better in the comfort of your own home with
Experienced Vaccinated Caregivers you can trust.

Whether it’s Companionship, Elderly Care Support, Cancer Patient Care or
more, Inspired Hearts provides one-on-one attention and care.

Stay in your home • Let’s work together • Become part of our family!
Inspired Hearts Home Care Services
Contact Lisette Santiago @ 267-734-9064
lsantiago@inspiredheartshcs.com Visit our website @ inspiredheartshcs.com
14 OCTOBER 28, 2021
If it’s valuable to you, it’s valuable to us. The
US Mailroom picks up, packs, and ships items
of all shapes and sizes, getting your packages
from where they are to where they need to be.

We cater especially to “snowbirds” as the cold
weather approaches.

Call us today at 610-668-4182
or visit our store in Bala Cynwyd, PA.

For more information,
email info@usmailroom.com
or go to www.usmailroom.com
Est.1988 JEWISH EXPONENT
Then, they asked congre-
gants to pay more in dues to
share in the costs of keeping
everyone safe. Ohev Shalom had
never added a fee in the middle
of a year before, Perlstein said.

Yet no one objected.

“They knew we needed it.

They knew the kids needed it,”
Perlstein said. “That’s where
the spiritual and the practical
meet.” According to Isaacson, in
this new normal, his congre-
gants walk around paying
closer attention to the neigh-
borhood than they did before.

If they hear a noise outside the
synagogue, they look out the
windows. “They are ready to call the
police at a second’s notice,” he
said. “And it was never like this
before.” But several other local
rabbis said that, as the years
continue to pass, the enhanced
security, as well as the feeling
of it, becomes more of a
background feature.

The U.S. is still a welcoming
place for Jews. Synagogues are
still safe. Rabbis still tell their
congregants not to be afraid.

But they do remind them to
be aware.

“That’s the biggest change,”
Friedman said. “‘Oh, it could
happen here. It still probably
won’t, but it could.’” l
jsaffren@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0740
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM