I love the Interfaith Council in my town. Leaders of all the organized religions belong, and they often speak at the others’ congregations. The Council stands up for all its members’ needs in the community.
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You make it sound so simple. It isn’t. There are several foundations that have conducted studies on non-profit collaboration. Collaboration is difficult and takes time. For example, just getting each group to get its board and staff to sign on to a collaborative effort takes time and that’s before anything even happens. I was involved in a collaboration effort initiated by a local philanthropist–there were 7 organizations involved and the donor even hired a consultant to work with the groups to create a joint plan. It was over a year before they could even come up with a plan with which all the groups were in agreement. Several groups eventually left and felt the funds weren’t worth modifying their missions/goals. My group was one of them. I can bore you with lots of details about why collaboration is difficult, and the collaborative effort I was working on wasn’t dealing with complex issues like hate, racisim, antisemitism, intolerance, etc. If Robert Kraft’s campaign opens the minds of a handful of people that’s better than not doing anything.
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The “Your College Bound Kid” podcast had a 3-part series recently in which they interviewed an admissions expert who’s very knowledgeable about college admissions factors that one might want to consider as a Jewish student. I thought it was really informative. They talked even about some nuanced stuff that I, as a non-Jewish person, didn’t know about.
That’s exactly what 23andme told my sister when she asked for more info. (She and I are both something like 99.3% Ashkenazi Jewish.) Still, I’d like to know. I’m part of a group on FB with people who are related to me through my mother’s side, with an unusual last name, and we’re always talking about how this ancestor came from Strasbourg, France, but this one from Stuttgart, Germany.
That makes some sense, but it still doesn’t mean individual campaigns work.
Doing nothing assures that no hearts or minds will be changed. I know that I have learned so much during my adult years because I was exposed to voices that encouraged me to consider their experiences. Ignorance is not bliss, and I am so grateful for the people I have encountered who have helped me to see what I didn’t even realize that I was not seeing.
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Nasty antisemitic and white supremist propaganda found on a couple of streets no more than a mile from my house this morning. This is not a problem happening “somewhere else.”
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But no Jews are ethnically Russian or Polish or German. These are/were all host countries. Just as Spain was a host country to the Jews for 500 years until the they were kicked out. That’s why it’s called the diaspora.
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The ADL report referenced in the OP link says there were 136 assault victims last year. That gives a rate of roughly 1.7 per 100,000. The nationwide violent crime rate is about 396 per 100,000. It doesn’t appear that antisemitic hate crimes are adding a lot of risk to safety.
Poway, Pittsburgh, Colleyville TX…
Does YOUR house of worship have an armed guard (plus non-armed volunteers who are trained in defusing a potential hostage situation, preventing a murderous attack on people who are peacefully praying) whenever there is a gathering? Because mine does.
The congregants have also been trained- how to help evacuate (or shelter in place) the dozens of kids who are in different parts of the building with their youth leaders; the fastest way to help a disabled member access the exits in case of an attack; where the panic buttons are located with link directly to law enforcement.
If you haven’t been in a synagogue since the Pittsburgh murders, you need to educate yourself.
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Safety for whom? Minimizing the hate crimes against Jews emphasizes why more education is needed. Maybe a blue square isn’t the best way, but obviously something needs to happen.
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First of all, you’re comparing different things. The overall crime rate includes, I assume (although I don’t know where you got your data), rapes, burglaries, assaults and murders, to name a few.
Second, the number of 136 assaults against Jews doesn’t take into account other actions taken against Jews or Jewish houses of worship – e.g., desecration, threats, and so forth.
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Like this incident: https://www.jta.org/2022/12/05/united-states/michigan-man-charged-with-ethnic-intimidation-after-harassing-synagogue-goers-over-israel. He was let go (after he was given a fist bump).
Our synagogue (and the Jewish dayschool the kids attended many moons ago) have had huge cement planters in front of the entrances and security for decades. Sad that we have to live this way.
https://www.adl.org/resources/press-release/adl-audit-finds-antisemitic-incidents-united-states-reached-all-time-high “Incidents reported in all 50 states, including a dramatic spike during Hamas-Israel conflict; Attacks against synagogues and JCCs increased 61 percent
New York, NY, April 26, 2022 … Antisemitic incidents reached an all-time high in the United States in 2021, with a total of 2,717 incidents of assault, harassment and vandalism reported to ADL (the Anti-Defamation League). This represents the highest number of incidents on record since ADL began tracking antisemitic incidents in 1979 – an average of more than seven incidents per day and a 34 percent increaseyear over year.” Keep in mind these are only the reported cases of antisemitic acts. There are many more that go unreported, and many cities that do not provide these stats. Sometimes it’s difficult to discern if some of these posts are purposely obstreperous and inflammatory or simply represent someone being amazingly tone deaf.
Most do here, not only because of threats but because of robberies, attacks, drug user and homeless trying to use facilities. Most of the bigger churches have stopped collecting cash on Sat/Sun just because there was so much theft. The megachurches all have a big police presence for services for traffic and safety. There were a couple of shootings at the megachurches a few years ago and they all beefed up security. I lived pretty close to Saddleback megachurch in California and it always had a large security force on Sundays but every other day of the week too.
I live by two mid-sized synagogues, and they have the same police-for-traffic (and of course, security) as other worship places. On this street (it’s a 4 lane state highway, but residential), there are about 6 large churches and the two synagogues on a 2 mile stretch, and they all have about the same security (from the street) except for the Church of the Nazarene which is HUGE and the cops control the traffic signals in both directions, plus are in the parking lots.
A wedding I went to recently at a synagogue had two armed guards in suits walking the perimeter. It says something sad about the state of the world that they made me feel more comfortable at the celebration.
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Listening to Tucker Carlson promoting anti-Semitic tropes about George Soros leading a global cabal that controls world politics and finances, including the recent indictment of former President Trump suggests to me that the Blue Square Campaign is important and while it may not change the minds of antisemites, it might get others thinking about the ugliness and harm of such beliefs.
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I come for perspective, and I give perspective. There is very little latitude or tolerance on this forum for discussion, so I only state the bare minimum of what stands out to me that hasn’t already been said.
It was some flavor of UCR data, which includes murder, rape, robbery, and assault in violent crime stats. The ADL assault data also includes those others, but there weren’t any instances of the others, so my comparison was roughly apples to apples.
And even if the ADL hate crime data is underreported by 10x, the conclusion that we are dealing with small numbers of violent crime is basically the same.
Harassment and vandalism make up a different discussion to have, IMO.
I don’t have a place of worship. But having an armed guard would be dictated by each place’s risk tolerance. The ADL’s numbers suggest a low risk to me.
It might help. It won’t hurt. I haven’t actually seen or heard any evidence of the square campaign here; maybe it is just starting.