Our collective hearts are once again broken after hearing of the shooting at the Chabad of Poway synagogue in San Diego as people congregated to celebrate the last day of Passover. We pray for the victims and for the speedy recovery of those who were wounded this morning.

Long before today or the incident at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh that took place exactly six months ago, our Jewish community was already engaged in a process to review and improve security measures for our synagogues and agencies that included significant consultation with our law enforcement partners and security advisors. That process has continued since.

Just last January, during Super Sunday weekend, over 30 members of our community received security training provided by the Community Security Service, an organization dedicated to the training of volunteers for synagogues. This year alone, a large number of our synagogues and agencies have undertaken security assessments to apply for special funding from the Department of Homeland Security.

We have met and are in constant communication with the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, our local law enforcement and the Secure Community Network, who inform us of any incidents that require our attention. Our most recent meeting took place last month in Harrisburg. Whenever any information comes to our attention, we share it immediately with a security contact list that is represented by all agencies and synagogues by email and by a special security app.  

We know that security is of the utmost importance for everyone in our community. We will continue to maintain a vigilant eye, and will not be deterred. We will mourn once again, but we continue to attend services, we will continue to celebrate our Jewish holidays, and we will continue to be proud of who we are.