{"id":16451,"date":"2025-09-19T16:12:52","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T22:12:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/for-many-u-s-jews-high-holy-days-will-be-a-mix-of-anxiety-and-determination\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T19:37:02","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T19:37:02","slug":"for-many-u-s-jews-high-holy-days-will-be-a-mix-of-anxiety-and-determination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/for-many-u-s-jews-high-holy-days-will-be-a-mix-of-anxiety-and-determination\/","title":{"rendered":"For many U.S. Jews, High Holy Days will be a mix of anxiety and determination"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FILE
FILE \u2013 People gather to light candles in a makeshift memorial to honor Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim who were killed as they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, during a candlelight vigil outside of the White House in Washington, Thursday, May 22, 2025. (AP Photo\/Jose Luis Magana, File)<\/span>Jose Luis Magana<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

For Jewish congregations across the United States, the upcoming High Holy Days \u2013 a compelling mix of celebration and repentance \u2013 will be more charged than usual this year. Rabbis say many of their congregants are worried by a surge of antisemitism, including two deadly attacks in the spring, yet are all the more increasingly determined to worship together in the coming days.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt this is a very precarious moment,\u201d said Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism. \u201cPeople are feeling unsettled and vulnerable and also feeling that the High Holy Days could not matter more.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Sinai Temple, a Conservative synagogue in Los Angeles, Rabbi Erez Sherman said his diverse congregation seems eager to gather side by side.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously security is of utmost concern,\u201d Sherman said. \u201cIt\u2019s led to people saying I want to be here. I want to be in these pews. And I want to walk out with a proud Jewish identity as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similar sentiments came from Rabbi Moshe Hauer, executive vice president at the Orthodox Union.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur precious country\u2019s atmosphere is currently hate-filled, making this a difficult time for all Americans and certainly for the Jewish community,\u201d he said via email. \u201cRather than discourage high holiday attendance, this will motivate our community to come together and fill our synagogues with the prayers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The High Holy Days begin this year on Sept. 22 with Rosh Hashana \u2013 the Jewish New Year \u2013 and continue through Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which ends at nightfall on Oct. 2.<\/p>\n

Attacks put Jewish Americans on edge<\/div>\n

The recent assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk has put Americans nationwide on edge. For Jewish Americans, there was a stretch earlier this year that violently dramatized the threat of antisemitism.<\/p>\n

In April, during Passover, the home of Pennsylvania\u2019s Jewish governor, Josh Shapiro, was firebombed. In May, two Israeli Embassy staffers were fatally shot outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington. On June 1, an attacker threw Molotov cocktails at people in Boulder, Colorado, rallying to demand the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza; one of those wounded in the attack \u2013 an 82-year-old woman \u2013 died of her injuries on June 25.<\/p>\n

Those attacks occurred as monitoring groups and security experts reported an unprecedented surge in antisemitic incidents and anti-Jewish threats in the U.S. since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on Oct. 7, 2023. Leaders of several major Jewish organizations held a briefing Wednesday on Capitol Hill to press their case for more federal funding to bolster security at Jewish institutions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a domestic terrorism crisis,\u201d said Eric Fingerhut, president and CEO of Jewish Federations of North America. \u201cWe need to be on a war footing to respond.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Houston, Rabbi David Lyon of Congregation Beth Israel used dire language in an email to The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is nothing similar to other recent years,\u201d he wrote of the specter of antisemitism. \u201cThis is calculated, organized, and funded hate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro pauses during a news conference at the governor's official residence discussing the alleged arson that forced him, his family and guests to flee in the middle of the night on the Jewish holiday of Passover on April 13 in Harrisburg. (Marc Levy\/The Associated Press)<\/span>Marc Levy<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Worshiping alongside others with differing views<\/div>\n

Like many U.S. rabbis, Lyon serves a politically divided community with diverse opinions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a Jewish setting, where there is nothing close to a Pope or a bishop, we exercise free will and autonomy,\u201d he wrote. \u201cIn my congregations, we hear from the left and the right but , and the role of the rabbis is to locate us on a mutual path of Torah-based values that cherish human life, dignity, peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, Sherman and his wife, Nicole Guzik, serve jointly as senior rabbis.<\/p>\n

They try to avoid broaching politics from the pulpit, but schedule events at the synagogue designed so congregants will hear from people with diverse views. One recent guest was Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, founder of Realign for Palestine \u2013 a project seeking \u201ca new policy framework for rejuvenated pro-Palestine advocacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI could not be more proud of our congregation,\u201d Guzik said. \u201cThey\u2019re willing to listen to viewpoints to which they did not fully agree.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sinai Temple also has a mental health center, staffed by a social worker, to support congregants affected by antisemitism.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to acknowledge that people are scared and yet at the same time they don\u2019t want to sit at home and hide their Judaism,\u201d Guzik said.<\/p>\n

Finding ways to protect worshipers<\/div>\n

Rick Jacobs, the Reform Judaism leader, said that for U.S. rabbis in general, \u201cThere\u2019s a real sense of an impossible moment, given the rise of deadly antisemitism and the wars that won\u2019t end.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe security measures that congregations have to upgrade to is are just overwhelming,\u201d he added. \u201cThe feeling of being in community \u2013 we desperately need that. But you don\u2019t want to tell people something that\u2019s false, like \u2018Don\u2019t worry.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

These days, most synagogues employ a layered strategy of security \u2013 guards, cameras, and various systems for controlling access to events through ticketing, registration or other forms of vetting, according to Jewish security experts.<\/p>\n

The Secure Community Network, which provides safety advice to Jewish institutions throughout North America, highlighted the issue of synagogue security earlier this month in a report titled \u201cWeapons at Worship.\u201d The network has reported that firearms sales are surging among U.S. Jews.<\/p>\n

The report\u2019s primary recommendation: If a house of worship is going to allow individuals to carry firearms, it should do so through an organized and well-trained security team, acting in coordination with law enforcement. The report recommended prohibiting individuals from carrying firearms in their personal capacity outside the structure of such a team.<\/p>\n

SCN\u2019s previous reports advise that if a congregation determines that armed security will be part of its plan, employing uniformed police officers is the best option.<\/p>\n

Michael Masters, SCN\u2019s national director and CEO, said the Jewish people have survived for centuries \u201cin unique and challenging threat environments.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis moment, though, for Jews in the diaspora and especially in the U.S. does feel different,\u201d he told the AP. \u201cThe Jewish community and others have to be concerned about their physical safety and security just to practice their religion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Temple Bethel in Augusta, Maine, is one of many congregations following that advice. Rabbi Erica Asch, in the temple\u2019s newsletter, said a uniformed, off-duty police officer would be present outside the synagogue during High Holy Days services and events.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year, I\u2019ve heard from many of you that are feeling particularly unmoored, concerned and worried,\u201d Asch wrote in the newsletter. \u201cSo during the High Holidays, I\u2019ll be focusing on how to find our footing in a world that seems uncertain, and how to follow our own moral compass no matter what may come our way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP\u2019s collaboration with The Conversation U.S., with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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