Security Updates & Resources

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Community Security Enterprise of The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington

In 2019, The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington partnered with Secure Community Network (SCN) to enhance our community’s safety, security, and preparedness posture. SCN, a nonprofit 501(c)(3), is the official safety and security organization of the Jewish community in North America. Founded in 2004 under the auspices of The Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, SCN works on behalf of 146 federations, the 50 largest Jewish nonprofit organizations in North America, and over 300 independent communities as well as with other partners in the public, private, nonprofit, and academic sectors to ensure the safety, security, and resiliency of the Jewish people.

Federation and SCN continue to work diligently to ensure our community is safe and secure. Over the last two years, we’ve accomplished a number of important tasks that have kept our community members and organizations prepared in case of an emergency. They include:

SCN conducted 20 facility security assessments across Greater Washington.

With assistance from Robert Graves and SCN, 27 community organizations were awarded $3.46M in Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) grants (up from 19 awardees and $1.75 million in 2020).
- From 2020 to 2021, awarded organizations increased by 40% and the total award for per grant nearly doubled.
- 51 community organizations applied for NSGP grants, up from 30 in 2020, a 60% increase.

SCN conducted 70 trainings for 2,050 people at synagogues, Jewish Day Schools. JCCs, Early Childhood Centers, and Day and Overnight Camps, including:
- 12 Countering Active Threat Trainings for 558 people.
- 4 Situational Awareness trainings for 322 people.
- 43 Weekly Community Security Calls on safety, security, and preparedness topics for professional and lay leaders of community organizations.

Federation convened the region’s first ever Communal Security Committee to engage all parts of the Greater Washington-area Jewish community on security concerns, needs, and best practices.

Community Security Services

Our Security team provides services to community institutions to enhance their safety, security, and emergency preparedness posture. These services are provided free of charge to non-profit Jewish community institutions, including synagogues, day schools, JCCs, and Jewish service organizations.

Security Advice and Consultation: The foundation of a security program begins with an assessment of an institution or organization’s current security posture. Our Security team can advise and coach the institution through that process. The team will meet with the organization’s leadership to identify needs and to develop a roadmap towards building a strong safety and security posture and culture. Our team also conducts formal Threat, Vulnerability, and Risk Assessments (TVRAs) to support security planning and applications for grant monies from federal, state, and local governments for security enhancements.

Safety and Security Training: One of the most effective, no-cost measures to enhance an organization’s safety and security posture is training its members, staff, and others in situational awareness, Active Threat Response, and Greeter-Usher practices. These classes, and others, customized to the needs of each organization, build personal confidence, preparedness, and resilience in the face of a crisis or emergency and begin the development of a safety and security culture in the organization.

Find more information on safety, security, and preparedness training offered.

Information Sharing: Nationally, SCN maintains a Duty Desk with an on-call Analyst available to Jewish community leaders and government partners. The Duty Desk provides 24-hour threat monitoring, intelligence analysis, and liaison with local, state, and federal agencies. Locally, our Security team operates SCN Alert, a state-of-the-art emergency communications platform that allows them to provide vital, timely information to staff, community institutions, and partners through SMS and email notifications to subscribers.

Individual community members can subscribe to SCN’s Daily Update of security related news.

Subscribe your organization’s primary and secondary points of contact for safety and security matters to SCN Alert.

Find additional safety, security, and preparedness resources.

Our Community Security Team

Russell H. “Rusty” Rosenthal
Executive Director, Regional Security

Rosenthal most recently served as Vice President, Security, and Law Enforcement for ADL, and joins Federation with 25 years of investigative, executive leadership, and legal experience with the FBI, including in Israel, where he led the FBI office from 2019-2022.

Rosenthal has an extensive operational background in high-risk, complex environments, and has led diverse teams in investigating cyber, counterterrorism, criminal, as well as internal investigations. This expertise, coupled with his significant experience in evaluating security vulnerabilities, conducting risk assessments, and developing risk mitigation plans will be a tremendous asset to the Greater Washington community and Federation.

Naomi Fein
Director of Business Operations

Naomi Fein is the Director of Business Operations for The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington and leads the Risk Management, IT, and Security strategies. Naomi brings her vast experience managing teams and programs, with skills and training in project management, problem solving, budgeting and human resources, She has served Jewish nonprofit organizations for over 20 years, including those in Maryland, Israel, New York, and, most recently, Cleveland.

Overseeing the Federations Business Operations, Naomi works to continuously raise the standards of the Federations operational services to levels of excellence. Naomi is passionate about serving the Jewish community by implementing strong systems and leading teams that support all communal needs from annual to day to day.

Naomi has a master’s in Nonprofit Management from Hebrew University and a Bachelors in Family Sciences from the University of Maryland, College Park. Naomi lives in Silver Spring, MD with her husband, four sons, and golden doodle.