Recently, a security concern was identified and reported quickly thanks to the awareness and vigilance of a few community members. Because they trusted their instincts and spoke up, the situation was addressed promptly and did not escalate.
While the incident itself was resolved, it offers an important reminder: training matters—and so does taking action when something doesn’t feel right.
Every one of us has a role to play in maintaining safe, welcoming environments across our community and within our institutions. Sometimes that role looks like participating in a security training. Other times, it’s simply noticing what’s around you and trusting your intuition.
Small observations can matter more than we realize:
Individually, these details may seem minor. Together, they can provide critical information—but only if someone chooses to say something.
As we enter a new year, we know the Jewish community will continue to navigate complex and challenging moments. One of the ways we care for one another is by staying alert, informed, and prepared.
JShield supports this work by offering free security trainings for individuals and institutions across our community. These sessions help build confidence, sharpen awareness, and provide practical tools for navigating uncertain situations.
Just as importantly, we encourage everyone to:
Our strength as a community has always come from the way we look out for one another. This moment reinforces a simple but powerful truth: safety is a shared responsibility—a team effort. When we act together, we are more resilient.
Thank you for your continued partnership, your vigilance, and your commitment to keeping our community safe and welcoming.
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Sunday’s attack in Australia may have happened halfway around the world, but for many of us, it hit much closer to home.
That’s the nature of Jewish vulnerability today. A violent act against a Jewish community “over there” immediately reverberates here. Our sense of safety shifts. Our plans are second-guessed. Fear creeps in.
And that’s exactly why Federation’s security work through JShield isn’t reactive. It doesn’t ebb and flow with the headlines. And it certainly doesn’t start the night before an event.
Because by the time something happens—whether it’s in Sydney or Silver Spring—it’s already too late to start building the relationships, training, and infrastructure that real security depends on.
As soon as we learned of the attack in Australia, our first calls were to local law enforcement partners and the FBI.
We didn’t have to introduce ourselves. We didn’t need to explain why something happening halfway around the world matters here. These are relationships we’ve built steadily over years. When we call, they respond. And they did.
That kind of response isn’t automatic. It’s built on trust. And it’s something we help every institution cultivate—hyper-local connections, district commanders who know your name, first responders who’ve walked your halls. Because when something happens, you don’t want to meet them for the first time. You want to greet them like an old friend.
After the attack, our inboxes filled with last-minute security requests from organizations hosting Chanukah events that had been on the calendar for weeks.
It’s understandable. But it misses the point.
If you needed security last night, you needed it three weeks ago when the event was planned.
Security isn’t something you switch on out of fear. It’s something you build over time—through planning, training, and partnership. That’s what JShield is here to help our community do.
Last year, more than 30 Jewish institutions in our region received threatening letters, most vaguely referencing Gaza, some outright menacing. On their own, each one might have been brushed aside.
But thanks to the reporting we encourage through JShield, we saw the bigger picture. We connected the dots across states. We got the FBI involved.
And we got results. The suspect, who lives just outside Silver Spring, recently pled guilty to federal hate crime charges. That outcome didn’t just happen. It was made possible by a community that’s engaged, prepared, and connected.
Since JShield launched, we’ve helped bring in more than $5 million in federal security grants for local Jewish institutions. We’ve done hundreds of threat assessments. Helped write emergency protocols. Trained thousands of people on situational awareness and how to stay calm under pressure.
And we know those trainings stick. One teacher told us she starts every school day with a breathing exercise she learned from us. Not because she’s scared, but because it helps her and her students feel grounded.
That’s what we mean when we say training is like putting money in the bank. You don’t get to choose the emergency. But every bit of preparation makes you more ready for whatever comes.
If you’ve felt a little more anxious dropping your kids at school or wondered if your synagogue is doing enough to stay safe, you’re not alone. We’re hearing it across the community. And we feel it too.
But fear alone doesn’t keep us safe. Action does.
Right now, we have a critical opportunity. Thanks to a generous match, every dollar you give to support Federation’s security work through JShield will go even farther. That means more trainings, more assessments, and more direct support to institutions across Greater Washington.
Because cost should never be a barrier to security. That’s why every service JShield provides—from threat assessments to training—is offered free to the community, powered by Federation and donors like you.
Security doesn’t start with police. It starts with preparation, with connection, and with showing up for each other before something happens, not just after.
We can’t wait for the next headline to get ready. This is the moment to act.
Give now to protect Jewish life in Greater Washington. Let’s meet this moment—and this powerful matching opportunity—together.
In the wake of the horrific terrorist attack in Australia, I want to speak directly to our community here at home.
Our hearts are with the victims, their families, and the Jewish community in Australia as they mourn and begin to heal. Violence against Jews anywhere reverberates everywhere, and moments like this understandably heighten concern within our own community.
Here in Greater Washington, the safety and security of Jewish life remains our highest priority. Through JShield, Federation’s community-wide security initiative, we are in close coordination with local and federal partners and with Jewish institutions across our region, supporting schools, synagogues, and organizations with threat monitoring, training, assessments, and grant support at no cost. You can learn more about how JShield works to keep our community safe at shalomdc.org/security.
If you see or experience something concerning, we encourage you to report it to JShield. Reporting helps identify patterns and supports coordination with our security partners.
Jewish life will continue. We will gather, celebrate, learn, and mark our holidays together, thoughtfully, responsibly, and with care for one another.
At the same time, this moment calls on all of us to be attentive to the language and actions we tolerate in our public spaces. Antisemitism, in any form, must be named and challenged, and Jewish communities must never be left to carry that burden alone.
Earlier today, I shared these concerns in a brief conversation on CNN about antisemitism and the responsibility to challenge it before it escalates. You can watch it clip below.
Thank you for the many ways you show up for one another and for our community, especially in difficult moments. We are grateful for your partnership and your trust, and we remain committed to keeping Jewish life in Greater Washington strong, safe, and connected.
This is a moment for shared responsibility. Take action by supporting JShield and strengthening Jewish community security.
Last week, Federation staff rolled up our sleeves (literally) at STOP THE BLEED®, a hands-on emergency training that teaches you how to respond to life-threatening bleeding. We practiced using tourniquets, packing wounds, and applying pressure—skills we hope we’ll never need, but ones we’re grateful to have learned.
In a crisis, there’s no time to think. When tensions are high and lives are on the line, you fall back on your training. And you hope it’s training that sticks.
That’s where JShield comes in, turning preparation into practice, and making sure that training happens before the moment it’s needed.
For our staff, this training was memorable, even intense. For JShield, it was any other Wednesday. These kinds of high-impact, real-world trainings are standard operating procedure for our community security initiative—proactive, practical, people-first.
JShield supports synagogues, schools, and Jewish organizations across Greater Washington with the tools they need to protect their people: security assessments, grant support, expert trainings, and real-world readiness. So far in 2025, that’s added up to nearly $600,000 in estimated support—from consultations and training to grant writing expertise and threat assessments—helping institutions across the DMV stay prepared and protected.
This kind of training doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because of your support for Federation’s Annual Campaign.
And right now, your gift toward security goes even further, thanks to a limited-time Security Match from The Morningstar Foundation, which is matching 50¢ on the dollar, up to $1 million, to strengthen community safety across Greater Washington.
That means more trainings like this. More experts in more spaces. More peace of mind in a time when it’s never felt more urgent.
So far this year, JShield has helped local Jewish organizations secure more than $4.33 million in federal and state security funding. Your support helps unlock even more.
There’s nothing flashy about learning to stop a bleed. It’s messy. It’s tense. It’s vital.
But it’s also hopeful. Because it means we’re not waiting to react—we’re ready to respond, thanks to JShield. Together, we’re building a community that leads with courage, care, and preparation.
Help power the next life-saving training across Jewish Greater Washington.
Every gift is matched. Every action counts.
In response to the alarming rise in antisemitic incidents and the growing need for enhanced protection across the region, the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington (JFGW) is distributing over $375,000 to support the urgent security needs of more than 30 Jewish organizations in the Greater Washington area. This allocation follows the July distribution of more than $460,000 for the same purpose.
These funds will enable organizations to increase security personnel and strengthen high-priority infrastructure, such as cameras and fences, amid an intensified threat environment, including the tragic attack at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington earlier this year.
“Federation stands with our community in this moment of heightened anxiety and rising costs,” said Joel Frankel, Senior Director of Community Capacity Initiatives. “We know these funds won’t erase the threat we face, but they will ease the burden on Jewish communal institutions and give them greater freedom to focus on their mission—knowing we’re working together to safeguard Jewish life, learning, and connection in our region.”
These allocations are in addition to the nearly $170,000 Federation is distributing to local early childhood education facilities in partnership with The Tepper Foundation’s national Emergency Security Fund, awarded through Jewish Federations of North America.
This has been an emotional week. Earlier today, I watched a clip of Rachel Goldberg-Polin, mother of Hersh Goldberg-Polin who was kidnapped and executed by Hamas, address a crowd of hopeful Israelis ahead of the hostage release. She summed up the moment beautifully by referencing Ecclesiastes. “There is a time to sob and a time to dance, and we must do both right now.”
It’s true, a lot must happen in this moment. This is a good time to breathe a sigh of relief and indulge in the joy of welcoming home the living hostages. It’s also a good time to ready ourselves for the work ahead as we set about to end one phase and begin another.
I am trying to remain optimistic that we are seeing the faint lights of a brighter future for both Israelis and Palestinians emerge. Still, what happens next is an open question. As of today, many hostage families are still waiting on the return of their loved ones’ remains. Israelis are continuing to navigate layers of trauma. And Palestinians are facing the immense task of rebuilding their lives under the cruel returned control of Hamas. Healing, addressing antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment, and exploring new possibilities for the Middle East region are all on the table.
While we cannot control the future dynamics of the Middle East, Federation will be there for Israelis as they find their way back to a new normal. Later this month, Zohar Livne Mizrahi, Secretary General of Kibbutz Re’im—located beside the Nova music festival site—will visit our community. Federation is partnering with Kibbutz Re’im as its residents rebuild their homes and their lives after October 7.
For those interested in learning more, join us for a conversation with Zohar Livne Mizrahi on October 31, featuring stories of resilience and recovery, and an optional VR experience that brings survivor testimonies to life. You can learn more here.
We will keep you posted on additional ways to be involved in Israel’s recovery efforts. We also remain committed to helping Jewish community members form personal connections with Israel that transcend moments of crisis. Our friendship is about being there for each other in times of need and also about growing together in joy and possibility.
Finally, as we close out this roller coaster week, I want to acknowledge the work of the hostage families and their hardworking supporters, including those in our own community. Even in the throes of fear and grief, friends and family of the hostages pushed themselves to keep us all focused. Their tireless and courageous efforts helped bring the living hostages home. The hostage families are Jewish heroes. I am praying their tenacity becomes part of the Jewish inheritance and a precursor to more dancing.
As the Jewish community of Greater Washington prepares for the High Holidays and the start of a new school year, safety and security remain a top priority. That’s why JShield—The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington’s security initiative—is once again offering community-wide trainings designed to empower participants, strengthen institutional readiness, and foster a shared sense of responsibility.
“The main reason we do the trainings around the High Holidays is because we’re aware that there are people who may be coming to synagogues or other institutions for the only time this year,” said Rusty Rosenthal, Federation’s Director of Security. “We re-emphasize situational awareness, active threat training, and the basics of how to report incidents.”
This year, the trainings will take place on:
Each year, JShield develops its content to reflect the most current intelligence and incident reporting. The sessions are designed to highlight not only trends from the past year, but also practical steps that community members can take to feel more prepared and less vulnerable.
“The goal is to take this training so that you leave with a feeling of empowerment—so that we’re not helpless and we’re not just victims of our circumstances,” said Rosenthal. “It’s imperative that we take ownership and take responsibility for our own security.”
What sets these seasonal briefings apart is their broader reach. While JShield works year-round with executive directors, heads of school, and security personnel, the High Holidays are designed to welcome everyone—especially those who might not be affiliated with a specific institution.
“By engaging with institutions, we’re not necessarily engaging with the entire Jewish community of Greater Washington,” Rosenthal explained. “That’s why we host these sessions. We want to make sure everyone has access.”
JShield encourages institutions to share these opportunities widely. For those already coordinating private trainings for their schools or synagogues, these community-wide sessions offer an accessible alternative for anyone unable to attend a site-specific program.
Planning ahead is key. “You can’t put together a security plan three days before an event,” Rosenthal emphasized. “We always recommend involving JShield and your local law enforcement early so appropriate preparations can be made.”
While the threat environment remains elevated, JShield’s message is one of vigilance—not fear. “Absent any new information, there are no directed, targeted threats we’re aware of. Institutions should remain open and celebrate collectively,” Rosenthal said. “But we must do so with awareness.”
The trainings are open to everyone in the community. The deadline to register for each session is one week prior. The first training on August 17 will also be available virtually. To learn more and to register, visit our website.
