After Pittsburgh and Poway, time to secure synagogues
Nathan Diament is the executive director for public policy for the Orthodox Union and a longtime activist for the Orthodox Jewish community in Washington, D.C. Following the shooting at the Chabad shul in Poway, California, and the National Day of Prayer at the White House, where he was a guest, Mr. Diament spoke to Mishpacha about the state of anti-Semitism today, how we can improve security at Jewish institutions, and how to navigate a hyper- partisan environment in the nation’s capital.
It was a meaningful event. From a Jewish perspective, it was remarkably powerful because Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein was there and spoke, as did two of the people who acted to stop the Poway attack, and that was incredibly powerful. As well, the president’s and the vice president’s denunciations of anti-Semitism and their stated commitment to fighting anti-Semitism were powerful to witness.
And we should remember that the entire event took place in a framework in which the White House recognized the many religious communities and religious faiths in the United States — Jews, Christians, Muslims, and others — and how important and fundamental it is for America to act as the protector of religious freedom for all people and all religions.
Obviously, it was a terrible tragedy. Besides the event itself and the woman who lost her life, Lori Kaye, is the fact that now we cannot say that the shooting in Pittsburgh last year was a one-time occurrence. Now it has a partner. And that fact is very shocking and disturbing. It has to motivate us, as the Orthodox Union, to work even harder to help our shuls be safe places.
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