Schumer announces more security funding for houses of worship after synagogue threats

[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nn(RNS) — On Saturday (May 4), some 40 New York City rabbis and synagogue staff received the same chilling email in their inboxes: “I have set a bomb in your building. You have a few hours to disarm, or else blood will shatter everywhere.”“I have talked about this for a long time with my community,” said Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, one of the synagogues addressed in the email. “We plan for all this. We have protocols in place and we have increased security. We always need to be well prepared.”
An LGBTQ+-affirming synagogue, Beit Simchat Torah has faced similar bomb scares before, but since the Israel-Hamas war began in October, many Jewish congregations, no matter their views on the war, have dealt with the threat of antisemitic attacks.“I think there’s tremendous anxiety and fear and concern about the world in which we live,” said Kleinbaum. “As the LGBT synagogue, we experience the world from a place of knowing there’s a lot of hate. But we always have a choice. Do we focus on that hate? Or do we focus on love?”
Kleinbaum’s Midtown Manhattan congregation was holding its annual retreat away from the building that was threatened, but two other synagogues, Congregation Rodeph Sholo …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]