Annual security briefing held ahead of Jewish High Holidays
The annual security briefing was held at a synagogue in White Plains and organized by the Westchester Jewish Council.
The Westchester Jewish Council held its annual High Holiday security briefing at a synagogue in White Plains on Tuesday.
The Jewish High Holidays begin at sundown next Monday.
The reason was why Westchester Jewish Council Security Chair Jeff Kapelus said law enforcement agencies met up with members of the Jewish community to talk about safety and security.
"New areas of concern have permeated our Jewish security landscape. You have the goings on at college campuses, the rise in antisemitism, the normalization of antisemitism and the number of pro-Hamas and pro-Palestinian protests," Kapelus said.
The annual security briefing was held at a synagogue in White Plains and organized by the Westchester Jewish Council.
Officials from the council said they encouraged every synagogue or Jewish organization with a physical facility in Westchester to attend the meeting.
"Reexamine your safe rooms. We always talk about digitizing your floor plan, fostering really good relationships with the police, as we discussed before, always conduct practice drills on a regular basis," Kapelus said.
Tarrytown Police Chief John Barbelet advised the organizations to plan ahead.
"Don't wait until the day of and that old phrase, 'See something, say something' is probably the best advice I can give," Barbelet said.
David Barnett, a representative from the FBI, also encouraged the group to familiarize themselves with past threats.
"Unfortunately, on the last two Rosh Hashanahs, we have had hoax bomb threats target institutions here in the Westchester County area, as well as nationally," Barnett said.
District attorney Susan Cacace said her office is committed to addressing serious crimes of that nature.
"I am strongly reliant on you to keep me aware of your concerns that your members are facing, so my office can decide how and whether to intervene," Cacace said.
Despite the concerns, Kapelus reminded community members to focus on the true meaning of the season.
"You can never eliminate risk," Kapelus said. "So, if you think everything is pretty OK and pretty well protected, just focus on enjoying yourself and going to the synagogue for the right reasons," Kapelus said.
