jews in the d

Focus on Safety

MARK JACOBS, FARMINGTON HILLS:

Jewish institutions to re-evaluate, bolster security after shootings.

SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Another critical element is a strong
partnership with law enforcement.
Sikorski said the FBI and local law
enforcement contacted him after the
Pittsburgh shootings. “While law
enforcement agencies monitor for
threats, we need to prepare for the
unknown, being resilient. There is more
that can be done. The most dangerous
thing is denial,” he says, referring to the
increase in anti-Semitic activity reported
by the Anti-Defamation League.
“There is a lot to be concerned about
and a lot to take comfort in, but also a
need to reassess security,” Sikorski says.
Federation is planning to hold internal
and community-wide security meetings.

MYJEWISHDETROIT.ORG

G

ary Sikorski, director of commu-
nity-wide security for the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit, may have been the first local
person to learn of the shootings at
Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue.
“The Jewish Federation security direc-
tors have a joint platform, the Secure
Community Network, and the shooting
was communicated within minutes,” he
explains. “We have our own internal pro-
cess of notification of our crisis team to
assess the event and its implications.
“Security has always been a priority,
but it is a higher priority every year,”
Sikorski says. Before joining Federation
almost 10 years ago, he had a 26-year law
enforcement career, retiring as a deputy
police chief.
Security concerns intensified first after
9-11 in 2001, and then after the 2006
shooting at the Seattle Jewish Federation
and the mass shootings at Columbine
and Sandy Hook schools, he says.
“These were watershed moments in
the Jewish community. We took a giant
step in 2013 with agencies involved with
children — improving training, equip-
ment and security personnel to harden
the target,” he explains. “Some security
measures are very visible, but a lot are
behind the scenes. We are prepared and
equipped to handle all situations.”
President Trump suggested that hav-
ing an armed guard at Tree of Life might
have altered the tragic outcome. Sikorski
said that it’s “not a bad idea and there are
armed personnel working in the Jewish
community.” However, he recommends
a “layered response” that limits access of
unknown individuals to Jewish facilities

and provides a way to lock someone sus-
picious out. “You need to have individu-
als to vet and greet people coming in.”
Temple Beth El in Bloomfield
Township has been implementing some
of these measures for several years, says
Rabbi Mark Miller, senior rabbi. Beth El
added friendly, helpful security person-
nel who open an electronic entry system
and greet people entering the building.
Special staff training, equipment and
security technology were also imple-
mented.
One challenge is maintaining a wel-
coming environment with adequate safe-
ty. “There is a danger of being a fortress,”
says Rabbi Aaron Bergman of Adat
Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills.

A SUNDAY UNLIKE OTHERS
Like any Sunday, services, classes and
meetings were held at Detroit-area syn-
agogues and temples on Oct. 28, the
day after 11 Jews were murdered by an
anti-Semitic gunman in Pittsburgh. But
there were noticeable differences.
Rabbi Bergman of Adat Shalom was at
the entrance when students and congre-
gants arrived on Sunday.
“Texts were sent to parents and an
email to the congregation. Everyone
showed up for Hebrew school,” he says.
“We are in very close touch will the
Farmington Hills police and Federation,
and we held a meeting with our execu-
tive board.”
At the Bais Chabad Torah Center, the
West Bloomfield Police Department pro-
vided extra security during Sunday class-
es and services. Throughout Detroit’s
Jewish community, local police depart-
ments were more vigilant, and security

like we all are.”
“Many people I know
live within blocks of
Tree of Life-Or L’Simcha
and heard the commo-
tion,” Rosenbaum said.
“Friends are grieving and
Julie
are trying to best explain
Rosenbaum
to their children. During
the time I worked at the
federation there, I came to understand
their strong connection to and commu-

nication with law enforcement and their
even stronger leadership in working with
the entire Jewish community to train
organizations and other leaders as best
they could to stay as safe as possible.”
Her family was most recently in
Pittsburgh to celebrate a wedding of rel-
atives who had been members of Tree of
Life for generations. They were there the
entire week of Sukkot.
“It was during this holiday that you
truly could appreciate the warmth of

Gari Sikorski, director of community-wide
security for the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit

On Sunday, Greater
New Mt. Moriah Baptist
Church in Detroit
held a unity service in
solidarity with the Jewish
community. Pastor
Kenneth James Flowers
told the crowd, “We stand
with our Jewish brothers
and sisters and commit
our undying love for them
at this diffi cult hour. Their
struggle is our struggle,
and we always keep them
in our prayers.”

”

was a major topic of discussion.
Meanwhile, extensive security for the
annual Yeshivat Beth Yehudah fundrais-
ing dinner Sunday night was bolstered
with additional resources, according to
Sikorski.
This year’s planned speaker was for-
mer British Prime Minister Tony Blair,
and the annual dinner was expected
to draw 2,500 members of the Jewish
and general communities to the Detroit
Marriott Hotel in the Renaissance
Center. Along with the Detroit Police
Department, FBI, Marriott and General
Motors security, Scotland Yard was
expected to send four agents. ■

continued from page 14

compassion and empathy as a response
to darkness in the world. The school
psychologist prepared and sent out sup-
port materials for teachers and parents.
The psychologist and school rabbi will
meet with grades 5-7 and 7-9 as part
of morning prayers to put events in a
“Jewish perspective.”
Julie Rosenbaum of Novi, who lived
in Pittsburgh and worked at the Jewish
Federation of Pittsburgh, said her friends
there are “just trying to cope and process

16

November 1 • 2018

jn

Jewish Pittsburgh,” Rosenbaum said.
“The week was full of sharing meals in
communal spaces and being open to
and inviting in strangers — regardless
of difference. All I can hope is that we
continue to live those values and rebuild
with love and not hate.” ■

For an editorial about the shooting at the
Pittsburgh synagogue, see page 6.

Contributing Writer Shelli Dorfman
contributed to this story.

