Advisory network launched to protect synagogues, yeshivas in Nassau, Suffolk
As Jews were getting ready to celebrate the eight-day Festival of Lights on Dec. 15, Jewish leaders in Nassau and Suffolk counties launched a new organization to help secure the counties' synagogues, yeshivas and other Jewish buildings.
The Jewish Advisory Network for Long Island (JANSLI), which expects to be up and running on Jan. 1, will provide a network to quickly alert Jewish institutions in the two counties of anti-Jewish incidents, enabling them to respond to the possibility of additional threats. Also, the organization will serve as a liaison between Jewish institutions and law enforcement agencies and provide Jewish facilities with professional security audits.
JANSLI, a not-for-profit organization, was established by Arthur Katz, a Nassau businessman and past chairman of the Long Island cabinet of UJA-Federation and its current Synagogue Task Force chairman; Daniel Krimmer, a lawyer and president of the Conference of Jewish Organizations of Nassau County; and Gary Shapiro, acting commanding officer of the Nassau County Police Department's Special Investigations Squad and bias crimes
coordinator.
"The Jewish community is at risk," Katz, president of JANSLI, said in a phone interview last Thursday. "You can't open a newspaper without reading about verbal threats or acts of anti-Semitism around the world."
Katz said there are around 225 Jewish buildings in the two counties that would be protected under the new network. The Nassau-Suffolk region has one of the largest concentrations of Jews in the world, estimated at 311,000 by the UJA-Federation.
Katz said there have been no specific threats against the Jewish community on Long Island, but he added that Jews must remain on high alert at all times in a post-9/11 world and with the constant bloodshed in the Middle East involving Israel and its Arab neighbors. Jewish leaders fear violence, such as the shooting spree last July at a Seattle Jewish Federation that killed one and wounded five, could occur on Long Island.
"We are concerned about Long Island," said Krimmer. "If such an event were to occur here, would a Jewish day school, synagogue or other Jewish facility get the news in time to react and protect innocent citizens?"
JANSLI will provide law enforcement agencies on Long Island with better insight about the threats against the Jewish community and to the community at large. It will offer an instant alert system that will link its office to law enforcement, emergency management agencies and the Department of Homeland Security and to leaders and security officers of Jewish organizations, schools, businesses, community centers and other entities in Nassau and Suffolk counties. JANSLI also plans to offer free, professional security audits to Jewish institutions that request them.
"We're going to be watching out for the Jewish community, and the police will be watching out for everyone," said Shapiro, who serves as JANSLI's chief operating officer. "The police do an admirable job, but cannot be everywhere."
The JANSLI alert network will help Jewish institutions prepare and respond to important communications and to assist in the development of policies ensuring a consistent message is being sent to the entire community about security and emergency situations, its organizers said.
JANSLI security audits of Jewish facilities will be conducted by trained law enforcement experts, who will offer suggestions for security improvements. The organization also will facilitate anti-terror training for members of Jewish institutions in conjunction with law enforcement and the national office of the Secure Community Network
"It's always good to be prepared," said Rabbi Simcha Lefkowitz, spiritual leader of Congregation Anshei Chesed in Hewlett who was a liaison between the Jewish community and Nassau County police and is now a police chaplain.
"It is always good to know what you are supposed to do and where you are supposed to be in an emergency situation," Lefkowitz said.
He said even though the local Jewish community has a great working relationship with the Nassau County police, whom he is confident can "mitigate any crisis, it is very important that people remain vigilant and know what to do."
Rabbi Jay Rosenbaum of Temple Israel of Lawrence said he was adopting a wait-and-see attitude about JANSLI before throwing kudos at the group. "I always welcome vigilance, but I hope this is not just another layer of bureaucracy," he said.
Rabbi Sholom Stern of Temple Beth El of Cedarhurst said: "Any kind of tightening of security is to be applauded. It's only a good thing. Since 9/11 all precautionary measures are not foolish. There doesn't seem to be anything negative about it."
For more information on JANSLI, write to P.O. Box 38, Uniondale, NY 11553, or call toll-free at (866) 734-9552.
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