Jewish leaders describe heightened anxiety over antisemitism and security threats while urging Jewish communities to remain united during the Yamim Noraim

As Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur approach, Jewish congregations throughout the United States are prepare amid a backdrop of heightened concern about antisemitism and growing disagreements within the Jewish community. Rabbis say many worshippers are uneasy about their safety and increasingly divided over Israel, but they are also seeking to preserve the spiritual significance and traditions of the season.

“Jews feel extremely precarious right now,” said David Ingber, founder and spiritual leader of Romemu in New York City.

Ingber said a significant portion of his congregation is politically liberal and critical of Israeli policies, including its conduct in Gaza. At the same time, he said, many are deeply troubled by increasingly forceful claims that Israel should not exist as a Jewish state.

“Most of us see Israel as an ancestral homeland,” he said. “What’s disconcerting, we’re being told our own sense of history is illegitimate.”

Ingber said the anxiety is being compounded by antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric emerging from the political right, alongside longstanding anti-Zionist positions among portions of the political left. Taken together, he described the current environment as exceptionally troubling.

“it is the worst uptick of antisemitism we’ve seen in my lifetime.”

“There’s a sense of absolute vulnerability,” he added. “We’re not sure where we belong.”

Preparing for threats during the Yom Tovim

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, begins at sundown Friday and continues through nightfall Sunday. Yom Kippur follows a week later and is regarded as the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. This year, Yom Kippur begins at sunset on September 20 and ends after nightfall on September 21.

With large numbers of Jews expected to gather in synagogues, the Secure Community Network has expanded its efforts to help Jewish institutions prepare for possible attacks. The organization, which advises Jewish communities across North America on security, has conducted webinars and in-person training focused on responding to active threats.

“Hope is not a strategy,” said Michael Masters, the SCN’s national director and CEO. “It’s about preparation, training individual members of the community, getting everyone engaged.”

Masters said protecting Jewish institutions has become increasingly complicated because threats are coming from a broader range of domestic and international actors. Those identified by security officials include Iranian proxies as well as white supremacists operating in the United States.

“People are looking for who is the enemy, and it’s not an easy answer who’s behind the increase of anti-religion hate crime,” he said.

Several violent incidents targeting Jewish institutions or communities have occurred in the United States this year. They include an August attack at a Manhattan synagogue, a March vehicle-ramming incident at a temple in West Bloomfield, Michigan, and a January synagogue arson attack in Jackson, Mississippi.

Israel debate adds another layer of tension

While Jewish leaders from across the political spectrum have condemned attacks against Jews, disagreements over Israel and the wars in the Middle East continue to divide American Jewish communities. A recent survey conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that roughly three in 10 US Jews believe Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians.

Israel has rejected allegations that it is committing genocide in Gaza. Israeli officials maintain that the military seeks to reduce civilian casualties and argue that Hamas places civilians at risk by operating in populated locations and using sites such as homes, hospitals, mosques and schools.

Intra-Jewish divisions are a major concern

Masters said developments in the Middle East can influence the security situation facing Jewish communities in the United States.

“But more broadly, the community understands this threat is the continuation of well over 3,500 years of threat,” he added. “It’s fundamentally about hatred of the Jewish community.”

Masters also pointed to attacks against Christian churches as evidence that religious institutions beyond the Jewish community are facing security concerns. He said that shared vulnerability could create opportunities for different faith communities to cooperate.

He likewise suggested that security efforts could help bridge some of the divisions among American Jewish denominations.

“Our adversaries do not distinguish between Orthodox, Reform, Conservative,” he said. “We would be very wise to understand that as a community we are strongest when we stand as one.”

Ingber said the Jewish community must find ways to remain connected despite major disagreements over Israel and other issues.

“We should create a space to hold differences, to be together with all of our differences,” he said. “There is a grave danger of schism around the Jewish people and its relation to the State of Israel. It’s being weaponized.

“Rabbis will have to try to speak into this space,” he added. “You don’t want to get up in the High Holy Days and speak of division.”

Jewish groups seek $1 billion for security

With the High Holy Days approaching, major Jewish organizations are urging Congress to substantially increase federal security assistance for religious institutions and other nonprofit organizations. They are calling for $1 billion in funding three times the current level to help organizations strengthen their physical security.

Nathan Diament, executive director of the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center, is among those supporting the increase. The center represents the country’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization.

Writing for Jewish News Service, Diament noted that annual funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program has risen from $10 million in 2004 to $300 million in 2026. Despite that increase, however, he argued that available funding remains far below demand. Last year, only about 20% of more than 8,000 nonprofit applicants received grants.

“With the High Holy Days around the corner, millions of American Jews will attend synagogue with a sense of trepidation… because sitting in synagogues for hours at a time makes us think about the attacks that have occurred.”

For Jewish communities preparing to observe some of the year’s most important religious days, the challenge is therefore twofold: maintaining the openness and spiritual character of synagogue life while confronting an increasingly complicated security environment and profound disagreements over Israel.

Despite those pressures, rabbis and Jewish security officials say preparation, community cooperation and a willingness to remain connected across political and denominational differences will be essential as congregations gather for the High Holy Days.