As a Jewish woman, public health professional and advocate, New Yorker and mother, I feel the fear coursing through our community. Antisemitic violence is rising, and Jews across the country increasingly report feeling unsafe. A survey by the American Jewish Committee found that nearly half of American Jews feel less secure today than just a year ago.

At the same time, political violence is escalating. On Wednesday, conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated while hosting a campus event — the latest killing in a troubling rise in shootings targeting people across the political spectrum. In May, two Jewish professionals were gunned down leaving an event at the Jewish Capitol Museum in Washington, D.C. And in August, the shooter in the Minneapolis school mass shooting had scrawled antisemitic writings across the assault weapon — a chilling reminder of how deeply intertwined gun violence and hate have become in America.

Regardless of motive, these tragedies reveal the same truth: when dangerous rhetoric collides with easy access to guns, violence follows. More guns will not make us safer — they will only perpetuate this cycle.

My own path into this work began in the Jewish community after the Sandy Hook elementary school mass shooting in 2012. I joined my synagogue’s social justice committee, which........

© The Jewish Week