NEW YORK (AP) — As the High Holy Days approach, rabbis in the United States say their congregations are deeply unsettled by antisemitic threats and aware of sharp divisions in their own communities. But many are also determined to embrace the coming days of celebration and reflection.

“Jews feel extremely precarious right now,” said Rabbi David Ingber, founder and spiritual leader of Romemu, a fast-growing, nondenominational Jewish congregation in New York City.

Ingber says many of his congregants are politically liberal and opposed to Israel’s policies on Gaza and other issues, yet are troubled by vehement assertions that Israel has no right to 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.”

Adding to unease, he said, is an upsurge of antisemitic and anti-Israel sentiment coming from the political right, augmenting the deep-seated anti-Zionist views of many on the left. In aggregate, Ingber said, “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.”

Webinars and training on threat response

The High Holy Days begin at sundown on Friday with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year; it will be observed until nightfall on Sunday. A week later comes Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which is widely considered the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. This year, it is observed from sunset on September 20 until after nightfall on September 21.

Ahead of the High Holy Days, the Secure Community Network, which provides safety advice to Jewish institutions throughout North America, has been offering security webinars and in-person training on how to respond 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 the network’s task has become more complicated as antisemitic threats surface from a wider variety of domestic and foreign sources — ranging from proxies of Iran to........

© The Times of Israel