East Bay community leader worried after Michigan incident – NBC Bay Area

Leaders of the Bay Area Jewish community spoke out following an antisemitic incident in Michigan involving an armed man ramming his car into a synagogue.

The incident occurred Thursday and it is being investigated by the FBI, which called it a targeted act of violence against the Jewish community.

It also comes after two people said they believe they were attacked by a group of men in Santana Row Sunday because they spoke Hebrew.

These two events kept Jewish community leaders in alert.

Rabbi Gil Leeds from UC Berkeley was preparing a Shabbat on campus that’s expected to draw hundreds of students. He has been planning it for months, but Michigan’s incident became a reminded of the concerns the Jewish community faces on a daily basis.

“There’s definitely security concerns always. Unfortunately, it’s nothing new. Every one of our events has always had the highest level of security precautions,” he said.

“Violent antisemitism has become all too common. Just two days ago, we learned about the brutal attack of Israeli Americans in San Jose,” CEO of Jewish Community Relations Council Tyler Gregory said, referring to the incident in Santana Row. “These incidents have become more frequent. We have to be vigilant.”

NBC Bay Area reached out to the Jewish Federation of the Bay Area, which serves as a community resource for security in the Jewish community.

Although they did not get into details on security measures in place for synagogues following the Michigan attack, they said in a statement, “We offer security training year-round, and when antisemitic attacks occur, like the one in Michigan today, our Federation shares guidance on reinforcing those measures.”

Despite expressing concern about the attack in Michigan, Gil said Friday’s event will go on as planned.

“Our mission is to fight darkness with light and not cower in fear and should come out in force,” Gil said.

The rabbi said they’ve worked closely with both campus police and Berkeley PD regarding the event, and they feel confident the support is there to make it a safe one.