Taking a cue from local businesses, government buildings, schools and colleges, Bay Area Jewish organizations that had closed Tuesday in the wake of East Coast terrorist attacks reopened on Wednesday.
Many, however, were vowing to beef up security.
“I heard the San Francisco Unified School District closed down, and I said if they close down, a Jewish school for sure should close down,” Rabbi Pinchas Lipner, dean of San Francisco’s Hebrew Academy, said Tuesday. “It’s very scary. We didn’t even have to call off school. No one came. People are petrified.”
Even though the academy is already equipped with a camera and buzzer-entry system, Lipner said he wouldn’t mind posting an armed guard.
“In South America and Mexico, the Jewish schools have guards. I was in Costa Rica and it was like a fortress. There were people with machine guns. I’m not saying we want that, but if I had the money, I’d definitely have an armed guard outside. We have to beef up security. It depends on how much finances we have.”
A number of Jewish schools closed for the day or let out early. Brandeis Hillel Day School dismissed both campuses in San Francisco and San Rafael before noon. Tehiyah in El Cerrito and Oakland Hebrew day schools, among others, did not meet at all.
The newly inaugurated Jewish Community High School of the Bay in Tiburon did hold classes, however. Coralyn Bond, the assistant to the head of school, would not discuss the thought process behind JCHS’ decision or whether additional security had been called in, instead repeating the phrase “We are a school, we are in session,” a number of times.
Jewish federation buildings in both San Francisco and Oakland were closed for the day. Ami Nahshon, executive vice president of the Jewish Federation of the Greater East Bay, described the move as “totally precautionary.”
“We were erring on the side of caution,” he said. “We will be starting [Wednesday] off with a staff gathering for some time of reflection and prayer. And then we need to transition back into our daily work routine. But I suspect for all of us individually, Tuesday’s events will have an impact for a very long time.”
Sam Salkin, executive director of the S.F.-based JCF, sent home all employees by 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. He said if either the San Francisco city government or school district, BART or the Bay and Golden Gate bridges had been closed on Wednesday, the JCF building would have been shut down as well. But the JCF, he added, would employ a “higher level” of security, “some visible, some not.”
The Jewish Federation of Greater San Jose, meanwhile, stayed open. In a meeting with security consultants held just weeks ago, the federation outlined a security procedure to be utilized in the event of “a major terrorist attack on the U.S., not specifically here,” according to Executive Director Jon Friedenberg.
He declined to discuss specifics of the federation’s emergency security plan, saying it will remain in place for as long as necessary. The federation campus — which includes a JCC, day school, preschool and the Jewish Family and Children’s Services of Silicon Valley — will remain open unless it receives direct threats, according to Friedenberg.
“If we receive any information suggesting our security measures are not adequate, and it’s not practical from a reasonable standpoint for the campus to remain open, then we’ll close it,” he said. “We are here, as long as we have been advised by our experts that it’s appropriate to stay open, and will take additional security measures to do so.”
By order of the Israeli government, its consulates across the nation were closed for the day. San Francisco’s Consulate General of Israel reopened on Wednesday.
Some Jewish organizations closed for the day not so much because of security worries, but because of logistical hardships — and, quite simply, because no one could concentrate on work.
“It’s hard to focus on the more mundane things you have to do on the job,” said Jonathan Bernstein, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League. His decision to close the office “wasn’t really for security reasons; it was just because of what was going on in the city. Schools were closed, and that made it hard for those employees who have kids in school to go to work.”
Concerns over children having the day off from school also led the Jewish Vocational Service to cancel programming for the day. A “skeletal presence” stuck around during the morning, according to Executive Director Abby Snay.
“Since many participants in our classes are mothers and fathers with children, and since the school district canceled classes, parents have to go home and be with their children,” she said. The JVS was open Wednesday, because “people need access to job listings and that doesn’t’ stop.”
However, beginning Wednesday the JVS was locking its ordinarily wide-open front door, and not accepting any packages. Tuesday marked the first time the JVS closed unexpectedly since the 1989 earthquake.
The Jewish Community Center of San Francisco also cut back programs on Tuesday, canceling all of its sporting activities, but remaining open for day care. All East Bay JCCs closed for the day, according to Nahshon.
Some Jewish organizations were either unable or unwilling to close for the day.
The Jewish Home was “in the process” of figuring out where it would relocate its 430 residents and 400 employees in the case of an emergency, Administrator Sandra Epstein said Tuesday. The home had arranged with local police for increased patrols in the area, and had internal security personnel on all floors and the building grounds.
Andrea Rubin, executive director of the S.F.-based Jewish Family and Children’s Services, said it is in times of crisis when the JFCS is needed most, and all 13 of its sites remained open.
“We were open the day of the earthquake as well,” said Amy Rassen, the JFCS associate executive director. “We can’t close down. We’re not an ancillary service. We’re here to help people with their problems.”
The JFCS did request increased police monitoring of all 13 of its sites. On Tuesday buildings were locked, and only personnel “with authorization” were allowed in, according to Rubin.
With many seeking divine inspiration during a national tragedy, Bay Area synagogues remained open Tuesday. Many brought in additional private and police security.
“People want to come to their synagogue when there’s a crisis, for comfort and prayer,” said Gary Cohn, executive director of Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco. “We’ve had emergency plans in place for years. We tightened up security around and inside the building. We’ll probably keep on alert through the Holy Days.”
Said Rabbi Steven Chester of Oakland’s Temple Sinai: “Kids need to have a semblance of normalcy in their lives, so we decided to keep the preschool open and call the police department and ask for extra patrols.”