March 1, 2013

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The national Jewish community’s security arm took part in a White House conference on creating a model emergency plan for schools and houses of worship.

Paul Goldenberg, the national director of the Secure Community Network, which is affiliated to the Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of American Jewish Organizations, joined law-enforcement, educational and faith leaders on Feb. 27 at a White House event called “Taking Action: Creating Model Emergency Management Plans for Schools, Institutions of Higher Education, and Houses of Worship.”

The event, derived from a series of executive orders issued by President Obama in the wake of the massacre of school children in Connecticut in December, included addresses by Arne Duncan, the education secretary, and Janet Napolitano, the homeland security secretary, as well as a top FBI official.

Also attending were survivors of gun violence.

“What I emphasized is that the Jewish community was compelled to engage because over the last decade we’ve seen an unprecedented number of planned attacks against jewish communities here in the United States,” Goldenberg told JTA.

Goldenberg, who is a vice chairman of the Department of Homeland Security’s Faith-Based Homeland Security Committee, said the Jewish community’s model was now being emulated by other faith communities.

ADVERTISEMENT: Visit OneHappyCamper.org to find a Jewish camp and see if your child qualifies for a $1,000 grant.

Click to write a letter to the editor.

This article was made possible by the support of readers like you. Donate to JTA now.