With this in mind, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, Ohef Sholom Temple, and the Secure Community Network are supporting a Full-Scale Exercise (FSE) being undertaken by the City of Norfolk’s public safety team. The FSE will test the city’s response to a major incident at a synagogue, as well as its ability to connect and network with non-governmental entities such as UJFT, SCN, and Tidewater’s wider Jewish community. 

Full-Scale Exercises are complex events. Unlike a Tabletop Exercise (TTX), where the participants talk through and discuss a response to a notional incident, an FSE involves a simulated full response involving the public safety apparatus of the jurisdiction responsible for mitigating the incident. In an FSE, police, fire, and the Emergency Medical System all respond to the simulated event with the tactics and tools needed to form an effective response. All involved in this FSE will go to the facility hosting the event, encounter role players who will simulate victims and suspects, and be charged with successfully and safely developing a solution to bring a resolution to the problem set they encounter.

“We are grateful for Mike Goldmith’s leadership and expertise in coordinating this Full-Scale Exercise,” says Betty Ann Levin, executive vice president/CEO, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. UJFT provides the financial resources, with the assistance of Tidewater Jewish Foundation and community donors, to support SCN in Tidewater. 

“Our partnership with SCN is critical to our community’s preparedness in regard to safety and security,” says Levin. “With the alarming uptick in antisemitic violence seen around the country, having SCN’s expertise and communication network available is a crucial component of our security program.”

Levin also emphasizes the community’s appreciation “for the strong support of our law enforcement partners, in addition to that of our elected local, state, and federal officials” for their efforts to protect the Jewish community and speak out against hate crimes. 

The FSE at Ohef Sholom Temple will take place on Sunday, August 11. The scenario will replicate the October 27, 2018 shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pa. These Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Core Capabilities will be tested during this exercise:

1) Planning

2) Public Information and Warning

3) Operational Coordination 

This FSE will not only strengthen Norfolk’s ability to respond to an event, but it will also inform how the Jewish community needs to prepare for its response as well as how to best work with the city during a critical incident. Additionally, exercises of this type strengthen Norfolk’s ability to respond to events in other cultural environments. The skills learned in working with the Jewish community will sensitize the public safety team to its need to work with other faith communities. 

“Security is a 24/7 commitment that encompasses in-house training, exercises, establishing security procedures and policies, and most critically, dialoging with local law enforcement and emergency management organizations,” says David Jarvis, chair of Ohef Sholom Temple’s security committee. “As such, the Full-Scale Exercise is a critical component of local security planning and execution. We are extremely pleased to host the exercise at Ohef Sholom Temple.”

Training and exercising are two critical pieces of any safety and security program. Placing this FSE before the upcoming High Holiday season is intentional. It is important to never become complacent in efforts to keep one another safe. 

UJFT will soon announce a training schedule to help keep the community prepared for this important time of the year. Look for the notices and sign up. Community public safety is a team sport. Everyone’s participation is needed.

Contact Mike Goldsmith, mgoldsmith@securecommunitynetwork.com with any questions.

Mike Goldsmith is United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s SCN Regional Security Advisor.

To learn more about this organization, go to adl.org/resources/backgrounder/goyim-defense-league.

Followers of the national group have been printing these flyers at home, placing them in Ziplock bags along with rocks, birdseed, or corn, and scattering them in residential areas on public streets – just shy of private property – across the country for a few years. 

Despite pending laws to criminalize this activity, it will likely continue sporadically across different locations. 

If someone discovers antisemitic flyers, stickers, or other materials – focused on hate against any group – the following steps should be taken:

1. If there’s a physical threat, call 911.

2. Do NOT touch the evidence, leave it where it was found and report the incident to the local police department’s non-emergency number.

• Virginia Beach 757-385-5000
• Norfolk 757-441-5610
• Chesapeake 757-382-6161
• Portsmouth 757-393-5300
• Suffolk 757-923-2350

3. Complete an Incident Reporting Form to alert Mike Goldsmith, Tidewater’s SCN Regional Security Advisor (RSA), Secure Community Network (SCN) national Duty Desk, and Robin Mancoll, JCRC senior director, at JewishVA.org/incidentreporting. If possible and safe to do so, please take a photograph of the material and submit it with the report.

Goldsmith is actively responding to these incidents, monitoring, and coordinating with SCN nationally, as well as with local, state, and federal law enforcement, to assist in investigating incidents of hate. The Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, in coordination with Tidewater’s SCN RSA, works with community leaders and lawmakers to educate about antisemitism and combat its spread. 

The JCRC’s advocacy during past Virginia General Assembly sessions led to the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances Working Definition of Antisemitism to be used as a tool and guide to identify instances of antisemitism and train first responders, educators, and other public servants on how to respond to antisemitism and prevent hate crimes from happening; and most recently, adding ethnicity to the protected classes in the hate crimes code of Virginia. The JCRC will continue to advocate for policies that combat antisemitism.

Contact Mike Goldsmith at MGoldsmith@securecommunitynetwork.org or Robin Mancoll at RMancoll@ujft.org with questions.

Robin Mancoll is senior director, Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.

• Is a counter-protest effective in supporting Israel?
• Does staging or attending a counter-protest serve the community’s support of Israel?
• Does counter-protesting put you or others in danger?

Here are some additional things to consider:

• Counter-protests create a moral equivalence between acts of Hamas and the Israeli government.
• Protests are highly emotional and are not the space for true, meaningful dialogue. They can also become heated and threaten the safety of participants.
• Counter-protests, more often than not, include or lead to antisemitic rhetoric, which leads to heated exchanges that many times results in physical contact between the individuals. This action is dangerous and can lead to people being arrested from both groups.
• Counter-protests can place an unnecessary strain on community resources, including law enforcement. It is law enforcement’s job to maintain order. Adding a counterprotest makes this task infinitely more complex.
• Many times, it’s a scuffle with a counter-protest that makes the news, not the protest itself.
• Any attempt to shut down a protest or fight against it will only make the counter-protesters look petty and small and will give more amplification to the protester’s voices.

United Jewish Federation of Tidewater works with Secure Community Network (SCN), the official safety and security organization of the Jewish community in North America on issues such as this. Tidewater’s Regional SCN Security Advisor, Mike Goldsmith, is constantly in touch with local, state, and federal law enforcement partners, as they’re all working to make sure that nothing turns hate-filled or violent, while recognizing that people have the right to gather and express their views.

Remember, the job is not to prove our enemies wrong, but to win support for Israel.

We will continue to work to support Israel and to make sure our voices are heard.

Looking for real, tangible ways to support Israel? Visit: JewishVA.org/IsraelatWar23 or contact Nofar Trem, UJFT’s Israel Engagement manager at NTrem@ujft.org.

To report a protest or incident, go to JewishVA.org/Incidentreporting or contact Mike Goldsmith at MGoldsmith@securecommunitynetwork.org.

Robin Mancoll is senior director, Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.

Mike Goldsmith is Tidewater’s regional security advisor for Secure Community Network.