For the past 20 years, Secure Community Network (SCN) has evolved in how it delivers services to the Jewish community and what those services entail. In June of this year, another milestone was achieved: SCN Community Security Initiatives was given a formal designation by the U.S. Department…
The Jewish Federation of Greater Portland is very excited to be hosting Portland’s first-ever Jewish Festival on Sunday, Aug. 30. Jewish festivals are celebrated throughout the United States year-round, with great success and community joy. It’s time we brought that here.
The question of se…
High Holidays start early this year, and organizations are deep into planning. There are many elements at play when ensuring a safe and secure series of observances across so many days. Hours of work go into creating a seamless unfolding of the Holidays.
Behind the scenes, to most community…
It was 1989, and in the wake of the Tel Aviv Jerusalem Bus 405 attack, a group of religious volunteers helped retrieve the remains of the victims for proper burial. Six years later, the organization ZAKA was formally formed. Following terrible situations of terror, accidents, and disasters, …
It’s fair to say I’ve buried the lede when it comes to sharing these details from my visit to Ashland. If you’re just catching up, my previous two articles relayed my experience with the Ashland Jewish community at their seminar on Responding to Bias. ("Security in action in Ashland," June 4…
In my last column, (“Security in action in Ashland,” June 4, 2026, pg. 8) I described my visit to Ashland to participate in a bias response workshop with the Ashland Jewish community. The moderators were a husband-and-wife team from the Mandala Center for Change in Port Townsend, Wash., and …
Last weekend I traveled to Ashland to visit the Jewish community there and attend a bias response workshop. Asland can feel quite far away, but I was reminded that it’s an easy 4.5-hour drive with a good audiobook playing. I traveled there a couple of years ago to do community training (Ashl…
The recent vehicle ramming at the Multnomah Athletic Club (MAC) was a reminder to me about the increasing commonality of this type of violence. Thankfully, in this case, no one was in the building, and perhaps the timing was carefully chosen to avoid injuring others. I’m not here to contempl…
I’m writing this from 30,000 feet in the air, en route to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, a yearly event featuring all genres of music and great food over two weekends. New Orleans is one of my favorite U.S. cities, and I think it is hands down in the top three for most unique Amer…
The Jewish communities of Oregon are fortunate to have access to $250,000 per year to defray security costs for a three-year cycle that began in late 2024. These funds, granted by the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, were fundraised from the community as part of a matching grant agreem…
I’ve fielded a lot of questions in the past week following the car ramming at the Michigan synagogue. You’ve probably read that Temple Israel is one of, if not the, largest Reform synagogues in the U.S. It has a huge campus, over 12,000 members, and I’m sure it’s a challenge to keep secure. …
I don’t know where the time goes, but it’s been nearly two years since I wrote an article about cyber safety and security. It’s been on my mind since my dad clicked on a link in an email from a “friend.” The email was in his junk mailbox (clue #1), it was someone he hadn’t spoken to in a whi…
Security improvements for organizations should always be made with consideration for the particular space, in its particular place, with its unique vulnerabilities. However, it is worth noting what other organizations are doing and new technologies that are available. Secure Community Netwo…
This past week’s events in Minneapolis prompted me to reflect on a recent consultation I conducted with one of our community’s organizations regarding ICE activity. The organization wanted to make a plan in the event ICE attempted to enter its space. For most of our organizations, the chance…
At the end of my previous article about the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) community meeting, I shared some good news about Portland’s 911 response. I recently had to call 911 for a medical (but not life or death) emergency occurring in a local coffee shop and was on the phone with a live pers…
