As Rabbi Greenstein so eloquently stated in his recent email, we are devastated by the tragedy in Pittsburgh. As a follow up, I am writing to share with you information and plans regarding security at our synagogue

We are grateful to the Montclair Police Department (MPD) who arrived at Shomrei last Saturday morning as soon as events unfolded in Pittsburgh.  They returned to our synagogue on Sunday. We are actively engaged with the MPD and are requesting, for an interim period of time, extra patrols while we have people in the building.

On the evening of October 27th,  I participated, along with other synagogue presidents in the area, in a MetroWest-led conference call.  The MetroWest chief of security, Bob Wilson, spoke to us and answered questions.  He shared that there have no threats locally; he recommended that synagogues use this tragedy as a trigger to re-examine security procedures; and he said that, as always, communities should be vigilant and alert.

Shomrei is taking Bob’s advice and we are undertaking an immediate review of our security procedures to determine what changes might be appropriate.  Information will be shared with the community as decisions are made.

In addition, I am pleased to share with you that Shomrei recently received a grant from Homeland Security to fund capital improvements to our security systems.  Because of that, we have already been hard at work evaluating our building and working with consultants on how to make best use of this funding.

Providing an environment in which everyone is and feels safe is of our utmost concern.

If you have questions, ideas or concerns please feel free to email me at .

B’shalom,
Sara Ann Erichson
President, Shomrei Emunah