Hamilton’s Jewish community agencies—including synagogues, schools and camps—spent the evening of Jan. 20 learning new security protocols to handle antisemitic protests, vandalism and terrorist attacks. The “Guardian Training” session was part of Hamilton’s new membership in the U.S.-based Secure Community Network (SCN) program, run by the New York-based Jewish Federations of North America. Hamilton is among the first Canadian Jewish communities to join this network, along with Montreal. Hamilton received hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding for the next three years, and quickly used part of it to hire a former local police commander as their new regional security director, whom they sent for training in Chicago. That's where the SCN Network's 24/7 command centre is located, where former FBI agents and ex-military experts sit in a computer-lined war room and monitor attacks and threats to the Jewish world. After Oct. 7, Jewish leadership in Hamilton were looking for an answer to protect their community, but its small size of 5,000 people made it unrealistic to afford the needed staffing and resources to build its own security network. On this episode of The CJN Daily, we hear more about why Canadian federations are looking south of the border for help: we’re joined by Glenn Mannella, the new regional security director at Hamilton’s Jewish Federation, and Gustavo Rymberg, the Federation’s CEO.

Related links

• See what the Jewish Federations of North America’s Secure Community Network command centre looks like, and how it saves Jewish lives.
• Learn why Hamilton’s Jewish Film Festival was moved after original venue cancelled, after Oct. 7, in The CJN.
• Read more about private security agencies setting up to act to protect the Jewish community in Canada after Oct. 7, in The CJN.

Credits

• Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner)
• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
• Music: Dov Beck-Levine

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