The recent antisemitic incident at New Synagogue in Palm Beach was disturbing (“Jewish leaders voice concern over rising antisemitism,” June 21-24). But the more important conversation is not what happened. It is what we do next.
Across America, communities are confronting rising antisemitism. Too often, the response follows a familiar pattern: an incident occurs, leaders condemn it, security is increased and the news cycle moves on. Then another incident follows.
The Palm Beach Center to Combat Antisemitism & Hatred is demonstrating there is another way.
Here, we are building a long-term model rooted in education, advocacy, partnerships, security and shared responsibility, an approach already drawing interest from communities across the country.
Editorial: Palm Beach must unite against antisemitism, foster respect
Antisemitism is not a temporary challenge, so it cannot be met with temporary solutions.
While security is essential, lasting progress requires something more: a community that refuses to leave the responsibility of confronting hate to someone else.
That belief led the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County to establish The Palm Beach Center in 2023, months before the horrific October 7 terrorist attacks on Israel and the dramatic rise in antisemitism that followed. The Center was created because federation and community leaders knew waiting for a crisis was never a strategy.
Today, the center has become far more than a response to antisemitism. The center is helping people of different faiths and backgrounds know one another, learn from one another and stand together against hatred.
Perhaps the most important lesson we have learned is this: antisemitism may target Jews, but it cannot be defeated by Jews alone.
The strongest allies in this work are often people who are not Jewish. When educators help students recognize hate, clergy build bridges across faiths, civic leaders speak with one voice and neighbors choose understanding over indifference, communities become stronger, not only for Jews, but for everyone.
And, our approach is producing measurable results.
Educational initiatives supported by the center have reached more than 160,000 students through Holocaust education, tolerance initiatives and educator training. Today, that work also helps educators address the more subtle and contemporary forms of antisemitism and hate taking root in society. Preparing the next generation requires more than teaching history. It requires giving young people the tools to recognize and reject hatred wherever they encounter it.
More than 60 Palm Beach County educators, clergy, elected officials, law enforcement professionals and nonprofit leaders — most of whom are not Jewish — have participated in leadership experiences in Israel and here at home. Many now help guide the center’s work, strengthening allyship across our community.
Guided by the center’s Grants Committee, we’ve also invested more than $1 million through a competitive grants process to local organizations supporting educational initiatives, community partnerships and programs that promote understanding. Grants have also provided critical funding for expanded security for 35 Jewish institutions throughout the Palm Beaches and the Treasure Coast.
The true measure of this work is the trust, relationships and community connections built before they are needed in moments of crisis. We have created a growing coalition of people who are united in the belief that when one community is targeted, every community is affected.
That vision is reflected in the center’s name: Combat Antisemitism & Hatred. While combating antisemitism is its core mission, the broader goal is to build a community that stands together against all forms of hatred.
This work is possible because of philanthropists, volunteers, educators, clergy, civic leaders and residents who believe stronger communities are built together.
As communities across the country search for more effective responses to rising antisemitism, many are looking to the Palm Beaches as a model, built on investing in education, relationships, security and shared responsibility before a crisis occurs.
Because the answer to antisemitism is not simply responding after hate appears; it is building communities where hate has fewer places to grow.
Richard A. Friedman and Steven Tananbaum, Palm Beach
Friedman and Tananbaum are co-chairs of the Palm Beach Center to Combat Antisemitism & Hatred at Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: The Palm Beaches have a model to confront antisemitism | Letter
Reporting by Palm Beach Daily News / Palm Beach Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Palm Beach Daily News | USA TODAY Network
