The Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey (JFSNJ) announced today the establishment of its newest entity, JFed Security, LLC, a community-security initiative designed to ensure the safety of local Jewish communities. JFed Security will support security needs at Jewish institutions in Camden, Burlington and Gloucester counties, as well as eight additional counties in New Jersey and the entire state of Delaware.
Participating communities will receive training and emergency-operations planning, and complete a TVRA, “Threat and Vulnerability Risk Assessment.” They will also have access to security guards and all intelligence bulletins and products distributed by the intel analyst assigned to the security force.
New Jersey currently has four Jewish federations that have established community-security programs. The federations are being partnered based on their region—north, central and south along with Delaware—to create a contiguous network of partnered federations under the direction of one community-security program. The costs will be shared by all based on a community’s size and need. Each partner maintains its individualized identity and will operate jointly under the umbrella of JFed Security.
“JFed Security, LLC was created and chartered with the purpose of providing and enhancing a community-wide security initiative to ensure that Jews can live and practice their religion safely, especially given the unfortunate rise in antisemitic incidents,” said William “Bud” Monaghan, executive director of JFed Security and former chief of police for the Cherry Hill, N.J. Police Department.
“The Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey feels an enormous responsibility to our system of agencies, Jewish institutions and the region as a whole to expand this community-security initiative,” said Jennifer Dubrow Weiss, CEO of JFSNJ. “Thanks to Bud’s leadership and expertise, we are proud to have established this vital program to protect our Jewish community.”
Local organizations such as Jewish day schools and synagogues are already seeing the benefits.
“We are so grateful for the collaboration with Federation regarding security. It makes sense to work together to ensure the safety of all our communities here in Jewish South Jersey,” said Rabbi Chaim Greenwald, head of school at the Politz Day School of Cherry Hill, N.J.
Josh Laster, executive director of Congregation Beth El in Voorhees, N.J., echoed that sentiment saying, “Having JFed Security, LLC partner with us at Congregation Beth El will improve upon what we already do by offering protection, training and a cohesive community-wide effort will support and strengthen us in many ways.”
JFed Security was launched thanks to a LiveSecure grant. LiveSecure is a $130 million campaign that was launched in 2021 by the Jewish Federations of North America with the goal of securing every Jewish community across North America and saving lives. It is the largest initiative in history to secure Jewish communities across North America.
