CLEVELAND — A rise in hate-related incidents targeting the Jewish community is making the group’s safety a growing concern. 
 

What You Need To Know

  • The Jewish Federation of Cleveland is a nonprofit supporting those in the faith-based community

  • The organization has its own security team that partners with area law enforcement agencies to help keep the community safe

  • Last year saw the most anti-Semitic acts on record in both the state and country, according to the Anti-Defamation League

More than 2,700 anti-Semitic incidents were reported across the country last year, according to the Anti-Defamation League, an anti-hate organization whose mission is, "to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all."

That's the largest number reported since the ADL started tracking such reports in 1979. 

The Jewish Federation Of Cleveland has a security team within its organization to help protect its members. 

During a recent training at a Jewish school, the sound of gunfire filled the room during a PowerPoint presentation for staff. Jim Hartnett, director of community-wide security for the Jewish Federation Of Cleveland, led the training with his teammates, reviewing active shooter safety tips. 

“You guys are on the front lines,” he said. “Make sure you have the ability to lock your door, secure it.”

Hartnett said lessons like this come with the territory today. 

“They need our help right now,” he said. “It’s sad.”

In Ohio, 50 anti-Semitic incidents were reported in 2021, according to the Anti-Defamation League, the most reported in the state since the group started tracking. That includes assaults, harassment and vandalism targeted toward Jewish people or those thought to be Jewish.

“Hopefully there will come a day in the not too distant future where we can start backing down and return to whatever normal is, but for the moment, this is what’s necessary,” Hartnett said. 

Hartnett is putting his decades of experience as an FBI agent toward helping this community stay safe. 

“It’s a good mission,” he said. “It’s kind of why a lot of us got into law enforcement. People are being targeted for what? They’re different? Their faith is different?”

He and his team check on properties and people both in-person and through a comprehensive camera monitoring system. 

“We’re not just hiding behind closed doors, we’re out there on the front line to take care of our flock, so to speak,” Hartnett said. 

The security team partners with law enforcement agencies to work toward improving the safety of both the Jewish community and the safety of all in the greater Cleveland area. 

“To work side-by-side sharing intelligence, monitoring emergency communications,” he said. 

The Jewish Federation Of Cleveland is a nonprofit, and Hartnett said donations fund the security staff and its technology. 

“We issue grants to help, you know, elder care, holocaust survivors, social services, education for the Jewish community, support for natural disasters that happen here and across the world,” he said. “Yet we’re diverting a lot of those funds, unfortunately, and more and more, to managing our growing security budget.”

But he said helping these families is a responsibility he doesn’t take lightly.

“We’re gonna make sure we’re doing what we can to keep this community safe and let people live a Jewish life,” he said.