High Holiday security planning begins now

It’s the dog days of August, when the days are still long and hot. Many of us are on vacation or preparing to go away. It is still a time for barbecues, the beach, traveling, and relaxing by a pool. That is what summer is for.

For most people, the High Holidays, beginning this year at sundown on September 11, still seem far away. Few of us have begun any personal preparation for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. What is there to prepare for in early August?

I personally hate the thought of summer ending. To me, summer is one long, extended holiday. However, as the Security and Safety Coordinator for my synagogue, August has become a little less relaxed. While most people are still thinking about vacations, I am beginning to think about our High Holiday security posture.

Since October 7, 2023, the collective security awareness of the Jewish people has only intensified. The terrorist attack at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation in Manchester, England, on Yom Kippur in 2025 is a reminder that these threats are not confined to any one country.

Protecting a synagogue during an ordinary Shabbat can already be challenging. The High Holidays add an entirely different level of complexity. Attendance may double or triple. Large numbers of people arrive and leave at the same time. Parking lots, sidewalks, lobbies, hallways, and playgrounds become congested. Synagogues may hold several services in different rooms or at different times, with children’s programs running alongside adult services, overflow spaces pressed into use for worship, and large groups gathering outdoors for Tashlich.

For a few days each year, the building essentially operates as a different building. Synagogues also welcome people who may not have walked through their doors since the previous Yom Kippur. Congregants bring relatives, friends, college students, caregivers, and guests from out of town. Many may be unfamiliar to the synagogue’s guards, greeters, or volunteer security team members. Others may arrive without registering or forget their tickets. It happens every year.

These predictable challenges cannot be addressed effectively in the week before the holidays. There is simply too much to coordinate and too much at stake. No synagogue can plan for every possible contingency, but it can identify the most important security issues in advance and make sure the people responsible for them are working from the same plan. So where should that planning begin?

Leadership Comes First

Before schedules are finalized or assignments are made, synagogue leadership should decide who will oversee the plan, who has authority to make decisions if conditions change, and who will coordinate with police, guards, staff, ushers, and volunteer security team members. Simply having all those people present does not make them a team. Guards may not know the full-service schedule, volunteers may not understand the guards’ responsibilities, and police officers stationed outside may be unaware of programs taking place elsewhere in the building.

Hold a pre-holiday briefing with everyone who has a role. Begin by reviewing the synagogue’s Emergency Management Response Plan. If you don’t have an Emergency Management Response Plan, that should be your first action item. Next, review the full-service schedule, guard post orders, volunteer assignments, communication procedures, parking arrangements, and any changes to how the building or property will operate. Decide who will serve as the primary contact with local law enforcement. By the end of the meeting, everyone should understand the plan, their responsibilities, how concerns will be communicated, and who has the final word. They do not need to become security experts. They simply need to know their role and how it fits into the larger operation.

Deciding How People Get in the Door

One of the earliest – and sometimes most divisive – High Holiday decisions is how people will be admitted to services. Will the synagogue use tickets, wristbands, advance registration, membership verification, or another form of screening? What happens when someone arrives without a ticket and insists that a relative registered them? And how should you handle an out-of-town visitor who simply arrives during the holidays looking for a synagogue in which to pray?

There is no single right answer or approach. Every synagogue has its own culture and its own approach to welcoming people while maintaining control of the entrance. A large urban congregation may need a very different system from a small Chabad house where the Rabbi knows nearly everyone who walks through the door. Each approach has advantages and drawbacks, and synagogue leadership must decide what works best for its community.

Whatever policy is chosen, it must be applied consistently. Leadership staff, greeters, guards, and volunteers should all understand the same process and know who has authority to resolve questions or make exceptions. The policy should not change depending on who happens to be standing at the entrance. Most importantly, security and hospitality are not opposites. The entrance to a synagogue can and should remain warm, welcoming, and secure.

Security Doesn’t Start or End at the Entrance

Access control is the most critical component of synagogue security. However, it’s only one part of the High Holiday security environment. Leadership should think through what a congregant actually goes through: driving or walking to synagogue, parking (if permitted), walking to the building, waiting to get in, dropping kids off at children’s programming, and eventually heading back out to the car or walking home. Parking lots and sidewalks get crowded before services start, and cars left in the wrong place can block emergency access or create real conflicts with people on foot. Kids drift between the building and the playground. Older congregants may need more time, or a hand, getting in and out. The same holds true at the end of services. That’s why it’s important to maintain the same security posture as when people enter as when they leave.

Planning also has to account for spaces used differently than during a normal week. Social halls are often converted into sanctuaries for overflow seating. Classrooms become children’s service areas. Side doors get opened for accessibility, overflow or ventilation. Evaluate and plan for these types of physical changes.

Coordinate with Law Enforcement Early

Planning and coordination with your local police or sheriff’s office shouldn’t begin the week before Rosh Hashanah. Law enforcement may need time to prepare to assist with your security needs. If you haven’t developed a strong relationship with the police department where your synagogue is located, now is the perfect time to do so. Invite them to the synagogue before the holidays so that they can see the inside of the building and become familiar with its layout, should g-d forbid, they ever need to enter for an emergency.

Consider inviting your local county Emergency Management leaders to that meeting if you can. If you need additional police resources, there are now private services such as Blue4Hire, which allow you to rent local police officers. The police need to understand when services will occur, when arrivals and departures will peak, whether traffic congestion is expected, how many people are expected to attend and whether the congregation will gather outdoors for Tashlich. Discuss any potential threats against the Jewish community in your area. Ask what the threat levels are? Do they know of any “anti-Israel” demonstrations planned nearby during the holidays? Sadly, the latter is not unheard of today.

Tashlich deserves particular attention because it takes the congregation outside the building and away from the controlled environment of the synagogue. Congregants may walk or drive to a pond, river, lake, or park nearby. The route may cross streets or parking areas. Those gathering for Tashlich may include children, the elderly, and people unfamiliar with the area, and it’s often highly visible and accessible to anyone nearby.

Strangers might stop to see what you are doing. Most encounters will be harmless. Neighbors, passersby, or unaffiliated Jews may simply be curious and ask questions. Still, synagogue leadership should be prepared for the possibility of a disruptive or hostile encounter. Security planning cannot end at the synagogue sidewalk. When a congregation plans to gather publicly for Tashlich, local law enforcement should be part of the conversation.

Staff the Entire High Holiday day 

Security coverage should reflect how the synagogue will operate, not just the published start and end times of services. Begin by mapping the full schedule, including early arrivals, children’s programs, breaks, afternoon services, Tashlich, etc., and the periods when large numbers of people will be entering or leaving. Those transitions are often when the property is busiest and coverage is most important. Professional guards and volunteer congregational security team members should be scheduled as part of one coordinated plan. Volunteers often know the congregation, the building, and the normal flow of services better than anyone, but they also want time to pray and be with their families. Their assignments should therefore be realistic, clearly defined, and organized in manageable shifts or rotations.

A guard assigned only to the main service may arrive after congregants have already begun gathering or leave while the parking lot is still full. Likewise, volunteers should not be expected to remain at one post for hours without relief. Long shifts reduce attentiveness, and unclear assignments can lead to several people watching the same area while another is left uncovered.

The goal is not simply to fill openings on a schedule. It is to provide reliable, coordinated coverage during the times and in the places where people are actually arriving, gathering, moving through the property, and leaving. Walk the building and grounds before the holidays. A meeting and a written plan cannot replace walking the property in person. Before the High Holidays, synagogue leadership, security personnel, facilities staff, and other key stakeholders should walk the building, perimeter, parking lot, sidewalks, and any outdoor gathering areas together.

The purpose is to see how the property will actually function when attendance is at its highest. Where will vehicles enter and exit? Where are pedestrians likely to cross traffic? Could parked cars block fire lanes, emergency access, or sightlines? Are gates, fences, exterior lighting, cameras, and doors working as expected? Are there areas along the perimeter that are poorly lit, obstructed by vegetation, or difficult to observe? Are there places where potential bad actors can hide?

The walk-through should continue inside the building. Which entrances will be open? Where will lines form? Will temporary worship or children’s spaces affect normal circulation or emergency exits? How will elderly congregants and people with disabilities enter and leave? Are signs clear, doors functioning, and hallways free of stored materials or other obstructions? This is also the time to walk any route the congregation will use for Tashlich or another outdoor gathering. A brief inspection can reveal traffic conflicts, uneven walking surfaces, poor lighting, limited accessibility, or other conditions that may not be obvious from a map.

Eat the Frog First: Start with the Hardest Decisions

“Eat a live frog first thing in the morning.” The line, often attributed to Mark Twain, was meant as a productivity lesson: do the hardest thing first. The same principle applies to High Holiday security planning. Begin with the issues that will take the most time involve the most people, require coordination with outside agencies, or affect every other part of the plan. Once that overall structure is in place, the smaller decisions become easier.

No plan can eliminate every risk. Good planning can, however, reduce confusion, strengthen coordination, and help a synagogue respond more effectively when something unexpected occurs.

Summer is not over yet. The pools are still open, the grills are still hot, and many families still have vacations ahead of them. But September 11 is closer than it appears.

For those responsible for synagogue safety, the time to begin planning is now.