Preparing for the chagim—the seats, the guests, the meals, the clothes, the ritual items, and of course the right kavana—are stressful enough as it is. But if you’re the security chair of your shul, or an active security team member, you have another serious obligation—making sure your facility’s security practices are up to par for the challenges and possible threats of the High Holiday season.

But security team members don’t have to go it alone. They can draw on the guidance and training of the CSS (Community Security Service), a widely respected and growing national Jewish communal security group with ties to over 500 synagogues, community centers and other Jewish facilities nationwide, including 33 shuls in New Jersey alone.

Originally established in 2007, the CSS was modeled after communal security groups that have been active in Europe, Latin America and Australia since World War II. For the first 13 years of its existence, the CSS was small, informal, and entirely layperson-run. After the attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018, the organization received a mandate from national supporters to increase its professionalism and hire staff.

Since Richard Priem and Evan Bernstein came on staff in 2020 after serving in top leadership roles in the ADL, the CSS has grown from having two full-time staff to 18 full-time staff, with offices in NYC, Miami and Los Angeles. The CSS has also expanded its network of affiliated local Jewish groups and taken on a major role in training volunteer security personnel and mobilizing people to manage security at major Jewish communal groups.

With Bernstein’s departure from the CSS in 2023 to assume another communal role, Priem has assumed the role of CEO. He brings a wealth of experience to the role, having volunteered at the Jewish community security group in the Netherlands, moved to Israel and served in the IDF, got a degree from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, worked for the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime then the U.N. Security Council’s Office of Counter-Terrorism, moving to the ADL in 2018 to serve as New York director of international affairs.

Priem works with other leaders with impressive credentials, four of whom joined him at a pre-High Holidays security training in Bergen County on September 11.

Ofir Shalom, the director of training of the CSS, served in the IDF, then joined the Shin Bet, where he served in the unit handling protection of Israel’s highest-ranking dignitaries (prime minister, foreign minister, defense minister, president, head of Knesset, head of opposition, and chief justice of the Supreme Court). He moved to the Shin Bet training department, where he served for 10 years, then moved to the Israeli Consulate in New York where he trained Israeli security agents in the U.S. for diplomatic security assignments. Later, he became the deputy security chief of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, before Priem enlisted him to join the CSS after the October 7 attack.

Adi Porat is the senior training associate at the CSS and also manages the ROAM (Respond, Organize, Act and Mitigate) young professionals group. She has been with the CSS for two years and was hired after completing a master’s in security and diplomacy at Tel Aviv University.

Deena S. and Nissan C. are the CSS New Jersey regional managers; Deena has served with the organization since 2011, and Nissan has served since 2010. Under their leadership The CSS has grown to serve 33 shuls in New Jersey alone, from Northern New Jersey to Deal, and the roster continues to grow.

Deena shared: “When Nissan and I first got involved, there were no Homeland Security grants and no real security measures in most synagogues. Yet we saw the threats to Israel rising and the growing threats to us here. We understood the need to protect the community, and protect people going to shul.” She recalled starting with 11 volunteers in her synagogue, building the team, and then branching out to other shuls.

Nissan noted: “We wanted to do something truly effective by following the European model of community security, and providing serious security training to protect our family and friends. We did this because we understood that shuls are considered ‘soft targets’ and they need protection.”

Deena and Nissan said that the CSS customizes its support for each shul and works with security teams of all sizes. (The ideal size is 15-20 people.) Nissan added that the CSS is proud to work with synagogues of all denominations and has particular expertise in addressing halachic concerns about security measures on Shabbat and Yom Tov.

Priem spoke about the hundreds of volunteers the CSS has trained for security work in shuls and at special events. The CSS requires a minimum of eight hours of training for shul security volunteers and has a separate track of training for event security. The complete curriculum of security training is 72 hours.

The CSS has become the community leader in providing volunteer security support for Jewish communal events of different sizes, with hundreds of trained volunteers to draw on. They have organized security for high-profile events like The Israel Day Parade in NYC and the International Conference of Chabad Shluchim in Edison, New Jersey, and for community events across the tri-state region. Porat noted that in 2023 the CSS supported 66 major events and in 2024 they have already supported 44 events.

At the training in Bergen County, the CSS brought together dozens of shul security heads to conduct a High Holiday training, with case studies and best practices. Priem shared that the core of this training and others is role playing, which creates muscle memory in volunteers and has proven highly effective.

The CSS invites inquiries from synagogues, JCCs and other Jewish communal organizations looking to upgrade their security measures and partner with a proven leader. Priem stressed that the CSS is a nonprofit organization and there are no charges or costs involved in providing support to local institutions.

To learn more about the CSS and to contact them, please visit https://thecss.org/

Harry Glazer is the Middlesex County Editor of The Jewish Link. He can be reached at [email protected] and he welcomes reader feedback.