'Incredibly strong': Palm Beach County's Jewish community rallies as antisemitic acts rise

Concerns about the safety of local Jewish communities have increased as reports of antisemitic acts across Palm Beach County have risen in recent years.

A 2023 survey by the American Jewish Committee showed that nearly half of Jewish Americans have altered their behavior over the past year, fearing harassment and reprisals for public displays of their faith.

While the acts of antisemitism have raised concerns, they also have inspired the local Jewish community to rally together, said Melissa Arden, chief planning officer for the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County.

"We've definitely heard increased concerns about wearing Jewish stars in public, or (people asking things like) 'Should I take my mezuzah down?' " Arden said, referring to a piece of parchment with Hebrew verses from the Torah that people attach to doorposts.

"But I have to say that in Palm Beach County, we have an incredibly strong community, and we've had even more of an increase of folks who are seeking out the Jewish community," she added, "and to show their pride and to be with the Jewish community during this time."

Arden noted that a recent Purim carnival gathering at the Mandel Jewish Community Center in Palm Beach Gardens drew more than 2,000 people.

As recently as 2023, officials have estimated that about 12 percent of Palm Beach County's population is Jewish. Last year, the Jewish Federation voted to start the Palm Beach County Center to Combat Antisemitism & Hatred. It recently organized a visit to Israel of leaders from local non-Jewish communities.

"Combatting antisemitism is not an issue just for the Jewish community to address," Michael Hoffman, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation said in an April interview with The Palm Beach Post. "We need allies in the greater community representing all faiths, all ethnic groups, elected officials, faith leaders (and) law enforcement."

Menorah restored: Hundreds gather at Juno sand sculpture destroyed with swastika

ADL report: Palm Beach County topped Florida in 2023 antisemitic incidents

A recent audit by the Anti-Defamation League showed that Palm Beach County had the highest number of reported acts of antisemitism in Florida last year, with 84 incidents.

Bomb threats against Jewish institutions, the distribution of extremist literature in residential communities and acts of vandalism were contributing factors, the ADL report said. Florida had the fourth-highest number of reported incidents last year among all states.

A recent report by USA Today showed that Jewish Americans across various states have expressed fear and frustration amid a widely reported surge in antisemitism.

Ted Deutch, a former U.S. congressman from Boca Raton who now serves as CEO of the American Jewish Committee, said many Jewish Americans are taking added precautions in their daily activities, including limiting posts on social media and altering what they wear and where they go in public for fear of being harassed or intimated.

He said the organization's own survey showed that 63 percent of Jewish Americans said the status of Jews in the U.S. is less secure, and that 46 percent have altered their behavior out of fear of antisemitism.

"That's something that should be alarming to the community as a whole," Deutch said. "What we've seen these last few months on college campuses is further evidence of that.

"What happens around the rest of the country impacts what happens in Palm Beach County, because there are so many young people from Palm Beach County who attend colleges all across the states."

ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt cited the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel by Hamas and the ensuing military conflict as significant factors in the sharp rise in antisemitic incidents across the U.S. The conflict has sparked protests on college campuses across the country in recent weeks over the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian civilans in Gaza — including at the University of Florida, University of South Florida and University of North Florida.

Arden, of the county's Jewish Federation, said the roots of antisemitism run deeper than that exposed by the current military conflict in Gaza.

"Antisemitism didn't start on Oct. 7, and it didn't start as a result of the war," she said. "The war just accelerated it."

About a dozen people have been arrested over the past week during on-campus protests at several Florida universities. Deutch said he supports protesting as a fundamental right, but added that threats, harassment and disrupting campus functions should not be tolerated.

"When Jewish students are blocked from entering campus, when professors celebrate the mass murder of Jews, or students march wearing headbands of terrorist groups, that's not free speech," he said. "That's threatening behavior that is meant to intimidate and silence an entire community."

Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him atjwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at@JuliusWhigham. Help support our work:Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach County's Jewish community rallies as antisemitic acts rise