Ever since I woke up the day after the D.C. shootings, I searched for the right words. Although Yaron was not a brother, both he and Sarah had ties to AEPi members, and we have heard from several who were at the event.

Many in our community were shocked by this event. I would be lying if I were to echo their sentiment. After all, much of our work happens on the very college campuses which we all know to be the earliest indicators of deep political and cultural tensions. For years we have been aware of rising antisemitism, warning our community and watching as it was increasingly normalized. Accordingly, the fringe has intensified. Still, the reality that this could occur is a sobering reminder of how serious the threat has become—and how urgently we need the leadership of our community to reevaluate the strategies and investments we have made to combat this scourge.

I thought I would highlight what some of those leaders are saying:

AJC CEO (and AEPi alumnus) Ted Deutsh said in an interview, “Importantly, this isn’t an effort that can be left up to any one government or the administration or anyone else. It requires all of us, all of us coming together to understand that when people dress like terrorists and scream, ‘globalize the intifada,’ that calls like that have real repercussions that can lead to violence and death. We’ve been saying it over and over. No one wanted to be right about it. But we have to come together and say that we just will not accept unchecked antisemitism and unchecked hatred wherever it comes from, certainly across the United States and anywhere in the world. That’s what we have to do together.”

Jewish Federations of North America, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Secure Community Network (SCN), Community Security Service (CSS), and Community Security Initiative (CSI) of New York, many of which are led by AEPi men, released the following recommendations following the horrific murders outside the Capital Jewish Museum:

“We urge organizations that are hosting events, or which are open to the community to undertake the following actions, where feasible:

• Ensure awareness and coordination with law enforcement and the Jewish security initiative and/or professional servicing your community or region
• Where possible, seek to extend the protections or security of your event’s/facility’s perimeter as far as possible
• Only open events to identifiable individuals and pre-screened invitation lists (e.g., no mass emails to the broad public)
• Particularly for events open to the public, require registration and verification of registrants
• Provide details of location, time, and other information only upon confirmed registration
• Have access control (locks and entrance procedures) to only allow known, confirmed registrants/attendees into the facility/event
• Remain vigilant and report suspicious activity
• Consider armed on-duty or off-duty law enforcement, private security, and/or volunteer teams as additional layers of protection

AEPi will continue to encourage our chapters to implement these recommendations for their security but we also recognize the enormous challenges in compliance with them. Chapter and International resources are limited, especially without access to the national security grant funding that other organizations are able to access. Likewise, undergraduate culture is not conducive to these restrictions, and at times, efforts to ensure security also may segregate us from our broader community, severing the very relationships that prevent the further spread of antisemitism on campus.

Although the answers to the existential threats that we face are far from straightforward, I did find some perspective in an email awaiting me the morning after the murders. Our Partners at Gift of Life informed us that AEPi had hit the milestone of 1,000 genetic matches from over 28,000 swabs. I am always deeply moved by our work with Gift of Life but, on that morning, the email may have also been a reminder from Hashem that we need to keep focused on the positive things we can do to repair our broken world. In the words of Isaiah 60:2 “darkness shall cover the earth…but upon you G-d will shine, and His glory shall be seen upon you. And nations shall walk by your light.”

Let’s keep being the light and adding light to this world, even on our darkest days.