Rabbi Martin Levy of Congregation Beit Tikva in Santa Fe returns a more than 130-year-old Torah to the synagogue’s ark in Santa Fe on Monday. The synagogue has increased its security significantly in the last two years, an effort that costs ,000 to ,000 annually.
Rabbi Martin Levy reads a portion of the Ten Commandments from a more than 130-year-old Torah at Congregation Beit Tikva in Santa Fe on Monday. "It's pretty inconceivable to think that Jews in America are feeling unsafe purely because we are Jewish," said Alonet Zarum Zandan, a Santa Fe resident.
Rabbi Martin Levy of Congregation Beit Tikva in Santa Fe returns a more than 130-year-old Torah to the synagogue’s ark in Santa Fe on Monday. The synagogue has increased its security significantly in the last two years, an effort that costs $10,000 to $15,000 annually.
Rabbi Neil Amswych says Jewish communities in the U.S. long have had to pay an “antisemitism tax,” a reference to synagogues and temples investing deeply and carefully in security to ensure the safety of congregations.
“We talk about this a lot, and it is a sad fact of Jewish life, but it is important that it is not an overriding fact,” said Amswych, the rabbi of Temple Beth Shalom in Santa Fe.
of Santa Fe’s Jewish community — and indeed, Jews nationwide — are shaken after an attack June 1 in Boulder, Colo., where a man with a makeshift flamethrower yelled “Free Palestine” and threw Molotov cocktails into demonstrators for a group calling for the release of Israeli hostages at a popular pedestrian mall.
That attack came less than two weeks after the killing of two staff of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., outside a Jewish museum. The man accused of carrying out this attack also shouted, “Free Palestine,” according to reports.
“It’s pretty inconceivable to think that Jews in America are feeling unsafe purely because we are Jewish,” said Alonet Zarum Zandan, a Santa Fe resident. Referring to a victim in the Boulder assault, she added, “When an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor is burned ... the fear is real, and the world kind of needs to wake up.”
The attacks have unfolded against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war, one that has increased tensions around the U.S., including in Santa Fe. New Mexico’s capital city is home to about 4,000 Jews, local faith leaders have estimated, noting the level of concern present now in the City Different.
Jewish leaders here also have cited increased security at local temples as a symptom of the times.
The Boulder Jewish Festival, a 30-year-old celebration, moved forward Sunday with heightened security.
Rabbi Martin Levy reads a portion of the Ten Commandments from a more than 130-year-old Torah at Congregation Beit Tikva in Santa Fe on Monday. "It's pretty inconceivable to think that Jews in America are feeling unsafe purely because we are Jewish," said Alonet Zarum Zandan, a Santa Fe resident.
Zarum Zandan, the founder of the Jewish Community Relations Coalition of New Mexico, said people are fearful here. She understands why some are hesitant to openly showcase their Jewish faith, she added, but she still resolves to wear her Star of David each day, and plans to wear it until the end of the conflict in the Middle East.
Boulder, which lies about 30 miles from Denver, has parallels to Santa Fe in the way of population and region.
“When I look at Boulder, I see that as a very similar community to what we have in Santa Fe in of size ... cultural attractions,” she said. “If that can happen in Boulder at their mall, it can happen here.”
Santa Fe, a city of about 90,000 people perched in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, has been grappling with the Israel-Hamas war since Hamas’ deadly attacks Oct. 7, 2023. Some local ers of Palestinians blame what they see as decades of brutal Israeli oppression for engendering the war and describe the high number of civilian Palestinian deaths — with reports of more than 50,000 people dead in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry — as genocide. Demonstrators have held protests, and political discussions on ceasefire resolutions have heated debate at City Hall.
A concert planned at Meow Wolf’s Santa Fe venue last year was abruptly canceled hours before the show amid pressure from some union and activists over alternative rapper Matisyahu’s for Israel during the Gaza conflict.
Rabbi Martin Levy reads a portion of the Ten Commandments at Congregation Beit Tikva in Santa Fe on Monday.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, which says anger at Israel is the driving force behind antisemitism in the U.S., New Mexico recorded 47 anti-Jewish incidents in 2024, 52% higher than the 31 incidents recorded the previous year, while the five-year trend shows incidents have climbed 488% in the state since 2020.
The 31-year-old Chicago man accused of fatally shooting two staff of the Israeli Embassy last month told police after his arrest, “I did it for Palestine; I did it for Gaza,” federal authorities said. They called the killings a targeted act of terrorism.
The man charged Monday with a federal hate crime in Colorado, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, told investigators he wanted to “kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead,” according to federal court documents, The New York Times reported.
Rabbi Amswych feels the recent attacks were inevitable due to what he characterized as the “violent” rhetoric in the U.S., which he said has been building for years amid a “disturbing rise of antisemitism” over roughly the last decade.
“The level of anger that is being aimed specifically at people who identify as Zionists is terrifying and horrifying,” Amswych said. “It is possible for somebody to disagree with the policies of the state of Israel without singling out people who the right of the state of Israel to exist.”
He added, “We have seen terrible slurs aimed at people in the Jewish community, including those who the right of the state of Israel but criticize some of its policies, pushing all Jews together, putting all Zionists together.”
Heightened security costs 5cz6t
Rabbi Martin Levy leads Santa Fe’s Congregation Beit Tikva, which translates to the “House of Hope” in Hebrew.
He said his congregation has always been proud and outspoken in its of the state of Israel, with who lived in the nation and served in the army there. Although, he noted, that doesn’t mean people can’t criticize the government or its actions.
“We pray for better times, and everybody wants the war in Gaza to end as quickly as possible,” Levy said.
Levy said Congregation Beit Tikva has upped its security significantly in the last two years. Six or seven years ago this was not a concern, but now, he said, it costs $10,000 to $15,000 a year to cover expenses for security operations — a burden on the congregation.
Rabbi Berel Levertov of the Santa Fe Jewish Center Chabad also discussed the importance of strong security at this time.
“It’s a shame that it comes to this,” Levertov said. “It’s a shame that it comes to this, but the important thing is for the decent people to stand up and stand strong with Israel and with the Jewish people.”
“We have to pay extraordinary amounts of money to keep ourselves secure from the antisemitism of others,” Amswych said.
Rabbi Martin Levy pets his boxer Chimichanga outside the doors of Congregation Beit Tikva in Santa Fe on Monday.
Amswych said there is plenty of nuance when it comes to the Jewish community’s views of the Israel-Hamas war, among other issues. Communal discourse has become polarized in the U.S., as well as globally, he said, noting Temple Beth Shalom has held Israeli-Palestinian dialogues to foster safe discussions.
“We deliberately embrace diversity, so we create space for people of differing opinions to come together,” Amswych said.
He added, “It’s very easy for people to simplify things into TikTok sound bites. ‘This country is bad.’ ‘This country is good.’ ‘This is a genocide.’ ‘This is not.’ ”
Zarum Zandan and others are calling on their non-Jewish allies and friends to take a strong stand against antisemitism.
“The opposite of love is not hate. It’s indifference,” Zarum Zandan said.
“I am proud of being Jewish, and I’m not going to let hateful words and even murderous actions stop me from being who I am,” she added.
Levertov said Jewish people are anxious but also looking inward — wondering what it is about Judaism that prompts antisemitism.
“We’ve been exploring that quite a bit, like what’s antisemitism about? It’s gone on for 3,000 years, at least for 2,000 years more recently,” Levertov said. “It’s never gone away as much as we think it’s gone away. What does it tell us as Jews? We realize speaking up about it and educating people about the harms of antisemitism hasn’t really worked.”
