By Anne Levin
The news last weekend about mass shootings at Brown University in Providence, R.I., and a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, Australia, was particularly distressing to Princeton’s academic and Jewish communities.
At Princeton University, patrols were increased on campus as students took final exams and prepared to head home for winter break. An email to the campus community from Vice President for Campus Life Rochelle Calhoun and Department of Public Safety head Kenneth Strother said that while no threats to the campus had been made, heightened patrols were in effect.
“In the wake of these incidents, we want to ensure that you are aware of how the University works to keep our campus safe,” the Sunday, December 14 email reads. “We are not aware of any specific threats to the campus at this time. However, out of an abundance of caution, the University’s Department of Public Safety has increased patrols. We have also communicated with our Jewish community about extra security precautions at events celebrating Hanukkah, which begins this evening.”
Two students were killed and nine were injured in the Saturday afternoon shooting at Brown University. At a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach in Sydney, two men alleged to be father and son fired the shots on Sunday that killed 15 people and wounded more than 40.
Despite the frigid temperatures and ongoing concerns about antisemitic attacks, The Jewish Center Princeton held a Hanukkah candle lighting ceremony outside the synagogue on Sunday evening. A larger menorah lighting event was to take place Tuesday evening outside Palmer Square.
“I think there were more people than we thought would come on Sunday night,” said Rabbi Andrea Merow of The Jewish Center. “They were there because they were wanting to show solidarity. We feel like we’re one people. My sense is that people are looking for the opportunity to be together.”
Asked if the increase in antisemitic acts worldwide has reached a new level, Merow replied, “I can’t speak for others, only for myself. It feels like it is unprecedented in my life, but not in Jewish history. And I also know that in the U.S. and in Princeton, particularly, our community is intertwined with the larger community. So we feel the support. I believe that how we treat one class of people, or any people, in terms of their civil rights, will affect everyone.”
Merow worries about the time, energy, and resources that are spent on addressing antisemitism and safety. “That funding could be spent on education,” she said. “It’s not really where we want our
resources to be, but it’s where they have to be right now.”
A Sunday morning message to the University community from Rabbi Gil Steinlauf, the executive director of the Center for Jewish Life, said that the weekend’s violence may leave people “anxious, angry, grief-stricken, and unsettled,” according to an article in The Daily Princetonian, and urged students not to carry those feelings alone.
The story added that a Hanukkah dinner and celebration had taken place at the University’s Chabad House on Sunday evening, drawing more than 150 students. The event included a memorial for the victims of the attack in Australia. Rabbi Eitan Webb, the director and co-founder of Chabad House, said that the University had reached out to him following the attacks at Brown.
Princeton was one of several Ivy League campuses including Yale, Harvard, Columbia, and the University of Pennsylvania to issue communications following the Brown shooting on Saturday afternoon.
The Princeton Police Department has led efforts to keep the local Jewish community safe. “Our relationship with the Princeton Police could not be better,” said Merow. “They meet with us on a regular basis, and are incredibly supportive in every way, as is the mayor. And it’s not that way everywhere.”