A year before the massacre at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue, a security director from the city’s Jewish federation came to the house of worship to train its religious school staff and rabbi on how to respond to violent situations. At the time, Stephen Weiss thought it was unnecessary.
But Weiss, then a teacher at the synagogue’s religious school, attended the training, where he was taught to avoid being easily seen by an active shooter and strategies to get away from dangerous areas. Both lessons proved useful in 2018 when a gunman entered the synagogue and killed 11 people in the nation’s deadliest antisemitic attack.
“That training is what saved my life,” he said. As the shots rang out, Weiss, 63, said he was able to sneak away, alert another congregation that met in the building and eventually escape outside through a side door.
Source: Jewish Federations eye security improvements for communities