Community Safety Pledge

February 6, 2025

Our mission is to create an inclusive and thriving center of Jewish spiritual, cultural, and social life in the Lawrence area. We are developing a community safety plan to honor and protect all who enter our doors. LJCC members are Jews and Jewish-adjacent loved ones from a wide spectrum of Jewish experience and multi-layered identities.

We are committed to fostering a culture of reliance on one another in any situation that may arise. We recognize that safety includes not only our physical selves but our minds and souls as well. And we recognize that since members have different physical and mental capabilities, we will make certain we have accessible and respectful policies in place. We will all strive to be non judgemental and continue to learn to nurture a culture of safety for all of us.

We understand that as Jews we can feel targeted. We do not need to outsource all our protection and security to outside entities and authorities. Through empowering our community with the skills and knowledge we need, we can develop a true culture of safety and security. We can also learn from other faith communities. We can add to a feeling of security and trust by alerting anyone present at an event or planning to come when there will be outsourced protection. Then people can make their own decisions about risk.

We understand that reaching community consensus about safety and danger means different things to different people. We will continue to seek out best practices and real-life experiences to refine our plan. We recognize this is an ongoing process. We believe protecting our congregants, visitors, and other members of the Lawrence community is a sacred task.

Our goal is to hear from as many people as possible and to help train those who are willing to be responders who can take the lead during a disruption or when someone exhibits signs of emotional distress. This is a plan that will be developed and enacted over the coming years. We are committed to clear communication, transparency, continued training, and learning from each other and other communities.

With open hearts and minds, we want to learn how to co-create a safer, healthier, and unprejudiced environment in which we can all thrive. Please join us.