Three years after Oct. 7, some US Jews want to carry guns to synagogue

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(RNS) — Shortly after Oct. 7, 2023, a group of men at the Silver Spring Jewish Center in Maryland devised a plan to arm the synagogue during prayer services with members ready to fire a gun.

Synagogues in the U.S. had already experienced mass shootings and other acts of vandalism, harassment and assault. But the Hamas attack, in which 1,200 Israeli civilians and soldiers were killed, jump-started the Silver Spring congregation’s resolve to bear arms.

On the third anniversary of Oct. 7, the Orthodox congregation, also known as Congregation Ahavas Yisrael, in the Washington, D.C., suburb, has a team of five congregants that carry guns. Most are active or retired military and special forces. They all have advanced firearms training.

The congregation is now suing Montgomery County, Maryland, which passed a law in July prohibiting the carrying of firearms in or within 100 yards of houses of worship.

Jewish institutions in the U.S. have vastly expanded security since Oct. 7, 2023, in response to a surge of hate crimes. Last year, the Jewish Federations of North America estimated U.S. Jewish…