Synagogues increasing security

The Jewish High Holy Days arrived Monday night with synagogues under the watch of extra security guards and police, but worshippers greeted the period of personal reflection with vows not to be intimidated by last week's terrorist attacks.

Three police officers stood in front of a Reform Jewish seminary at the edge of Manhattan's Greenwich Village as a steady stream of people, some wearing red, white and blue ribbons, arrived for services.

Ilana Schweber, 22, went to worship focused as much on the situation in the Mideast as the terror in her own city. She said she would pray "to have a better next year."

"I don't feel nervousness here," she said.

Richard Cohen, a tax attorney, said despite the horror of last week, he wanted to come out and be with other people. "You can't live your life in fear. You need to go on living," he said.

Most congregations activate special safety plans during the 10-day period that starts with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and ends with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Security was heightened shortly after terrorists hijacked four commercial jets last week.

Some synagogues were checking bags and restricting parking.

Few saw an imminent threat. But there was concern that -- given recent events -- synagogues will become targets for hate crimes during the holiday period, the most important time of the year for Jews.

"Security experts have always told us that 75 percent of security in sanctuaries is awareness," said David Brook, director of Beth El Congregation of Phoenix.

At Congregation Beth Shalom in Oak Park, Mich., tickets distributed to members to reserve a space at new year services were to be checked at the door. That's a rare step, said Rabbi David Nelson.

Rabbi Matthew Eisenberg of Temple Israel Ner Tamid, in the Cleveland suburb of Mayfield Heights, said his congregation hired an extra officer "but we're not going to let these terrorists make us prisoners in our own country."