Religious tensions have pushed synagogues and other houses of worship in Maine to look more closely at how to protect congregants and visitors at public gatherings, amid rising fears of hate crimes and attacks. Temple Shalom in Auburn, for example, has spent years planning safety measures as national incidents sharpened concerns in the community and as the Israel-Hamas war that began in 2023 intensified broader tensions, according to people involved in the effort.
Scott Nussinow, who became chair of Temple Shalom’s safety and security committee about seven years ago, said the committee’s formal launch came after a shooting at a California synagogue on the last day of Passover in 2019. In the years since, he said the risk he worries about has felt more intense since the Israel-Hamas war began, and he linked the change to a mix of heightened national threat perceptions and local community actions aimed at tightening safety protocols.
Nussinow pointed to the federal Nonprofit Security Grant Program as a central source of funding for security upgrades at nonprofit institutions, including faith groups. But he said the program has become difficult to navigate, describing delays in grant funds under the Trump administration. In an example he said was typical of the problem, he described having funds “that were out for 120 days, 180 days, nobody answering the phones, nobody giving us an update,” which he said “forced us into a corner.”
While federal dollars have helped organizations across Maine improve their facilities, the uncertainty around the grants has encouraged some communities to organize for a parallel, state-run funding stream. A push led by Jewish Community Relations Council director Zach Schwartz and others would establish a state nonprofit security grant program with $1.5 million allocated for it, with the aim of giving groups more predictable support to install or enhance security measures.
Brennan said he decided to introduce the state legislation after hearing from faith communities that their members have been afraid to attend events out of concern for possible terrorist attacks or hate crimes. In explaining the need for more security capacity, Brennan cited FBI data that showed 42 hate crimes in Maine over a recent five-year period, along with an FBI pattern of Jewish people being among the most frequent victims of religion-motivated hate crimes nationally. The AP story also noted that incidents jumped nearly 60% in the year that saw the start of the Israel-Hamas war, from 1,227 incidents in 2022 to more than 2,000 in 2023, and that anti-Muslim hate crimes rose from 176 to 283 over the same period.
The legislative effort also reflects timing as federal appropriations for the nonprofit security program remain in flux, with a pending appropriations bill in Congress that would increase available funding for the program to $300 million for the current fiscal year, according to the report. Federal funding for nonprofit security has fluctuated year to year, and the story said fewer than half of the organizations that applied in 2024 received grants. In Maine, officials said the state Emergency Management Agency has received $8.1 million through the program since 2020 and administered funding to more than three dozen organizations, the review cited as coming from USAspending.gov.
The Auburn synagogue’s security upgrades illustrate the types of projects groups say they want to keep funding on a steady timetable. The report said Temple Shalom has installed security cameras and concrete bollards meant to deter vehicle attacks, and that it has also used federal funds to improve alarm systems, surveillance cameras and lighting, install fencing, and invest in bullet-resistant glass. With federal grant rules limiting how the program can affect public safety personnel, the story said Temple Shalom relied on contracted security rather than using public safety staff in the way it wanted, and Nussinow said that arrangement could be improved if nonprofits had more flexibility.
The push for state support is also framed as a way to prevent some organizations from reducing attendance or stopping certain events. Schwartz said “a lot of Jewish organizations in the state no longer feel comfortable having large gatherings without a security guard present,” adding that groups face a choice of “either close our doors and stop gathering, or we’re going to have to find the funds to pay for security guards.” He said his own organization and a Portland synagogue received death threats last summer, and the report said antisemitic flyers were hung around Portland and Bethel.
Although Jewish organizations have received much of the federal funding described in the report, other faith groups in Maine have also benefited. In Bangor, Crosspoint Church and its affiliated organizations received more than $1 million in federal funding since 2023, with Chief Financial Officer Nick Henry saying the program helped “upgrade its exterior doors, install automatic lockdown features, add new security cameras and more,” and adding: “It’s so expensive to do.” Muslim institutions in Maine received $750,000 in federal funding for security upgrades since 2020, the story said, including efforts to address concerns raised by community members such as M. Nasir Shir, who said the burden of risk often falls on religious communities and expressed support for state help that could allow hiring security similar to school resource officers.
The bill is also supported across additional faith lines, with the report saying the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland received more than $500,000 from the federal grant program and testified in support of the state bill. Suzanne Lafreniere, the diocese’s director of public policy, described the state approach in testimony as a “prudent, targeted approach” that would allow nonprofits to invest in security measures, personnel, and training, including secure entry systems, exterior lighting, camera systems, and emergency response protocols. The report said 20 organizations signed onto Schwartz’s written testimony in favor of the bill, including Omar Mosque and the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church in Portland, as well as Watt Samaki, a Khmer Buddhist temple in Buxton.
Temple leaders connected the security discussions to their experience of both discrimination and other pressures in Maine. Savy Kuch, board secretary for Watt Samaki, said that much of the Khmer community in the U.S. fled Cambodia in the late 1970s, and that the Khmer community in Maine has dealt with ignorance, vandalism, and hate crimes since coming to the U.S. Kuch said the temple has also faced complaints aimed at shutting down large events, and she added: “We’d love to upgrade our security system and find more ways to better secure our facility.”
As the legislative session proceeds, Temple Shalom’s Nussinow said he is continuing to plan around risk in daily routines and larger holiday gatherings. During the High Holy Days, he said, he sits where he can see the parking lot, splitting attention between the service and scanning for movement outside, and in some cases he said he has skipped large gatherings. He described his posture as staying “vigilant,” telling the report, “Quite frankly, there are some bigger events that I’m just uncomfortable with,” and explaining that he goes in “with my eyes open,” watching for “things,” “exits,” and movement in multiple areas of the setting.
This story was originally published by The Maine Monitor and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.