OPINION
By MARC SCHNEIER
A German police officer stands guard in front of a synagogue in Frankfurt on Nov. 8 2023 (AP Photo /Michael Probst)OPINION
By Marc Schneier
The nation that destroyed most of its synagogues can teach America about protecting them. As we mark the 88th anniversary of Kristallnacht, that historical irony should command the attention of U.S. lawmakers, especially the new Congress members.
On Nov. 9-10, 1938, Nazi-organized violence swept across Germany and Austria. Synagogues were burned, Jewish businesses were destroyed and tens of thousands of Jewish men were arrested. Authorities helped carry out the persecution of people they should have protected.
Eighty-eight years later, American lawmakers can ironically learn from Germany how to make protecting Jewish houses of worship a national priority. That means funded security, clear plans to keep synagogue entrances accessible and consequences for threats and obstruction.
Consider the antisemitic phrase “From the river to the sea,” calling for the elimination of Israel, whose existence is inseparable from Jewish identity and peoplehood. Jews can disagree fiercely with an Israeli government. They should never have to answer for its policies before entering their own house of worship.
Germany has taken that slogan’s association with Hamas most seriously. Its 2023 prohibition on Hamas activities identified the phrase as a Hamas symbol, and Bavarian authorities have documented a final criminal conviction for posting it online. Germany has demonstrated that invoking a political cause does not place the use of a terrorist organization’s symbols beyond legal scrutiny.
Germany’s criminal code prohibits intentionally and grossly disrupting religious services and expressly includes antisemitic motives among sentencing considerations. These provisions give practical meaning to the principle that Jewish communities deserve protection and that antisemitic crimes demand accountability.
That responsibility also appears in policing and public investment. Berlin’s dedicated police protection unit safeguards institutions including synagogues and Jewish schools with measures based on threat assessments. Following the Halle synagogue attack, Germany provided 22 million euros in special federal funding for physical and technical security at Jewish sites.
America already has tools it can use. The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act also protects religious worship against interference involving force, threats of force or physical obstruction. In September 2025, the Justice Department filed a civil lawsuit alleging threats and violence against congregants at a West Orange, N.J. synagogue.
Over Labor Day weekend, I hosted Reps. Brad Knott and Tom Suozzi at The Hampton Synagogue. Their bipartisan Right to Worship Act would impose civil penalties for knowingly disrupting religious services or impeding participation within 100 feet of a house of worship’s entrances during specified periods surrounding services. The bill judges disruption by conduct rather than viewpoint. As Germany’s experience reminds us, protecting Jewish communities requires legal safeguards whose necessity we should all lament.
The fact that such a bill is necessary speaks volumes about our times. Incoming lawmakers should require clear plans identifying who is responsible for keeping synagogue entrances accessible when demonstrations are expected. They should fund security according to documented need and hold oversight hearings when credible reports indicate authorities failed to protect worshippers. Police and prosecutors must investigate threats and obstruction, and pursue violations supported by the evidence.
Congress must advance the Right to Worship Act either now or in the next Congress. On the anniversary of Kristallnacht, American lawmakers should honor the synagogues destroyed in 1938 by protecting the people entering synagogues today.
Schneier is the founding senior rabbi of The Hampton Synagogue and president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding.
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