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Brian Kresge is a director of IT for the National Motor Freight Traffic Association, a member of the Maine Army National Guard, and president of Congregation Beth Israel in Bangor.
As I wind down my fourth year as president of Maine’s oldest continuously operating synagogue, Congregation Beth Israel in Bangor, I have to admit, I’m exhausted the most by our security concerns.
Several years ago, when our synagogue grounds were defaced with a swastika by what turned out to be just some dumb neighborhood kids, we made international Jewish news.
When we found out about a possible Nazi training camp just up the road, The Jewish Daily Forward reached out to myself and Rabbi Bill Siemers for comment. Personally, I was a bit aggravated that the Bangor Daily News ran the stories about Christopher Pohlhaus so close to our Days of Awe, without seeking comment from the Jewish community about the measures we would be taking for our security.
I’ve been heartened by the response I’ve seen from so many, including Sen. Joe Baldacci, Rep. Laurie Osher and former Rep. Scott Cuddy, who I ran against in 2018 for the state House district seat he held for two years.
I feel strongly that as an elected leader in the local Jewish community, I am obliged to speak out, especially as our communities converge for Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot.
In Isaiah 58, the Divine asks us if our routine fasting is sufficient. “No!”
“No, this is the fast I desire: To unlock the fetters of wickedness, and untie the cords of the yoke to let the oppressed go free; to break off every yoke. It is to share your bread with the hungry, and to take the wretched poor into your home; when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to ignore your own kin.”
For many, the 2018 Tree of Life shooting in Pittsburgh was the wake-up call. For me, it was the 2006 Seattle Jewish Federation shooting that caused me to embark on my deep commitment to Jewish institutional security. For 17 years, I’ve worked with law enforcement, legislators, the Anti-Defamation League and so many others to “harden” targets and protect my people.
There are recurring themes in the threats we face. We have terror, fed by white nationalism or Islamic fundamentalism.
More importantly, we see the deep impact of a system failing its citizens.
One of the reasons white nationalism is so terrifying is because I believe it is finding such firm footing in quadrants of our society that are underserved, undereducated, underemployed and highly likely to languish with minimal attention from government when it comes to issues like mental health crises or addiction.
White nationalists like Louis Beam started arguing for “leaderless resistance” in the 1980s. To be clear, I am not afraid of Chris Pohlhaus. I don’t believe there will ever be a race war, and I have serious doubts about his abilities to train a dangerous force.
But what I am afraid of is the fertile ground he can find for his message.
During this season of repentance, I find it far easier to conceive of the positive things we can do in Bangor, Maine, and the United States to deny the Pohlhauses of this world a receptive audience.
It means rejecting ignorance.
It means funding mental health systems and helping people through addiction.
It means protecting survivors of domestic violence.
It means avoiding unnecessary harm to our jobs and economy. Sometimes that means avoiding overregulation, sometimes it means infrastructure spending.
What it calls for the most is finding the golden mean, or as we say in Hebrew, the “derekh hamitzia.” Never stray too far toward extremes.
If you care about safety and security in our communities, we can and must look to legislation that many other states have enacted to prevent paramilitary training. But we also must look to ourselves. We must embrace intentionality, consideration and finding a middle path that best serves all of us in a manner befitting this exceptional country.
L’shana tovah!
