When the news broke suddenly on the afternoon of June 10 that white supremacist James von Brunn had walked into the lobby of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and shot dead a security guard at close range, it sent shockwaves throughout the country. The racist and anti-Semitic von Brunn deliberately selected the nation's most powerful symbol of the Holocaust and, in doing so, reminded us once again of the extent that violent extremists will go to act on their hatred.

Only three weeks earlier, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New York Police Department thwarted a plot to attack two synagogues in the Bronx. And these weren't the only incidents of ideologically motivated violence this year.

These and other recent incidents illustrate several key points: that Jews and Jewish institutions remain a prime target for would-be terrorists, that law enforcement plays a critical role in ensuring the safety and security of the Jewish community, and that when it comes to security awareness in the Jewish community, all of us have a critical role to play.

Every Jewish institution carries some risk. Of course not all institutions encounter equal risk — it would be absurd, for example, to equate the risks associated with a large, high-profile Jewish community center with a small synagogue — but all bear some degree of risk. We must each participate in making our own institution safer — all while remaining open and welcoming.

To do this, we must recognize that security is an ongoing process involving a thoughtful, sober, and realistic analysis of an institution's vulnerabilities and a willingness to take necessary and reasonable steps to address them. Ideally this process should involve every member of the community, and everyone, from leaders to congregants, must become active members of their institution's security policies.

Community members have an important role to play in ensuring the safety of their communal institutions. Those who use the building every day have the most intimate knowledge of the facility, and it is they, after all, who would be the ones most likely to notice something missing or out of place.

Jewish institutions must build relationships with local law enforcement. Although not well-known by much of the general public, in New Jersey one may find — both at the county and municipality level — a counter-terrorism coordinator. These are law enforcement officials who are tasked with preserving and protecting domestic security while developing and implementing responses to possible terrorist attacks. Any review of an institution's safety should begin with a call to local officials and a request for a site survey. In my years of experience, I have found that these individuals will, free of charge, conduct a walk-through of a site and make suggestions to improve security.

Institutions should also seek ways to get to know their local law enforcement before there is a problem — the worst time to meet the police for the first time is after you've dialed 9-1-1. This may be done on a less formal manner; for example, officials at a JCC may invite local police officers to use their gym, and a synagogue's leaders could invite local police to join them for an oneg Shabbat or simply extend an invitation to visit the building and become familiar with the facility.

While we naturally tend to think of security along the lines of infrastructure, it must be emphasized that good security isn't only about cameras, locks, or fences. Security does not necessarily mean straining already diminishing budgets by purchasing new high-tech gadgets or turning our institutions into fortresses. In many cases we can make our institution more secure by implementing relatively low-cost measures like using ushers, re-keying locks for key control, improving outdoor lighting, or trimming exterior hedges for better sight lines. Enhanced security need not always mean spending tens of thousands of dollars nor must it always have to come at the expense of an open, welcoming, and spiritually fulfilling environment.

In recent years, the Anti-Defamation League has conducted security awareness seminars for thousands of Jewish community institutions across the country. At one such conference I participated in recently, a presenter listed what he considered to be the three most important aspects to security: "vigilance, vigilance, and vigilance." Communal leaders, including rabbis, executive directors, presidents, and principals, must ensure that along with important religious and cultural values, security is part of an institution's culture. There must be recognition of the collective responsibility to protect ourselves, our colleagues, and our children.

We in the American-Jewish community are blessed to be living in a time when we are generally safe, secure, and thriving. Every day, hundreds of thousands of Jews across the United States are sending their children to Jewish schools, attending programs at our local Jewish community centers, and praying in our synagogues, with virtually no disturbances.

But if nothing else, the museum shooting and the Bronx bombing plot serve as a warning that these freedoms are tenuous, and we must resolve to work harder at security awareness if we wish to preserve this way of life.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.