Lipman's Kosher Market, a staple on Monroe Avenue for 70 years, is a favorite of the large surrounding Jewish population.

Aharon Baruch has owned the market for the last three decades. He grew up in Israel and served in the Israeli Army.

Baruch keeps a close watch on the news, and says the recent machete attack at a Hanukkah celebration in Monsey, north of New York City, is prompting him to be even more vigilant in his effort to stay safe.

“The concern is that it will repeat again and it’s troubling,” he said.

Mark Henderson, director of security for the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester, said concern across the Jewish community is the highest he’s ever seen it.

Henderson is among those in the area calling the increase in violence against members of the Jewish faith alarming. 

Henderson is meeting with local rabbis and supports deeming violence against those of the Jewish faith a hate crime. He is in the process of addressing needs of various locations to boost security, to include surveillance cameras, security guards, and more secure entranceways.

Henderson says he’s working with an organization which partners with the Department of Homeland Security. The Secure Community Network is the national Homeland Security initiative of The Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. 

“As a Jew, I’m very proud to be a Jew, and the Jewish history shows that we went through a lot of incidents like that in the past so that’s not going to deter us to continue serving the community or being a Jew, celebrating the holiday or something like that,” Baruch said.

The effort to secure places of worship is a top priority for law enforcement, religious leaders, and worshippers.

“Doesn’t matter if you are a Buddhist or Muslim or Christian or Jew or any kind of religion,” he said. “We want everybody to have the freedom to worship whatever they want without any fear.”