Exclusive | Inside the summer camp training rabbis how to use firearms

Chutz-POW!A host of rabbis recently participated in a five-day “summer camp” featuring extensive firearms training as Jewish leaders from across the US prepared for the High Holidays.The pilot program, run by Los Angeles-based Jewish security organization Magen Am USA, brought together 20 Chabad Hasidic rabbis from 12 states for an intensive crash course designed to help them respond to potential threats at their synagogues and in their communities.The biggest news, opinion and culture shaping California right now.

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Never miss a story The program, which also included emergency medicine and security training, took place in August in Los Angeles.It came as Jewish communities across California and the country grapple with heightened security concerns and rising fears about attacks on Jewish institutions.For Rabbi Yossi Eilfort, the founder of Magen Am, the answer isn’t simply putting more guns in religious leaders’ hands.“Lots of people, lots of guns, little training,” Eilfort told the California Post.

“That can be bad for the community.”Magen Am is a registered nonprofit and California-licensed security company whose stated mission is to train and empower Jewish communities to establish security teams within their own institutions.The Anti-Defamation League recorded 6,274 antisemitic incidents nationwide in 2025, including assaults, harassment and vandalism.California ranked second in the country with 817 incidents, while the Los Angeles region recorded 419.

Although the overall number of incidents in LA declined from 532 in 2024, assaults jumped 22% — the highest number ever recorded locally, according to the ADL.Eilfort said the organization works with community members, government officials and law enforcement to build security programs, while also offering firearms education to members of the...