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Local security director

steps up to regional post

In 2018, the Jewish Federation
of Greater Portland launched a
Community Security Initiative
in partnership with the Secure
Community Network and hired
Gene Moss to serve as the com-
munity's security director.
Now Gene has accepted a re-
gional role with SCN, the offi-
Gavriel Kedem reads from a Torah scribed by his mother, Shoshana cial safety and security organi-
Gugenheim Kedem, during his bar mitzvah in the social hall at zation of the Jewish community
Congregation Shaarie Torah. From left are Nachshon David Carmi, in North America, which will
Shoshana Gugenheim Kedem, Hadar Kedem, Andrew Tertes allow him to serve the broader
Kedem, Gavriel Kedem and Eddy Shuldman. Photo by Nikki Levine. Pacific Northwest. Gene will Gene Moss
be able to use his skill set to
A historic bar mitzvah impact the Jewish community and growing relationships in
“I have enjoyed establishing
across the region while remain-
When Gavriel Kedem became a bar mitzvah Oct. 21, he read ing based in the Portland area. our community around safety
from a Torah scroll scribed by his mother, Shoshana Gugenheim “This new role for Gene is and security with an all-haz-
Kedem, the first female commissioned to scribe a Sefer Torah. a testament to his hard work ards approach to a community
“There was never a time in Jewish history where a child knows and efforts with Jewish insti- safety program,” says Gene.
he has read from a scroll his mother has written,” says Shoshana. tutions across the state,” says “I am excited for the oppor-
“The art and labor of scribing sacred ritual texts had been forbid- JFGP President and CEO Marc tunity to provide leadership
den to women for over 3,000 years until I and other women began Blattner. “We look forward to and mentorship to existing
secretly training and, later, publicly writing,” says Shoshana. continuing our partnership with regional security advisors and
Now she says about 15-17 female and nongender-conforming him as his job expands. And we community security directors.
scribes have written a Torah scroll or Megillah, but most scrolls look to hire a new local security And to provide training, edu-
live far from the scribes. director as quickly as possible.” cation and assessments with
When the Kadima Reconstructionist Community in Seattle com- As SCN begins the recruiting other communities that may
missioned Shoshana, she was living in Israel. Known as the Wom- process for his replacement, not have a formal security
en’s Torah Project, a total of six women worked on the scroll with Gene, along with the SCN program.”
Shoshana as the lead scribe from 2006 to 2010. team, will continue to provide As Regional Security Direc-
From 2013 to 2015, she scribed a second Torah, also scribed col- the Federation and its com- tor, Gene will be a national
lectively by five women as she required to accept the commission. munity partners with the same resource with a focus on the
“In 2016, I moved with my partner and our two young children level of attention it has since Pacific Northwest. Gene says
from Israel, where they were born, to Portland,” said Shoshana. program inception. his promotion is a win-win for
Gavriel is now a seventh-grader at Portland Jewish Academy. According to a joint JFGP- Portland – “They keep Gene
As her son’s bar mitzvah approached, she arranged with Kadima SCN press release, “Gene’s and get a new Gene.”
to borrow the Seattle scroll. dedication and commitment to Like all security advisors
“When I think of him securing our community has in the region, Portland’s new
reading from it, it makes not only benefitted our region, RSA will have the advantage of
me cry,” says Shoshana. but it has also helped inform working with Gene – to further
“This is why I do what I the approach to security for build the regional program.
do – so the next generation Jewish communities across the “Over the past 2½ years, our
can look at us and say ‘I country.” community has benefited from
can do that.’” The release notes that through the partnership with SCN
Her work as a scribe Gene’s guidance, JFGP and its through information-sharing,
prompted her to launch two Jewish community have been safety and security resources,
other projects. “Women privy to SCN’s suite of services, training, incident response,
of the Book” features 54 including security drills and and most of all, through the
women artists who created visual commentary on the Torah. The training, threat assessments, re- provision of our dedicated Re-
exhibit was debuted at the Jerusalem Biennial in 2015 and now gional organizational meetings gional Security Advisor Gene
resides at the Yale University Arts Library. Her ongoing Or Hadash and law enforcement liaising Moss,” says Marc. “Gene has
project is a collaborative effort to bring humanely sourced parch- that has set the standard for been an invaluable resource
ment to contemporary Hebrew scribes. SCN’s program and approach, to the Greater Portland Jewish
She says that for the past 50 to 70 years, most parchment has been across the country. These same community, providing strategic
sourced from fetal calves, a byproduct of the agricultural industrial standards will now be used to vision and leadership to our
complex. Before that, most parchments were goat or sheepskin. continue to develop and im- program and community and
“I’m working with a parchment maker in New York and a woman prove the security posture that working tirelessly to ensure
in Kansas who raises sheep ethically,” she says. JFGP and its community have the safety and security of our
Read more about Shoshana’s work at shoshanagugenheim.com. enjoyed for the past two years. whole community.”
2 Jewish Review Nov. 10, 2021