by Rabbi Marc Baker, Jeremy Burton and Robert Trestan

Regular readers of this publication know all too well that antisemitism, in all its varied forms of expression, is on the rise in our country and right here in Massachusetts.

We know how bad things have been and continue to be – from the swastikas painted on sidewalks, buildings, and on school desks to the hate-filled flyers taped to utility poles to the disturbingly casual use of Holocaust terms and anti-Jewish slurs by a high school football team to call plays during games. The simple act of walking in a public place in an American suburb or a city while being visibly Jewish can be frightening. In recent years, to be seen as Jewish carries a level of risk not seen before by most of us in our lifetimes.

According to a recent ADL poll, 60 percent of Jews in the United States and abroad have witnessed antisemitism since the onset of the conflict between Israel and Hamas terrorists two months ago.

In the past week alone, we have seen that violent antisemitism and hate can and does strike close to home: a hate-motivated stabbing attack against Rabbi Shlomo Noginski outside the Shaloh House in Brighton; the murders of Ramona Cooper and David Green in Winthrop by a white supremacist spewing racist and antisemitic ideology, whose next target may have been a nearby synagogue.

At the same time, we have also seen, heard and experienced powerful positive examples of how our community needs to respond, and what we can expect from our friends, allies and elected officials.

At a vigil for Rabbi Noginski, Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins said she recognized that locally and globally, Jewish communities were being “terrorized.” Her office has since charged Noginski’s attacker with a hate crime and civil rights violations.

Governor Charlie Baker and [Acting] Boston Mayor Kim Janey, at an event at the New England Holocaust Memorial last week, showed unwavering support for the Jewish community.

“When any one of us is attacked, we are all attacked and we will always stand together as a community against hate, against violence, against antisemitism. It has no place here,” Janey said.

As Cardinal Sean O’Malley eloquently recognized in the aftermath of the attack, “antisemitism is a real and growing problem in this country. We must reject this threat to our Jewish brothers and sisters in all its forms and stand in solidarity with them as people of good will.”

This is a critical mo­­ment for our Jewish community. What can we do? Just as our friends, family, and colleagues did this past weekend in Washington, D.C., every one of us needs to stand up, stand together, and raise our voices to say “no, not here, not anywhere. We will not tolerate antisemitism, racism or any form of hate.” And we must encourage leaders and people of good conscious from outside of our community to join us.

Every one of us can play a role in thanking our leaders – you can write or call. They need to know that we see and appreciate their efforts. Over the past several years we have invested millions of dollars in community security and, thanks to the local and national legislative advocacy of JCRC, Jewish Federations of North America and others, we have seen record amounts of funding allocated to nonprofit security at both the national and local levels. CJP’s Communal Security Initiative is also offering security advice and support for Jewish institutions – including grants for security improvements – as we face the continued threat of antisemitic threats and attacks.

These are important steps forward, and we can and will do more.

We can stand with our diverse Jewish community, to show love and respect for each other and stand up for one another. We are in this fight together. In a thriving, vibrant, joyous, inclusive community, everyone feels safe and proud to express their identities in whatever ways they choose, to walk proudly, and to show their Jewishness – whatever form that takes – in the public square. This is the greatness of America; this is the community we have created here in Boston. Communities that are safe and secure, compassionate and just, connected and joyful.

This is what we will continue to work for and to build, together.

Rabbi Marc Baker is the president of Combined Jewish Philanthropies, Jeremy Burton is the executive director of Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston and Robert Trestan is the executive director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Boston office.