Springfield’s Jewish community has not suffered violence as others in America have, but it is not immune.
President Donald Trump’s grant of clemency to the 1,500-some people charged or convicted in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol has raised fears among Jewish leaders that the move will embolden violence.
Among them is Rabbi Greg Kanter. He leads Temple B’rith Sholom, Springfield’s oldest Jewish congregation, which is housed in a neoclassical columned synagogue south of downtown.
"Nothing dangerous has, thank God, happened here, but we hear about it on an almost daily basis, happening around the world,” he said. “We're concerned about the increase in antisemitism in the country and around the world, and it makes us . . .concerned for our safety. So when violent people are pardoned, it worries us.”
He said he remembers in 2018 learning in horror of a white supremacist shooter opening fire at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue, killing 11 in the nation’s deadliest antisemitic attack.
“It was a Saturday, I remember because after I had led services that morning, we heard about it. And we're increasingly concerned if it can happen in Pittsburgh. It can happen anywhere,” he said.
At Springfield’s other synagogue, Temple Israel, there's a police presence at all events and, through a grant, electronic emergency buttons were installed, Rabbi Arthur Stern said.
“Any Jewish person in our country today feels the repercussions of antisemitism throughout the United States and around the world,” he said.
David Goldenberg, Midwest director of the Anti Defamation League, said, “ADL is deeply concerned about the blanket pardon of these individuals who were convicted of committing crimes related to the January 6 insurrection. We know the groups associated with the insurrection have a history of antisemitism, have a history of extremism, have a history of violence, and so we are concerned about that.”
Among other crimes, insurrectionists from Illinois are accused of shoving police, spraying them with pesticide and pushing a bike rack and a flagpole at officers. In all, five people died as a result of the attack, which injured dozens of law enforcement officers and caused $3 million in damage to the Capitol.
Those charged in the insurrection came from all over Illinois, including Auburn, Oakwood and Springfield.
Trump has defended the decision to pardon and commute sentences of the former insurrectionists, saying to weigh the cases individually would have been too hard and that sentences were too excessive.
In his pardon message, he wrote that the move undid a “grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years and begins a process of national reconciliation.’’
That sentiment may have fueled an atmosphere encouraging white supremacists and extremists to incite more violence.
In Illinois alone, there has been a 400 percent increase in antisemitic incidents, according to Goldenberg. The rate has surged since the October 7, 2023, assault on Israel and ensuing political unrest over Israeli attacks on Gaza and its people.
An ADL audit of recent events will be released in the spring.
”What I can tell you unofficially is that over the last two years, 2023 and 2024, we have tracked record levels of antisemitism in the state of Illinois, and these are acts of harassment, of vandalism and assault,’’ he said.
He said there has been a surge in antisemitic incidents and white Supremacist activities in college towns throughout Illinois, including in Bloomington-Normal, Carbondale, Champaign-Urbana and Edwardsville.
In Springfield, the white supremacist group Patriot Front in May posted antisemitic stickers, including some that said, “No Zionists in government.” Fliers dispersed in Carbondale called for violence against Jews. Bomb threats were made to a synagogue in Decatur, These incidents were among about 180 reported in Illinois in 2024.
Alan Cherrick, the volunteer historian at Temple B’rith Sholom, says that the congregation, which began in 1858 after the first Jewish settlers came to the Springfield area, has not had to deal with antisemitism or vandalism, outside of a broken window here and there.
The congregation has been involved in community services and has offered use of its space to churches that had sustained fires. Out of that grew a relationship with the First Congregational Church, which shared in charitable efforts with the temple.
“The Jewish community I think, has been very much part of the fabric of Springfield,” Cherrick said.
Rabbi Kanter said he would like people in the Springfield community to visit his synagogue, to speak up about antisemitism and report incidents to law enforcement.
“When people know us, they're less likely to be swayed by antisemitic discussion and things like that, and they're more likely to speak up against it.”
