Wayland Synagogue Gets Anti-Terrorism Grant Matched By State

WAYLAND, MA — A Wayland synagogue is getting a nearly $140,000 federal grant to prevent terror attacks, although the security funding was in the works before theHamas attack last week in Israel.

Congregation Or Atid is getting the funds through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which provides money for "target hardening and other physical security enhancements and activities to nonprofit organizations that are at high risk of terrorist attack."

The federal grant comes after an Oct. 7 terror attack in Israel by the group Hamas that has sent shockwaves around the world, including locally. A synagogue in Attleboro was the target of a bomb threat over the weekend.

The grant comes with state matching funds, according to lawmakers. Gov. Maura Healey had vetoed that spending in August after the state Legislature released its fiscal 2024 budget. But the money was restored with overrides in the state House and Senate, according to state Reps Carmine Gentile, D-Sudbury, and David Linsky, D-Natick, and state Sen. Jamie Eldridge, D-Marlborough.

"At a time when antisemitism and hate crimes are at the highest level ever recorded in Massachusetts, we need to ensure our Jewish residents have the freedom to practice their faith safely," Gentile said in a news release. "I am grateful that Congregation Or Atid will be able to better protect their congregation, and I am thankful to DHS for the funding."

The news release from lawmakers did not say what the grant will be used for in Wayland, but the Department of Homeland Security says the money can fund "contracted security personnel; security-related planning, exercises, and training; and the acquisition and installation of security equipment (including improvements) on real property (including buildings) owned or leased by the nonprofit organization at the time of application."

Congregation Or Atid was founded in 1991 for residents in Wayland, Weston and Sudbury. The congregation used space inside First Parish in Wayland for about a decade before building a temple along Concord Road.