JNS
“All the help the police can get is welcome,” David Julian, the rabbi and cantor of a Conservative synagogue in Memphis, told JNS.
Memphis, Tenn., has a “dire” crime problem, and the city is “suffering from tremendous levels of violent crime that have overwhelmed its local government’s ability to respond effectively,” according to a memorandum U.S. President Donald Trump issued on Sept. 15.
Citing FBI data, the president stated that Memphis had the “highest rate of violent crime per capita” in 2024, “including some of the highest per capita rates of murder, robbery and aggravated assault, and property crimes such as burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft, in the country.”
“The city, a beacon of American culture that was Elvis’s home and is often called the birthplace of rock and roll and the blues, should be safe and secure for all of its citizens and Americans who visit its historic landmarks such as Graceland, Beale Street and the Memphis Pyramid,” Trump said.
He stated that state and local leaders requested federal help and that he intended to act quickly to ensure that the city has the help it needs. He also requested that the Tennessee governor deploy the National Guard to the city.
Two Memphis rabbis told JNS that the latter would be a good idea.
“Crime in this city is higher than anywhere else in the country,” David Julian, the rabbi and cantor of Or Chadash Conservative Synagogue in Memphis, told JNS.
“Parts of the city of Memphis are closed down at night that used to be open,” he said. “There’s just a general fear of walking a good section of the entertainment areas of the city. Nobody goes there anymore.”
Julian said that “all the help the police can get is welcome,” including from the National Guard, “as long as it’s done in a legal and cooperative way with the police force that’s here.”
Trump said that the federal task force he had assigned to Memphis will be a “replica” of the one he created to fight crime in Washington, D.C.
Rabbi Akiva Males of Young Israel of Memphis, an Orthodox congregation, told JNS that “many members of our community—not just the Jewish community, but the entire Memphis area—have been quite concerned about crime in our city.”
“We all would love to see as much law and order as possible,” he said. “I don’t think anyone who’s not a criminal has anything to be nervous about, and I think that anything that can be done to help the scourge of violence and criminality that seems to have taken a foothold in Memphis, we can welcome that.”
Having the National Guard in Memphis would increase “feelings of security” among many of Male’s congregants, he told JNS. He said that he doesn’t think there would be many National Guardsmen in more Jewish areas.
“The parts of the town that need the increased presence are a short drive away,” he said. “But it’s not in the immediate vicinity.”
Julian told JNS that on Monday morning, there were two shootings and “some carjackings” in the city, “within a few blocks of my house,” as well as “roving people in hoodies running into driveways, smashing windows and cars around the neighborhood.”
There hasn’t been overt antisemitic activity in the eastern part of the city, where the Jewish community is primarily located, but “the average crime rate still exists,” he said.
“A rising surf lifts all boats. If the community becomes safer, we’ll feel safer,” Julian said.
Males said that the only aspect of Trump’s decision that makes him nervous is that it may not address the root cause of the problem. Crime in Memphis is reflective of a broader pattern of “the breakdown of family structure” in many cities across the country, he said.
“Without that problem being addressed, and it needs to be addressed by the leaders of the community, I don’t think we’ll be able to get to the bottom of this,” he said.
But while the National Guard is in Memphis, it “can only do good in terms of lowering the crime rate,” Males said.
Members of Congress whose districts include Memphis are divided on the matter.
Rep. Steven Cohen (D-Tenn.), who is Jewish, stated that “for Memphis, major investments in proven programs will make a difference,” while “deploying the National Guard through a short publicity stunt will not.”
“I certainly hope this is not a facade for increased U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement enforcement in Memphis,” Cohen stated. “That’s what I think this is about, and that would harm our local economy, particularly the tourist and construction industries.”
Rep. David Kustoff (R-Tenn.), who is also Jewish and whose district includes eastern Memphis, stated that he supports Trump’s decision.
“It is important for the long-term success in Memphis to have additional and permanent federal law enforcement officers and agents who can work in conjunction with state and local officials,” Kustoff stated.
“If you were to poll the other rabbis in the community, you’re going to get a hodgepodge of replies because, unfortunately, it’s a highly volatile political issue,” Julian told JNS. “Everybody wants a safe neighborhood, but there hasn’t been the ability to do anything about it.”
Males told JNS that “all of us want to live in a community, and in the city and in the country, where we’re not scared of crime and we’re not scared of lawlessness, and all of us greatly endorse law and order.”
“It’s sad that it’s come to this. I don’t think anyone’s feeling happy about it, but by the same token, because of the fact that everyone wants to live in a sense of law and order, any tools that can be used, that are obviously legal, to make that happen would be much appreciated,” he said.
