Members of the Jewish community met with state representatives at the Jewish Community Relations Council Legislative Breakfast on March 20. Senator Len Fasano & Rep. Themis Klarides, along with Rep. Pat Dillon, shared their support for new hate crime legislation, encouraging the community and legislature to come together and say “no more,” and to view this as an opportunity to set a tone for what Connecticut will stand for.

Steve Ginsburg, director of the Connecticut office of ADL, said in regards to the rise in anti-Semitic incidents, that we need the “community coming together to say this is not who we are.” Ginsburg said that there has been a 100 percent rise in the reporting of incidents to ADL since last summer.

Other topics discussed included anti-Semitism, school security, refugees, Connecticut’s relationship with Israel and Israeli business with the Consulate General of Israel to New England Consul General Yehuda Yaakov.