Posted on 06/30/24
| News Source: Arutz-7
A synagogue in Toronto was vandalized early Sunday morning, The Canadian Jewish News reported.
According to the report, when the congregants of Pride of Israel Synagogue began showing up for services, they were shocked to discover several windows shattered, holes in their stained glass and stones scattered onto the bimah.
The custodian of the building, which is located near Steeles Avenue and Bathurst Street, first noticed the damage after arriving in the morning, the report said.
The attack allegedly occurred earlier that morning. A nearby resident told synagogue vice chairman Carl Zeliger that they were awoken by a loud crash at around 2:30 a.m. According to Zeliger, this neighbor looked out their window and saw a motorcyclist wearing a helmet and speeding away.
The neighbor then called the police, though law enforcement did not show up until the congregants called later that morning, according to the CJN.
Pride of Israel Synagogue traces its roots to 1905, when the Pride of Israel Sick Benefit Society was founded in a house on Chestnut Street in downtown Toronto. The congregation moved into its current building in the North York district of the city in 1969.
“If you view this as anything other than antisemitism, I don’t think you’re paying attention to the reality today,” Zeliger told the CJN. “My parents were Holocaust survivors. This hurts. I love my parents, but I’m happy they’re not here to see this.”
Police are investigating the incident as a potential hate crime, according to a statement from B’nai Brith Canada, which condemned the vandalism.
"It is out of control, and must stop," said Judy Foldes, Chief Operating Officer for B'nai Brith Canada. "We implore police forces to monitor Jewish institutions closely and vigilantly during this troubling time for Jewish Canadians."
Michael Levitt, President and CEO of Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, wrote in a post on social media site X, “Devastating to see another synagogue in Toronto vandalized and desecrated, this time the Pride of Israel in North York. This Canada Day weekend is not a happy one for Jews in Canada, not at all! Toronto Police Hate Crime Unit has been notified and is investigating.”
Toronto City Councillor James Pasternak said, “Shocked about an attack at Pride of Israel synagogue in North York. We must do everything possible to bring this madness to an end. We support Toronto Police in their efforts to locate and charge the perpetrators.”
The incident is the latest in a series of antisemitic incidents in Toronto. The city has seen an increase in anti-Israel riots and acts of antisemitism since the start of Israel’s war against Hamas on October 7.
In early November, an Indigo book store in downtown Toronto was vandalized with red paint and posters plastered on its front windows wrongfully accusing its Jewish founder and CEO, Heather Reisman, of “Funding Genocide.”
In January, a Jewish-owned grocery store in Toronto was spray-painted with the words “Free Palestine” and later set on fire.
Days later, Toronto police arrested four people on a highway overpass, located near a predominantly Jewish neighborhood, that has become the site of recurring pro-Palestinian Arab protests.
In February, an anti-Israel protest at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto turned into a display of antisemitism. At least one protester was documented scaling the hospital with a Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) flag.
In mid-May, the Kehillat Shaarei Torah Synagogue in the city’s north end was vandalized for the second time in four weeks.
Days later, two gunmen opened fire on a Jewish girls school in the North York district of Toronto. There were no injuries in the incident, which took place at 4:52 a.m. local time.