Two synagogues in Toronto’s North York area were vandalized on Sunday in what police are investigating as “suspected hate-motivated” acts.
Police were notified in the early hours of Sunday that rocks had been thrown through the front windows of the Pride of Israel synagogue near Bathurst St. and Dewlane Dr..
Then a second synagogue, the Kehillat Shaarei Torah on Bayview Ave., was met with similar vandalism only 30 minutes later, according to a Toronto Police Service release.
The suspect, which investigators believe to be the same person, fled the scene on a motorcycle in both cases.
Police described the suspect as between 5’7 and 5’9, wearing a light coloured jacket and a black helmet with a visor.
Toronto police say they will be increasing their presence in both areas and that the investigation is being treated as a “suspected hate-motivated offence.”
The attack on the Kehillat Shaarei Torah marks the third time the synagogue has been attacked in as many months, having had several windows smashed out in April.
“This is the third vandalism that’s occurred in the last three months against our synagogue. The first two were by a perpetrator with a hammer smashing all of our windows and exterior doors,” Michael Gilmore, executive director of Kehillat Shaarei Torah told True North.
“This most recent one, a person pulled up on a motorcycle. Walked up to our synagogue, pulled two projectiles out of their pocket and then threw them at our windows.”
Gilmore said that the synagogue’s windows are still in the process of being replaced from the two previous attacks.
“We did put up a polycarbonate covering over the windows, which did prevent the projectiles from getting through. When they connected, they made a really heavy impact” he added. “I’m not sure what they were but they were not stones.”
These incidents of vandalism have yet to stop the synagogues from offering morning services.
“From every vandalism that’s happened, we’ve still had morning services as we do every day,” said Gilmore. “It’s always hard coming up to your synagogue with windows and doors smashed but we’ve carried on like we always have.”
Hate crimes have increased 93% in Toronto since Oct. 7, compared to the same period last year, according to a March news release from Toronto Police Service.
“It has been 163 days since the Middle East crisis began, and the impact of the geopolitical unrest abroad continues to affect people worldwide, including in Canada and right here in Toronto,” said Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw at the time. “We are laser focused on the task at hand: keeping the city safe.”
He added that 56% of the 84 hate crimes this year are antisemitic.
Director of research and advocacy with B’nai Brith Canada Richard Robertson said that other religions were not facing the same kinds of attack, which is leaving Canada’s Jewish community feeling further ostracized.
However, a number of churches have been burned down across Canada in recent years and a York Region mosque also received a bomb threat last fall.
“This is representative of an incredibly alarming trend in recent weeks,” Robertson told True North. “We’ve seen a repeated number of attacks against Jewish places of worship and Jewish institutions. It’s not only disgusting but has produced a significant amount of anxiety among the community.”
“We need stakeholders at all levels of government to take this seriously and to act immediately to ensure that Jewish places of worship are safe and that Jewish institutions can continue to thrive as part of Canadian society.”
Carl Zeliger, vice-chairman of the Pride of Israel’s congregation, had a similar message to share about the resilience of his synagogue in the aftermath of its windows being broken.
“We’re gonna go on,” Zeliger told the Canadian Jewish News in an interview. “Our service continued today. All (the vandal) accomplished was maybe a five-minute delay in the start of our services. We’re gonna continue. This isn’t going to help them.”
Zeliger said that he was shocked by the fact that this occurred on the eve of Canada Day.
“We as Canadians are supposed to be joyful of who we are, where we are. But that includes people of all different races, colours, religions, whatever. This is really an affront to everyone—that this is what happened on a Canada Day weekend,” he said.