Toronto synagogue vandalized for 8th time, hostage sign defaced

A Toronto synagogue on Friday morning was vandalized for the eighth time since the October 7 massacre, the institution’s administration told The Jerusalem Post, amid a spate of attacks on Jewish sites in the Canadian city.

Two signs in front of the Kehillat Shaarei Torah – one of which called for the return of Israeli hostages held by Hamas – were defaced, Michael Gilmore, the synagogue’s executive director, said on Sunday.

Graffiti was sprayed over the slogan in such a way that the “Bring them home now” sign read: “Take their [sic] homes now” instead.

A sticker was placed over the word “standing” on the second sign so that it instead read: “Genocide with Israelis, it’s what we do."

“If a sign asking for the return of hostages is triggering to you, then you need to take a long look in the mirror and ask yourself why,” said Gilmore.

He shared a photo of a suspected vandal, who appears to be an older bearded man. The synagogue filed a police report, and Gilmore said that the Toronto Police Service was making every effort to make arrests in such incidents but that he also felt that law enforcement hadn’t been “empowered or supported” enough to do so.

This was the second time that the signs in front of the synagogue had been vandalized this month, with similar “genocide” decals being placed on the Jewish National Fund and the United Jewish Appeal (UJA) Federation of Greater Toronto signs on December 1.

Kehillat Shaarei Torah’s windows and doors were smashed with hammers on April 19 and May 17. On June 30, a motorcyclist threw rocks through the synagogue’s windows. Its signs were vandalized, and then on July 31, they were set ablaze, Gilmore previously detailed to the Post.

Following this, a dead raccoon had been placed on the synagogue’s grounds.

“Since the repeated vandalism against our shul started, we have had to spend over $160,000 in physical security improvements as well as additional security guards,” Gilmore said on Sunday.

This house of worship was not the only Jewish site targeted on Friday in the Toronto area. The Bais Chaya Mushka Elementary School was damaged in a drive-by shooting on Friday, according to the police and the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto.

There were no injuries because the school was not occupied at the time. This was the third instance since October 7 that the school had been shot at, previously having been subjected to gunfire in October and May.

Menorah knocked down in North York

Also, on Friday, a large community hanukkiah was knocked down in North York, the UJA said in a press release. However, the Toronto Police Service later updated on social media that the incident was a drunk driving accident.

“There is a targeted effort in Canada to intimidate the Jewish community. These people want to silence our voices in every aspect of Canadian society; however, they consistently underestimate Jewish resilience and strength,” Gilmore said on Sunday.

“Antisemitism in Canada has been allowed and enabled to fester and spread. Hopefully, Canadians wake up and realize that it always starts with the Jews but never ends with the Jews,” he concluded.