“Let’s get the patrols put in place, let’s have it happen! Do something that’s going to address the situation. Do something that will make the community feel safer!”
That’s the message from Rabbi Saul Emanuel, executive director of Montreal’s Jewish Community Council, in the wake of a “heinous” attack on a haredi man on Aug. 8 in a public park. The incident, which was captured by a bystander on video, shows what Jewish leaders have called a “stark and painful illustration of the vulnerability Jewish Montrealers face today.”
Officials told The CJN the visibly Jewish victim, 32, was with his three young daughters in the Park Extension area of the city when he had an encounter with a lone man carrying a red grocery bag. Water was splashed on one or both of the men, although it remains unclear what prompted the interaction. The video shows the suspect punching the man five or six times, on the ground, with terrified children clinging to their father’s arms. The suspect then left the park. Montreal police are searching for the suspect.
The victim, who lives with his family in the area, suffered a broken nose and bruises to the face, and is reportedly traumatized, as are the young girls. He was treated in hospital and is now recovering at home.
On today’s episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner hears more about the attack from Mayer Feig, of the Quebec Council of Hasidic Jews, who knows the victim and posted the video to social media; and also from Rabbi Saul Emanuel, the executive director of Montreal’s Jewish Community Council, which represents at least 80 haredi congregations and schools.
Transcript
Ellin Bessner: That’s the sound from a 29-second video taken by a bystander on Friday afternoon as a Hasidic man was being attacked in a Montreal park by an unknown suspect while his three terrified young daughters clung to his arms and shouted. The video doesn’t show what happened leading up to the attack, but it shows the suspect straddling the father, who is lying on the ground, punching him at least five times in the face.
When the beating stopped, the girls helped their father stand up and watched as the man walked calmly away, picked up some of his belongings, put them into a red fabric grocery bag, and left the scene. The attacker also appeared to pick up the victim’s kippah and throw it to the ground. Several bystanders can be seen in the park when the violence was occurring, but only one of them, according to reports, a woman, called the police. Although she didn’t break up the action, she did stay with the injured man until the police came. She also reportedly sent her phone’s video to the victim, which is how it ended up on a Jewish community WhatsApp group and eventually onto social media. After a Montreal Jewish community leader posted it, it was shared nearly 700,000 times.
The attack at the park at Beaumont and De l’Epée avenues, west of Park Avenue, occurred in an area with a large Haredi Jewish population. It shocked the community and prompted condemnation from many Canadian politicians and Israeli leaders, who referenced the growing antisemitism in Canada, unchecked anti-Israel protests in the streets, which some say have been emboldened by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s frequent rebukes of Israeli government policy and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, including most recently his announcement that Canada will recognize Palestine as an independent state next month.
The victim was treated for what police call non-life-threatening injuries, but the CJN has learned he was released from the hospital with a broken nose, bruises on his face, and was very traumatized. His daughters were too. Some reports say it took police a very long time to arrive; one person said it was about an hour. Jewish leaders have called for a full police investigation and swift justice. Some fear copycat attacks, too, so Montreal’s Federation CJA is urging the community to be vigilant while the police investigate.
Rabbi Saul Emanuel: It’s not just enough to have a presence when there’s a Jewish event taking place. We are living in a world where we are constantly under attack, and every single one of us is a moving target.
Ellin Bessner: I’m Ellin Bessner and this is what Jewish Canada sounds like for Monday, August 11, 2025. Welcome to North Star, a podcast of the Canadian Jewish News, made possible thanks to the generous support of the Ira Gluskin and Maxine Granovsky Gluskin Charitable Foundation.
You might have seen the video of Friday’s attack. If not, there’s a link to it in our show notes. Mayer Feig posted it on X on Friday. He’s a spokesperson for the Quebec Council of Hasidic Jews and a volunteer emergency paramedic in Montreal. Feig wasn’t in the city when it happened, but he’s been in touch with the victim, whom he knows personally. He’s asked us not to use the victim’s name but says the man is a resident of the area and is part of the Skver religious sect of Haredim. Feig says he predicted a crime like this would happen because for nearly two years, since October 7th, Montreal has seen nearly a thousand protests and demonstrations about the Israel-Hamas war. Meanwhile, Montreal police have reported nearly 600 hate crimes and hate incidents in 2024. Both of those types went up noticeably, and most were against Jews. Coming up, we’ll hear what the Jewish Community Council’s executive director, Rabbi Saul Emanuel, wants done. But first, Myer Feig joins me from The Catskills.
Mayer Feig: It’s a pleasure to be here.
Ellin Bessner: Well, not such a pleasure because we wish we didn’t have to talk about this. Can you bring our listeners up to date on basically the latest information that you have on the attack on this Montreal father of three?
Mayer Feig: What happened was he was walking with his three kids, and he saw a little park on the side of the street. He decided to spend some time with his three kids there. As you can see on the video, there is a sprinkler system there. What seemed to be a disturbed person came over and took some water, spraying it at him and his kids. The father, you know, naturally, protecting his kids and himself, asked the guy, “What are you doing? What’s up?” And he did have a cup of water in his hand. He doesn’t remember if he instinctively sprayed back or not. But then this guy just came in and started attacking him viciously in front of his kids.
Ellin Bessner: Can you tell us if this was the Beaumont-de l’Épée park? My father grew up on De l’Épée Street. Where is it exactly?
Mayer Feig: It’s a small little park on Beaumont and De l’Épée that they just built in the last couple of years. A small new little park.
Ellin Bessner: So across from Vanier College campus there, that big building?
Mayer Feig: Yes.
Ellin Bessner: And does this family live in the neighborhood? Do you know anything about them? Have you met them or do you know who they are?
Mayer Feig: They live in Outremont. They actually previously worked for my brother-in-law in his business, so I know him personally.
Ellin Bessner: But they go to the Belz Shul that’s nearby? or do you know which part of the community?
Mayer Feig: The Skver
Ellin Bessner: On the Skver. And are they originally Canadian and born in Montreal or do you know?
Mayer Feig: His wife is from Montreal; he is from New York.
Ellin Bessner: When I saw the video, I thought somebody videoed this but didn’t do anything. I wonder if you could tell us how you got the video and what people, bystanders, said to you.
Mayer Feig: So, I got the video on a WhatsApp group within the community, and I think this bystander who took the video actually called the police. If I’m not mistaken, it’s even an Arab woman. And she went over and she shared the video with him.
Ellin Bessner: Wow.
Mayer Feig: Yeah, and she called the police, and they waited for a while. Then the victim himself called the police, and he says it took an additional at least half an hour for the police to arrive.
Ellin Bessner: Police seem to have taken a long time. But you weren’t there; you’re away, but this is what witnesses are saying. We don’t know, right? Did you find out how much longer it took them?
Mayer Feig: I spoke to the victim. The victim himself claims it took over an hour. I do have contacts with the police department, so they came back to me with a time of 28 minutes. I asked them to please go back because I told them that there was an initial phone call from a witness, and then the victim himself called. So they said they would go back and check for the exact timing, but it was at least a half an hour.
Ellin Bessner: And what are the injuries?
Mayer Feig: So first of all, he’s extremely traumatized. So are his kids to the fact that they don’t even want to hold his hands now. Yes, facial bruises and actually, he does have a broken nose.
Ellin Bessner: So is he home, or he’s still in the hospital?
Mayer Feig: No, he’s home. He’s trying to recuperate. As I said, they’re all very traumatized.
Ellin Bessner: I’m so sorry to hear this news. Why don’t they want to hold his hand?
Mayer Feig: They’re afraid because they were there in the park with him, and they are so traumatized that they’re afraid, you know, like with their father again is going to get them in, into trouble. It’s, it’s, it’s, it’s a trauma that they went through, and this is how it’s manifesting at this time.
Ellin Bessner: You were an EMS, you’re a volunteer, so you see all kinds of incidents all the time, and then you weren’t there to do anything. But do you know if Hatzoloh was already on the scene before the police came? Were they at all involved or any kind of Jewish, you know, first responders?
Mayer Feig: No, he did not call Hatzoloh. I mean, he did speak to some of his friends who are in Hatzoloh, and they advised him to go to the hospital, which he did do.
Ellin Bessner: And there seems to be some bystanders on the north side or the top part of the screen that were just standing there with their phones. Three people or two or three people. How does that sit with you that they didn’t do anything?
Mayer Feig: Well, to be honest with you, if I would see somebody beating somebody, I would try to intervene, but I would also be mindful of, you know, the guy could just come and hit me too. The video in a half a minute to a minute, you know, it’s very hard to judge those people, but I would have intervened.
Ellin Bessner: Well, you’re trained though, you’re trained in this stuff, you know how to deal with, you know, this kind of situation to de-escalate. Right?
Mayer Feig: Yeah. So I’m gonna, I’m gonna be very honest with you. The last year and a half to two years, with all that’s been going on in the streets, every single day has a toll. It affects people’s opinions and people’s minds. And I remember very vividly I people are gonna start being beaten in the streets. You know, so much negativity, so much anti-Jews in the media in the streets and nobody’s stood up. It’s just being allowed to continue harassment. And these are the, this is the toll from all of these things. I did speak to a member of the federal government this week before, and I told that member that, you know what? I’m starting to understand how a Holocaust could have happened 80 years ago. So much going on, so much ridicule, so much attack, and nobody’s speaking up and nobody’s standing up, and it’s just heartbreaking.
Ellin Bessner: What does your community need now? Is there a meeting going to happen this week or are you getting together, praying? Do you know what people are doing?
Mayer Feig: It’s very interesting though. Now after the attack, everybody is calling from the Foreign Minister of Israel to the President of Israel to a Member of Parliament.
Ellin Bessner: You know, they called you, the Foreign Minister called you or him?
Mayer Feig: Well, they’re trying to reach him. Yeah, they are trying to get through to him. So from the President of Israel, Foreign Minister of Israel, through the Ambassador of Israel to Canada. It really went viral, and I think people are starting to see that, you know what, something is really happening and it needs to be dealt with. You know, meetings. I’ve been to so many meetings, so many discussions. Allowing unfettered hate to continue is what needs to stop. You don’t need any meetings. We need action. That’s what we need.
Ellin Bessner: Now, two weeks ago, when Prime Minister Carney announced that Canada was going to recognize Palestine, they also said they’re going to have this bubble legislation. How do you think bubble legislation could have prevented something like this? Because it’s not a shul, it’s not a school, it’s a public park. You can’t have Bubba, you know what I mean?
Mayer Feig: Bubble legislation can help. But you know what? Speaking out and acting more firmly is much more important than bubble legislation. Having people protest and arrest the community for two years. Chants of “From the river to the sea”. We all know what it means. They all know what it means. Yet there’s no way to find it to be a threatening under the criminal code. It’s “Globalize the Intifada.” What does that mean? We all know what Intifada means, yet these chants are going on daily for two years already. And even though this person might seem to have been a disturbed person, but when you see images and when you see attacks of the community daily, you know, it could affect even a person like that to go out and act.
Ellin Bessner: Well, this is what they were saying is the bystanders thought there was something wrong with him.
Mayer Feig: Absolutely. And it just comes from these things being allowed to continue again and again and again without any stopping.
Ellin Bessner: Is there a need in the family now for meals to financially support him? I mean, is he going to be able to work?
Mayer Feig: So obviously, no, he works, he has a business. But obviously he’s going to have to take some time off and, you know, he’s going to have to go for therapy himself and his kids. And I’m sure it’s going to take a financial burden on him and, you know, if anybody that has any means, you know, to offer therapy or, or financial support to them to be able to go through the therapy, obviously it would be welcome by the family.
Ellin Bessner: How do they do that? Is there some kind of link or a phone number or something that I can….
Mayer Feig: Anybody who wants can reach out to me. Like, you know, the Federation here in Montreal has already reached out and I’m in the process of putting him in contact with the victim. They are in contact already, so it can be arranged through me if anybody wants.
Ellin Bessner: Okay, thank you so much for sharing this with me.
Rabbi Saul Emanuel and the Jewish Community Council of Montreal did not implement issue a statement after Friday’s attack, although CIJA and Federation CJA and other groups and politicians did, including Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, who called the beating stomach-turning. Rabbi Emanuel has been in Israel on the weekend and saw the video dozens of times. He says it’s long past time for statements. Here’s our conversation.
Rabbi Saul Emanuel: Putting out statements up to now has not resulted in any action. We want action. So we’re going to put out a statement, of course. And everybody’s criticizing what happened. That’s fine, we all know that. But the problem is that we are consistently. And all groups, and all Jewish groups are putting out statements. But we need have reaction to our statements.
So that is why we want to have action and we’re working on action even from this distance and far away. The key issue, Ellin, that concerns us is that we do constantly meet with the SPVM. [Montreal police].We thank them for the work that they do, but unfortunately it’s not enough work. And we have mentioned this time and time again. It is not sufficient to have just a presence when the Jewish holidays come. It’s not just enough to have a presence once in a blue moon on a Shabbat.
And we saw that on Friday. An innocent victim with children who have to watch this, who have to be affected for the rest of their lives by the trauma of seeing their father being attacked. No one coming to his defence. He’s defenceless, watching his children.
It is great that the Prime Minister of Canada comes out with a statement whilst at the same time supporting other statements regarding the war that is going on. But is anything being done besides making a statement? Are laws being passed that this person who does such an attack and who should be found—there are cameras, you see him clearly. And he still hasn’t been found, incidentally. I’m also informed that the police took a very long time to arrive at the scene of the crime. So it’s great to put out statements. What action are you, Prime Minister Carney, taking to show and ensure that such a thing never happens again? What action are you taking to make sure that when this person is found, he doesn’t get out on bail? What action are you taking to make sure that when this person is arrested, he’s given the full throttle of the law and that he sits for a long time or perhaps the key gets thrown away? Why? Because that is how you will show people in Canada that this is not tolerated in a free society, that a man cannot take his children to a park to enjoy themselves. That’s what we want. Statements are fine, but statements are for reading. We need action.
Ellin Bessner: There were about three bystanders, kind of in the top of the screen, videoing it and not doing anything. Did you notice that too?
Rabbi Saul Emanuel: Yes, that’s what I was saying before, that you have people walking by. It’s become acceptable. If you are standing and someone is being hurt, someone is being attacked and you don’t do anything, then you are complicit in what’s going on. You are with the person who’s doing the attack. That means that you are fully endorsing because you’re not taking any action.
IAnd that is why it’s becoming acceptable that this kind of behaviour continues, because no one is getting affected by it, no one is reacting to it. And the SPVM is not taking enough action to handle the situation.
Ellin Bessner: So you’re calling for more patrols regularly?
Rabbi Saul Emanuel: We are not only calling for more patrols. There was an antisemitism conference.
Ellin Bessner: March 6.
Rabbi Saul Emanuel: Absolutely. Conference was the last speech that Prime Minister Trudeau gave. Right. And they try to pass. They want to get new laws passed, they want to change the laws. Exactly as we’re discussing. Nothing has happened yet. No laws have been passed, no reaction, no forward planning. The world hasn’t gotten safer and they haven’t done anything.
Ellin Bessner: They’re talking about, I think you’re mentioning the potential bubble legislation, which Prime Minister Carney said during the press conference when he recognized that Canada is going to recognize Palestine, he also put that in there, by the way. We will bring in more safety measures for Canada’s vulnerable populations. How would bubble legislation have even fixed that?
Rabbi Saul Emanuel: No. And so that’s why the legislation should not be for a specific institution. Legislation has to be passed in terms of the law of Canada, of anyone moving around freely in a free and open society, which Canada has always been known for, that anywhere, anywhere that a person gets attacked, there is a law in place that protects that person who was attacked and takes care of the person that attacked in the sense that they get the full justice of the law without any mercy whatsoever. If this was anybody else, if this was any other religion, I would like to see how the reaction would have gone down. But unfortunately, it’s our community. So the reaction is slow. The reaction is not very positive, the reaction is not very quick. They just make statements and then you move on. And if it happens again next week, Ellin, we just move on.
Ellin Bessner: I mean, they did, they did get. When your schools were shot at, they eventually did find the culprits and they charged them. That was from November 2023. And then last year they found the guys or so. I mean, it took a while, but there was some.
Rabbi Saul Emanuel: I mentioned at the outset, we thank them, we thank them for the work that they do and they’ve done, but unfortunately, it’s not enough. We need a lot more.
Ellin Bessner: Do you think anything could be learned from what Toronto does where they have like these police command posts that are permanently stationed outside Jewish schools? There’s two of them, one outside a Jewish plaza and it’s been there since October 2023, in two Jewish areas. So they’re in the neighborhood all the time, as opposed to, like you said, patrols. Do they have that in Montreal where they have like bureaux?
Rabbi Saul Emanuel: Absolutely not. And at the same time, they don’t have enough staffing, I’m understanding, or so we get told. They don’t have enough staffing for it. That creates a problem. But when it comes to something of this nature, where innocent people, children, bystanders are being affected, well, then, you know what? Let’s get the patrols put in place. Let’s have it happen. Do something that’s going to address the situation, do something that will make the community feel safer.
How do we as individuals and small children witnessing this kind of act, feel tomorrow going to synagogue, feel tomorrow going to school, feel tomorrow going to camp, feel tomorrow going to the park, feel tomorrow going to the swimming pool? How does one expect them to feel safe when we don’t have that protection? So, as you’re saying, more has to be done. We need innovative ideas to make people see the presence of the SPVM, which will then create a safety net. And people who would want to do such an attack would think twice because they know that the arm of the law is right there, ready to arrest them if something goes wrong.
Ellin Bessner: What are people telling you on your social, on your texts, and on your communication that you can share?
Rabbi Saul Emanuel: What are we as a Jewish community doing to address the issue? It’s not a Montreal issue, it’s an Ottawa issue. It’s a Toronto issue, it’s a Vancouver issue, that’s a Winnipeg issue. All these different things that are an issue that affects us, right? So it’s affecting us everywhere. And that is why we need a collective Canadian government to address this issue. This should be the first thing to be addressed.
What are we going to do to protect the citizens who are Jewish in our country of Canada so that they can move around freely, safely, and without fear of being attacked? What are we going to do that will show us that you, Prime Minister, care, and that it’s not just a statement? Address it, take it to Parliament and say we need to address it. Let’s get the experts, let’s get the security people, let them tell us what should be done and give their ideas and make it federal as to what will take place going forward.
Ellin Bessner: When you’re in Israel and people saw this when the Shabbat was over about what happened in Canada, what did they say to you?
Rabbi Saul Emanuel: So, yeah, so last night, right after Shabbat, there were numerous people that I saw, I went to different meetings. Obviously, everybody’s saying, ‘Did you see what happened in Montreal? Did you see, is it safe? What’s going on? What’s with the antisemitism, how did they treat the community?” And all the same questions that you get everywhere, and people texting me, sending me the video. I’ve seen the video many times and saying, is it safe to go around Canada?
Now, people forget that unfortunately, we’re living in a world where it’s not very safe anywhere, even Israel, unfortunately, which is great but it’s not safe. But as a community in Canada, which is supposed to be free, and you can move around, until now. It’s certainly changing and we have to address it quickly.
But as the answer to your question is, we are getting so many people here in Israel saying, what is happening in Canada? What is happening? Why is this antisemitic acts increasing? And so many of them are happening. Like you mentioned, the schools, the shuls, the synagogues, and just these different attacks.
Now you must remember that hopefully from this one doesn’t have a copycat attack, you know, these things. If a person gets away with it, then God forbid you can have a copycat attack. And people say, you know, it’s become acceptable to do such a thing.
Ellin Bessner: Even in 2021, after the 10-day Hamas-Israel war in 2021, visibly Jewish people in Montreal got attacked, physically attacked. We remember, we covered it. But this is sort of, we’re already at a higher level of anxiety, right? I don’t know how to explain it, but you know what I mean?
Rabbi Saul Emanuel: I’ll explain it. This kind of attack has taken it to a new level because in ’21 it was sort of on a lighter scale. Not, of course, it was terrible and we remember it clearly and unacceptable. But today, because of what’s going on in the world and the general atmosphere that exists in universities or campuses in New York, all over, wherever you look in the United States and in Canada and all over, the attitude and the antisemitic jargon that’s going on has become acceptable. And the reason why it’s become acceptable is because it’s not being addressed. So you want to address something, you have to address it and you’ve got to take strong action, firm action, and address it with all of the power at your disposal. Any government, Ellin, can do that. The Canadian government has to do that. That’s what we’re waiting for them to do.
Ellin Bessner: Lastly, earlier in our interview, you mentioned Carney. Now Canada is going to recognize the state of Palestine. He’s talked about the terrible situation in Gaza. Is this at all on your minds of your community, that what one says on one hand impacts what happens on the other?
Rabbi Saul Emanuel: I don’t think it’s related. But unfortunately, when you do have a Canadian government and a Prime Minister and some of our Jewish members of Parliament that belong to the government that tacitly approve of what’s going on and making decisions for another country which has nothing to do with them, they don’t make decisions for Canada and no one interferes with Canadian politics. So why are we, as Canada, making decisions for another country? So I’m sure it does affect it. So when you have a leader that’s making comments and, I would say, so to speak, taking a side in the conflict and saying things the way he believes and understands the way they are, that certainly creates a feeling where perhaps it’s permissible to carry out these acts because the government is with us on the same side.
Ellin Bessner: Okay, I appreciate that. Thanks a lot for taking time out of your busy day. Bye.
Rabbi Saul Emanuel: Thank you. Bye.
Ellin Bessner: And that’s what Jewish Canada sounds like. For this episode of North Star, made possible thanks to the Ira Gluskin and Maxine Granovsky Gluskin Charitable Foundation. Montreal police didn’t respond by the time we’ve recorded this, with an update on the investigation. But a source who was not authorized to speak to reporters says finding the suspect is a “force priority”.
North Star is produced by Zachary Judah Kauffman and Andrea Varsany. Michael Fraiman is our executive producer and the theme music is by Brett Higgins. Thanks for listening.
Show Notes
Related links
- Read The CJN’s full coverage of the attack so far.
- Learn why the Israel-Hamas conflict has contributed to hundreds of protests and 577 hate crimes or hate incidents in Montreal since 2023.
Credits
- Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner)
- Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
- Music: Bret Higgins
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