Toronto Police are seeking a suspect in a mischief investigation into vandalism at three synagogues on Bayview Avenue, in the city’s north on May 18. The same man is also being sought for two incidents of synagogue vandalism in December, 2024.
Kehillat Shaarei Torah, Beth Tikvah Synagogue and Chabad on Bayview were all targeted in the May incident.
Security video images from Beth Tikvah Synagogue and Kehillat Shaarei Torah, shared in a media release May 25 by Toronto Police Services (TPS), show the suspect brought a roll of stickers to plaster on the synagogues.
The vandalism at Kehillat Shaarei Torah (KST) included stickers plastered not only on the sturdy lawn signs supporting the hostages, but also on the synagogue’s permanent sign. Eight previous vandalism incidents have targeted the synagogue since April 2024, when a suspect smashed glass windows and a door.
Staff removed hundreds of stickers bearing a “Hebrew-style font” in English which read ‘Zionism’ or ‘Israel’ alongside poop and vomiting emojis. Next to the word ‘Jews’ were thumbs up or heart emojis, Michael Gilmore, KST’s executive director, told The CJN.
At Beth Tikvah Synagogue, stickers were plastered on the facility, and all over the area surrounding the shul, which has also been targeted numerous times in recent months.
(The CJN contacted Chabad on Bayview for a comment but did not receive a response before publication.)
Police say the suspect was driving a “newer dark grey Ford pickup truck.” The vandalism occurred around 5 a.m.
“The suspect is described as a middle-aged man, with a medium build, facial hair, wearing dark green sweater, dark-coloured baseball hat and light-coloured pants,” TPS described in the release issued May 24.
The incidents are being treated as a hate-motivated offence, police stated.
Gilmore, the executive director of KST, said unfortunately he’s come to expect continued attacks on the synagogue, often on its large signs about the Israeli hostages or UJA Federation of Greater Toronto.
Additional upgraded security cameras at the synagogue helped capture better images of the suspect, he said.
“The person pulled up, parked across the street, and then came and… noticed the signs. He was here for approximately 20 minutes, so it took a while. They had hundreds of stickers, so they put [them on] all of our signs. It looks like the same person,” from the December incidents, where Bring Them Home and UJA signs were defaced with spray paint reading ‘Take Their Homes,’ and stickers saying ‘genocide.’
This time, in addition to the lawn signs mounted on posts, the suspect vandalized the synagogue’s permanent Kehillat Shaarei Torah sign, too.
KST’s new security cameras were mounted to face the “the corner where they [suspects] park their cars usually” before vandalizing the shul, said Gilmore.
“We [were] able to get a good shot of them. We have our fence up now, which protected against the building getting vandalized.”
The attacks once again took place late at night or early in the morning, following the previous pattern of incidents targeting KST, says Gilmore.
Gilmore describes the suspect carrying a roll of stickers.
“We took a photo of the stickers before they were removed and he had a spool of stickers, so he was here for about 20-25 minutes. Sticks hundreds of stickers on our signs, on all the signs and then on the shul sign itself,” he said.
“It felt like as if he was trolling us in a way because… I mean, Jews thumbs up,” he said, describing another sticker. “But you’re also vandalizing our synagogue sign, not just the community one. So obviously you don’t care for Jews.”
Unfortunately, says Gilmore, it’s hardly a surprise anymore for KST, whose custodian had to come in on the long weekend to remove the stickers.
Gilmore has managed numerous security upgrades for the building in recent months, from security film put on windows to entry point access control improvements. However, he’s still waiting for reimbursements from Public Safety Canada through the synagogue’s security infrastructure program applications.
The synagogue has had to engage in laborious processes to recoup funds from government agencies amid ongoing hate crime attacks on the building, Gilmore said.
He says the federal grant program for religious institutions (now renamed the Canada Community Security Program) is “designed to look good, rather than actually be effective towards the community they’re trying to support,” such as a synagogue vandalized multiple times in a year like KST.
“Expenses [for] our security upgrades are north of $150,000. The government told us that they would cover 50 percent of it. That was a year ago, and over a year ago when we started the process. It’s very onerous on us to get everything together, get the quotes, pay for everything up front, and then wait for reimbursement,” said Gilmore.
“We’ve been waiting for two months since we submitted everything,” he said, though added that agency staff say the funds are in an upcoming round of payments.
While there’s been plenty of community support, Gilmore says the key right now is wider awareness of what message these incidents are sending to Jewish Canadians.
“The biggest thing now is getting the point across to the larger community of Toronto that when they see a vandalism and they say, ‘oh, it’s only stickers on the sign’ … when really it’s not just stickers on the sign. It is another incident of Jewish people being told that we are not welcome in Canada, that an intrinsic part of our religion is not welcome in Canada.
“Some people may see just a sticker on a sign, or in this case, hundreds of stickers on multiple signs, and dismiss it. Our community has to wake up every morning and wonder: ‘Is it going to be just stickers today? Is it going to be a fire today? Is it going to be windows smashed, like Kristallnacht… or physical violence on myself or a loved one today?’”
The long-term effect of that nervousness in the community isn’t being addressed, he says.
“Navigating that reality as a Jewish person living in Canada… having Jewish children living in Canada” involves conveying the seriousness of the situation, he says.
“We need to continue to advocate, be strong, and get the message across to policymakers that it never is ‘just,’ [anything], period. It is another action in the pattern of antisemitism that needs to be faced.”
“At this point, it’s been 13 months, nine vandalisms, and we are still carrying on,” said Gilmore. “We have our minyan every morning, we have our Shabbat services… we continue to try our best to just keep life as normal as possible in spite of everything.”
Rivka Campbell, executive director of Beth Tikvah Synagogue, told The CJN it’s important for the Jewish community to look out for synagogues on Bayview Avenue.
The busy arterial street is home to several synagogues and is close to Highway 401, for vandals looking to make a quick escape.
“I’ve always said watch, keep all eyes on Bayview, because we’re on the outskirts,” said Campbell. “We don’t have the police patrols that the Bathurst corridor has, or anything like that.”
Since Oct. 7, TPS mobile command units have posted along Bathurst Street as a visible deterrent against targeting of Jewish buildings in the area.
Beth Tikvah has been targeted by vandalism nearly as many times at KST since Oct. 7, 2023, including signs outside the building set on fire. One incident involved a disturbing interloper who had to be removed from the synagogue by security.
“They had a list of Jewish institutions in their hand, and it was very bizarre, but they were sent packing and monitored to get off the property,” she said, recalling the incident.
Campbell says vandals “know what they’re doing,” and that it seems organized.
“How much longer are we going to continually be on the defensive? Synagogues, religious institutions are meant to be sanctuary spaces. How long are we going to tolerate the fact that our religious institutions, our Jewish religious institutions are not being treated with the respect and the safety and security that they deserve?”
