MONTREAL – in the wake of sporadic but regular vandalism, the Jewish community reached a “tipping point” this past weekend after five institutions were hit on one night, said Rabbi Reuben Poupko, chair of Federation CJA’s security co-ordinating committee.
Four Montreal synagogues and one school were hit by vandals in the early hours of Jan. 16. The synagogues – Tifereth Beth David Jerusalem (TBDJ), Beth Rambam, Beth Zion and Dorshei Emet – all had single rocks thrown through their front windows. The same thing happened at Yavne Academy.
All but one are in Cote St. Luc. Dorshei Emet is in Hampstead.
B’nai Brith Quebec deplored the attacks and called on police to review past attacks, ”which may have been dismissed as isolated examples of vandalism.” The federation was also expected to issue a statement on Monday.
Rabbi Poupko said it’s believed that all the incidents took place between 2 and 3 a.m. on Sunday. A janitor who left Beth Rambam at around 2 a.m. returned an hour later and discovered the broken window.
A video camera at one of the institutions – not all have cameras or well-located ones, Rabbi Poupko said – showed two men emerging from a car, throwing the rock and then leaving.
The incident was the most serious to hit the Jewish community since September 2009, when three Cote St. Luc synagogues had their windows shattered by rocks, apparently also by two men in a car.
Moshe Ben-Shach, director of operations at Federation CJA, who oversees security at community institutions, said that the incidents are being viewed with concern, and police are investigating it seriously.
He said such incidents have been “sporadic” and that the priority is for the community to act “cohesively and in strength.”
Rabbi Poupko said, however, that such incidents have been occurring on a more regular basis, perhaps once a month, but they have gone unreported for fear of triggering “copycats” or creating, “an unreasonable degree of fear.”
“Police need to dedicate more resources to the investigation,” he said.
One source told The CJN that about two weeks ago, “a major community institution” was hit by vandals, but the incident went unreported.
Rabbi Poupko also said he has heard concerns that groups who have been calling for local boycotts of Israeli-made goods might be “riling up extremists” to the point of committing such acts.
“It is reasonable to ask the question,” Rabbi Poupko said. “Those are the questions I’m hearing from people.”
Quebec Jewish Congress, in a statement on Monday morning, also strongly denounced the vandalism. Such acts threaten our society’s values of liberty and tolerance, QJC president Adam Atlas said.
TBDJ’s Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz wrote in his blog that while the attack was “not the end of the world… a few hundred dollars damage… a broken window sends shock waves.
“The perpetrators broke this window because they hate Jews,” he wrote. “They hate me, my wife and my children, and they hate my community.”
Added Rabbi Poupko: “There’s a point where enough is enough. These are cowards who throw rocks through windows under the cover of darkness… but [they] will not determine how the community organizes itself or uses its institutions.”
