Threats against Canadian Jewish organizations leave northern Ontario synagogues on edge

Jewish community leaders in northern Ontario say they've been reassessing their security protocols after bomb threats were delivered last week to synagogues and other Jewish institutions.

Representatives of Congregation Beth Jacob in Sault Ste. Marie and Shaar Hashomayim Synagogue in Sudbury both say they have taken steps to reassess their safety and to check in with police and other partners.

And they say members of the community are feeling anxious and isolated.

"There is multi-generational trauma that is very real in the Jewish community," said Jeff Arbus, a senior member of Congregation Beth Jacob in Sault Ste. Marie.

"We are very cognizant of the history of persecution of Jews, of attempted genocide by the Nazis and others throughout the ages. So yeah, the kind of rise of anti-Semitism that we've been seeing over the past five years … is terrifying on a surface level, but also on that very deep emotional level where, you know, many of us start to wonder, 'Gee, if we had to leave Canada, where would we go?'"

Any attack on the Jewish community anywhere in the country leaves individual members of the community feeling fearful and reassessing security measures, Arbus said. 

But he says they are comforted by friends and neighbours reaching out to see how they're doing. 

People can show that human compassion and empathy regardless of their stance on Israel's attacks on Gaza, Arbus emphasized.

He added, nobody should be cloaking anti-Semitism under a cover of criticizing Israel's policies.

If people want to protest against Israeli policy, they should picket in front of the Israeli embassy in Ottawa, Arbus said, not in front of a Jewish delicatessen in Toronto.

"It's still is inexplicable how someone could think that an attack on a Jewish school or a Jewish business in Toronto or in Sudbury or in Sault Ste. Marie is in any way going to impact the right of Palestinians to have a homeland," he said.

"In this case, we're talking about attacks on civilians, citizens, many of whom have no connection at all other than the fact that they're Jewish."

The president of the board at Shaar Hashomayim Synagogue said the threats against the community have left many synagogue members feeling both anxious and lonely.

"Frankly, it doesn't feel like there is a lot of recognition amongst the greater public of how big an issue this is and how dangerous it is," Emily Caruso Parnell said.