Matthew Taub: Three synagogues hit by bullets. So much for 'antisemitism has no place here'
First it was Temple Emanu-El. Then overnight Saturday gunfire struck BAYT (Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto) and Shaarei Shomayim.
Three Jewish houses of worship. Three shooting incidents.
It is the phrase that now functions as the political equivalent of “thoughts and prayers.”
It appears after vandalism. It appears after threats. It appears after protests outside Jewish institutions.
And it will almost certainly appear again now that bullets have been fired into synagogues.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford previously described the shooting at Temple Emanu-El as “a vile and targeted act of antisemitism” and said that “antisemitism has no place in our province.”
Solicitor General Michael Kerzner declared that “cowardly acts of antisemitism, violence and hate will never be normalized or accepted in Ontario.”
The language sounds strong. It is meant to reassure.
But if antisemitism truly had no place in Ontario, synagogues would not require concrete barriers. Jewish schools would not need armed security. Community institutions would not conduct threat assessments before hosting events.
Yet this is the reality Jewish communities across Canada now live with.
To say antisemitism has no place here while synagogues are being hardened like security installations is not a reflection of reality. It is a denial of it.
The uncomfortable truth is that antisemitism is not disappearing from Canadian life. It is thriving.
It thrives when mobs march through Jewish neighbourhoods chanting slogans calling for the destruction of the Jewish state.
It thrives when Jewish businesses are vandalized, when protests surround synagogues while congregants are inside.
And it thrives when someone feels confident enough to fire bullets into Jewish houses of worship in the largest city in Canada.
Deputy Chief Rob Johnson of the Toronto Police Service told the public that “a shooting targeting a place of worship is unacceptable.”
Of course it is unacceptable.
But “unacceptable” is the word you use when you receive bad service at an expensive restaurant. It is not the language a society should use when bullets are fired into a synagogue.
The deeper question is why it keeps happening. This is part of a pattern that has been developing steadily. Jewish institutions and businesses have faced repeated attacks and threats for more than two years.
Each incident follows the same sequence: condemnation, investigation, assurances that hate will not be tolerated. Then the next incident occurs.
Are we waiting until a mass casualty event before the seriousness of the threat is fully recognized? That is the trajectory the Jewish community fears.
Escalation rarely announces itself in advance. It unfolds step by step until a line is crossed that cannot be undone.
There is another word that has echoed through demonstrations across Canadian cities for nearly two years: “intifada.”
Many people treat it as a slogan. But historically the word refers to waves of violence and intimidation directed at Jewish civilians.
When Jewish businesses are vandalized, when protests surround synagogues, and when gunfire strikes houses of worship, the pattern begins to resemble exactly what that word has meant in practice.
Three synagogues shot in one week is not random noise. It is escalation.
A synagogue is not simply another building. It is where families gather, where children learn their heritage, and where generations celebrate life’s milestones.
If synagogues can be shot in Toronto, three of them in the span of a single week, then antisemitism clearly does have a place here.
The question now facing Canada’s leaders is whether they are prepared to confront that reality before the next escalation forces them to.
Matthew Taub is the Executive Director of Unapologetically Jewish, a registered national organization fighting antisemitism.