Mezuzahs stolen from Toronto apartment building for second time in weeks
One of the 3 mezuzahs belonged to Holocaust survivor; incident comes after 20 mezuzahs were stolen in same area earlier this month
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The Toronto Police Service is investigating a suspected hate crime after mezuzahs were removed from the doors of apartments in North York on Thursday, The Canadian Jewish News reported.
A mezuzah is a rolled-up scroll of parchment with sacred texts that Jewish families hang on the frame of their front doors, usually in a decorative case.
According to the report, mezuzahs were removed from three doors, all on the same floor of a residential apartment complex. One of the mezuzahs, which belonged to a Holocaust survivor, was found discarded on the floor, it added.
The complex is home to many Jewish residents and is one kilometer away from a synagogue that was the target of several antisemitic attacks in 2024, the report said.
The incident came after some 20 mezuzahs were stolen from residents of an apartment building in the same area of North York earlier in December.
Neighborhood Councilor James Pasternak said that the “disturbing incident” is “another example of the hate that has infected [Toronto], often as a result of incitement from the mobs on the streets and online hate.”
He called for “universal condemnation” of the incident and “consequences” for the perpetrators.
Antisemitism has surged in Canada in recent years, even before the Hamas-led invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked the war in Gaza. Since then, hate crimes against the Jewish population have surged.
Last week, Canadian police announced the arrest of three terror suspects for attempted kidnappings targeting Jews and women.
In Toronto, in May, three men, one armed with a handgun and another with a knife, approached a woman and attempted to force her into a vehicle. The assailants fled when the attempted kidnapping was interrupted by a passing driver, police said in a statement.
In June, in the nearby city of Mississauga, three men with a handgun, a rifle, and a knife exited a vehicle and chased two women. They also fled the scene after a passing motorist intervened, police said.
The individuals were “targeting women and members of the Jewish community,” Toronto police chief Myron Demkiw said, without providing further details.
The Times of Israel Community.