Police car is seen in Montreal, Canada on June 13, 2023. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto)

(JTA) — A Montreal synagogue was graffitied with a swastika on Shabbat, drawing condemnation from Canadian officials as well as a defiant response from the synagogue’s rabbi.

A congregant at Temple Emanu-El Beth Sholom, a Reform congregation in the city, noticed the 3-foot-wide symbol on the synagogue’s side on Saturday afternoon. At the time, according to the Canadian Jewish News, members had been rehearsing the synagogue’s Purim spiel, a whimsical pageant performed on the holiday of Purim next month.

The swastika was removed by Corey Fleischer, an activist whose nonprofit, Erasing Hate, scrubs off hate speech graffiti. Police are investigating and have yet to identify a suspect.

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The following morning, the synagogue’s Rabbi Lisa Grushcow said in a social media video that she wasn’t surprised by the graffiti, citing heightened levels of antisemitism in Canada and worldwide.

“This is a place where we try and open doors and build bridges. We love it here,” she said. “Now here’s the thing: With how the world is right now, it was a matter more of when, rather than if, something like this would happen.”

In the video, which has been viewed tens of thousands of times since it was posted on Sunday morning, Grushcow goes on to suggest ways non-Jews can counter antisemitism.

“But for some of us, whats just as disturbing as these acts of antisemitism is the silence of our friends,” she said, adding later, “The world’s a bit of a mess right now, but we can make a difference.”

The graffiti is the latest antisemitic incident in Montreal over the past year-plus. In December, another synagogue in the city was firebombed for the second time in just over a year; the first such attack took place in November 2023, shortly after antisemitism began to spike following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. That same month, shots were fired at an Orthodox girls’ school in Montreal. Antisemitic incidents have occurred at other Jewish institutions throughout Canada as well.

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante condemned the incident, noting that she had recently visited the synagogue.

“Such attacks are unacceptable in our metropolis and I can assure Rabbi Lisa Grushcow that the [police department] is investigating,” she wrote. “We must all unite and denounce all forms of antisemitism.”

Mark Carney, a Liberal candidate running to succeed outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, said the incident was “another reminder that Jewish Canadians have been targeted by a rising wave of antisemitism, particularly since October 7th.”

He added, “It has to stop. As Canadian leaders, we need to say firmly and loudly that the Jewish community has the right to feel safe in Canada.”

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