A rabbi in Ontario has called for stronger action against antisemitism after a Chabad centre serving both the local Jewish community and university students was targeted twice with hateful graffiti, reports Jewish News Syndicate.
Raphi Steiner, who leads the Chabad centre in Guelph with his wife Mussie, said the incidents have raised painful concerns about the environment in which his children are growing up, drawing comparisons with the experiences of his Holocaust-survivor grandparents.
The first act of vandalism occurred on 30 May, when Steiner arrived for Shabbat morning services and found anti-Israel graffiti written on the synagogue’s front window. Because the Chabad operates from a storefront location, worshippers could see the message from inside the prayer space.
Steiner said his 12-year-old son was present during the service and had to sit facing the vandalised window, forcing him to question why someone would target a Jewish place of worship with such hatred.
A second incident followed days later, with additional graffiti containing anti-Zionist and antisemitic language. Steiner said the atmosphere has changed significantly since the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, explaining that hostility has increasingly moved beyond criticism of Israel and become direct hatred towards Jews.
He described a wider pattern of antisemitic incidents affecting the local Jewish community and the University of Guelph, including swastikas drawn on students’ doors and vehicles, students displaying Nazi symbols at social events, and a student performing a Nazi salute on campus.
Steiner said these were the kind of incidents he never expected to see in Canada and warned that they evoked memories of the antisemitism his grandparents had endured in Europe.
Despite the attacks, he emphasised that the Jewish community would not be intimidated. He said the Chabad had received widespread support from local residents and members of the university community, including a retired Christian leader who personally contacted him and issued a public statement condemning the vandalism.
The incidents form part of a broader increase in antisemitic attacks against Jewish institutions across Canada since October 7, including vandalism, harassment, and threats directed at synagogues, schools, and Jewish student organisations.
Steiner criticised the Canadian government’s response to the rise in antisemitism, saying that the recent announcement by Prime Minister Mark Carney of an advisory council to examine antisemitism did not go far enough.
He argued that authorities already understand the nature of the problem and that what is needed now is concrete and decisive action rather than further discussion.
The Guelph Police Service is investigating both incidents as hate-motivated crimes. While police have not yet confirmed whether the two acts of vandalism are connected, the investigations remain active.
Steiner praised the police response, saying officers had acted quickly and professionally. However, he stressed that the wider challenge of rising antisemitism requires a stronger societal response to ensure that Jewish communities can live and worship without fear.
Photo credit: Rabbi Raphi Steiner
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