Jewish communities are gathering together, determined to show strength in numbers following the horrific shooting in Pittsburgh Saturday.

The shooting resulted in the deaths of 11 people inside a synagogue and has sparked days of mourning. In Montreal, Jewish leaders say the impact of such violence is far-reaching.

“When the Jewish community is attacked anywhere in the world, all the Jewish communities in the world are attacked,” said Harvey Levine, head of B’nai Brith Quebec.

In Canada, the number of anti-Semitic incidents has continued to rise; 2017 was a record-breaking year.

A B'nai Brith audit shows there were:

  • 1,752 anti-Semitic acts in 2017
  • 1,728 anti-Semitic acts in 2016
  • 1,269 anti-Semitic acts in 2015

“There's a lot of hate mongering online. There's a tremendous amount of graffiti,” said Levine.

Quebec represents about 20 per cent of those numbers, including Swastikas spraypainted on buildings and online threats.

Montreal man Robert Gosselin was arrested and charged last week for inciting hate against Jews on social media.

“We're advocating for a national strategy in terms of online hate, and we need to look at the kinds of things that are allowed to linger on website and internet and social media,” said Eta Yudin, the Quebec vice-president of the Federation CJA.

Since Saturday's shooting, Montreal's Holocaust museum has seen a spike in visitors.

“We're surrounded in this room by ashes from Auschwitz, by reminders of the death camp, concentration camps, the end result of what begins with hateful discourse,” said said Dorothy Zalcman, president of the Montreal Holocaust Museum.

“48 per cent -- almost half -- of all hate crimes target the Jewish community, which is a shocking statistic,” Zalcman added.

Despite an increased police presence at schools and synagogues in Quebec, many admit that fear is part of life as a Jewish person.

“I'm a mother. I send my kids to a Jewish school, I can't tell you that there hasn't been a morning, ever, where I've dropped my kids off for school and taken a deep breath, saying to myself, ‘everything is going to be okay’” said Yudin.

Vigils have already taken place and more are planned in the days and weeks to come, including one Monday evening at Beth Israel Beth Aaron synagogue, 6800 Mackle, Cote-St-Luc. It began at 7:30 p.m.


“There is a need. There's a need in our community to come out, to be together to say we were attacked, we feel it, but we will not be defeated,” said Yudin.