A synagogue in Saskatoon was egged and vandalized during a service last week, its rabbi said.
While attendees gathered for Shabbat service inside the Congregation Agudas Israel Synagogue, eggs were reportedly thrown at the building’s doors and windows, Rabbi Claudio Jodorkovsky said on social media Saturday.
“What I said to our congregation (during the egging) is that ‘we are going to continue praying and doing what we do,'” Jodorkovsky recounted in an interview with Global News Tuesday.
“We are a very, very strong community and any act of vandalism or expression of hatred is going to keep us even stronger.”
Cars in the synagogue parking lot were also egged, according to Robert Englebert, co-president of the Congregation Agudas Israel.
“This was a bit shocking. People could hear something was going on outside and we had children in the synagogue who looked out the window and saw this individual,” he told Global News.
“It was quite a traumatic experience for many of our members.”
He said the egging may be a symptom of growing anti-Semitic sentiments in Saskatoon – adding that he has also received reports of “smaller incidents. Some in the schools (and) some in just daily life.”
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“We need to prevent anti-Semitism from taking hold in Saskatoon.”
Local, provincial and federal leaders in Saskatoon must support the synagogue on McKinnon Avenue, as well as the broader Jewish-Canadian community, the post urged, comparing the alleged vandalism to “targeted attacks against Jewish-owned businesses in Toronto and Montreal.”
Saskatoon Mayor Cynthia Block described the egging as “deeply troubling” in a social media post shared on Tuesday.
“Acts that target people because of their faith undermine the values of respect, inclusion, and belonging that Saskatoon strives to uphold,” Block’s post said.
“Saskatoon is strongest when we stand together in support of one another.
“We will not allow acts of hate or intimidation to define who we are as a community.”
Englebert said he is reviewing surveillance footage and working on a police report with Saskatoon police, who said they are not investigating the allegations yet.
“At this point, the Saskatoon Police Service has not received a report consistent with this information,” Saskatoon police wrote in an email statement to Global News Tuesday morning.
Increased security is expected at the synagogue, according to its co-president.
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