‘People came forward without us even asking’

Community rallies to get security system for D.D.O. Jewish centre

Less than a week after the Gutnick Mazal Jewish Centre in Dollarddes-Ormeaux was vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti, the community has rallied to try to help the centre purchase a proper security system to prevent further incidents.

After it was reported in the West Island Gazette that the centre on Mirabel St. was spray-painted with graffiti that said “It’s the end,” DDO resident Marc Shade set up a Go-FundMe page to raise money for the centre to install proper security cameras.

“They’re being picked on because they’re vulnerable,” Shade said in an interview, adding that the Congregation Beth Tikvah, also in DDO, is well served by a security system. He’s not a member of the Jewish centre — which houses a synagogue, mikvah and day camp — but said he found it “disconcerting that someone is so hateful.”

However, he was able to quickly shut down the GoFundMe page after a generous resident stepped forward and promised to pay the whole cost of installing four security cameras, some $2,500 according to Shade. He had raised $237 in less than a day, which he will donate to the centre.

Police are treating the case as a hate crime. Montreal police spokesperson Andrée-Anne Picard said last week that police were investigating the incident and have to take into consideration the context of the graffiti being painted on a Jewish centre.

Rabbi Yehoshua Yarmush, who runs the centre, said there is no question a security system would help the centre, which has been vandalized about five times in the 17 years it’s been there. “People came forward without us even asking, which is very nice,” he said.

He also said the incident of vandalism has done nothing to slow down activities at the centre, which currently houses a day camp for about 40 children and which is still proceeding with all religious and community activities.

The centre may not have been impeded by the vandalism, but Shade said it’s time to “put an end to this. This is our community and it’s time to do something about it.”

He said he plays softball near the centre and it irks him to think that “those kind of people” are nearby.

He’s pleased the community came together quickly to put forward a solution to the problem. “It certainly does show how well the Dollard community rallies to help those who need it,” he said. “Hopefully that was the last story about vandalism at the centre.”

It certainly does show how well the Dollard community rallies to help those who need it. MARC SHADE, D.D.O. RESIDENT