Stand united against hate, rabbi tells group gathered to honour shooting victims
The Agudas Israel Synagogue was packed Tuesday night as people from across Saskatoon gathered for a vigil to honour and mourn the 11 victims who died in a shooting on Saturday at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue.
Rabbi Claudio Jodorkovsky opened the evening service by leading prayers and speaking about how powerful it can be when people stand united against hate.
“Together we will always be stronger than those who wish to do us harm,” he said.
Members of the Saskatoon Police Service were in attendance alongside Mayor Charlie Clark and members of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission, including its chief commissioner David Arnot, who spoke to the crowd.
“It’s important to remember that words matter, words have the power to shame, blame and maim,” he said.
“But, words also have the power to create understanding, empathy, equity and respect.”
Arnot said he believes it is time the federal government puts laws in place through the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) that would cover hate speech that takes place on the internet.
Since the Pittsburgh shooting, Saskatoon’s Jewish community has seen gestures of kindness and messages of support sent mainly via social media. Staff even discovered a rose left outside the synagogue.
“That was a beautiful thing for us to discover (Monday) afternoon,” Heather Fenyes of the Congregation of Agudas Israel Synagogue’s board of trustees said in an interview.
But it wasn’t all roses.
The synagogue also sustained damage overnight, most noticeably a doorbell at the front entrance that was smashed and the wiring appeared to have been pulled out.
Fenyes said that staff discovered the damaged doorbell and damage to one of the windows on Tuesday morning and reported it to police.
According to Saskatoon police, the incident appeared to be an attempted break and enter with no entry gained and is not being investigated as an act of vandalism.
Fenyes feels she is living in a society that promotes inclusion, but is concerned about “ongoing threats” to minorities in Canada.
“It’s a canary in a coal mine, because haters hate,” Fenyes said. “So if there’s incidents against the Jewish community, then every vulnerable, every minority, every faith needs to be aware because nobody is protected from hate,” she added.