Canada’s Answer to Jew Hatred: Build the Jews a Bigger Fence

By Howie Silbiger

Canada is a free, open and multicultural society. We know this because we have been told it so many times that it has practically become part of the national anthem. Diversity is our strength, everyone belongs, everyone is welcome, and every Canadian should be free to practise their religion without fear.

Unless, apparently, you are Jewish. In that case, welcome to Canada. Please proceed through the security gate, remain behind the fence, stay away from the windows and try not to look too suspicious when the armed police officer asks what you are doing at synagogue.

Beth Tzedec Congregation in Toronto, Canada’s largest synagogue, is building a permanent security fence around almost its entire property. The congregation has been there for roughly 70 years without one. Now workers are putting up fencing around the front and sides of the building because synagogue officials are concerned about someone shooting at worshippers from the street or getting close enough to the building to cause harm.

Maybe they should add a moat while they are at it. A couple of guard towers would be nice. Searchlights could sweep the neighbourhood after sunset. Perhaps a drawbridge could be lowered on Shabbat morning after everyone has shown identification. We could issue the congregants little coloured passes so security knows who is allowed inside the Jewish compound.

It sounds ridiculous until you realize that the only ridiculous part is the moat.

Beth Tzedec already has bollards, reinforced doors, lockdown procedures, more than 70 cameras, restricted entrances, professional security and police protection. Its annual security bill is now approaching $500,000. Public Safety Canada has committed another $187,601 to the congregation for fencing, gates, access controls and training. Senior Rabbi Steven Wernick says the synagogue would need another $1.5 million to $2 million to reach what he describes as “maximum reasonable safety.”

That is a remarkable amount of money to spend for the privilege of praying in Toronto. It is also apparently what Jewish life now looks like in one of the most proudly multicultural countries on earth.

Nobody should criticize Beth Tzedec for putting up the fence, truth is, I would probably build it higher. The synagogue has to deal with the world as it exists, rather than the one politicians describe at press conferences. If its security people believe a fence can keep a gunman farther away from children, elderly congregants and families coming to services, build the fence.

The problem is that Jews are once again being forced to imprison themselves while everyone outside the fence continues living normally. The people threatening Jews are free to walk the streets. The people screaming outside Jewish institutions are free to go home afterwards. The people vandalizing synagogues, shooting at Jewish schools, smashing windows, ripping down mezuzot and intimidating Jewish students continue enjoying all the benefits of our wonderfully tolerant society.

The Jews get the fence.

We have become so accustomed to this arrangement that it barely shocks anyone anymore. Jewish schools have guards. Synagogues have locked doors. Community centres have cameras. Police cars sit outside during holidays. Children learn lockdown procedures. Bags are checked. Doors are reinforced. Concrete barriers are installed. People standing outside Jewish buildings are watched carefully because nobody knows whether they are waiting for a friend or waiting for an opportunity.

And somehow the conversation always turns to how Jewish institutions can become more secure. Canada has even created government programs to help pay for it. There is something almost comical about that solution. The government cannot guarantee that Jews can safely enter a synagogue in an ordinary Canadian neighbourhood, so taxpayers will help buy the Jews a better fence.

Problem solved. Ottawa can issue a cheque, politicians can condemn hatred, police can increase patrols for the High Holidays and everyone can congratulate themselves for taking the problem seriously. Meanwhile, a synagogue that stood for seven decades without surrounding itself with metal fencing is being turned into something that increasingly resembles a secure compound.

This is apparently what tolerance looks like now.

There is another cost buried underneath the millions being spent on cameras, fences, guards and reinforced doors. Jewish institutions are using money for security that could have gone somewhere else. Hundreds of thousands of dollars that could support education, youth programs, seniors, families, religious programming or people who actually need financial help are instead paying for the privilege of keeping attackers outside.

Imagine raising money for a synagogue and having to explain that a substantial portion of it will be spent making sure nobody shoots through the windows.

That is where Canadian Jewish life is in 2026, and it’s obscenely abnormal.

A free society is not one in which Jews are free to practise Judaism provided they remain behind sufficient fencing. Multiculturalism is not demonstrated by giving a synagogue a government grant to fortify itself. Religious freedom should mean walking into a house of worship without calculating sightlines from the street.

Beth Tzedec needs the fence because Beth Tzedec lives in the real world. Build it, put up the cameras and hire the guards. Do whatever is necessary to make sure everyone who walks into that building to pray for peace and mercy, walks out again.

In the meantime, politicians and Jewish leaders can spare us the self congratulatory speeches about Canadian multiculturalism and the increasingly absurd claim that this is one of the safest countries in the world to be Jewish. If this is safety, I would hate to see what danger looks like. Jews are now expected to pray behind reinforced steel, security gates, armed guards and cameras while everyone outside the fence congratulates themselves on how tolerant Canada is. At this rate, all that is missing are the guard towers, the moat and a plaque at the entrance reading: “Welcome to multicultural Canada. Jews, please remain behind the barricades.”

And if Beth Tzedec finds that another couple of million dollars still does not buy “maximum reasonable safety,” they could always consider the moat.