Rosh Hashanah begins tonight and Jews are entering the new year with the weight of violence and hatred pressing on us. It should be a celebration of life and renewal, but there is no sweetness when our very existence is treated like a political bargaining chip.
Two years have passed since October 7. The murderers of Hamas did not just massacre and burn, they revealed how little Jewish life means to much of the world. Instead of solidarity, Jews have faced an unrelenting storm of hatred. Synagogues desecrated. Businesses vandalized. Crowds calling for our destruction. This is not Europe in the 1930s. This is the West in 2025.
And Canada, under Prime Minister Mark Carney, chose this moment to recognize a Palestinian state. Days before we mark the anniversary of October 7. While Jewish students and families continue to face daily threats. This was not diplomacy. It was a message that Jewish blood spilled two years ago is already forgotten.
The numbers make it plain. Statistics Canada reports that Jews remain the most targeted religious group for hate crimes. Year after year. The pattern does not change. The assaults and threats multiply. Officials issue statements. Police put up barricades. The danger keeps growing.
Schools should be sanctuaries. They are not. A federal survey in Ontario uncovered systemic Anti-Jewism. One in six reported incidents involved educators or school activities. Jewish children enter classrooms knowing some of the very people paid to protect them are part of the problem. Parents send their kids to school and pray they will come home safe, not broken, not buried.
Universities are worse. At McGill and the University of Toronto, encampments were allowed to dominate campuses for months. Jewish students were barred from entire sections of their schools. They were forced to strip off religious symbols. When they spoke up, they were told to be quiet. Administrations let it continue. This is not education, it’s a takeover by anti-Jewite radicals cheered on by administrators who chose mob approval over Jewish safety.
The global picture is the same. October 7 was not only a massacre in Israel. It was a signal to anti-Jewites everywhere. Violence against Jews from Paris to Los Angeles exploded and have become routine. Governments wring their hands. Law enforcement looks the other way. Jewish families and institutions add locks, cameras, and guards, but the threats keep coming and arrests never follow.
Rosh Hashanah demands honesty. “Who will live and who will die” is not just liturgy this year. It is the daily reality of Jewish communities facing danger from all sides.
Our answer must be clear. We will not live in fear. We will not accept that our safety is optional. We will not allow politicians like Mark Carney to wash away Jewish blood for headlines. We will not allow schools and universities to remain breeding grounds for terrorists.
This new year must be a year of resolve. Jewish life in Canada and across the world is not negotiable. Our communities will not be silenced. Our Jewish and political leaders must stand up strongly or be held accountable for the damage their silence creates. The shofar is not just ritual. It is a call to action, a call to protection, a call to defend Jewish life without apology.
That is the vow we must carry into 5786. Shanah tovah.
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