In a disturbing incident that underscores a growing pattern, mezuzahs were violently torn from the doorposts of multiple units in a Toronto condominium tower on December 25, 2025. The victims were Jewish seniors, including individuals who survived the Holocaust. Toronto Police attended the scene, conducted interviews, and correctly classified the acts as hate crimes.
A Pattern of Intimidation, Not Isolated Vandalism
This attack was not an isolated event. Merely two weeks prior, similar acts of antisemitic vandalism occurred elsewhere in Toronto. This repetition is critical, as it signals a profound failure of deterrence rather than a lack of legal clarity. A mezuzah is far more than a decorative item; it is a sacred religious object affixed to Jewish homes for millennia. Removing it is a deliberate act targeting Jewish identity, intended to intimidate and signal that Jewish residents are marked and unwelcome.
Canadian law is unequivocal on this matter. The Criminal Code contains provisions for mischief to religious property, hate propaganda, and criminal harassment. The Toronto Police's classification of these incidents as hate crimes is legally sound. Yet, the crimes persist.
The Normalization of Hate Through Inaction
For over two years, Jewish communities in Toronto have witnessed a steady escalation of antisemitic harassment, intimidation, and targeted attacks. Too often, responses to protest violations, threats, vandalism, and assaults on Jewish institutions have been characterized by police restraint, hesitation, or stand-down orders, frequently framed as de-escalation tactics.
The consequence of this approach has been tragically predictable. When hate crimes are acknowledged but not met with consistent and visible enforcement, they become normalized. Acts that once provoked shock and urgent response fade into a grim routine. Perpetrators learn that the boundaries set by law exist largely on paper, not in practice.
Trauma Reawakened and a Community's Fear
The harm inflicted extends far beyond property damage or a line in a police report. It lands with devastating weight on families and individuals. Following the December 25th attack, families of elderly victims faced an impossible choice: whether to inform their parents and grandparents about the violation, knowing that subsequent police interviews and the presence of uniforms could re-traumatize individuals whose wounds from history never fully healed.
For Holocaust survivors, these are not abstract crimes. They are visceral, personal assaults that activate traumatic memories. The broader Jewish community receives a clear and chilling message from such events and the perceived lack of decisive follow-up: this can and will happen again.
The reason mezuzahs are being torn down repeatedly in Toronto is not that perpetrators misunderstand the law. It is because their experience, and that of the community, has taught them that consequences are unlikely, slow, or minimal. Hate crimes that conclude without charges, prosecutions, or visible accountability serve as lessons for future offenders, not as warnings. This is the precise mechanism by which hatred becomes normalized in a society.
