Sons of Jacob Synagogue shooting survivor calls for leaders to meaningfully tackle growing hatred against Jewish people

Sharlene Weitzman was among the small group of Jews who’d gathered Sunday evening at the Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Belleville, Ont., to worship on the faith’s holiest day, Yom Kippur, when a gunman arrived and opened fire. 

She was there with her partner, Jennifer Aronson and her son, Finn Luke Weitzman. 

The 59-year-old forensic social worker told her courageous story to National Post this week not to be a “spokesperson” for the tragedy that left the suspected shooter dead, a Belleville Police Service officer in hospital, and Canada’s Jewish population again questioning their safety.

She spoke candidly because she refused “to miss the opportunity to bear witness” to the crisis of Jew hatred in Canada and around the world. 

“Stop telling us Jews that we’re overreacting. Stop telling us it’s not antisemitism, ‘It’s not all about you. Oh, where there’s smoke, there must be fire. If people hate you, there’s a reason,’” she said.

“But I’m not Benjamin Netanyahu. I’m not the leader of the government. I’m not Mark Carney. I’m just a Jewish mom trying to raise my family in the community that we’ve been in for 25, 30 years.”

Weitzman had more she wanted to say, with the following statement:

Thank you to Hashem and to both officers of the Belleville Police Service who saved my family’s lives this past Sunday, Yom Kippur 5787.

The BPS have been remarkable. Having experienced this traumatic event together, I believe they have a new understanding of the life-and-death challenges not only the police but Jews face daily. By Shekina’s hand and the officers’ heroics, there was only one casualty: the shooter. We pray for his family. They have suffered great loss.

We encourage you to support the GoFundMe for Constable Smith and his family as he faces the road to recovery. We pray for his full recovery.

I am speaking today to bear witness to Jew Hatred around the world. The Sons of Jacob shooting was not an isolated incident.

Your silence is harming us. Please take it upon yourselves to learn about the events of the massacre in Israel committed by Hamas and Gazan citizens on October 7. The massacre that began the current war.

There is a war in the Middle East. All wars are ugly and dangerous. Innocent people die. There is a war on Jews around the globe; it is dangerous and ugly, and innocent people are dying.

It is not, however, an accident.

Warren Kinsella’s recent award-winning book, The Hidden Hand, devastatingly traces the information war against Jews that has been waged across the world. The information war is working when Canadians are incited to kill Canadians because of their faith and connection to Israel.

Hatred grows in silence. Speaking out against it is an integral part of our Canadian social contract.

We can rebuild the Canada I grew up in better, bolder, more modern and safer.

A year ago, my son was in a safe room in Eilat, Israel, facing Houthi missile attacks. He was under attack for being a Jew. He was in the Jewish homeland, Israel.

This year he faced being shot at with a high-calibre shotgun. He was under attack for being a Jew. For being a Jew in Canada.

He is a third-generation Canadian Jew. Neither of his homelands is safe. Where can my son be safe? What mother wants to ask that question?

Jew hatred is not confined to a war over the land of Israel. What happened in Belleville is not about a centuries-old struggle in the Middle East.

This is about Jew hatred rearing its ugly head. This cycle has repeated throughout history each time humankind faced a major revolution. People become fearful, and the Jews become a target.

Fear promotes hatred.

We need leaders who incite safety, not hatred.

We need leaders who show up and who not only protect our economies from threats to our sovereignty but ensure we are alive to bear the fruits of that sovereignty.

Finally, my family, my little tribe, send our prayers to the congregation of the Sons of Jacob synagogue. We survived with you to live another day. After the shooting, our community joined hands and prayed. We prayed for life, peace, safety and the forgiveness of those we have harmed this past year. We sang and prayed for each of us to walk the path to become our G-d made best selves in the year ahead.

Shema Yisrael Adonai Elohaynu Adonai Ehud.

Sharlene Weitzman is a Canadian forensic social worker, educator, author, and children’s rights advocate with more than three decades of experience working at the intersection of family law, child development, mental health, and the justice system.

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