Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt said people were inside the Schara Tzedeck synagogue on Vancouver鈥檚 Oak Street after services around 9:20 p.m. on Thursday when they heard a 鈥渂ang鈥� outside.
But it was a passerby who alerted them that their building was on fire, before a member of the synagogue put out the flames with his jacket, said Rosenblatt while pointing to the scorched front door on Friday morning.
The Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver said the fire was an arson attack, caused 鈥渂y an individual who poured fuel on the front doors and set them on fire.鈥�
It earlier said the damage was due to an 鈥渋ncendiary device.鈥�
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the attack a 鈥渄isgusting act of antisemitism.鈥�
Vancouver police said the case was being investigated as an act of arson and a possible hate crime.
There was a strong smell of burning inside the synagogue Friday, but the charring did not appear to have made it far inside the front doors.
鈥淲e鈥檙e glad we didn鈥檛 wake up to a pile of ashes,鈥� Rosenblatt said outside the building.
He said he was told the flames reached the second storey of the synagogue before being put out.
Rosenblatt said he was struck that there was no attempt to make the attack 鈥渃landestine.鈥�
鈥淪omebody decided it was OK to just walk up these stairs,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou could have picked a spot on the back of the synagogue.鈥�
He said the attack showed there was a 鈥渘ew permission structure鈥� about how Jewish people were treated in Canada.
鈥淢y grandfather was the cantor of a synagogue that burned down on Kristallnacht,鈥� he said, referring to the 1938 pogrom against Jews in Nazi Germany.
鈥淚 thought he was the last rabbi in our family to have to deal with a synagogue that was going to be torched. I guess I was mistaken.鈥�
The federation said in a statement posted online that the damage to Schara Tzedeck synagogue was minor and no one was hurt.
It called the incident a 鈥渄eliberate act of hate鈥� and an 鈥渁ttempt to intimidate鈥� the Jewish community.
Trudeau said on social media platform X: 鈥淎 synagogue in Vancouver was attacked last night in another disgusting act of antisemitism. We cannot let this hate or these acts of violence stand. This is not the Canada we want to be.鈥�
Canada鈥檚 special envoy for combating antisemitism, Deborah Lyons, called it 鈥渉orrible news鈥� and said on social media that 鈥渋ncendiary rhetoric leads to incendiary violence.鈥�
The Jewish federation said the Vancouver Police Department and a fire inspector searched the building before declaring it safe to be reopened.
Vancouver police said in a statement that authorities have 鈥渕obilized additional officers to Jewish community centres, schools, and religious institutions.鈥�
鈥淭his fire was intentionally set at a place of worship for the Jewish community,鈥� Const. Tania Visintin said in a statement. 鈥淲hile we collect evidence to identify the person responsible, we鈥檙e also working closely with faith leaders and community members to ensure everyone鈥檚 safety.鈥�
She added: 鈥淲e鈥檙e doing everything in our power to solve this crime, while providing reassurance, comfort, and safety to the community.鈥�
A police car and officers were outside the synagogue on Friday morning.
The federation said extra police patrols were being put in place at local Jewish institutions.
The incident comes after bullet holes were found at two Jewish schools in Montreal and Toronto in recent days. Nobody was hurt in either incident.
Lyons said on social media that it is 鈥減ast time to stand up鈥� against the incidents.
鈥淭hree Jewish institutions in three major cities this week have been attacked, and more over the months since Hamas鈥檚 horrific massacre on Oct. 7. There is no excuse for silence or inaction,鈥� she said.
She said the law must be enforced and 鈥渋ncidents of hate鈥� could not go unanswered.
鈥淚t means that incitement and violent rhetoric must be met with consequences. It means that capitulation to unreasonable or threatening demands must end.鈥�
Liberal MP Anthony Housefather, an outspoken voice against antisemitism, called on his party to change the Criminal Code in response to the rash of violent incidents targeting Jewish gathering places.
鈥淎t this point, condemnation is not enough,鈥� Housefather said in a speech to the House of Commons Friday, citing the incidents in Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto.
鈥淎ll levels of government need to do more, immediately.鈥�
He suggested creating safe zones around schools and places of worship where protests are not allowed, just as the government did for hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The idea was also floated in Toronto months ago by a local city councillor.
Housefather also called for the group Samidoun and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of Iran鈥檚 military, to be labelled as terrorist groups.
The foreign affairs minister has asked Public Safety Canada to explore the possibility of listing the IRGC as a terrorist organization, but Trudeau raised concerns it would punish Canadians who were drafted into Iran鈥檚 military by force.
Housefather鈥檚 comments were met with a standing ovation in the House.
Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center issued a statement saying it was 鈥渁ppalled by last night鈥檚 violent attack against a Vancouver synagogue.鈥�
鈥淭his marks the third such incident in the past six days in Canada, following shootings at Jewish schools in Toronto and Montreal. This comes as the country continues to experience surging anti-Jewish incidents since the Hamas atrocities in Israel last October.鈥�
鈥淎bsolutely appalled by last night鈥檚 violent attack against a Vancouver synagogue,鈥� centre president Michael Levitt said on X, adding, 鈥渨hen is enough, enough?鈥�
B.C. Premier David Eby issued a statement condemning the incident, which he described as an 鈥渁rson attack.鈥�
鈥淭his disguising act of antisemitism is reprehensible (and) has absolutely no place in B.C.,鈥� the statement said, adding Eby was relieved to hear no one was hurt.
Liberal MP Taleeb Noormohamed said on X that he was 鈥渇urious鈥� to hear about the incident in his riding, which encompasses the synagogue.
鈥淭here is no justification for a synagogue to be attacked. None,鈥� he said.
