Jewish community hopes to put $1M fundraiser for hero Belleville cop over the top

Sons of Jacob Synagogue President Norm Weddum sits next to a sign thanking Belleville police officers who stopped a gunman who attacked on Sept. 20. Photo by Luke Hendry /The Belleville Intelligencer

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The Jewish community has come close to meeting a $1 million fundraising goal for the injured Belleville hero cop who put his life on the line to prevent a massacre at a synagogue in Belleville, Ont.

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The man behind the campaign is now asking donors to take it over the line.

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“We are now $45,744 away from our $1 million goal,” GoFundMe page organizer Derek Kreindler wrote on the page on Tuesday. “Thousands of people from across Canada and beyond have chosen to honour (police officer Jeff Smith) who suffered catastrophic injuries while protecting approximately 25 Jewish worshippers on Kol Nidre. That response has been extraordinary.”

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Kreindler adds that a million dollars is neither a milestone, nor a measure of the Jewish community’s gratitude. Having already demonstrated that Canadians laud responders who put themselves in harm’s way to protect the rest of us, he says the $1-million goal “would provide the Smith family with further support as they face a recovery whose length and full consequences remain uncertain.”

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“Public attention has understandably moved elsewhere (but) Constable Smith’s recovery has not,” writes Kriendler. “More than $954,000 has brought us within sight of the finish line. Please help us carry the campaign through the final $45,744. We remember. We give thanks. And we stand by those who stood for us.”

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On, September 20, members of Belleville’s Jewish community had gathered at Sons of Jacob Synagogue for Yom Kippur services, with Smith providing protection outside. A gunman, former Canadian Armed Forces soldier Sean Ward, attacked the shul, firing at Smith.

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Smith was caught on video shouting, “You are going to die for the Jews,” at Smith and another Belleville constable, Michael McCurdy.

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Smith remains in hospital in critical but stable condition. Ward was killed in the firefight. McCurdy was unhurt.

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A separate GoFundMe page has been set up by the Jewish community for McCurdy, which has raised $55,943 raised of a $60K goal. It notes that McCurdy arrived outside the synagogue to find his fellow officer suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to his head and torso, and continued the battle with Ward, thereby helping to bring the violent attack to an end and saving the Jewish congregants inside.

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Inside the synagogue, the Jewish community had heard the gunfire exchange and took shelter together as bullets hit the building.

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Bullet holes in the stained-glass windows at the Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Belleville, Ont. Photo by Ernest Doroszuk /Ernest Doroszuk/Toronto Sun/Post

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“In Judaism, pikuach nefesh, the preservation of human life, is among our highest obligations,” writes Kriendler on the page. “Const. Smith fulfilled that obligation not through words, but through courage and action. When members of a vulnerable community needed protection, he put himself in harm’s way.”

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Kreindler notes that a beneficiary for the funds has been established. He says the proceeds will transfer directly through GoFundMe to the beneficiary designated by Smith’s family.