Toronto rabbi vows to replace torn-down menorah at Yorkville Jewish Centre

The menorah of the Yorkville Jewish Centre lies on the ground after a man pulled it down on Friday in Toronto. Photo by Yorkville Jewish Centre /Instagram

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The rabbi and director of the Yorkville Jewish Centre in Toronto says the centre will rebuild its menorah “bigger and brighter” after someone knocked it to the ground on Friday.

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“We are looking into one that we can have bolted into the ground,” Meir Dubrawsky told National Post by phone. “Most importantly, the message of putting it back up is that we will not cower and we will not ever succumb to darkness.”

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He added: “The message, I think, one of the most fundamental messages in Judaism, is that light will always overcome darkness, and good will always overcome evil, and we can never succumb to it.”

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A 22-second-clip posted to the centre’s Instagram page on Monday shows a man in a grey toque and a dark hooded coat and light-coloured pants walking past the menorah, which was in front of a window. The man pauses for a moment before pulling the menorah down. It hits an electrical pole and breaks on the sidewalk as he walks on.

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Dubrawsky said the video has been shared with Toronto police, who are investigating. He added that after the post went up, a passerby who heard the noise and took pictures shared them with the centre, and that those have also been forwarded to police. They may help identify the man, whose face is not visible in the video.

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The incident drew comments from abroad, including a post on X by ILTV Israel News, and a comment from Iddo Moed, Israel’s ambassador to Canada, who remarked: “In broad daylight, shamelessly and deliberately. Canada, Yom Hashoah 2026. “Never again”? Are you serious?”

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Yom Hashoah is a day for Holocaust remembrance, first observed by Canada in 1999. Established by the Israeli parliament in 1951, it marks the anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising, and this year falls on April 14.

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This is not the first time the centre has been the victim of an attack. Last September, someone threw eggs at the building while shouting “kill you all!”

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Dubrawsky said the centre had debated whether to leave the menorah in place after Hanukkah, the traditional time for its use. But he said that after the antisemitic attack on Bondi Beach in Australia last December, it was decided to keep it up.

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The Yorkville Jewish Centre security camera captured video of a passerby, soon joined by another, stopping to put the menorah back up. Photo by Handout /Yorkville Jewish Centre

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“We also knew that we would be more of a recognized spot and location, but we still made the decision to do so, because the menorah should never be anything but a symbol of light and goodness and positivity.”

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He added: “And throughout a very cold and dark winter, we have found, and we’ve heard from others, that the menorah was a great source of light for them.”

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The menorah was damaged beyond repair. Dubrawsky said a new one will cost US$6,000 to US$7,000. People from within and outside the Jewish community have already reached forward with donations, and the group Canadian Women Against Antisemitism has announced a fundraising event. Anyone wanting to donate can also reach out to yorkvillejewishcentre.com/donate.

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Dubrawsky shared a video with National Post that showed two passersby several minutes after the attack stopping to put the menorah back up.

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“I found that very, very empowering,” he said. “She looked like she was struggling to lift it up, but she didn’t leave until it was lifted up, albeit broken, but still, she lifted it up regardless.”

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