Tragedy is Always Close | CAEF Bulletin, Oct 03, 2025
- CAEF
- Oct 3
- 6 min read
This CAEF Bulletin was written prior to the tragedy in Manchester, England, where on Yom Kippur a terrorist attacked a synagogue that resulted in the death of 2 people and injury to 4. Today, we stand in sorrow and grief with the families and community of Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation, and with the Jews of the UK who are seeing a dramatic rise in antisemitism. We ask, Could this have happened here?
May the victims of this tragedy by remembered among the mourners of Zion.
Spoken letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney from Rabbi Jarrod Grover
On Rosh Hashona, September 23rd, this was the sermon delivered from the bima by Rabbi Grover and it is very much worth sharing. The intro is from CAEF which forwarded the sermon to the PM in hopes he might listen to it.
Fight Antisemitism with the Correct Words
Jew hatred today is primarily linked to antizionism, anti-Israelism, Israelophobia. Boaz Munro, writer, web designer, educator, who studied Hebrew, Arabic and Modern Middle East History has developed an educational module to help us understand the psychology behind “antisemitism” and now to combat it, knowing it is not about facts and logic. In other words hate isn’t rational and can’t always be argued away, It is psychological and our enemies have proven to be brilliant at capturing the emotions of young people, the left, the social justice warriors, the least informed, the mass media, and many faith and political groups. They use despicable words to describe Israel and Jews, and these resonate with people. After all, who wants to associate with or support “apartheid, colonialism, supremacists, ethnic cleansing, oppression”? Yet it is all these things that our enemies are guilty off but have portrayed as fundamentally Jewish.
So, in the public relations and information battle, remember that simply denying these fatuous allegations, won’t fly, defending Israel won’t succeed, calling out the lies won’t win you a friend. Instead, address the user as one who supports colonialism, oppression, terrorism, apartheid etc in his or her (their) support for antizionism. State it, Antizionism is Oppression!
Boaz’s work has been published in Tablet and other online magazines, and he has been interviewed by The New York Times and Pittsburgh’s Jewish Chronicle. His Instagram account, @im_ayn_ani_li, has 4,500 followers.
Boaz is optimistic about the Jewish future but believes we urgently need to change our approach as a Jewish diaspora.
City of Toronto Celebrates Rosh Hashonah
A gathering of Jewish leaders and activists took place on Monday September 30th, hosted by Councillors James Pasternak. Dianne Saxe, Rachel Chernos-Lin, and Mike Colle. The Mayor spoke, along with the Counsel General of Israel for Ontario and Western Canada, Rabbi Meir Dubrawsky, and each of the Jewish councillors. As well as expressing positive wishes for the community in celebration of 5786, all spoke of the need to take more action to address antisemitism, at all levels of government.
Legal Update
CAEF continues to pursue its request for detailed information on antisemitism incidents at the Toronto District School Board for the period following October 7, 2023.
The TDSB is resisting this request with an exorbitant fee, initially $28,000, then reduced during the appeal process to approximately $6,000. CAEF is insisting ondisclosure of these records without fee, based on the public safety issues involved.
ZOA gives Qualified Support for Trump Gaza Plan, Read Why
ZOA issued a press statement on October 1st that warrants consideration as many organizations, countries and well meaning individuals jump to support the proposed peace deal between Israel and Hamas. Since the tragic massacre of October 7th has seen a global rise in antisemitism, masquerading as antizionism, it is felt that a resolution to the conflict will bring peace to Israel and de-escalate Jew hatred. Will it? Consider this perspective based on detailed analysis and knowledge of history.
Read this excerpt: “We are concerned that mere interfaith dialogue and improving the economic situation of Gazan Arabs will not change the Gazan population’s Islam-inspired commitment to hate and kill Jews and destroy the Jewish state. This has been a religious/Koranic war against Israel’s very existence. It has not been about economics or a state.”
Recommended Reading
Read excerpts from article by Sheryl Saperia and Sarah Teich in the National Post, September 22, 2025
“To be recognized as a state is to join the international community of sovereign equals. That status comes with rights: recognition, diplomatic privileges and protection from foreign courts under the principle of sovereign immunity. But statehood also carries responsibilities. A state must not wage aggressive war, it must not commit atrocities, and it must not support terrorism.
Canada’s State Immunity Act enshrines this balance. It creates a terrorism exception to sovereign immunity: foreign states that finance, facilitate or participate in terrorism for the benefit of designated terrorist groups can be stripped of their immunity and held to account in Canadian courts. Victims of terrorism can sue, and state assets can be seized to satisfy judgments.
At present, only Iran and Syria are designated. Yet Palestine, through its governing institutions, clearly qualifies to join them.”
Read article in The Times of Israel, September 29, 2025, on the PA’s welcoming of Trump’s deal to end the war in Gaza.
Read article by Moshe Phillips in Israel365, September 29, 2025 recalling Rabbi Berel Wein’s objection to the two state solution. Moshe Phillips is the national chairman of Americans for A Safe Israel (AFSI: www.AFSI.org), a leading pro-Israel advocacy and education organization. This historical reflection is elucidating as nothing has changed; the war isn’t about land nor has the enemy desired peace. The goal of Hamas is the destruction of Israel and the international community continues to ignore this.
Read the report from BESA, the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University, Debunking the Genocide Allegations: a Reexamination of the Israel-Hamas War from October 7, 2023, to June 1, 2025.
Read article by Raheel Raza, co-founder of the Council of Muslims Against Antisemitism, in the National Post, September 29, 2025, urging allies to strengthen the Abraham Accords.
Read article in Newsmax on September 26th on Netanyahu’s report on the decimation of the Christian community in Bethlehem under the Palestinian Authority.
Read John Enerson in Israel365News, October 1, 2025, an analysis of the Trump 20-point plan for Gaza, an old delusion—a repeat of earlier failures, predictive disaster for Israel.
Read in Israel365News, the story behind the Gaza "flotilla" which is Hamas propaganda, not a humanitarian mission.
Watch Brian Lilley, Toronto Sun columnist, stating that Trump is right 100% about the UN.
Read bulletin from the Investigative Project on Terrorism, by A.J. Caschetta on how SJP chapters reinvent themselves, refuse to meet regulations, September 30, 2025.
Recommended Viewing
Watch ANI News coverage of New Zealand’s change of course at the UN, not recognizing Palestine!! This statement is more moral than the position of UK, Canada, Australia and others.
Watch Mosab Hassan Yousef express his opinion/knowledge about the Muslim Brotherhood being behind all the Islamic extremism. He is clear that action must be taken against this “death cult.”
Advocacy and Action
Support this Interfaith Bridge Initiative, supported by CAEF and other organizations to tell the Minister of Education to address antisemitism in the schools.
CAEF has been alerted to the harm that could arise for the Hindu, Jain and Bhuddist communities if Federal Bill C-9 is adopted as proposed, banning the use of the word "swastika" and its symbol, which is a religious word in Sanskrit, and an image that means "good fortune and prosperity".
We recognize that this is not the Nazi Hackenkreuz, and that the two must be differentiated, in context, intent, meaning. Let us not reinforce a lie, nor divide two ancient communities-Jews and Hindus, while both are experiencing increased incidents of hatred. CAEF has signed the petition to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, the Hon. Melissa Lantsman, the Standing Committee on Jusice and Human Rights, the Standing Committe on Legal and Constitutional Afairs, the Senate and all MPs, in support of the Dharmic faith communties. See the Urgent Appeal to Parliament.
Community Events
CAEF supports many partner events and others doing great work in the community.
ICEJ Canada, a regular partner of CAEF, is celebrating its 45th year.
Join the celebration of a great ally to the Jewish people.
Islamist Threats to Canada, Not Just a Jewish Problem
Join us on October 9, 2025 as we welcome Yasmine Mohammed, Human Rights Activist, Author, Podcast Host, and Co-Founder & Co-Director of the CLARITy Coalition - Champions for Liberty Against the Reality of Islamist Tyranny. Register now!
Fighting Terror on the Legal Front, October 30th
We invite you to join us for The Annual David Shentow Memorial Lecture - Terror, Antisemitism and Resilience: Israel's Legal Battlefront, with Rachel May Weiser, Senior Attorney & CDO, Shurat HaDin - Israel Law Center, on Thursday, October 30, 2025 at 7:30. Please register at https://tafsik.com/event/shurat/.
Comments