At Wilfred Laurier University, Mezuzah Vandalism Meets Its Waterloo
by Faygie Levy Holt – chabad.org
More than 40 Jewish students at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, will be placing mezuzahs on the doors to their rooms after a vandal destroyed two mezuzahs on campus on the first day of Rosh Hashanah.
The destroyed mezuzahs were on the doors of two different apartments, on two different floors in a building housing students at the Canadian university, said Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Moshe Goldman, who had helped the students put them up just last week at the start of the fall term.
“The students reached out right after Rosh Hashanah and said somebody ripped the mezuzah off their doors and hid them,” Goldman recounted, adding that he told them to report the incident to the school.
Goldman, who along with his wife, Rivky, serve as director of the Rohr Chabad Centre for Jewish Life in Waterloo, which serves the university as well, reassured the students that he would replace the mezuzah and that they would hold a “mezuzah party,” the following day, on Sept. 14.
Quickly, a “mezuzah party” group chat came together, where anyone who was interested in getting a mezuzah for their room could text the word “mezuzah” and Goldman would arrange for them to get one for their dorm room door.
“Since Monday morning, when the text went out, 43 mezuzahs have been requested by Jewish students,” said Goldman. “It’s terrible that two mezuzahs were vandalized, but this is the best way to respond. This is a classic Chabad response, and everything the Rebbe [Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson of righteous memory] taught us, about how to deal with challenges and difficulties.”
More than 18,000 undergraduate students attend Wilfrid Laurier full time. Goldman estimates that fewer than 1,000 are Jewish.
According to the Canadian government’s Campus Antisemitism and Student Experience (CASE) report, which was issued just last month, 68% of Jewish students across the country said that their campus is not a safe and inclusive place for Jewish students and a whopping 95.7% said they had experienced or witnessed at least one instance of antisemitism over the previous 12 months. Responders included students at Wilfrid Laurier, though responses were not broken down by school.
Goldman praised officials at Wilfrid Laurier, saying they have been responsive to the needs of the Jewish community. He pointed out that the dean of students, Adam Lawrence, who contacted Goldman after hearing about the vandalism and who the rabbi calls a “good friend,” was among those who attended the mezuzah party.
During the event, students and guests enjoyed lekach, the honey cake that is customarily distributed ahead of Yom Kippur (which begins at sundown on Sept. 20), recited the Shema prayer in unison, sang “Am Yisrael Chai” and learned about the importance of the mezuzah.
With the help of some students, Goldman is already affixing the new mezuzahs throughout the dorms, and a donor has given the center $3,600 to offset the cost of purchasing new ones.
“Chabad martialed its resources to help and we will continue to follow through and be there for the students,” Goldman said.
