As Jewish Canadians gather with their families for Passover this week, community leaders say the holiday holds increased significance this year amid growing antisemitism across Canada and around the globe.
The weeklong spring holiday commemorates the Exodus of ancient Israelites from slavery in Egypt, as recounted in the Bible. Families gather around dinner tables and at communal banquets to retell that story of liberation during seder dinners on the first two nights, beginning on Wednesday.
The ritual has always carried a mixture of emotions, from joy and pride to sadness and mourning, Jewish leaders say — but those emotions are now being felt more deeply.
“We’re actually commanded to reenact and remember what it felt like to be enslaved,” said Rabbi Carey Brown, a clergy member at the Temple Shalom synagogue in Vancouver.
“We’re supposed to really put ourselves into the story. … So we’re both at the same time joyful and we’re really, I would say, attuned to pain and suffering. And so it’s been a couple of years of difficult seders.”
Ever since Hamas attacked Israel and killed roughly 1,200 people on Oct. 7, 2023, Jewish Canadians have reported a rise in antisemitism coinciding with the deadly Israeli military offensive in Gaza.
A fresh wave of fear in Jewish communities was sparked after Israel and the U.S. launched the war against Iran just over a month ago.
Days after the attacks on Iran began, three synagogues in the Greater Toronto Area were hit with gunfire within the span of a week. No one was injured, but it put communities on high alert and prompted Jewish leaders to warn Canada was “at a crossroads” in confronting antisemitism.
Sara Lefton, chief development officer of the UJA Foundation of Greater Toronto, said that backdrop makes the story told at Passover feel “very close to home.”
“We’re literally sitting at our seder tables talking about freedom while we’re very aware that Jewish communities around the world are just feeling less secure, particularly here in Toronto,” she said.
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Because Passover is one of the most well-known Jewish holidays, synagogues and other community spaces have taken steps to increase security in coordination with local police services and private security firms.
“Jewish communities worldwide are living in an environment of significantly heightened security risk,” Jevon Greenblatt, CEO of the Toronto-based Jewish Security Network, said in a statement.
“Security needs heading into Passover are broadly similar across Jewish communities in Canada, in that all are operating within a heightened threat environment and are taking prudent, preventative measures to ensure the safety of their institutions and people.”
During Passover last year, a man broke in and set fire to the home of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro while he and his family were sleeping following their seder dinner. Shapiro and his family managed to escape unharmed, and the man pleaded guilty to criminal charges including arson, terrorism and attempted murder.
The Canadian government said last month it would contribute an additional $10 million to help Jewish communities bolster security at their gathering places after the Toronto-area synagogue attacks.
Statistics Canada reported Monday that in 2024 — the most recent full year of available data — 70 per cent of police-reported hate crimes targeting religion were directed at Jewish Canadians.
While overall police-reported hate crimes saw “relative stability” compared to the year before, the agency said, the level remained high after the 154 per cent rise between 2020 and 2023.
Jewish Canadians also faced an average of 77 incidents per month in 2024, a rate 69 per cent higher than the monthly averages recorded between January 2021 and September 2023.
A community survey last March by the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver found 62 per cent of Jewish community members have experienced at least one antisemitic incident, while 93 per cent said they feel “less secure” now than they did before Oct. 7, 2023.
A 2025 federal report on antisemitism in Ontario K-12 schools found more than 780 incidents that parents and their children had considered antisemitic had been reported by parents since October 2023.
“Personally, it’s definitely a heavy time. It’s a lot to to shoulder,” Brown, the rabbi in Vancouver said. “Being a religious leader of a congregation, you’re always kind of shouldering your community.
The rise in antisemitism, she added, “really weighs on people, and I think they feel like they never imagined that this was how it would feel to be Jewish.”
Recently, public events have come under scrutiny as well.
Vanier College in Montreal abruptly cancelled a planned Holocaust commemoration event last week over security concerns, before apologizing and promising it would be rescheduled.
In 2023, then-Calgary mayor Jyoti Gondek was criticized after saying she would skip the annual Hanukkah menorah lighting at city hall because it had been “repositioned as an event to support Israel,” and had “political intentions” she could not support.
“Certainly for myself and a lot of the members of the Jewish community of Calgary, these are times of heightened anxiety, there’s no question,” said Rob Nagus, CEO of the Calgary Jewish Federation.
“But at the same time, we’ll continue to do the things that make us Jewish and live a robust Jewish life. And part of that is celebrating Passover. So it’s bittersweet.”
He and other Jewish leaders added that non-Jewish religious and community groups have offered support and solidarity in the current climate, including leading up to Passover.
While the first night of Passover is typically held in private homes with immediate families, Jewish leaders agreed that most community members have voiced resolve in attending community seders held on the second night at their local synagogues.
“There’s a few conversations I’ve had with people who are nervous to come, but far, far more people are really saying, ‘I need to be there,’” Brown said.
Lefton said Passover also provides an opportunity for passing its story of resilience to the next generation, instilling Jewish pride in younger members of the community.
“I actually think it’s a very healthy and comforting and relevant message for the Jewish community to be discussing at their seder tables this year,” she said.
“Going into this Passover, I think all of us share the hope, as Canadian Jews, that we can continue to thrive as a strong Jewish community in Canada, and we can live openly and safely and securely.”