Toronto police are not sure if the murder of 49-year-old
charedi Jew David Rosenzweig, stabbed by a skinhead outside a
kosher pizza restaurant just after 1 A.M. motzei Shabbos, was
a hate crime. "The evidence and research that we've done does
not support this as being a hate-related crime," Staff Insp.
Bob Clarke of the Toronto police said at a news conference on
Monday. Two suspects were arrested.
In other news around the world, a car exploded about 200
meters from the shul in Helsinki, Finland on Tuesday
morning. The driver was killed and some passers by were
injured. At press time, it was not known if the synagogue was
the intended target or not. The initial reaction of Helsinki
police was that the explosion was not connected with the
Jewish community or world terror.
Rosenzweig, a father of six who looked obviously chareidi,
was murdered outside the King David pizzeria, located in the
heart of the religious areas of Toronto at Bathurst and
Lawrence streets.
Police Chief Julian Fantino said at a news conference that
Rosenzweig "just happened to be in the wrong place at the
wrong time -- an innocent victim."
The police chief described the suspects as "two white males
in their early 20s with shaved heads" accompanied by a
female. The two young men, one carrying a long knife, entered
the restaurant and verbally provoked the owner and customers,
witnesses said. Fantino said the suspects then left the
restaurant, only to return a short time later, "at which time
the victim was stabbed to death on the side of the road."
Rosenzweig, an accountant, was in the area with car trouble
after celebrating his 49th birthday, and was approaching the
restaurant to use the phone to call a tow-truck service when
the suspected attackers ran out, stabbing him on the way.
Rosenzweig's 16-year-old son, a new driver, had just been in
a car accident not far from the pizzeria.
Mrs. Chavie Rosenzweig, the widow, issued a statement asking
that the media not intrude upon the family's privacy at her
husband's private funeral service that took place on
Sunday.
"We need to be able to grieve with our loved ones in
seclusion as we follow the sacred Jewish traditions of
mourning and give respect to the memory of my beloved
husband, may he rest in peace," she said in her statement.
She said he was "a loving husband, father, grandfather, son,
brother, friend and mentor to so many. . . . He was dedicated
to his family, committed to his religion and his community,
and concerned for the welfare of all mankind. Through his
peaceful character, he was able to transmit love, warmth and
friendship to all whose lives he touched. His message was the
message of a man of peace."
David Rosenzweig is survived by his wife, and six children.
His parents, originally from Poland, were survivors of the
Holocaust. He also has and aunt and uncle who live in Petach
Tikvah.
Toronto, with a population of over 2 million, is considered a
particularly safe place, compared to cities of similar size
in the United States. There have been only 16 murders in the
city since the beginning of 2001.
According to the owner of the pizzeria, who comes from Israel
and has been living in Toronto for the last 11 years, the two
skinheads and the woman came into the restaurant around 1
A.M., when the restaurant, which only opens after Shabbos,
was still crowded. Now in the summer, Shabbos does not end in
Toronto until well after 9 P.M. so the restaurant did not
open until after 10:30 P.M.
He said that when one of his workers, an Afghan, approached
the three to ask what they wanted, he was stabbed, and a
commotion began as people tried to get out. The three ran out
and encountered Rosenzweig on his way in to use the phone.
Sources in the Jewish community in Toronto said that
independent of this tragic episode, there have been increased
signs of antisemitism in the city, with the most telling
incident last year during an anti-Israel demonstration, when
some people called "Death to Jews."
The Jewish community in Toronto is the largest Jewish
concentration in Canada, with a community estimated at more
than 200,000.
Toronto Jewry is one of the best organized and strongest
communities in North America. It has a particularly strong
Jewish educational network and a rich array of religious
activities.
The backbone of Jewish life in the city is Bathurst Street,
one of Toronto's longest thoroughfares. Bathurst Street is
packed with business establishments under Jewish ownership.
Many of the city's 50 synagogues are also to be found along
the street.
A total of about 25 Jewish schools operate in the city and
represent a variety of streams from the heretical Reform
movement to chareidi. Surveys of the Jewish population have
shown that 40 percent of the city's Jewish children are
enrolled in Jewish primary schools. About 12 percent go to
Jewish high schools.
Jewish researchers argue that Canada's Jewish community is
less assimilated than that of America. Intermarriage rates in
Canada are lower than they are in the U.S. and there are
higher levels of affiliation with Orthodox religious
streams.
In a survey undertaken a decade ago, 40 percent of Canada's
Jews defined themselves as Orthodox, 40 percent as
Conservative and 20 percent as Reform.
Toronto's Jewish community grew 70 percent during the last
decades of the 20th century, largely due to major immigration
of Jews from the former Soviet Union. Many Jews from Israel
are also to be found in the city; an estimated 30,000
Israelis live in Toronto.
A demonstration against antisemitism was staged in central
Toronto three weeks ago. Jews, as well as Muslims and
Christians, took part in the rally to denounce
antisemitism.
