On the night of Sept. 12, 2026, Jewish Laurier students in two separate apartments at the Bricker Residence returned from their evening Rosh Hashanah celebrations to find their mezuzahs torn from their doorways and smashed.
Rosh Hashanah marks the New Year in the Hebrew calander. It is one of the most significant holidays in the Jewish calendar.
A mezuzah consists of a parchment scroll inscribed with passages from the Torah. They are typically attached to the doorpost at the entrance to a Jewish home. In addition to the mezuzahs, the person(s) responsible removed posters and other items from dorm room doors.
In a statement provided to CBC News, Laurier said it was treating the incident seriously and that its Special Constable Service was leading the investigation.
The Cord spoke to Rabbi Moshe Goldman, Laurier’s Jewish chaplain and director of The Rohr Chabad Centre for Jewish Life.
“On one hand, it’s a little scary. It’s a little frightening, it’s a little disturbing,” he said. “On the other hand, it ought to cause you to double down and say, ‘Absolutely not. I’m not going anywhere. I’m not going to be bullied.’”
The following day after the incident, community members, dorm roommates and other Laurier students responded with a heartwarming gathering at the residence to replace the mezuzahs. Around 25 students attended what organizers called a “mezuzah party.”
In addition to the replaced mezuzahs, more than 40 additional students had requested mezuzahs. Rabbi Moshe Goldman and student volunteers began installing them throughout Laurier’s residences, while an unnamed donor contributed $3,600 to The Rohr Chabad Centre for Jewish Life to help offset the cost.
Rabbi Goldman also commended students who joined the ceremony simply on the virtue of being a good neighbour, despite being only a few weeks into the school year and possibly not knowing the affected students well.
“You don’t have to understand a thing about another person’s religion or culture in order to offer them the basic decency [and] basic respect of a fellow human being,” Rabbi Goldman said. “They stood with us and offered their solidarity and their support, and that was very meaningful.”
Rabbi Goldman continued to emphasize that the person’s motive remains unknown. Regardless of the intent, he said the incident caused Jewish students to question whether they could safely practice their faith on campus.
“What the person’s motivation was, we’ll maybe never know, but hold them accountable for the vandalism,” Rabbi Goldman said. “Something can’t go unanswered.”
Rabbi Goldman added that accountability includes restorative and rehabilitative approaches, on top of just punitive measures. Without some sort of response, however, he argued that students may be left with the impression that this conduct is not taken seriously.
At the same time, he said the gathering demonstrated how promptly students in a tight-knit community can respond when members of the campus community come under attack.
Contributed photo from Rabbi Moshe Goldman
