Where are Canada’s pro-Palestine rabbis?

 

Institutional Jewish and rabbinical support for a ceasefire and humanitarian aid in Gaza has been less vocal in Canada

In February 2025, 350 rabbis signed an ad in the New York Times condemning US President Donald Trump’s proposed plan to ethnically cleanse and take ownership of Gaza and build the “Riviera of the Middle East.” In May, Israeli rabbis joined one of many protests at the Gaza border, calling for a ceasefire and humanitarian aid for the besieged population. A year earlier, in April 2024, the group US Rabbis for Ceasefire and the Israeli organization Rabbis for Human Rights had also rallied for an end to the violence and increased assistance to civilians. Several participants were arrested. In both the United States and Israel, rabbinical groups have emerged in solidarity with Palestinians, responding to the ongoing genocide. Though still outside mainstream rabbinical discourse, hundreds of rabbis from both nations have spoken out and taken action to demand justice.

In the US, several synagogues have engaged in varying levels of pushback against Israeli brutality in Gaza and the West Bank. Since 2015, Tzedek Synagogue and Rabbi Brant Rosen in Chicago have run an explicitly anti-Zionist temple. At a time when many Canadians are deeply concerned about rising fascism in the US as well as Israel’s actions, it may seem surprising that institutional Jewish and rabbinical support for a ceasefire and humanitarian aid has been less vocal in Canada than in the US.

In Canada, no religious Jewish institution or congregational rabbi has publicly voiced support for a ceasefire or humanitarian aid to Gaza. While private conversations may be taking place within synagogues and Jewish institutions, the growing global chorus of rabbinic and Jewish voices advocating for Gaza raises a pressing question: why is Canada falling behind? In a country often seen as tolerant and welcoming, it is striking that mainstream Jewish institutions and faith leaders here have been noticeably less vocal than their counterparts in the US and Israel.

In Canada, pro-Palestinian Jewish advocacy has largely been led by grassroots organizations like Independent Jewish Voices and If Not Now, with some rabbis among their members. However, those rabbis who have spoken out publicly are typically either retired or lead online congregations without physical communities. Unlike the American group Jewish Voice for Peace, which has an established rabbinic council made up of active faith leaders, Independent Jewish Voices in Canada currently includes too few rabbis to form a similar body.  (more...)

Where are Canada’s pro-Palestine rabbis?