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Firebombed Montreal School Library ReopensA Jewish elementary school library in Montreal, Quebec, that was destroyed in an April 5 firebombing has reopened with more space, new computers, an audiovisual wing, and some 13,000 books, many of them donated from across Canada, the United States, and Israel. The United Talmud Torahs school in Montreal’s Saint-Laurent suburb was inaugurated December 7 with the lighting of the first Hanukkah candle and has been renamed the Azrieli Library in honor of Stephanie Azrieli, UTT’s school librarian from 1975 to 1985.Librarian Dan Holobow told the Canadian Press that he began receiving donated books within a week of the fire. “On the first day we were back we had grandparents come in from Halifax, Nova Scotia, and they brought along books that had been collected by their granddaughter’s school,” he said. “It started out as a hate crime and what we have here is a wonderful gesture of love.” In accordance with Jewish law, books containing God’s name must be buried, not thrown away, so on November 30, the remnants and ashes of some 250 library books burned in the fire were buried in a ceremony at a Jewish cemetery in Dollard-des-Ormeaux. Three people were arrested in May for the attack, but charges were dropped against one man in October. Sleiman Elmerhebi and his mother Rouba still face charges in connection with the arson and are scheduled to be back in court later in December. Posted December 10, 2004. |
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