![Red alert -[ HMM ]- by Carbon Arc CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 https://flic.kr/p/FgBkhR](https://www.michaelgeist.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/25774555205_035a814280_k-200x150.jpg)
Late on Friday, October 6, 2023, I was dozing after a family Sabbath dinner meal when I was suddenly awoken by the continuous buzzing of the Tzofar red alert app on my phone and watch. I had installed the app, which is widely used in Israel to warn of imminent rocket fire, months earlier while visiting on a teaching assignment and had forgotten it was still on my phone. At first I thought the app was malfunctioning since the buzzing would not stop and it implausibly appeared that hundreds of communities were under attack. Hours later I of course learned there was nothing wrong the app and that I had digitally witnessed the start of the October 7th massacre in real time.
I have since deleted the app, but a year later it feels as if the Canadian Jewish community needs something similar to warn of antisemitic outbreaks. Such an app would buzz nearly daily given the rise of antisemitism which emanates with astonishing frequency from both the extreme right and left. Indeed, what would have once sparked immediate condemnation now occurs with little commentary or surprise: synagogue vandalism incidents too numerous to mention, Jewish schools and community centres hit with gunfire or makeshift bombs, Jewish senior homes and hospitals facing hostile protests, and university campuses home to what multiple presidents admit is significant antisemitism problem.
