Ottawa Jewish Bulletin

Transcription

Plant A Tree
For All Reasons
bulletin
Jewish
National
Fund
of
Ottawa
Tel: (613) 798-2411
Fax: (613) 798-0462
✡
ottawa
jewish
To Remember
• To Congratulate
• To Honour
• To Say “I Care”
•
Miri Eisin, Choices
page 23
www.ottawajewishbulletin.com
Ottawa Jewish Bulletin Publishing Co. Ltd. •
volume 76, no. 1
october 3, 2011
21 Nadolny Sachs Private, Ottawa, Ontario K2A 1R9
•
Publisher: Mitchell Bellman
•
tishrei 5, 5772
Editor: Michael Regenstreif $2.00
Paul Shapiro
of U.S. Holocaust
Memorial Museum
to speak in Ottawa
By Benita Baker
Imagine you are a Holocaust
survivor trying to determine the
fate of your loved ones, and an
archive containing 50 million documents relating to Nazi victims existed and could provide you with
answers – but – the documents
were locked away and completely
inaccessible to anyone.
It’s hard to believe but, until recently, that was the case.
Finally, in 2007, after six
decades of being sealed, the documents became available to the public. Paul A. Shapiro, director of the
Center for Advanced Holocaust
Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, was instrumental in making this happen.
Shapiro will be in Ottawa, November 3, to speak at a special Holocaust Education Month event.
The documents were discovered
by the Allies when they liberated
the concentration camps and include scraps of paper, transport
lists, registration books, labour
documents, medical records and
death registers, which note the arrest, transportation and extermination of the victims.
Also included is the famous
“Schindler’s List,” with the names
of the more than 1,000 Jews saved
by factory owner Oskar Schindler;
the records of Anne Frank’s journey from Amsterdam to BergenBelsen; 111,444 prisoner registration documents from the Ravensbrück women’s camp; 101,063
Gestapo arrest records from the
city of Koblenz; and the Mauthausen concentration camp’s
Totenbuch (Death Book), which
details how, beginning on April 20,
1942, a prisoner was shot in the
(Continued on page 2)
Provincial election round tables
The Jewish Federation of Ottawa held round table discussions,
September 14 and 15, with local provincial election candidates
representing the Liberal, Progressive Conservative, New Democratic and Green Parties.
The same three questions on dealing with the growth of antSemitism, serving the vulnerable, and equity in funding religious
education in Ontario were posed to all four parties. Bulletin editor
Michael Regenstreif reports on pages 10 to 13.
Joan Rivers seemingly holds the audience in the palm of her hand at the Federation Campaign kickoff.
(Photo: Peter Waiser)
Joan Rivers keynote speaker
at Federation Campaign kickoff
By Michael Regenstreif
A couple of her one-liners hit the
wall with a thud, but Joan Rivers
had enough zingers to keep the full
house at the National Arts Centre
Theatre laughing hard through
much of her 40 minutes on stage,
September 12, at the Jewish Federation of Ottawa’s 2012 Campaign
kickoff.
The 78-year-old comedian’s presentation was partly her familiar
stand-up routine – Rivers’ victims
ranged from the late singer Amy
Winehouse to her friend Barbra
Streisand to herself – and partly a
motivational speech detailing her
ascent to stardom and how she was
able to overcome such adversities
and tragedies in her life as the suicide of her husband, estrangement
from her daughter and a show business career that went through periods of faltering.
Rivers talked about her early
days in show business starting out
with such contemporaries as
Streisand and Woody Allen and
eventually finding success on the
Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.
Rivers was picked by Carson to be
his permanent guest-host.
Among the career setbacks she
mentioned was a falling-out with
Carson when she was given her
own show, the Late Show Starring
Joan Rivers, on the new Fox Network in 1986.
Rivers’ show was produced by
her husband, Edgar Rosenberg,
who, she said, was not capable of
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Page 2 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – October 3, 2011
Joan Rivers with (from left) Campaign kickoff Co-chairs Jeff, Michael and Stephen
Polowin.
Joan Rivers greets Belle Taft at a reception at the National Arts Centre prior to the
Jewish Federation of Ottawa Annual Campaign Kickoff.
Annual Campaign helps build ‘a better community for all’
(Continued from page 1)
the task. The network wanted to fire
Rosenberg, but Rivers stood by him
and the show was cancelled. Three
months later, Rosenberg took his
own life.
Rivers said it was their daughter
Melissa, still a teenager, who received the notification of Rosenberg’s suicide “because I was off
having liposuction.”
Melissa, she said, blamed Rivers
for her father’s death, which led to a
long period of estrangement (the
two reconciled long ago and now
work together on television projects).
Rivers attributed her recovery,
and her ongoing well-being, to taking time to nurture relationships
(particularly with her daughter and
grandson), taking care of herself
(she’s an unapologetic advocate for
plastic surgery) and the rewards of
volunteerism and charity work
(among her charitable activities, she
said, is delivering holiday meals to
poor shut-ins).
The event co-chairs for the Campaign kickoff were brothers Jeff,
Stephen and Michael Polowin.
Jeff Polowin acted as MC for the
evening and spoke about the importance of the Federation’s Annual
Campaign.
“Donations to the Annual Campaign support a powerful local and
global network of aid, care, relief,
advocacy, education, protection and
emergency assistance. Your gift to
the 2012 Annual Campaign will
help strengthen our Jewish identity,
provide the much-needed support to
those in need, inspire the next generation of community leaders and,
ultimately, will build a better community for all of us.”
Polowin also introduced the
2012 Campaign video, narrated by
Max Keeping, and a series of short
speeches.
Student Alexandra Izso spoke
about youth engagement and Federation support for Hillel Ottawa.
Lawyer Miryam Gorelashvili talked
about the crucial help she received
from the Jewish community as an
immigrant from Azerbaijan in 1994.
Event Co-chair Michael Polowin
discussed the importance of Jewish
education, including Jewish summer camp experiences, and Federation Chair Debbie Halton-Weiss
spoke about volunteerism and the
importance of the Campaign.
Campaign Chair Michael Landau and Women’s Campaign Chair
Susan Viner-Vered ended the
evening thanking everyone for their
support for the Campaign.
Gaining access to documents ‘was a battle, not a process’
(Continued from page 1)
back of the head every two minutes for 90
hours as a birthday present for Hitler.
The documents were taken to the German
town of Bad Arolsen, where they were
housed in six buildings on more than 25 km
of shelves, and put in the charge of the International Tracing Service (ITS), an arm of the
International Committee of the Red Cross.
The Bonn Agreement of 1955 established
an International Commission of 11 countries
to supervise the work of the ITS. The agreement also stated that no data that could harm
the former Nazi victims or their families
should be published. That is why the files
were closed to the public, despite their vital
importance to Holocaust survivors and researchers.
Here is where the story becomes a pawn
of politics and indifference. Even though the
ITS announced in 1998 that it was in favour
of opening up the records, and even began
scanning them into digital form, amending
the Bonn Agreement required unanimous assent of all 11 signatories. Germany did not
agree, and the remaining countries did very
little to change its policy. Only four countries
ratified the agreement.
“There wasn’t a great deal of interest in
any of the governments to deal with this
issue, including Israel,” said Shapiro in a tele-
Paul A. Shapiro, director of the Center
for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, will speak at a special Holocaust
Education Month event, November 3, at
Agudath Israel.
phone interview with the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin. “It sends a strong message that we need
to always be aware of how easy it is for good
governments and good institutions to not pay
sufficient attention to the needs and interests
of people perceived to have no power, no in-
fluence.”
It is shocking to think that humanitarian
and democratic organizations would not see
the value of this archive to survivors, researchers and educators.
“If this was a story about 1,000 multi-millionaires, it would have been resolved much
faster,” Shapiro said in a blunt assessment of
the situation.
“The millions of pages of documentation
from concentration camps across Europe
open a window on the daily fate of those who
were targeted by the Nazis and their allies,”
Shapiro told the U.S Congressional Committee on Foreign Affairs in March 2007. “This
was not grand strategy, as history is so often
written, but the grinding routine of man’s inhumanity to man, of prisoners’ efforts to survive one more day, of perpetrator calculations of how to reap the most benefit from the
disposable human assets consigned to their
control.”
His passionate appeal convinced Congress to act. Along with the long-term commitment of the United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum to safeguard, catalogue
and grant access to the archives, the documents finally became accessible to the public
in November 2007.
“It was a battle, not a process,” said
Shapiro.
But that was not the end of the story.
Since there was never an expectation the documents would be made public, they were
never properly organized. While they are
now available, it is extremely difficult to
navigate through them to find specific information.
A joint cataloguing effort by ITS, Yad
Vashem and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial
Museum is currently underway. In addition,
the museum has trained staff to help the public search the database.
Shapiro regularly speaks to groups about
the significance of the archives. Now, because so many people have benefited from
the opening of the documents, there is a
growing understanding of their value for
families, educators and researchers.
“The most powerful tool to generate interest is a good story,” said Shapiro. “And there
are the stories of 17,500 people in these documents.”
Holocaust Education Month takes place
October 23 to November 20 in Ottawa.
Paul Shapiro will speak Thursday, November 3, 7:00 pm at Agudath Israel Congregation, 1400 Coldrey Avenue. Tickets are
$10 (free for students).
Contact Sarah Beutel at 613-798-4696,
ext. 253, or [email protected] for
more information.
October 3, 2011 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 3
High Holidays feature
The surprising appeal of Kol Nidre
By Rabbi
Lawrence A. Hoffman
(JTA) – On his way to
converting to Christianity,
philosopher Franz Rosenzweig attended Yom Kippur
services and was so moved
that he decided to remain
Jewish. One look at the
most famous prayer for the
occasion makes it hard to
believe that he did not abandon Judaism all the quicker.
Kol Nidre actually is no
prayer at all. Rather it is a
legal formula in Aramaic
that delineates obscure categories of vows and oaths
known to the Bible and the
rabbis, and then solemnly
proclaims that we are free
of them.
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The origin of this concern was our ancestors’ anxiety over reneging on
promises sworn in God’s
name.
The Talmud permitted
such oaths to be canceled,
but only one by one and in
the presence of a Talmudic
sage. The idea of a blanket
nullification was an anathema to rabbis who first heard
of it in the eighth and ninth
centuries and denounced it
as “a foolish custom.” But
no one listened.
The prayer had emerged
alongside a parallel practice
of smashing clay pottery on
which a formula to annul
vows had been engraved,
the idea being that your
enemy might have conjured
evil spirits and forced them
magically to promise you
harm. Breaking the bowl
would free them from their
promise.
Here, then, is a superstition-laden prayer that was
condemned by rabbinic authorities but stuck anyway.
Its final version reflects a
12th-century substitution of
“vows made in the future”
for “vows made in the past,”
so as to do away with its obvious disregard for Talmudic law.
Even so, it hardly represented Judaism at its moral
best. In the 19th century it
fueled German anti-Semitism to the point where Jews
were hauled into court and
forced to swear that they
would be held answerable
for the truth of any oath
they took there.
Despite all this, Kol
Nidre persisted, eventually
supplied with unforgettable
music and the choreography
of a courtroom trial held before God.
Jews were chanting it is as
far back as 11th century
France and 14th century German cantors were prolonging
the melody to make sure latecomers got to hear it.
Polish Rabbi Mordecai
Jaffe (1530–1612) sought in
vain to change the text because cantors resisted coupling the age-old melody to
new lyrics. Nineteenth and
20th century rabbis tried to
substitute Psalms or write a
new prayer altogether.
A more successful subterfuge was to play Kol Nidre
on a musical instrument
without words or to chant the
prayer but omit the words
(especially in translation)
from the prayer book.
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What attracts us to this
strangely haunting ritual of
Kol Nidre?
Is it the music? Surely.
Is it also the high drama
of the occasion – Torah
scrolls dressed in white and
held stunningly in full view
of the congregation throughout the chant? Yes, it is that
as well.
But it is more.
All These Vows: Kol
Nidre (Jewish Lights) assembles the thoughtful and
moving answers of more
than 30 people – rabbis and
cantors, artists and thinkers
– the world over. My own
view is that Kol Nidre connects us with the sacred.
Since the 19th century
we have been on a road toward greater secularity –
not necessarily a bad thing,
if by ‘secular’ we mean the
discovery that the world is
devoid of magical forces
and that everything runs by
an immutable set of scientific laws.
But, we have paid a price.
Secularization is the
process of yanking at the
curtain of the universe and
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discovering there is no wizard micromanaging it. But a
universe that operates by
natural law can still have
mystery.
We pilgrims on the yellow brick road strive to be
secular, scientific and savvy
without giving up on God
and the certainty that life
still matters. On Kol Nidre
eve, it is as if nothing has
eroded that certainty because energy runs high,
memories go deep and some
things seem not to have
changed in a thousand years
or more.
People mistakenly think
that they cannot pray because
they cannot believe. The reverse is true. Prayer compels
belief, not the other way
around. For a very brief moment, as Kol Nidre is chanted, we are in touch with the
sacred and with our finitude;
with those we love and with
the broader human universe;
with our own better selves
and with the God we are not
even sure we believe in.
Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, a professor of liturgy,
worship and ritual at Hebrew
Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, is the editor
All These Vows: Kol Nidre
(Jewish Lights).
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Guest Column
A call for reflection in
Jewish community service
By Ilan Liebner
Israel Advocacy Co-ordinator
Hillel Ottawa
The beginning of the academic year is an
exciting time for our college and university
students. They will come home from their
journeys with new perspectives on identity
and having arrived at new questions. Moreover, they’ll embark on new academic discoveries, meet new friends, creating bonds
that will last a lifetime, and take upon themselves new causes – cultural, political and
social.
For these reasons, the Jewish community
must recognize the importance of engaging
students on a positive level, offering meaningful experiences in the community that inspire confidence in one’s identity and empower engagement in learning and social justice. It was the great Rabbi Abraham Joshua
Heschel who recognized the importance of
encouraging and instilling positive exploration when he famously said, “Wonder
rather than doubt is the root of all knowledge.” Such activities – rooted in discovery –
draw our link to something beyond ourselves,
give us a greater cause, not only in the moment but in history, and so lead us to solidify
our peoplehood.
Our students seek such experiences and it
is these that inspire greater future engagement. What we must pursue, however, is the
tying of service to community causes – civic
engagement and social change – together
with a deeper Jewish context for that commitment. Our tradition demands this, for our values are the rock for the activities we pursue.
This means offering creative opportunities for
exploring the foundations and questions underpinning that commitment.
These activities can take various forms.
One form is discussions on important ques-
tions related to work that students have completed on campus. We can raise questions on
how we view the relationship between Jewish
community service and our notion of community, religion, peoplehood, memory and history, and even citizenship, justice and human
rights. What do we strive toward when we
stand against anti-Semitism and hate? What
underpins our struggle for justice? How do
our activities contribute to a more meaningful
and respectful discourse? How do our community activities fit within a Torah context,
and there from, what is the meaning of that
context as a contributor to our lofty pursuits?
As advocacy comprises much of the work
in our current campus environment, we
would do well to explore the connection of
Jewish identity to Israel. Ottawa’s Israel
Awareness Committee President Hashem
Hamdy contributed in this way by leading a
discussion on this subject with fellow students at the beginning of September. It is this
type of activity that I would like our students
to pursue more frequently: reflective activities that draw our link to a cause beyond ourselves, that link us to peoplehood and to the
need for a more reflective, respectful discourse on our campuses and in society.
We always want the Jewish community to
be welcoming of students on our campuses.
We also seek to challenge our students to
strive for greater goals and ultimately inspire
them to affirm a commitment to Jewish values and community for many years ahead.
It is also a mission of mine to have members of our community take a student out for
lunch or dinner over the coming months.
Meet with them, learn about them and
their work on campus, and tell them about
yourselves. Get in touch with me at
[email protected] and I’ll
arrange the details.
Holocaust Monument
to be discussed at
Jewish War Veterans AGM
By Phil Pinkus
Ottawa Post
Jewish War Veterans of Canada
The Ottawa Post of the Jewish War Veterans of Canada will hold our annual general meeting at the Soloway Jewish Community Centre on Sunday, October 23, 1:00
pm.
Part of the program will deal with the
National Holocaust Monument, which Parliament has authorized to be built in Ottawa.
A fundraising campaign to finance the costs
of planning, construction and maintenance
of the monument will be held and the federal government will match the funds raised.
Laura Grosman, who spearheaded the
campaign to create the monument while she
was student at the University of Ottawa, and
David Cooper, director of government relations for the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, will speak about the monument at the
AGM and answer questions about it.
This program will be of special interest
to our community, particularly to Holocaust
survivors and their families.
The event will include a catered reception. Tickets are $12.00 and must be purchased in advance by calling Kenneth Kavanat at 613-820-4282. Tickets will not be
available at the door.
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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2011, 6:00 P.M.
Special Performance by Members of
The Ottawa Symphony Orchestra
Dinner Chair
Vera Klein
Honorary Co-Chairs
The Honourable Linda Frum
Dr. Roseann O'Reilly Runte, O.C.
The Honourable Judith Seidman
Master of Ceremonies
Rabbi Dr. Reuven P. Bulka
TO PURCHASE TICKETS OR FOR INFORMATION
ON SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES:
JNF OTTAWA (613) 798-2411
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Thanks to all of the very generous businesses that donated many prizes for the day!
Choices celebrates its fifth year in Ottawa!
Choices was introduced to Ottawa five
years ago by Jennifer Kardash who was
inspired by the Choices event in Vancouver, her hometown. Since the inception of
Choices in Ottawa, 300 women come together each year to celebrate the important impact they have in our community.
Our goal is twofold: to reach out to
new participants and to encourage those
who have attended in the past to come together for a common cause.
As the main fundraising event for the
Women’s Campaign, each woman who
attends agrees to pay $36 for their dinner
and to donate at least $150 to the Jewish
Federation of Ottawa’s Annual Campaign,
which she has more than a year to pay.
We encourage students to attend by reducing the level of their commitment to
$54.
The event is run by volunteers, with
much-appreciated support from Federation staff. Table captains are recruited to
invite friends, family and colleagues to
join them at their tables. Another group of
volunteers seeks sponsors for each of the
Federation
Report
Sandra Zagon
Choices
tables ($180) and to underwrite key costs
of the dinner, all in an effort to make sure
that every dollar donated by the participating women goes to the various agencies supported by the Federation.
To date, Choices has inspired 231 new
women donors to attend and these new
donors have given more than $83,000 to
the Annual Campaigns. We want to make
sure that this year adds to this most impressive record.
Choices, this year, takes place Tuesday, October 25 at Agudath Israel Congregation.
The evening starts at 6:00 pm with
fabulous cocktails, followed by a delicious, three-course, sit-down dinner at el-
egantly set tables, all provided by Creative Kosher Catering (David Smith will
be celebrating his fifth Choices dinner
with us!).
Choices features a guest speaker
whose address highlights the many choices she has made throughout her life to become the inspiration to women she is
today.
This year’s Choices speaker will be
Miri Eisin, a retired colonel who served
in the Israeli intelligence community for
more than 20 years.
Miri speaks on a variety of subjects including the Israeli/Arab conflict, Israeli
decision-making, women in Israeli society, the Israeli intelligence community
and more. She teaches in the Interdisciplinary Centre in Herzliya and works
extensively with media, student groups
and diplomats.
And she is the mother of three children. Imagine the choices she has had to
make!
And that is what Choices is all about:
the choices we have to make about what
we do professionally and personally, and
the balance between the two; how we
bring up our children; how we interact
with our grandchildren; how we support
our friends, family and community.
In short, how we choose to live our
lives to the fullest – helping those who
need our help and accepting help when
we need it. And we make these choices
actively, passively, deliberately or not at
all.
Regardless of how we come to decide
on the myriad choices we are faced with
in life, there is no doubt that we all have
choices to make and we alone make
them.
I urge you to choose to become part of
this year’s Choices event. You can be part
of this stimulating women’s-only networking evening by contacting Erin
Bolling at 613-798-4696, ext. 232, or
[email protected].
I look forward to seeing you at Choices
on October 25. In the meantime, I wish
you and your families a happy and
healthy New Year.
Despite predictions, Judaism has survived and prospered
In 1907, Rabbi Israel Friedlander wrote
about the Jews of North America:
“The more emancipated, prosperous,
successful Jews become, the more impoverished, defenceless and threatened becomes Judaism. … Of what use is it then
to boast of the achievements of Jewish
advancement in society, if purchased at
the expense of the Jewish soul? Of what
avail is prosperity and material success
if they destroy the soul of the Jewish
people?”
He was, of course, mistaken. Jews, and
Judaism, did not disappear. Judaism responded to changing circumstances and
survived and prospered.
In 1957, one year before Leon Uris’
bestseller Exodus appeared, U.S. scholar
Nathan Glaser argued how slight the effect
Israel was on “the inner life of North
American Jewry.”
However, once again Jews surprised the
experts. To the surprise of many, Exodus
was an instant success, appearing for 19
consecutive weeks on the New York Times
bestseller list.
In 2002, Professor Stephen Whitfield
wrote, “Exodus tapped a subterranean Jewish nationalism when the path toward full
assimilation seemed unobstructed.” He
quotes Uris as saying, “I have received
thousands of letters in the last quartercentury telling me that Exodus has substantially changed the lives of many Jews,
particularly in regard to young people finding pride in their Jewishness.”
We and our children do not live in the
1950s or ‘60s, or even in the 20th century.
Today, our children are most often taught
about Tikkun Olam, a values concept that
From the
pulpit
Rabbi
Steven Garten
Temple Israel
teaches our children that Jews are particularly concerned with the well-being of
other human beings, the environment, and
anything else that is ethically important
for the times. Most often, our children
learn there are few, if any, differences between themselves and their non-Jewish
neighbours who may be equally interested
in social justice, but call it by another
name.
Today, Jews have few features that distinguish us culturally or politically from
our neighbours. When Tim Hortons and
McDonald’s serve bagels, when most people believe smoked salmon belongs in
sushi, when as many Jews vote Conservative as NDP or Liberal, when Kabbalah is
more associated with Madonna, Britney
Spears and Michael Jackson than with
Rabbi Isaac Luria, cultural integration
seems complete.
Yet, in spite of doom and gloom, in
spite of shrinking school enrolment,
shrinking synagogue membership, Jewish
institutional financial concerns, and
Israel’s precarious situation in the world,
we are thriving. We are thriving because
we have shifted from counting Jews to
focusing on Jews who count.
We Jews reinvent ourselves with
dexterity. There are more Jewish-oriented
websites than ever before and they connect
thousands of Jews to each other.
Online magazines like Tablet, online
Jewish videos, online Jewish music, and
online Jewish comic books are all reflections of Jews seeking out new ways to
deepen our commitment to each other and
our tradition.
It is impossible to list in a short article
the myriad Jewish apps that allow you to
pray, study Torah, find Midrashim, locate
Jewish food, locate Jewish study groups
and keep up with the latest news and opinion from Israel.
If there is concern about our future, it is
expressed by those seeking to firmly hold
on to the old and very old and who are un-
willing to let our innate sense of creativity
blossom. How many exciting Jewish websites emanate from Ottawa? How creative
are our synagogues and schools? How offbeat are our communal initiatives?
These are more important questions to
ask than why more Jews don’t give to the
Federation.
Yom Kippur is around the corner and
we shall be asking for forgiveness for our
personal sins. Perhaps, instead of beating
our breasts in gloom and doom, we should
say “Al Chet” for our lack of faith in our
people’s ability to survive and say “Al
Chet” for all the new and exciting ventures
we did not explore this past year.
G’Mar Chatimah Tova.
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York University incident demonstrates need to understand context
York University in Toronto, like Carleton University here in Ottawa, and any
number of other universities in Canada
and around the world, has been at the centre of anti-Israel activism in recent years.
Too often, such activism has been seen to
degenerate into anti-Semitism. Jewish students rightly have become sensitive to issues of anti-Semitism and have learned
how to respond when its ugly head is
reared on their campuses.
It’s important, though, when responding to an incident that it’s not a matter of
jumping too quickly to conclusions – particularly a wrong conclusion. That’s what
happened at York last month when a veteran social sciences professor was delivering his introductory lecture to a course
called Self, Culture and Society and was
misunderstood by one of the nearly 500
students in the class.
While this cautionary tale happened at
York, it could just as easily have been at
Carleton, the University of Ottawa, or almost any other university campus.
The professor was telling the students
that personal opinions were not relevant
in this course and went on to challenge
the very idea that everyone is entitled to
his or her opinion.
And he offered an example of what he
Editor
Michael
Regenstreif
deemed an unacceptable opinion.
“All Jews should be sterilized,” he said,
is just such an unacceptable opinion.
A fourth-year student attending the firstyear class apparently missed or misunderstood the context of the professor’s statement and concluded he was an anti-Semite
saying all Jews should be sterilized.
Rather than challenge the statement, or
ask for clarification on the professor’s intent in making it, the student immediately
left the class and enlisted Hasbara at York
– a Zionist organization on campus – in
contacting the media, the blogosphere and
Jewish community groups to attack what
she perceived to be an anti-Semitic opinion
expressed by an anti-Semitic professor.
The class in question took place on the
afternoon of Monday, September 12. The
student’s report of the ‘anti-Semitic incident’ quickly went viral on social media
sites like Facebook and Twitter and B’nai
“This event
is an
appropriate reminder
that great caution
must be exercised
before concluding
a statement or action
is anti-Semitic.”
Brith Canada took up her case.
However, by the time the story made
the Wednesday edition of the Toronto Star
and two columns in Thursday’s National
Post, the context of the professor’s remark
was clear.
In a statement circulated by the Centre
for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), he
said it was an example “of the fact that
opinions can be dangerous and that none
of us really do believe that all opinions
are acceptable.
“For the record, I am also Jewish,
which undoubtedly influenced my choice
of this example of a reprehensible opinion.”
CIJA released a statement describing
the incident as “a very unfortunate misunderstanding.” The professor’s “use of an
abhorrent statement was intended to
demonstrate that some opinions are simply
not legitimate. This point was, without ill
intentions, taken out of context and circulated in the Jewish community. … This
event is an appropriate reminder that great
caution must be exercised before concluding a statement or action is anti-Semitic.”
Indeed, context is important. Too often,
we see words taken out of context, misinterpreted and twisted from their intent.
This, of course, does not mean we should
stop being vigilant or stop standing up
when anti-Semitism and other expressions
of prejudice or hatred do rear their ugly
heads.
Yom Kippur and Sukkot
We finished production of this issue of
the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin just before
Rosh Hashanah and it was scheduled to arrive in your home in between the start of
the Jewish New Year and Yom Kippur, the
most solemn day on our calendar. Then,
just a few days later, the celebrations of
Sukkot and Simchat Torah will be upon us.
May all of the holidays be meaningful ones
for you.
Mickey, Bugs, SpongeBob and Caillou
When I was a kid, I used to watch cartoons. Lots and lots of cartoons.
You too? Small world.
As in many of life’s domains, when it
came to cartoon watching, there were
choices to be made and rules to be followed.
Just as you can’t be a fan of both the
Red Sox and the Yankees, or of both Coke
and Pepsi, or of both boxers and briefs, so
too did animation aficionados of my generation have a central conundrum to sort out:
Mickey Mouse or Bugs Bunny.
The classic Walt Disney and Warner
Brothers cartoons were created in the
1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s. By the time I had
grown into full cartoon craziness, those
classic animated shorts had been repackaged into TV anthology series.
There was the Wonderful World of
Disney, home to Mickey Mouse and other
examples of anthropomorphic sweetness
and light.
And then there was the Bugs Bunny/
Road Runner Hour featuring Warner’s misanthropic nastiness and bite.
Today, of course, they’re just two sides
of the same lunchbox – part of a multi-billion-dollar, multi-media, multi-logo industry.
But, back then, they were two conflicting halves of an unbridgeable psychosocial
divide.
Well – something like that.
Alan Echenberg
As a kid, my loyalties resolutely fell on
one side of the divide: Bugs Bunny and his
co-conspirators Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, et
al.
While the typical Disney cartoon plot
would see Mickey and his pals getting
themselves into and out of sugary situations, the Warner Brothers cartoons displayed a darker, nastier, more risqué and
more broadly comical edge.
The Warner Brothers cartoons were full
of crazy slapstick, hilarious wordplay,
winking double-entendres and comedic violence.
In fact, the typical Bugs Bunny, Daffy
Duck or Elmer Fudd cartoon would consist
of two characters attempting to murder,
consume or, at the very least, completely
humiliate each other.
When I was a kid, there was much handwringing over the violent content of Bugs
Bunny cartoons, which, at the time, were
already two to four decades old and originally created for more mature audiences.
Elmer Fudd would fire his rifle straight
at Daffy Duck’s face, causing Daffy’s bill
to spin around to the back of his head. Wile
E. Coyote would accidentally blow himself
up trying to catch Road Runner. Yosemite
Sam, dressed as Lawrence of Arabia, would
beat an uncooperative camel into unconsciousness.
You don’t see that level of violence anymore in kids’ cartoons. On the other hand,
contemporary kids do have much more
ready access to media images that are far
more explicit and violent than anything
dreamed up by animators half a century
ago.
Yet, despite all of the handwringing,
there is no compelling evidence that my
childhood exposure to the “wascally wabbit” did any lasting damage to my psyche
or negatively affected my social development, or that of fellow members of my generation.
Just the opposite, I’d argue. At worst,
Bugs Bunny was a benign time-waster. At
best, it contributed to my cultural education
in the same way as the books I read, the
films I watched and the music I listened to
growing up.
This brings me to one of Bugs Bunny’s
21st century spiritual descendants: SpongeBob SquarePants.
On the off chance you are unfamiliar
with the ubiquitous cartoon character,
SpongeBob is a cheerful sponge with, yes,
square pants. As his theme song recounts,
he “lives in a pineapple under the sea” in
the underwater community of Bikini Bottom.
The cartoon, aside from being wildly
popular on TV screens and lunchboxes of
kids around the world, has all of the fast
pace, wild slapstick and inspired lunacy of
the old Warner Brothers cartoons, but without nearly as much of the violence.
Recently SpongeBob, too, has been the
object of some grownup handwringing. An
article in the latest issue of Pediatrics, the
journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, says the cartoon has a negative impact on the concentration levels of young
children, as measured right after watching
it.
Researchers compared children’s cognitive abilities after watching SpongeBob to
those same abilities after watching Caillou,
a notably slower-paced cartoon character.
Those who watched SpongeBob scored
lower on measurements of focus and concentration.
The measurements came immediately
after the viewing. The study did not test for
long-term effects.
As a Bugs Bunny veteran and a parent
who happily has watched SpongeBob with
his children since they were very young, I
have some skeptical questions about these
findings: Are kids distracted because the
cartoon is harmful? Or are kids distracted
because the cartoon is just plain interesting?
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cilitate a balanced dialogue.
Keep up the good work and yasher koach to Mira.
Shana Tova.
Barbara Levine
Letters welcome
Letters to the Editor are welcome if they are brief,
signed, timely and of interest to our readership. The Bulletin
reserves the right to refuse, edit or condense letters. The
Mailbag column will be published as space permits. Send
your letters to Michael Regenstreif, Ottawa Jewish Bulletin,
21 Nadolny Sachs Private, Ottawa, Ontario K2A 1R9; or by
e-mail to [email protected].
Isaac Muzikansky launches CD
of Yiddish songs at Soloway JCC
By Esther Williams
Ottawa-based folk singer
Isaac Muzikansky launched his
new CD, My Parents’ Favourite
Yiddish Songs, on September 15
at the Soloway Jewish Community Centre (JCC).
The evening, said Muzikansky, was a tribute to his parents
and a celebration of Yiddish culture.
Accompanied by Larry Tarof
on keyboard, Ian Schwartz on
clarinet and Steve Shapransky
on drums, he performed songs
from the CD. For two of the
songs he was joined by singer
Shaina Lipsey.
The crowded room was filled
with warmth, good spirit, enthusiasm and smiling faces.
Muzikansky spoke movingly
about his family and their experiences of being separated during the Second World War and
being miraculously reunited just
before the end of the war.
He also spoke of the good
feelings he remembered when
the family sang Yiddish songs at the end of almost every
day.
It was obvious others in the audience had their own
happy memories of the songs.
Copies My Parents’ Favourite Yiddish Songs are available for sale at Ottawa synagogue gift shops and at the
Greenberg Families Library at the Soloway JCC.
For booking information, or to purchase the CD directly, contact Isaac Muzikansky at [email protected] or
613-225-0203.
Samples of some of the songs can be heard on his website at isaacmuzikansky.com.
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Values, Ethics, Community
As a long-time reader of the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin, I
want to take this opportunity to congratulate you and your
team for making space for a diversity of views and perspectives in the Bulletin.
Mira Sucharov’s column, Values, Ethics, Community, is
an especially important addition to the paper. It is the first
column that I turn to when the Bulletin arrives in our home.
It is always thoughtful, provocative and grounded in the
columnist’s own personal and political experience as a
Canadian Jew with strong ties to Israel.
At this time in history, when Israel increasingly risks
being isolated in the region, as well as in the world, it is terribly important there be a space for us to explore the many
options that face Israeli politicians and citizens, and to fa-
[email protected]
Canada becomes first country
to sign the Ottawa Protocol
JEWISH
NATIONAL
FUND
More than trees
613.798.2411
Oliver Javanpour
president
Help provide Israel
with more and more good news
A dear friend once told me, “Look at the front page of
the newspapers in Canada and then look at the front page
of newspapers from Israel and around the world. You are
very lucky to have the news you have.”
Indeed, we are very lucky to know less political strife
and insecurity than many parts of the world. Even as I
write this on the eve of the 10th anniversary of 9/11, I feel
that our crises are easier to deal with in many ways than the
crises that face Israel every day. As Canadians, we want to
work to keep our news leaning towards the positive. As
Jews, we want to help Israelis open their newspapers to
more and more good news.
JNF’s efforts to strengthen Israel’s ability to provide the
water, food, air and ambiance needed to sustain both the
bodies and the spirits of its vibrant population are good
news. We have the honour in Ottawa to have our contribution to the Jerusalem Post be a picture of Sara Vered at the
opening of the upgraded educational compound at David
Ben-Gurion’s desert home in Kibbutz Sde Boker. JNF,
through Israel’s large extended family, has contributed a lot
of good news, from fire trucks to support for families affected by rocket attacks, from water reservoirs to fields of
carrots.
JNF Ottawa is deeply committed to supporting the
country we have worked so hard to make self-sufficient in
water and green enough to support plant, animals and people. On behalf of our JNF Ottawa Board and the Negev
Dinner Campaign Cabinet, we ask you to support JNF’s efforts by sponsoring a table at the Negev Dinner, contributing to our upcoming Tu B’Shevat Tree-A-Thon, or donating a tree to commemorate significant events in your life.
This year’s Negev Dinner Campaign Cabinet includes
Norman Barwin, Alan Blostein, Lisa Cogan, Barbara
Crook, Jane Gordon, Martin Gordon, Brian Pearl and Harvey Slack – Friends of Israel, all. A very special thank you
to the Campaign Cabinet and the tireless team of volunteers for the tremendous effort they are putting into organizing the Negev Dinner and raising the funds in support
of this year’s project: Sderot Recycled Water Reservoir.
I urge you to help our JNF team, including the Campaign Cabinet, the committed canvassers, and Vera Klein,
our tireless Dinner Chair, in their work by supporting Ottawa’s Negev Dinner through sponsorships, advertisements, tributes, and the purchase of tables.
Most importantly, we hope you, as a Friend of Israel,
will join us at this extraordinary event we will share with
Barbara Walters.
For tickets or corporate sponsorship, please call Susan
Schwartzman at 613-798-2411 or Gail Grief, Executive
Director, Eastern Canada at 1-514-934-0313.
Sefer Bar/Bat Mitzvah Inscriptions
Matthew Lloyd Garber, by his proud parents, Richard
Garber and Nathalie Thibault; Emma Khazzam, by her
proud parents, Marie Carmen Berlie and Charles Khazzam.
On a daily basis you can plant
trees for all occasions. An attractive card is sent to the recipient.
To order, call the JNF office
(613.798.2411).
Citizenship, Immigration
and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney and Foreign Affairs Minister John
Baird signed the Ottawa
Protocol on Combating Antisemitism on September
19.
Canada is the first country to officially sign the Protocol, an action plan developed during the second annual conference of the Interparliamentary Coalition for
Combating Antisemitism,
which took place in Ottawa
in November 2010. Signing
it, said the ministers, demonstrates the Government of
Canada’s support for it and a
commitment to its goals.
“The Government of
Canada is a leader in the
fight against anti-Semitism,” said Kenney. “The
Ottawa Protocol complements what Canada is already doing to combat hatred and discrimination, including anti-Semitism.
“We are a member of the
Task Force for International
Cooperation on Holocaust
Education, Remembrance
and Research. Here at
home, we have launched
programs to promote integration and social cohesion
of Canadians from all backgrounds.”
The Protocol will help
nations to measure and articulate their progress in com-
Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister
Jason Kenney with the Ottawa Protocol on Combating
Antisemitism, September 19.
bating anti-Semitism. It calls
for leaders of faith groups to
combat hatred and discrimination, including anti-Semitism; governments to reaffirm and implement the
United Nations’ 1948 Genocide Convention; the establishment of an international
task force to identify and
monitor hate on the Internet
and the development of a
comprehensive system to
record all hate crimes, in-
cluding anti-Semitic ones.
“Signing the Ottawa Protocol signals our continued
commitment to leading a
co-ordinated global effort to
fight anti-Semitism,” said
Baird.
“Just as Canada is moving ahead to develop and
build a National Holocaust
Monument in the National
Capital Region, we also
plan to take our commitment to parliamentarians
around the world and suggest that they join us in
signing the Protocol.”
The ministers added that
the Government of Canada’s commitment to combating anti-Semitism is why
Canada would not participate in the events commemorating 10th anniversary of
the adoption of the Durban
Declaration and Program of
Action, sometimes called
Durban III.
“Our government has
lost faith in the Durban
process and will not take
part in this event, which
commemorates events that
have promoted racism
rather than combat it,”
noted Kenney.
The Durban III events
took place September 22 in
New York City.
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Green Party would abolish all faith-based school funding
Local candidates running
for the Green Party of Ontario in the October 6
provincial election say Ontario’s system of providing
public funding for Catholic
schools but not other faithbased schools is unfair and
should be replaced by a single school system for all.
Ontario remains the only
province in Canada that
provides public funding for
one faith-based school system to the exclusion of all
others.
The Jewish Federation of
Ottawa regards the exclusion of other faiths from
school funding in Ontario to
be an “historical injustice”
and raised the issue when
the Federation’s Communications and Community Relations Committee met with
candidates representing the
Liberal, Progressive Conservative, New Democratic
and Green Parties in roundtable meetings, September
14 and 15.
The Green Party was represented by candidates Dave
Bagler, running in Ottawa
Vanier; Alex Hill, running in
Ottawa West-Nepean; and
Kevin O’Donnell, running
in Ottawa Centre.
“The current system [of
school funding] is wrong,”
said Bagler. “It is not just
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and is discriminatory. There
should be one high-quality
system for all.”
Bagler added that, although he is not Catholic,
he attended the Catholic
high school in his neighbourhood because he felt it
was a better school than the
public one.
Hill, a political science
student at the University of
Ottawa, said space for diversity should be created in
the public school system
and cited the Africentric Alternative School in Toronto
as a model.
Funding for private,
faith-based schools should
remain “as is,” said Hill. If
the Jewish community’s
schools receive funding, he
said, other communities
will also want it.
“[The] education [system] should integrate communities,” added Hill.
Hill’s comments at the
discussion were in contrast
with the possible interpretation of a targeted fundraising letter he sent to Jewish
voters in Ottawa West-
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(Left to right) Federation CEO Mitchell Bellman; Green Party candidates Alex Hill,
Dave Bagler and Kevin O’Donnell; Federation representatives Jonathan Freedman
and Jonathan Calof.
(Photo: Michael Regenstreif)
Nepean citing his “exemplary Jewish education at
Hillel Academy and …
Yitzhak
Rabin
High
School.”
In the letter, Hill wrote,
“My parents had to give up
too much so that my siblings
and I could be afforded a
thorough Jewish education,”
before going on to describe
Ontario’s “discriminatory
educational system that entitles Catholic children to a
state-funded religious education while denying nonCatholics the same right.”
The Green Party, wrote
Hill, is “committed to levelling the playing field in Ontario when it comes to education. As your member of
Provincial Parliament, I
would fight for fairness in
education on a daily basis.”
Nowhere in the letter
does Hill say the Green Party
policy is to abolish funding
for all faith-based schools.
On the question of growing anti-Semitism in the
community, including campus incidents surrounding
polarizing events such as Israel Apartheid Week, Hill
said attempts to silence critics of Israel backfire. Dialogue, he said, should be
fostered and hate speech
condemned.
“The rhetoric must be
toned down,” added Bagler.
“All students should be able
to express themselves safely
and comfortably.”
The third issue addressed
in the meetings was assistance to vulnerable communities.
O’Donnell said the
Green Party would increase
budgets for health and education and would bring in
minimum targets for affordable housing. Affordable
units, he added, should be
included in condo developments.
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NDP would seek equity in school funding issue
Ottawa area New Democratic Party (NDP) candidates running in the October
6 Ontario election agreed
with candidates from other
parties who suggested the
public is not prepared to address the issue of public
funding for non-Catholic
faith-based schools.
However, the NDP candidates also agreed it was unacceptable for Ontario to remain
the only province in Canada
that provides public funding
for one faith-based school
system to the exclusion of all
others.
Ottawa of Ottawa regards
the exclusion of other faiths
from school funding in
Ontario to be an “historical
injustice” and raised the
issue when the Federation’s
Communications and Community Relations Committee met with candidates representing the Liberal, Progressive Conservative, New
Democratic and Green Parties in roundtable meetings,
September 14 and 15.
The NDP was represented
by candidates Wendy Byrne,
running in Ottawa WestNepean; Ric Dagenais, running in Nepean-Carleton;
Wali Farah, running in
Ottawa South; Paul Étienne
Laliberté-Tipple, running in
Ottawa Vanier; Douglas
McKercher, running in Ottawa Orleans; and Anil
Naidoo, running in Ottawa
Centre.
Public funding of faithbased schools “is an issue for
many groups,” said Byrne.
“There has to be equal funding for all groups, or for
none.”
There should be a movement to equity, she added.
“The structure has to change.”
Farah said school funding
was also an issue in the Muslim community and that a
wider consensus must be built
within society-at-large. “The
NDP will support equity,” he
added.
When asked about problems engendered by growing
anti-Semitism, the candidates
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(Left to right) Federation representatives Jonathan Calof, Jason Moscovitz and Jonathan Freedman; NDP candidates Douglas McKercher and Wendy Byrne; Federation CEO Mitchell Bellman; NDP candidates Anil Naidoo, Paul
Étienne Laliberté-Tipple, Ric Dagenais and Wali Farah.
pointed to the party as a
“community-builder.”
“The NDP has always
been strong on combating
hate crimes and bullying,”
said Byrne.
“Violence is not legitimate,” she added. “Safety and
security take precedence.”
Farah recalled the antiracism policy introduced to
Ontario under Bob Rae’s
NDP government and pointed
to two community-building
initiatives that should be encouraged and expanded upon.
Farah said his children
were students at Charles H.
Hulse Public School and participated in the Grade 6 pen
pal exchange with Hillel
Academy students in which
children from the predominately Muslim public school
developed friendships with
counterparts from the Jewish
community school.
He also pointed to the
Jewish-Somali mentorship
program developed by Jewish
Family Services.
Farah said he would en-
courage the expansion of such
programs.
“Tolerance and inclusion
are fundamental,” added
Naidoo, “but are only the beginning.” Political leaders, he
said, need to be pro-active in
community engagement. “Society is fragile – work must be
done every day.”
with the candidates was assistance to vulnerable communities such as the developmentally disabled. The Federation
question cited the two-year
funding freeze faced by Tamir
and other such organizations
in Ontario.
Laliberté-Tipple said the
freeze demonstrated “bad
management or bad plan-
ning,” while Byrne said there
should have been more foresight in its application. “You
can’t put a freeze on in a vacuum.”
Dagenais added that, as
board president of the Causeway Work Centre, an organization that serves clients with
mental health and disability
issues, he fully understands
the precarious position organizations like Tamir and the
Causeway Work Centre are
put in by funding freezes.
“Our clients have faces
and we have our success stories,” he said.
What’s happening at
Congregation Beth Shalom
Sunday, October 9
Sukkah Decorating Party
12:00-3:00 pm
Thursday, October 20
Simchat Torah Dinner
8:00 pm
Wednesday, October 26
Annual General Meeting
7:00 pm
Sunday, October 30
Film and Discussion
3:30 pm
Brighton Beach Memoirs
Saturday, November 5
Limmud
and Sunday, November 6 Adult Education Lecture Series
Watch for more upcoming events
Watch for more upcoming events
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Progressive Conservatives: public not prepared to address school funding
Local Progressive Conservative
Party candidates held out little hope
the party would revisit the issue of
public funding for non-Catholic
faith-based schools should party
leader Tim Hudak be successful in
his bid to become Ontario’s next
premier following the October 6
election.
Although Ontario remains the
only province in Canada that provides public funding for one faithbased school system to the exclusion of all others, the Tories remember the beating they took when
they campaigned on the issue in the
2007 election.
The Jewish Federation of Ottawa regards the exclusion of other
faiths from school funding in Ontario to be an “historical injustice”
and raised the issue when the Federation’s Communications and
Community Relations Committee
met with candidates representing
the Liberal, Progressive Conservative, New Democratic and Green
Parties in roundtable meetings,
September 14 and 15.
The Progressive Conservative
Party was represented by candidates Robert Dekker, running in Ottawa Centre; Randall Denley, run-
(Left to right) Federation representatives Jason Moscovitz, Jonathan Calof, Jonathan Freedman and
Mitchell Bellman with Progressive Conservative candidates Andrew Lister, Fred Sherman, Robert
Dekker, Randall Denley and Jason MacDonald.
ning in Ottawa West-Nepean; Andrew Lister, running in Ottawa Orleans; Jason MacDonald, running in
Ottawa South; and Fred Sherman,
running in Ottawa Vanier.
Denley, an Ottawa Citizen
columnist currently on leave from
the newspaper, said that although
he favours school choice, the “public was not prepared to endorse”
public funding for schools of nonCatholic faiths.
“It would be difficult for the
party to champion the issue now,”
said Denley, pointing out the issue
was not in the Progressive Conservative platform for this election.
When asked about growing anti-
Semitism in the community and on
university campuses, the candidates condemned all manifestations
of hatred and said they would stand
against them.
The candidates were particularly vociferous in condemning events
like Israel Apartheid Week that
have marginalized Jewish and proIsrael students on university campuses.
“It is unacceptable when one
side silences the other,” said Lister.
Israel Apartheid Week “crosses
the line,” added Dekker, who said
he would go to Carleton University
as an elected MPP to stand against
manifestations of anti-Semitism.
MacDonald, who is director of
communications at Carleton, pointed out the university did act in 2009
when it banned an Israel Apartheid
Week poster depicting an Israeli
helicopter gunship targeting children in the Gaza Strip.
MacDonald also pointed out the
problem of anti-Semitism was not
unique to Carleton. “It’s a problem
at all universities,” he said.
MacDonald added that anti-Israel campaigns at universities don’t
necessarily originate with students.
“They are funded from outside the
universities,” he said, “possibly
from outside Canada.”
Denley added that he was puz-
zled by the endurance of anti-Semitism. “We can’t seem to stop it,” he
said.
The third issue addressed in the
meetings was assistance to vulnerable communities such as the developmentally disabled. The Federation question cited the two-year
funding freeze faced by Tamir and
other such organizations in Ontario.
Denley said the Progressive
Conservatives do not have a specific platform position on the provincial funding freeze to organizations
such as Tamir, but said these types
of agencies “are partners to government.”
Denley said it was the job of
MPPs to advocate on behalf of organizations like Tamir doing important work and a Tory government would “cut waste to spend on
things that matter.”
“Ontario does not have a revenue problem, it has a spending
problem,” said Sherman. “Our priorities are health care and education and we value community organizations [like Tamir].”
“We won’t throw money at anyone who asks,” added MacDonald.
“But our commitment is to frontline services.”
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Liberals won’t revisit public funding for faith-based schools
The Liberal Party of Ontario running for its third consecutive mandate under Premier Dalton McGuinty – the
MPP for Ottawa South – will
not change its policy on public funding for non-Catholic
faith-based schools. Ontario
remains the only province in
Canada that provides public
funding for one faith-based
school system to the exclusion of all others.
Ottawa regards the exclusion
of other faiths from school
funding in Ontario to be an
“historical injustice” and
raised the issue when the Federation’s Communications
and Community Relations
Committee met with candidates representing the Liberal, Progressive Conservative,
New Democratic and Green
Parties in roundtable meetings, September 14 and 15.
The Liberal Party was represented by MPP Yasir Naqvi,
running for re-election in Ottawa Centre, and Megan Cornell, the candidate in Carleton-Mississippi Mills. Min-
ister of Infrastructure Bob
Chiarelli, running for re-election in Ottawa West-Nepean,
arrived at the end of the meeting citing a family health
issue for his delayed arrival.
Naqvi was emphatic in
stating the Liberals had no
plans to change their policy.
“The issue is not unique to
the Jewish community,”
Naqvi said, acknowledging
that he has also had similar
representations from the Muslim and Hindu communities
about school funding.
Naqvi said the Liberal
focus would be on ensuring
that services for children,
such as after-school recreation programs, would be
available to all.
The school funding issue
“would be a tough discussion
to have again,” said Cornell.
“It was not a healthy debate,”
when the issue was central to
the 2007 election campaign.
However, despite Naqvi’s
categorical rejection of faithbased school funding as an
agenda item for another Liberal government, Cornell said
she would be “personally
(Left to right) Federation representatives Jonathan Freedman, Mitchell Bellman and
Debbie Halton-Weiss; Liberal candidates Megan Cornell, Bob Chiarelli and Yasir
Naqvi; and Federation representatives Jason Moscovitz and Jonathan Calof.
open to discussion” on the
issue.
On the question of growing anti-Semitism in the community, including campus incidents surrounding polarizing events such as Israel
Apartheid Week, Naqvi said
anti-Semitic incidents were
hurtful to all people.
“It is a Canadian value,”
he said, “that we talk to each
other,” and, as a political
leader, he strives to ensure dialogue.
Naqvi said that, while
freedom of speech is an important value, hurtful speech
is not.
It’s important, he said,
“that people check their prejudices at the door” when
coming to Canada, and cited
government-funded programs
at Jewish Family Services of
Ottawa combating anti-Semitism as an example of ways
the Liberal government has
been proactive on the issue.
Naqvi added that “because
of my name and my faith,
people try to solicit me” [in
anti-Israel campaigns], but he
has rebuffed all such approaches.
He said he’s learned much
from talking with Holocaust
survivors and would champion programs to bring them
and their stories to public
schools.
Cornell also said more
should be done at the public
school level to promote dialogue between communities,
that leadership from government and political parties was
important in combating antiSemitism and other prejudices. She also expressed support for the role of the Ontario
Human Rights Commission
in addressing certain specific
complaints.
in the meetings was assistance to vulnerable communities such as the developmentally disabled. The Federation
question cited the two-year
funding freeze faced by Tamir
and other such organizations
in Ontario.
Naqvi defended the Liberal government record on social services, but admitted
“the last couple of years have
been tough.” The funding
freeze, he said, was a temporary measure.
Naqvi added that some social service funding, downloaded from the province to
municipalities under earlier
Progressive
Conservative
governments, are being uploaded back to the province
by the current Liberal government.
DJ who mixes Jewish and Israeli music
with hip-hop to play Ottawa
By Yaelle Gang
for Hillel Ottawa
Not just anybody can mix
“Lecha Dodi” with Akon and
make it sound good. But Diwon, a
Brooklyn-based DJ who mixes
hip-hop with Middle Eastern and
Jewish music, can.
Diwon, whose real name is
Erez Safar, is going to be spinning
at Babylon Nightclub in Ottawa
on October 6. The show is called
Sabra Sessions.
Diwon started creating music
as a child while growing up in a
Jewish neighbourhood.
“Since most of my friends went
to Hebrew school, they would be
in school until 6:00 pm and I was
getting out around 2:00. So I
would just do music when I came
home,” Diwon said.
But, it was after he graduated
college that he started taking
music more seriously and learning
it as a professional skill.
Music, he said, is about “crosscultural dialogue and community,
unifying people through cultural
exchanges in music and poetry.”
Diwon says he does not have
one particular message he tries to
convey, but he avoids making
music about drugs and degrading
women, like many hip-hop artists
do.
“I’m not really contributing
anything positive by doing that
kind of music,” he explained.
Both Judaism and Israel influence Diwon’s music.
“I’m passionate about both Judaism and Israel. So, hopefully,
when I’m mixing, that passion
comes out,” he said.
Mixing music, he added, is an
effective way of introducing people to what Israel has to offer because people get into the beat of
the music and then hear and enjoy
Israeli music along with it.
Ross Diamond, executive director of Hillel Ottawa, organized
the concert.
Diamond said he decided to organize the concert after attending
a Skrillex concert at Bluesfest.
“I saw a lot of Jewish university students that were there and really loved electronic music that is
unique and interesting,” he said. “I
figured, what better way to get
students engaged in Hillel and Israel than by bringing what they
love most to them?”
Diamond said he hopes that,
when people see Diwon, they will
realize how being Jewish can be
expressed in different ways, like
with really cool and interesting
music. He hopes the concert will
bring “a new sound and new look
to Ottawa that students don’t typically get in a non-Jewish environment with a Jewish subtext.”
The event was made possible
by sponsorships from the Vered Israel Cultural and Educational Program, the Embassy of Israel in
Canada, the Canadian Friends of
Tel Aviv and the Canadian Friends
of Hebrew University.
Sabra Sessions with Diwon
takes place Thursday, October 6,
10:00 pm, at Babylon, 317 Bank
Street. Advance tickets are $5.00
and available by e-mailing
[email protected]. Tickets at
the door are $7.00. For more information, visit hillelottawa.ca.
Hillel Ottawa presents Diwon at Babylon, October 6.
Back to class for Chabad Hebrew School
Ottawa Torah Centre’s Chabad Hebrew School has started the new school year with 80 students enrolled.
The Grade 5 and 6 students seen here are happy to be back.
Next Steps:
Ontario Liberals Plan to Help
Families Stay on Track
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Please visit our website to download
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Authorized by the CFO for the Ontario Liberal Party
Avigdor Lieberman:
‘Arab Spring’ turning into ‘Arab Winter’
The result of upheavals in the Arab
world may be worse than the regimes Arabs
are revolting against, Israeli Minister of
Foreign Affairs Avigdor Lieberman told an
invited group of Jewish community leaders
during a visit to Ottawa.
Lieberman was in Ottawa, September
19, in advance of the United Nations General Assembly, for meetings with Canadian
cabinet ministers – including Minister of
Foreign Affairs John Baird – and with interim Opposition Leader Nycole Turmel and
interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae.
While here, Lieberman – typically regarded to be the most controversial figure in
Israel’s government – gave an hour-long
briefing to Jewish community leaders from
Ottawa and Montreal at the Rideau Club.
The briefing was organized by the Centre
for Israel and Jewish Affairs.
“It was important [for me] to visit Canada before going to the UN,” Lieberman said
at the briefing, “to thank the Canadian government for being Israel’s most reliable and
friendly ally.”
Lieberman added that the understanding
of Israel among all of Canada’s main political parties was “very unusual.”
The Israeli minister began the briefing
by dismissing suggestions the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has anything to do with the
uprisings seen this year in several Arab
countries.
The revolutions, particularly the one
begun in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, “created
many expectations,” but the results “may be
worse than before.”
The so-called “Arab Spring,” he said, “is
turning into Arab Winter, a winter that will
be ‘colder than Canada.’ I am not optimistic.”
The absence of a middle class, Lieberman said, is a significant problem in the
Arab nations.
“Their values are completely different
from the West,” he said. “It is impossible to
impose democracy in countries like Yemen.”
Israel, he added, represents the front line
of Western civilization in the region.
Turning to the peace process, Lieberman
dismissed the concept of giving up land for
peace.
“We’ve given up territory three times the
size of Israel,” he said, “and we see no
peace and security.”
Lieberman recalled being fired from the
cabinet of then-prime minister Ariel Sharon
in 2004 due his opposition to Israel’s disengagement from Gaza.
Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird welcomes Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs
Avigdor Lieberman to Ottawa, September 19.
“Giving up Gaza was an insane policy of
Sharon,” he said. “Every gesture of goodwill they see as weakness.”
In any case, Lieberman said he – as foreign minister – had more pressing priorities
than the Palestinians’ gambit for statehood
recognition or Israel’s peace process with
them.
The biggest challenge, he said, is the situation with Iran and its quest for nuclear
weaponry. The second most important challenge is posed by the situations in Egypt
and Syria. The third is the changed relationship with Turkey and with Turkey’s emergence as an oppositional power to Israel.
The situation with the Palestinians, said
Lieberman, ranks below those challenges
on his list of priorities.
In a question period following his remarks, Lieberman expanded on Israel’s relationships with Turkey, the United States,
and the Palestinians.
The current situation with Turkey, he
said, is a result of a strategic decision of the
Turkish government, “which wants to be
the leader of the Muslim world. Any confrontation with Israel is a win-win situation
for Turkey.”
The United States, he said, remains Israel’s “biggest ally and friend. We have so
many common ties and issues.”
There are “no tensions” between the
U.S. and Israel, Lieberman said, pointing to
the U.S. assistance in evacuating the Israeli
Embassy when it was recently under attack
in Cairo, and to the U.S. support for Israel
at the United Nations.
Lieberman referred to the Palestinians’
bid for statehood recognition at the United
Nations as “the private project of Mahmoud
Abbas.”
The Palestinians, he said, “are de facto
divided between Fatahland in Judea and
Samaria and Hamasistan in Gaza.
“Abbas asked ‘What do you want from
me?’ when Israel was under attack by rockets from Gaza, but now claims to represent
all Palestinians at the UN.”
Abbas, he added, has repeatedly postponed Palestinian elections because he
knows he’ll lose.
Stressing that he was expressing his personal opinion, and not the official position
of the Israeli government, Lieberman said
his response to the Palestinian’s statehood
bid at the UN would be to cut all ties to the
Palestinian Authority, including the transfer
of money.
“They must pay a price” for their actions, he said.
Lieberman said he saw no hope for
peace negotiations with the Palestinians.
“Land for peace doesn’t work. We need
new concepts,” he said.
Letters welcome
Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Lieberman briefs a group of Jewish com(Photo: Peter Waiser)
munity leaders in Ottawa as Ambassdor Miriam Ziv looks on.
Letters to the Editor are welcome if they are brief, signed, timely and of interest to
our readership. The Bulletin reserves the right to refuse, edit or condense letters. The
Mailbag column will be published as space permits. Send your letters to Michael
Regenstreif, Ottawa Jewish Bulletin, 21 Nadolny Sachs Private, Ottawa, Ontario
K2A 1R9; or by e-mail to [email protected].
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Montreal Yiddish Theatre Singers to entertain
at Yiddish award presentation
By Roslyn Wollock
Soloway JCC
The creative, rich and heartfelt
music of New York’s Second Avenue Yiddish theatre district will
come to life on stage at the
Soloway Jewish Community Centre (JCC) as part of the second annual Yiddish Studies Award of Excellence celebration.
In conjunction with the
Soloway JCC, the University of
Ottawa’s Vered Jewish Canadian
Studies Program will present the
Ethel Cooper Yiddish Studies
Award of Excellence to Sarah
Anne Gisele on Sunday, October
30, at 2:00 pm.
A freilach afternoon of entertainment by Montreal’s Yiddish
Theatre Singers will follow the
award presentation.
The group, all veteran performers with Montreal’s Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre, will perform
Aron Gonshor
Lisa Rubin
songs that first came to life in the
many Yiddish theatres that once
dotted Second Avenue on New
York’s Lower East Side.
They’ll also perform several
Broadway selections. The songs
will be performed in Yiddish and
English.
The four singers – Aron Gonshor, Lisa Rubin, Karen Karpman
Karen Karpman
Sam Stein
and Sam Stein – have performed
in such Yiddish Theatre productions as On Second Avenue, Those
Were the Days, The Great Houdini, Fiddler on the Roof, The Jazz
Singer and The Wise Men of
Chelm.
Earlier this year, Stein and
Rubin starred alongside Theodore
Bikel in Lies My Father Told Me.
Tickets are $10 (free for students with ID) and will be available at the door.
For more information, call 613798-9818, ext. 254, or e-mail
[email protected].
With JET’s assistance you too can build a sukkah
By Ilana Albert-Novick
for JET
Once Yom Kippur break-the-fasts are
cleared away and cleaned up, Jewish
homes will start getting ready for the next
major celebration, Sukkot, this year beginning on the evening of Wednesday, October 12.
I had learned about Sukkot, I had visit-
ed other people’s sukkahs, but I had never
had my own.
Last year, with JET’s assistance, our
family built our first sukkah. Our four children were involved in decorating our
sukkah and our family enjoyed many
meals together in this temporary abode. It
had even more significance for us last year
as our kids had entered their first year at
the Ottawa Jewish Community School.
This year, we hope we can remember how
all the pieces fit together.
JET (Jewish Education through Torah) is
known for its classes, programs and events
for Jews of all backgrounds, levels of
knowledge and practice. But many may not
know that JET also helps people get started
in adding Judaism to their lives and homes.
Rabbi Yisroel Meir Butrimovitz helps Mitchell Novick build his family’s first sukkah.
From koshering your kitchen for the
first time, preparing for Jewish marriage
and teaching parenting classes, to helping
build your first sukkah, JET is there for
you.
If you dream of having your very own
sukkah this year, make it a reality by contacting JET at 613-798-9818 ext. 247 or
[email protected].
Sarah Novick enjoys her family’s new sukkah.
Sukkot feature
Taking seven steps to ‘Sukkot happiness’
By Dasee Berkowitz
(JTA) – But are you happy?
No, this isn’t your mother wanting another update on your life. It’s not Dr. Phil’s
provocative question through your
TV/computer screen as you sit (safely) on
your couch. And it isn’t someone reading
you the American Declaration of Independence wondering if you have really pursued
this inalienable right enough.
It’s the holiday of Sukkot speaking.
The rabbis nicknamed the harvest festival Zman Simchateinu (the time of our happiness). What, exactly, does a holiday that
invites us to eat all of our meals in a small
hut al fresco – often in the chilly, windy
days of fall – have to do with being happy?
‘Sukkot happy’ is a bit different from the
kind of happy that our post-modern culture
espouses. A quick search on Amazon.com
reveals scores of books that aim to help
readers embody this elusive ideal. The Buddhist variety extols striving for inner peace.
Positive psychologists understand attaining
happiness as a key component to mental
health. And happiness in the self-help
movement embraces happiness ‘plans’ like
Seven Steps to Being Happy.
The happiness that Sukkot encourages
can be found when one peruses the pages of
a book buried deep within the Amazon website. It is Ecclesiastes, which we read during
Waving the lulav and etrog, symbols of the fall harvest, is one way to Sukkot pleasure
– especially for the kids.
(Photo: Dasee Berkowitz)
Sukkot. The festival begins this year on the
evening of October 12.
Ecclesiastes wouldn’t strike you as a
get-happy-quick piece of literature. It is
pessimistic and cynical – just count the
number of times the word ‘vanity’ is used.
Nor is it the most popular book in the Bible.
In fact, the Talmud relates that the rabbis
MEMBERS MEETING
A meeting of the members
A meeting of the members of
of the
the Jewish Federation of Ottawa
Jewish Federation of Ottawa
will be heldn
onged!
a
h
c
e
t
Da
will be
held on 5, 2008
Wednesday,
November
7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Tuesday, November
Soloway JCC 29, 2011
21 Nadolny
7:00Sachs
pm Private
Social Hall A
The Joseph and Rose Ages Family Building
Meeting is open to the Public
Meeting is open to the public.
Contact: Dawn Paterson (613) 798-4696, ext. 236
[email protected]
Contact: Dawn
Paterson 613-798-4696, ext. 236
[email protected]
www.jewishottawa.com
Live Generously.
ITDOESAWORLDOFGOOD
®
wanted to hide the work, in part because of
how some statements contradict the Torah
itself.
It does, however, contain deep wisdom
about what gets in the way of true happiness. Ecclesiastes offers us perspective and
manages our expectations. To the question
“Am I rich enough?” Ecclesiastes answers,
“A lover of money never has his fill of
money, nor a lover of wealth his fill of income, that too is futile. As his substance increases, so do those who consume it. This
also is vanity.”
To the question “Am I smart/wise
enough?” it comments, “Much study is a
weariness of the flesh.”
And to the issue “Am I popular
enough?” Ecclesiastes responds, “A good
name is better than precious oil.”
The book of Ecclesiastes is keenly aware
that death will come in the end for all mortals, so it trumpets robust relationships, saying that “Enjoy happiness with a woman
you love all the fleeting days of life that
have been granted to you under the sun. …
For that alone is what you can get out of
life.”
Ecclesiastes ends by offering an even
greater perspective. What’s most important
is to “Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”
While all pursuits under the sun might be
short-lived, the one thing that is enduring,
according to Ecclesiastes, is that which exists above the sun. The book speaks about
cultivating a relationship with God, but,
more generally, it is the cultivation of relationships that lie beyond the self, which endures and leads to happiness.
According to Ecclesiastes, being in service to God – and interpreted more broadly,
being of service to others – might be a key
to what leads us to joy.
I think to myself, when am I really
happy? While I do love kicking back on the
beach and reading a good book, I find this
kind of activity relaxing – but I’m not sure
it leads to deep happiness. A sense of joy
surfaces when I reflect on ways that my life
is in service to others, whether it is by nursing my child, teaching others, or volunteering my time and skills to an organization in
the community.
For this Sukkot, consider what makes
you happy. Try out this plan: Seven Steps to
True Happiness: Sukkot Style.
• Build a sukkah. Even if you don’t have
a backyard or garden, ask about the roof of
your building. Or find someone who has
one and have a meal there. Does the food
taste any different to you outside? How
does eating in a temporary structure make
you appreciate the permanence of your
home? What other new perspectives do you
gain?
• Invite wisdom into your sukkah. In the
spirit of ushpizin, inviting guests into your
sukkah, invite the wisdom of friends and
relatives (living or dead) who cannot join
you this Sukkot. Write down a saying or
phrase from them that inspires you and turn
it into a piece that can decorate your
sukkah, or share it aloud at your next meal.
• Invite a guest to your table. In the spirit of repairing relationships – something we
focus on greatly during Rosh Hashanah and
Yom Kippur – make time to share a meal together with a friend you haven’t seen in
awhile or from whom you have grown distant.
• Enjoy the harvest. Wave the lulav and
etrog (especially fun to do with kids!), symbols of the fall harvest. Learn about what
produce is harvested in your area and even
go to a farm stand or a farm. Speak to the
farmers and ask them about when they are
the most ‘happy’ in the work they do.
• Read the book of Ecclesiastes. Pick
one or two phrases that strike you and consider how they might relate to your own
life.
• Learn about homelessness in your
community. While a sukkah is a makeshift
dwelling place that will last seven days for
us, there are others in our community, without homes, who live outdoors in makeshift
dwellings year round.
• Help others. Think about a way that
you can serve one person inside your intimate circle and one person outside it, including a stranger.
The holiday of Sukkot falls immediately
after the long process of introspection we
engage in during Rosh Hashanah and Yom
Kippur. We move from the conceptual
world of fasting and prayer to the practical
one of harvested fruits and sukkah building.
We have time to think about how to live a
life of service – to God, Torah, friends, family and our communities.
If there is a “season set for everything, a
time for every experience under heaven,”
then let this season be one of genuine rejoicing.
New Year’s message
to the Jewish communities
of the
Diaspora
By Shimon Peres
President of Israel
Hopefully, this New Year will herald the
realization of our aspirations for peace,
greater security and economic growth, as we
continue to strive to safeguard the future of
the Jewish people and strengthen the ties between Israel and our Jewish brethren in the
Diaspora.
Dramatic changes have swept across our
region in the past year, changing the face of
the Middle East forever. It has been generated by a young generation that bravely fought
to free themselves of the shackles of the oppressive regimes that governed them, putting
their lives at risk as they resolutely demanded
their basic rights for freedom, democracy,
dignity and jobs. Until the dust settles, it is
hard to forecast what lies ahead, but, along
with the risks, the coming year could offer
tremendous opportunities and possibilities,
and we must have the courage and foresight
to seize this window of opportunity to secure
a better future. A trend towards democracy
and freedom in the region will benefit Israel
as well, and we shall closely watch its
progress.
Changes have also occurred in Israel. The
grassroots social justice movement that has
sprouted up across the country has demonstrated that the people of Israel are engaged
and socially aware, denoting a spirit of solidarity for each other and their society. They
are prepared to fight for a better future for
themselves and their children, and it has been
an uplifting experience to witness the sight of
hundreds of thousands of people peacefully
raising their voice in unison for their rights.
Here too an opportunity for change exists and
must not be wasted.
Jews in Israel and Jews in the Diaspora
share a common bond and destiny; they are
responsible for one another. These bonds
must never weaken, but always strengthen,
and, to this end, educating Jewish youth about
Israel, while cultivating their engagement to
Israel, is of paramount importance. No less
important is the education of Israeli youth
about their brothers and sisters in the Diaspo-
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Miri Eisin: veteran Israeli
intelligence officer and
government spokesperson
on making her choices
By Louise Rachlis
Miri Eisin says she represents
“a working mom’s dilemma – a
little to the extreme.”
The retired colonel, who served
for 20 years in the Israeli intelligence community, is the keynote
speaker at Choices, an event of the
Women’s Campaign of the Jewish
Federation of Ottawa. The
evening for women will be held
October 25 at Agudath Israel Congregation.
Choices brings women together to be inspired and motivated to
become involved in the greater
good of their community.
“I believe each one of us needs
to find her own comfort zone,”
Eisin told the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin from her home in Israel.
“More work, less work. More
family, less involved – whatever
works for each one of us.”
Eisin served in combat units at
the brigade and division level, in
the research department at general
headquarters and in the northern
regional command, and as assistant to the director of Military Intelligence.
She was the Israeli government
spokesperson during the Second
Lebanon war in July 2006 and
continued in the position of the
prime minister’s foreign media
adviser until the end of 2007.
As well, she served as a special
spokesperson during Operation
Defensive Shield in April-May
2002, and also as a government
spokesperson in Operation Cast
Lead in December 2008-January
2009.
As a spokesperson for the Israeli government, prioritization
and organization were key factors.
“The challenges facing Israel
‘The challenge for Israel
is how to realign itself
in the changing
Middle East’
Miri Eisen comments on Israel’s current situation with
Turkey and Iran:
“The Middle East as a region
is in the midst of a major
change. There are three regional
powers in the Middle East –
Turkey, Israel and Iran. All
three are watching the upheaval; Turkey and Iran are
more directly involved.
“One aspect of the regional
turmoil is religious – Turkey is
Sunni while Iran is Shiite. A different aspect of the unrest is the
domestic woes of each country
and especially the lack of representation in their countries’ decision-making process over
decades.
“Turkey presents a clear
Muslim secular model – the
state rules, not the Muslim law,
yet with great respect to the
Muslim background. Iran, of
course, represents a completely
different model – a Muslim religious law state, no secular laws
with all the implications.
“As such the Israeli-Turkish
relationship has been evolving
for the last decade and has
reached a tipping point over the
last year.
“Turkey is a regional power
and a growing world influence.
The present Turkish government views Israel as a regional
challenge and not asset. Both
sides are still trying to understand the new environment,
which is mainly unstable at the
moment.
“Israel, in this case, is perceived again as the outsider –
not Muslim – and also as oppressing Muslims.
“The challenge for Israel is
how to realign itself in the
changing Middle East when we
still don’t know what the end
result will be.”
in the public arena are many, so
the first was then – and still is –
choosing both what you do and
also what you do not do,” she said.
“The task of prime minister’s
media adviser has two parts – advising the PM and co-ordinating
media time for him, and presenting the PM’s positions to the
media.
“The PM does not meet the
media all the time. The press adviser talks with the media 24
hours a day, seven days a week.”
She chose to focus on prioritizing the different media outlets,
delegating the responsibility to
talk to all the media representatives between the members of the
team.
“The international media stationed in Israel get immediate responses to their questions,” she
said. “This is all still in response
to their agenda without the Israeli
side refining the agenda.
“I was more frustrated by the
fact that we seldom defined the
agenda than by our lack of capability to respond.”
Married with three children,
Eisin holds a BA from Tel Aviv
University in Middle Eastern studies and a master’s degree in security studies from Haifa University.
She is also a graduate of Israel’s
National Defense College.
She has been a public servant
her entire adult life, serving in the
Israel Defense Forces for 20 years,
and, after retiring from active
duty, was requested to serve in the
Prime Minister’s Office.
“I feel privileged that I was
able to do so,” Eisin said, attributing part of her willingness to serve
the State of Israel to her background as an immigrant.
“My parents made aliyah to Israel when I was eight years old.
Part of it is the sense that we need
to continue to serve to have this
country and to make it flourish. At
the end, a lot of it has to do with
the quality of people you meet
along the way.”
She felt she had skills that were
used to their utmost in the Prime
Minister’s Office, and there was a
growing section of people and or-
Miri Eisin to speak at the Choices event, October 25.
ganizations willing to help out
“with a guiding hand.”
But the real challenge is to
have a family life as well as an important career, she said.
“I am married, we have three
children, and the balance between
our careers and family life is the
one which still follows me all the
time.
“I feel each person needs to
find their own personal balance
which makes them comfortable.
“For example, the only reason I
finally left the PM’s Office was
my lack of capability to strike a
comfortable balance for me – either I felt I was not doing the job
properly, but mostly I felt that I
was missing every event, small
and large, in my children’s and
family life.
“Each person handles this
enormous challenge in a different
way.”
Eisin said a career in the security realm is not an easy one.
“I have been stationed in positions where I came home once a
week, but I did that before having
children.
“I am a military person that has
taken her security background,
and in my second or third career, I
am using my knowledge to assist
others understand the complex
challenges we face on our side of
the ocean.”
These days, she feels she has
struck a comfortable balance.
“I both work extensively, lecturing and teaching, and I am
home with the kids enough to feel
I have an impact on their upbringing.”
As a teacher and lecturer on
contemporary Middle East and security issues, she gets the opportunity to “brief in-depth visiting
diplomats, leaders, journalists,
students – and to define the subject, as opposed to responding to
events.”
Eisin teaches an honours
course on the narratives of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center, investing much of her time to research on the narratives and to expanding the knowledge of the implications to the conflict in the region.
She hopes some day to write a
book on it.
“For now, I am gathering material and using it as a teaching base
for my extensive lecture series,”
she said.
“I am sure that women can do it
all,” said Eisin, “each one in her
own way! Doing it all means making choices – and that is the hard
part.”
Choices takes place Tuesday,
October 25, 6:00 pm, at Agudath
Israel Congregation, 1400 Coldrey Avenue. For more information, contact Erin Bolling at
613-798-4696, ext. 274, or
[email protected].
Honouring tradition in light of
compassion and empathy
I walked into shul on Friday, September 9 and walked
out, on Sunday, September 11, feeling like a transformed
person emerging from a transformed community. The institutional bricks were the same, but the gaps had been filled
with a new mortar, a mortar of hope.
From an institutional culture where I worried complacency might be taking hold, as is often the case with large institutions whose positive legacies cast a long shadow on
change, I discovered a culture of grappling, a creative and
exciting vulnerability – never before had I openly wept
around a board table – and an openness to reconsidering
what was possible.
In short, my synagogue had become both a beit midrash
(house of study) and a beit knesset (a house of prayer; also a
house of gathering and entry). And, for that Shabbat at least,
it was a true kehilla kedosha (sacred community).
As an academic and active Jewish community member,
much of my life is devoted to teaching, learning, speaking,
and the transfer of ideas. But I was totally unprepared for the
searing emotional punch Rabbi Steven Greenberg delivered
over three days of teaching, listening and engaging as a
scholar-in-residence at Agudath Israel Congregation.
The major theme of the weekend was GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered) inclusion, but it was so much
more.
Being gay and Orthodox, Rabbi Greenberg struggles
daily with opposition from his own community. He’s the
only rabbi I know of who visits congregations, inspires them
and leaves them saddened by his departure, but whose own
movement would never hire him as a pulpit rabbi.
The weekend was also about how we confront difference
in our own lives and as communities. It was about what
frightens us and why that might be the case. It was about empathy – not pity. And, for me, it was about examining how
our own sense of insecurity and fear of being judged by others can engender closed and unwelcoming stances. Being secure, being healthy within one’s own four walls, having a
solid culture of care, is what leads to open and inclusive
communities.
How often do we stop to introduce ourselves to someone
new or at least new to us? Maybe we don’t because we assume we’re the one who is new; we are the one who is Other.
But, in that I-Thou encounter, we are always new to each
other; there is always more to understand and to learn, and
experiences with which to empathize.
During the weekend, people came to Agudath who had
not been there before. Many members of Keshet, Ottawa’s
group for LGBT Jews, participated. Individuals encountered
one another in a new way.
On Saturday night, following a screening of the documentary Hineini, about a lesbian coming out in her Boston
Jewish day school, there was important dialogue about how
Ottawa’s Jewish community can make our gay teens feel
safe, loved and accepted. To that end, I would like to help
start a Jewish community GSA (gay-straight alliance), something already popular at many high schools.
I would like to identify key individuals at an array of Jewish community institutions – not only schools – who would
volunteer to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our Jewish
youth, a number of whom must be hurting from the many
negative messages they have encountered from rigid Judaic
textual readings regarding their emerging sexual identity.
Values, Ethics,
Community
Mira
Sucharov
The beauty of a GSA is that its membership is not only for
gays and lesbians; it’s for anyone who wants to see a healthier community relationship to GLBT issues.
Contact me at [email protected] if you
would like to be involved.
In a most Judaic and scholarly fashion, Rabbi Greenberg, a
lover of Torah, taught us how tradition can be honoured while
being interpreted in light of compassion and empathy. GLBT
Jews need not renounce their relationship to Judaism, even to
halachic Judaism. And Jewish communal institutions need
not, and, indeed should not, treat gays and lesbians as somehow less deserving of a place at the evolving Judaic table.
How can we, as a community, ride the wave of support
that this Shabbaton spurred? How can we make sure our
doors are open – truly open, not in name only – to all who
wish to experience their Jewish identity in a communal context?
How can we make sure we are honouring all members of
our community and helping sanctify the life-cycle events of
not only straight Jews, but of gay Jews too, even if that
means taking a second look at our existing texts and prayers
to tease new truths out of them?
We are a people of the book, but we don’t keep those
books in closets. We hold them high for all to read, and talk
about, and to engage with, together.
Mira Sucharov, an associate professor of political science
at Carleton University, blogs at Haaretz.com.
Jewish genealogists gather for annual conference
The 31st annual conference of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies took place August
14 to 19 in Washington D.C. and was attended by 1,200
family researchers. This was my seventh conference since
2002 and I was joined by friend and fellow Ottawa genealogist Hymie Reichstein. Attendees hailed from across the
United States, Canada, Israel, Europe and Australia.
People ask me what takes place at these conferences. Of
course, the main objective of doing genealogy is to discover more about one’s roots, and spending almost a full week
with so many fellow researchers provides several ways to
advance this goal, the first being the series of lectures and
meetings scheduled over the six days.
Each day was set up like a school timetable. There were
three periods in the morning and three in the afternoon.
There were also events taking place over breakfast, over
lunch and in the evenings. In total, almost 250 sessions
were scheduled and attendees were able to pick and choose
which lectures and meetings to go to. Sometimes, that involved tough choices when several sessions of interest took
place at the same time.
About half the sessions were geographic in nature dealing with researching particular regions such as Galicia or
Hungary. Most of the others fell into categories including
cemeteries, genetics, the Holocaust, Internet and software,
maps, publishing, research and genealogical society management. The presenters were experts in their fields and
most sessions were 75 minutes, allowing time for questions
and answers. Discussions often continued in the hallways
long after the allotted time had elapsed.
Regional sessions I attended related to Galicia and
Bessarabia, two areas where my ancestors once lived. At
one of the Galician lectures, an 1875 map was displayed of
Connecting
the branches
John
Diener
the market square of the town of Grzymalow, where my father was born. I was excited to find the Diener name in the
fine print on several of the shops in the town square. Obviously, these 19th century merchants were related to me.
I don’t have space to describe all the lectures that I attended, but they were quite varied in both content and style.
One very interesting and entertaining session was presented by a criminal investigator who explained how the techniques he uses to track down criminals and witnesses can be
used to find long lost relatives. Other sessions I went to
dealt with Israeli databases, searching for information on
people who were in Displaced Persons camps, and a very
informative and humorous two-part lecture on the 1940
U.S. census.
These conferences are also about networking. At registration, everyone is issued a badge displaying their name,
and the towns and surnames they are researching. At my
first conference in 2002, I was at a session, and noticed that
the woman from California sitting next to me was also researching Grzymalow. We compared notes, have been good
friends ever since, and have collaborated on many projects
over the years. I have come to know many of the important
people in Jewish genealogy and have used these friendships
to further my research and to get answers for others. For
the past several years, several of us with roots from a town
named Zhvanets have got together over lunch one day of
the conference. While we catch up on what we have discovered individually over the past year, we also imagine
that our great-great-grandparents may have known each
other in the shtetl almost two centuries ago.
Attending these conferences, which are held in different
cities each year, provides me with another reason to travel
and meet more relatives. As my family tree has grown, I
have discovered that my cousins are distributed all over the
map. In Washington, I went out four separate evenings with
different family members who live in the area. Two of these
were close cousins I had discovered through my research
and never met before. While my days at the conference
were spent learning about how to discover more about
those who had lived before us, I was thrilled to spend my
evenings listening to great stories about branches of my
own family who are alive and well.
After these intense days of learning and talking with fellow genealogists, I always find myself with renewed enthusiasm, which encourages me to dive back into my personal
research using what I have discovered at the conference.
The 2012 conference will be held next July in Paris and
many North Americans who attend will use it as jumpingoff point to visit their ancestral towns in Eastern Europe. I
may do the same, and, as in Washington, I have discovered
relatives in both Paris and Versailles, so I’ll be sure to connect with them.
The Jewish Genealogical Society of Ottawa has resumed
our monthly meetings.
Let us know at [email protected] if you’d like to be
on our mailing list and be notified of meetings
Kibbutz life through a child’s eye
The Last Rain
By Edeet Ravel
Penguin Canada
231 pages
The kibbutz movement is in deep transition. What once
were socialist beacons embodying a collectivist spirit and
pioneering dream are now mostly being privatized, and seniors who devoted their youth to building the kibbutz now
see their pensions in jeopardy.
Along comes Edeet Ravel’s slight but layered novel to
help anchor us in the collective bedrock on which kibbutz
dreams were built. Author of a gripping trilogy of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – Ten Thousand Lovers, Look for
Me, and A Wall of Light – Israeli-Canadian author Ravel
gives us a more studied, and much less plot-driven, meditation of kibbutz life in the early decades of the state.
At the heart of the novel is six-year old Dori, who has recently returned to the fictional Kibbutz Eldar in Northern
Galilee with her family after two years away in Canada.
Ravel modelled Eldar on Sasa, the kibbutz where she spent
the first seven years of her childhood.
Children’s voices narrating adult novels are often an effective conceit, but Ravel doesn’t keep us glued to Dori’s
voice alone. Along with vintage photographs dotting the
text, Ravel intersperses the narrative with various historical
Book Review
Mira
Sucharov
fragments, including journal entries from the founder of a
kibbutz in the 1920s.
The historical fragments focus on the experience of pioneering life as centring on the vagaries and beauty of nature, against the background of a subtle awareness of those
the Zionist dream displaced.
“1 February 1949. Not rain but snow, snow! Twelve
inches deep in places and still falling. The whole appearance of the place is transformed. The ruins of the village
look like reclining polar bears and the terraces and familiar
paths are hidden. The pipes are frozen and a few people
have twisted their ankles in bad falls.”
The narrative centres on Dori’s experience in the Children’s House, that utopian experiment in inculcating Israeli
children with the collectivist ethic. (Kibbutzim did away
with Children’s Houses as early as the 1960s, a process that
continued into the 1980s, but their legacy remains strong in
the Israeli imagination.)
Dori’s difficulty readjusting to the kibbutz bedtime routine grants her the unique privilege of having her parents
tuck her in each night. There are jealousies among the children regarding private property (particularly gifts from
grandparents who live outside the kibbutz or even abroad),
there is secret and inappropriate sexual experimentation,
and the narrative is punctured by episodes of violent childcare verging on abuse.
Still, Dori owns this world as one would a delicate nest
egg, and describes her surroundings with a sense of childlike wonder and sentiment.
Dori makes it clear her passion for the kibbutz resides
largely outside of the confines of the Children’s House.
Outdoors, nature presents a sort of paradise. “This is the
best hike of my life. Everything is beautiful. There’s a
whole field of red anemones! Shiny red with black in the
middle. Maybe if we’re lucky we’ll even see a cyclamen
under a rock.”
Also spotlighted is the philosophical tension between
serving the needs of the micro-community and pursuing
grander goals such as Eldar’s experiment in bringing in distressed and neglected youth from around the country, an experiment that yields mixed, and sometimes frightening, results.
Most unique about the novel is Ravel’s use of extensive
endnotes, including mentions of doctoral dissertations,
transcripts of Internet chat conversations, newspaper clippings and historical elaborations of episodes such as the
doomed Israeli hikers’ infiltration to Petra in the 1950s. It’s
a creative concept that lends a contemporary and even postmodern flair to a book anchored in the past.
While the obsessive academic in me didn’t want to miss
a note – many of them do fill in interesting historical blanks
and Hebrew-English wordplay for the uninitiated – I felt
mildly frustrated by being taken away from the rhythm of
the prose.
But, pondering it further, perhaps Ravel is using the
form as a metaphor for the frustration that children often
feel when their voices are interrupted.
The novel suggests a longing for an earlier time of
heady, self-sacrificing pioneering days. But, in its complexity of form, and in its rendering of challenging moments in
the life of a kibbutz child, the novel does manage to present
kibbutz life in much of its complexity.
Fans of Ravel’s earlier trilogy (as I am) won’t get the
same breathless plot and emotional immersion, but they
will get a taste of the inner world of one Israeli child in the
1960s, and, by extension, the longings of a nation.
Readers and advertisers are advised
the next edition of the
Ottawa Jewish Bulletin will be published
on Monday, October 31, 2011.
Deadline: Wednesday, October 5, 2011.
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A troika of wings recipes
A chicken wing craving is a strange thing. It can sneak
up when you least expect it. You will be minding your own
business for weeks, munching your way through sensible
breakfasts of plain fat-free Greek yogurt and berries packed
with enough antioxidants to ward of the Plague and virtuous lunches of humus and carrot sticks when, suddenly, like
a tsunami, the urge for something sweet or spicy, but undeniably crispy and finger-licking yummy takes over your
brain.
You must give into this craving for wings. If you don’t,
you end up sneaking chocolate chips from the baking drawer, Cheetos from the kids’ snack cupboard, and Peanut
M&M’s from your spouse’s secret candy drawer (not such
a secret, Rog!), none of which will satisfy the wing craving,
but will leave you with feelings of shame, guilt and queasiness. (Not that I speak from personal experience, but I have
heard this does happen to some people.)
So, for the sake of good mental health, it’s best to go directly for the wings. I will not address physical health here.
This is a column about chicken wings, after all. And, every
once in a while, it’s OK to give into that craving.
The first recipe is a classic: Honey Garlic Wings. I have
been making this recipe for years. I can’t even remember
where I learned how to make these. Maybe it was in the
food section of the Ottawa Citizen in the early ‘90s. They
were a staple when my kids were little.
The second wing recipe, Smokin’ Wings with Chipotle
Marinade, is for when you need a little heat to temper all
that fat. These are not painfully hot, make-you-sweat chicken wings. They are just pleasantly spicy, make-you-faintlyglow hot.
The final wings recipe rounding out my troika is Uncle
Earl’s Wings. Uncle Earl is my friend Edward’s uncle. Edward made these for us as a cocktail snack while we were
at the cottage this summer. He brought out a huge heaping
platter of these crispy wings and it was reduced to a pile of
bones in minutes. When I asked him for the recipe, he
smiled sheepishly and brought out a jar of Montreal Steak
Honey Garlic Chicken Wings
3 pounds chicken wings (about 24 whole wings),
trimmed and separated
1/3 cup VH Honey Garlic Sauce
1/3 cup Diana Honey Garlic Sauce
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
Preheat oven to 375 F. Line the bottom of a broiler pan
with several layers of foil. Spray the top of the broiler pan
with Pam (this makes clean up easier). Spread wings out
in a single layer on the top rack of the broiler pan and
bake for about 15 minutes.
While wings are cooking, combine remaining ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until
sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Set aside about 1/2
cup of sauce. Brush sauce on wings and cook for an additional 15 minutes. Turn wings over, brush again and bake
for a final 15 minutes.
Recipe can be prepared several hours ahead of time to
this point. Let wings cool slightly and refrigerate if you
are going to do this in advance.
Just before serving, brush wings with the 1/2 cup of reserved sauce and broil until the glaze becomes like candy
and wings are well browned and heated through.
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Made
with Love
Cindy Feingold
Spice. Seriously, that’s it! Just rub a ton of Montreal Steak
Spice on to a bowlful of wings and bake in a hot (425 F)
oven until crispy! You will be deemed a culinary god or
goddess. People will beg you for the recipe and you can either be gracious, like Edward, and pass on the secret, or just
smile and say you lost the recipe. Entirely up to you!
Smokin’ Wings
with Chipotle Marinade
This recipe hails from Cottage Life’s Summer
Weekend Cookbook.
24 whole chicken wings (about 3 pounds)
2 chipotle peppers in adobo, finely chopped
(remove seeds if you like it less hot)
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
Cut off and discard tips from wings and cut wings
in two at the joint.
Mix together remaining ingredients for marinade.
Toss wings with marinade and refrigerate for 1-2
hours.
Preheat oven to 375 F. Line the bottom of a broiler
pan with several sheets of foil. Remove wings from
marinade, spread out in a single layer on rack of broiler pan and bake for about 45 minutes. Depending on
how big the wings are, you may need to do this in two
batches.
Boil leftover marinade in small pot for about 5
minutes to kill off any bacteria from raw chicken. Preheat gas grill on high for 5 minutes. Turn heat down to
medium and grill wings, brushing with marinade, for
about 5-10 minutes until brown and crispy. If you
don’t want to finish the wings off outside on the grill,
you can also preheat the broiler for about 5 minutes
and broil wings, brushing with marinade and turning
until both sides are mahogany brown and crispy.
Uncle Earl’s Chicken Wings
3 pounds chicken wings (about 24 whole wings)
1/2 cup Montreal Steak Spice
Preheat oven to 375 F.
Cut off and discard tips from wings and cut wings
in two at the joint.
Place wings in a large mixing bowl and gently
massage in the Montreal Steak Spice.
Line the bottom of a broiler pan with several
sheets of foil. Spread out wings in a single layer on
rack of broiler pan and bake for about 45 minutes.
Depending on how big the wings are, you may need
to do this in two batches.
Preheat the broiler for about 5 minutes and broil
wings, turning over once until both sides are deeply
brown and crispy.
Eighteen things you may not know about Gail Lieff
If you grew up in Ottawa over the past 20 years, or you
currently have school-aged children, chances are you have
met Gail Lieff. Gail has been an employee of the Jewish
Community Centre (JCC) and now the Soloway JCC for 20
years. Before that, she was a JCC camp counsellor over her
summers.
Gail is the Soloway JCC children and teen programming
manager, which encompasses the after-school programs,
Sunday youth workshops, Soloway JCC birthday parties
and Jewish family programs. The job also includes being
B’nai Brith Youth Organization city director and JCC specialty camps co-ordinator.
Previously, Gail taught at the Soloway JCC Ganon
Preschool and claims to have never forgotten a child she
has met.
I always think of Gail running around the Soloway JCC
with a clipboard in one hand, a walkie-talkie in the other
and a smile on her face. I was able to catch up with her for
a few minutes – which is not an easy feat – to learn more
about this energetic and very creative lady.
Here are 18 things you may not know about Gail Lieff …
1. I love to host birthday parties, but cannot light a
match when it comes to lighting candles.
2. I love egg rolls and mint chocolate chip ice cream,
but not necessarily together.
3. I am a huge and long-time Habs fan, and I’m confident they will bring home the Stanley Cup this year!
4. People are surprised to learn that, away from work,
when not surrounded by a ton of children, I am actually shy
and quiet.
5. I am not really an avid reader, but am currently reading The Black Dagger Brotherhood, the seventh book in
J.R. Ward’s vampire series. It is fantastic.
6. I collect Disney Videos on VHS. My most-prized
video is Dumbo.
7. I am related to the Rideau Bakery Kardish family
through my father. I absolutely love their onion pletzels and
multi-grain bread.
Preparing to visit Florida
during hurricane season
From: Lynda Reid
To: Zeus
Sent: Wednesday, September 7, 2011 7:18:39 PM
Subject: Headin’ South
We’re off to Florida for a few days. Visiting our son and
going to a college football game, including our first ever
tailgating party. No hurricanes please. LR
Dear Ms. Reid,
Zeus has received your prayer, dated September 7 and
asked me to reply on his behalf.
As you know, he is currently preoccupied with keeping
the forces of chaos at bay. I am pleased to inform you that he
is fully committed to following a policy of peace with respect to the use of lightning and thunder during your visit,
but you might also wish to consider sacrificing a virgin of
some kind. Please note that we have also passed your request
on to Poseidon, as hurricanes originate in his domain.
Thank you for drawing our attention to this crucial matter.
Sincerely,
Zeus’s deputy minister
cc: Poseidon
Dear Ms. Reid,
I am in receipt of your request for no hurricanes during
your visit to Florida and would be pleased to help you, but,
as you are aware, I require the assistance and support of
other departments, specifically of Aeolus, master of the
winds. This requires much more co-ordination than Zeus,
my brother, fully realized. So I have passed your request on
to Aeolus to ensure that maximum effort is extended on
your behalf. A young female virgin sacrifice would be helpful. Do you know anyone named Andromache?
I am sure you appreciate the time and work all of this requires and hope you will be patient as you await the final
result of our deliberations, which should be carried out before your visit begins.
Please accept, Ms. Reid, this expression of my respect,
Poseidon, god of the sea
cc: Zeus, Aeolus
Humour me,
please
Rubin
Friedman
Dear Ms. Reid,
I have just received a missive from my one time father,
Poseidon, god of the sea, passing on your request for no
hurricanes.
With due respect, I must note that I have no authority to
carry out such requests without proper consultation with all
the forces of nature involved, including nymphs and other
divine creatures.
To that end, I am proposing that we form a joint task
force with representatives of Zeus, Poseidon and the other
creatures, as well as my own department to ensure that your
request is given prompt attention.
As this process is likely to take some time, I am not sure
we will be able to provide you with a final answer before
you leave. But I am pleased to report the result of our joint
co-operation will be made clear to you before you arrive
home from your journey. A sacrifice of some burnt extravirgin olive oil from Greece will suffice.
I am sure you understand the complexities of managing
winds everywhere in the world and assuring appropriate
weather for everyone. You can be confident that we are indeed doing our very best.
Believing the news we will provide you will be of the
kind you want to hear, I remain a loyal servant to the gods
and to you.
Your servant,
Aeolus
cc: Zeus, Poseidon, various nymphs and supernatural
beings
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their advertisment in the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin.
18 things ...
Sarah
Silverstein
8. I have an elderly cat named Raffi who thinks he is a
dog.
9. My Hebrew names are Golda Etta and I was named
after my great-grandmothers.
10. I am a self-identified obsessive-compulsive neat
freak and need everything to be in order and in its rightful
place.
11. When I was 10, I won “best costume” at the Agudath
Israel Purim Parade. I was a nice little Jewish girl dressed
up as the Little Drummer Boy!
12. My favourite place in Israel is the Kotel on Shabbat
as the yeshiva bochers (boys) arrive, singing and excited
for Shabbat to begin.
13. The messiest art project I have ever done with children is papier mâché. I continue to do it, despite the mess,
because it is so much fun!
14. I enjoy a wide variety of music, but two of my
favourite bands are Blue Rodeo, whom I have seen in concert at least three times, and the Beatles. My favourite Beatles song is “Blackbird.”
15. I am completely tone deaf.
16. If I won the opportunity to travel anywhere and leave
tomorrow, I would choose to go to Western Canada and
Dallas, Texas. No particular reason for either of these
choices – they’re just places I would love to visit!
17. I was born and raised in Ottawa and have always
lived in the west end. I attended Fisher Park when it had a
high school, and Algonquin College where I earned my
ECE. I briefly lived in Toronto when I attended George
Brown College.
18. I love to go shoe shopping! My most recent purchase
was a pair of comfy black Crocs, which saw me through another fantastic summer of JCC summer camps.
Gail Lieff on the Jewish Community Campus playground with a clipboard in one hand, a walkie-talkie in
the other and a smile on her face.
WHAT’S GOING ON
October 3 to 30, 2011
WEEKLY EVENTS
MONDAYS
Motorin Munchkins for children 5 and under, sponsored by the
Family Life Centre. Must be accompanied by an adult, 9:00 am to
noon. Info: 613-798-9818, ext. 294.
CANDLELIGHTING
BEFORE
EREV YOM KIPPUR
Oct 7
✡ 6:14 pm
EREV SUKKOT
Oct 12 ✡ 6:05 pm
First Day SUKKOT
Oct 13 ✡
after
7:05 pm
Oct 14 ✡ 6:01 pm
HOSHANAH RABBAH
Oct 19 ✡ 5:53 pm
SHEMINI ATZERET
Oct 20 ✡
after
6:53 pm
Oct 21 ✡ 5:49 pm
Oct 28 ✡ 5:38 pm
TUESDAYS
Israeli Folk Dancing, no partner necessary, Ottawa Jewish
Community School, 31 Nadolny
Sachs Private, 7:00 pm. Info:
[email protected].
WEDNESDAYS
Playgroup for babies and toddlers, sponsored by the Family Life
Centre. Must be accompanied by
an adult, 9:00 to 11:30 am. Info:
613-798-9818, ext 294.
FRIDAYS
Shabbat Shalom for children 5
and under, sponsored by the Family Life Centre. Must be accompanied by an adult, 9:30 to 11:00 am.
Info: 613-798-9818, ext. 294.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4
Jewish Cabaret in Exile, sponsored by SJCC: Lecture and performances of Jewish cabaret songs
from the 1930s and 1940s with
music expert Jean-Jacques Van
Vlassalaer and vocalist/pianist
Sylvia Larrass, 7:30 pm. Info: 613798-9818, ext. 263.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18
Power Breakfast: “Philanthropy: Enriching our Community;
Maximizing Your Estate Objectives
and Optimizing Tax Planning” with
Richard Kluska, founder of IP
Strategies, an independent private
family office at Canaccord Wealth
Management. Sponsored by Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation. Breakfast at 7:30 am. Reservations required: 613-798-4696,
ext. 252.
Malca Pass Book Discussion
Group: “To the End of the Land,”
by David Grossman, reviewed by
Sophie Kohn Kaminsky, Agudath
Israel, 1400 Coldrey Avenue, 7:30
pm. Info: 613-829-2455.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 24
14th Annual Ottawa Celebrity
Sports Dinner, in support of the
SJCC and Citizen Advocacy, with
Super Bowl legend Joe Montana,
Happy Sukkot from the
Ottawa Jewish Bulletin!
Hampton Inn and Conference Centre, 100 Coventry Road. Cocktails
at 5:45; dinner at 7:00 pm. Info:
613-798-9818, ext. 242.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25
CHOICES, a women’s event
sponsored by Jewish Federation of
Ottawa: dinner and talk by retired
Col. Miri Eisin, who served 20 years
in Israeli intelligence, Agudath Israel Congregation, 1400 Coldrey
Avenue, 6:00 pm. Info: 613-7984696, ext. 274.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27
AJA 50+ Bridge and MahJongg Fundraiser: All welcome.
Other board games available, Agudath Israel, 1400 Coldrey Avenue,
11:15 am. Info: 613-422-6766.
Systems Biology Lecture,
with Prof. Pilpel from Weizmann Institute of Science, looks at how the
many parts of the body function together, Canadian Blood Services,
1800 Alta Vista Drive, 5:30 pm. Info:
514-342-0777.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30
Yiddish Award Presentation
and Concert: In conjunction with
the SJCC, the uOttawa Vered Jewish Canadian Studies Program presents Sarah Anne Gisele with the
Ethel Cooper Yiddish Studies
Award of Excellence. Montreal’s
Yiddish Theatre Singers will
sing/act songs from New York’s
2nd Avenue Yiddish Theatre and
from Broadway, 2:00 pm. Info: 613798-9818, ext. 254.
Hillel Lodge Auxiliary Tea, cel-
ebrating the Lodge’s soon-to-be
121 residents with a “21 bed
salute” and entertainment to mark
the expected end-of-the-year
opening. The tea is a major Auxiliary fundraiser, which brings many
extra comforts to the residents. 10
Nadolny Sachs Private, 2:00 pm.
Info: 613-829-9911.
Gala Evening to mark Rabbi
Howard Finkelstein’s 20 years
with Congregation Beit Tikvah, 15
Chartwell Avenue, 6:00 pm. Info:
613-723-1800.
COMING SOON
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3
Holocaust Education Month speaker: Paul Shapiro, director of
the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the U.S. Holocaust
Memorial Museum in Washington, Agudath Israel Congregation,
1400 Coldrey Avenue, 7:00 pm.
Info: 613-798-9818, ext. 253.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8
JNF Negev Dinner: keynote speaker broadcaster Barbara Walters,
Fairmont Château Laurier, 1 Rideau Street, 6:00 pm.
Info: 613-798-2411.
Unless otherwise noted, activities take place at The Joseph and Rose Ages Family Building, 21 Nadolny Sachs Private.
This information is taken from the community calendar maintained by the Jewish Ottawa InfoCentre. Organizations which would like their events to be listed, no matter where they are to be held, should send the information to InfoCentre coordinator Benita Siemiatycki via e-mail at [email protected] or fax at 613-798-4695. She can also be reached by telephone at 613-798-4644. Accurate details must be provided and all events must be open to the Jewish public.
Condolences
Condolences are extended
to the families of:
Lilian Hockman
Claire Kevanstein
Annetta (Anita) Leighton
Esther Spiegelman
May their memory be a blessing always.
The
CONDOLENCE
COLUMN
is offered
as a public service
to the community.
There is no charge.
For a listing
in this column,
please call
613-798-4696,
ext. 232.
Voice mail is available.
BULLETIN
DEADLINES
OCTOBER 5
FOR OCTOBER 31
OCTOBER 26
FOR NOVEMBER 14
NOVEMBER 9
FOR NOVEMBER 28
JEWISH
MEMORIAL
GARDENS
Your
one-stop
resource
centre for
funeral
planning
613-688-3530
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If you are in or are planning retirement, talk to us. Learn why investors are putting
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out more? Call us to receive an information package or visit www.romspen.com.
162 Cumberland Street, Suite 300
Toronto, Ontario M5R 3N5

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin

Transcription

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