ottawa jewish Sara and Zeev Vered Educational Area inaugurated

Transcription

Plant A Tree
For All Reasons
Jewish
National
Fund
of
Ottawa
Tel: (613) 798-2411
Fax: (613) 798-0462
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ottawa
jewish
To Remember
• To Congratulate
• To Honour
• To Say “I Care”
•
Young Women’s
Leadership Council
page 14
www.ottawajewishbulletin.com
bulletin
volume 75, no. 19
september 5, 2011
Ottawa Jewish Bulletin Publishing Co. Ltd. •
21 Nadolny Sachs Private, Ottawa, Ontario K2A 1R9
•
Publisher: Mitchell Bellman
•
elul 6, 5771
Editor: Michael Regenstreif $2.00
Sara and Zeev Vered Educational Area
inaugurated at Ben-Gurion’s desert home
By Yoav Devir
KKL-JNF
An upgraded educational compound – the Sara and Zeev Vered
Educational Area – and a film presentation were inaugurated, August
14, at the desert home of David
Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime
minister, at Kibbutz Sde Boker in
the Negev Desert. Both the compound and the film production
were funded by donations from
Friends of JNF in Ottawa at the
Negev Dinner, held March 22,
2010 at the Fairmont Château Laurier, in honour of Sara Vered and in
memory of her late husband, Zeev
Vered.
The educational compound
comprises four instruction centres
where visitors will learn about the
site and the legacy of Ben-Gurion.
The film allows viewers to meet
Miri Palmach (left), director of the Ben-Gurion house site, makes a
presentation to Sara Vered from the Ben-Gurion Heritage Institute.
Sara Vered at the dedication of the Sara and Zeev Vered Educational Area at David Ben-Gurion’s home at Kibbutz Sde Boker.
(Photo: Dudu Grinshpan/KKL)
(Continued on page 2)
Gay Orthodox rabbi to be visiting scholar
at Agudath Israel Congregation, September 9-11
By Nicola Hamer
for Agudath Israel Congregation
Agudath Israel Congregation will welcome visiting scholar, Rabbi Steven Greenberg, over the weekend of September 9 to 11.
Rabbi Greenberg, a senior teaching fellow at
the National Jewish Center for Learning and
Leadership (CLAL), is the author of
Wrestling with God and Men: Homosexuality
in the Jewish Tradition.
Rabbi Greenberg is an openly gay rabbi
who follows Orthodox tradition, although
calling himself a ‘gay Orthodox rabbi’ does
cause some controversy. He was ordained in
1983 and came out publicly in 1999. He is
also the founder of a GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered) community centre in
Jerusalem called Open House.
While working to encourage Orthodox
communities to be more open to homosexual
members is a significant focus for Rabbi
Greenberg, he believes it is still very much an
issue in the wider Jewish community as well.
As he explained to Nicole Neroulias of
Religion News Service in a 2010 interview,
“There’s a desire to be tolerant, but to move
from tolerance to real welcome, and from
welcome to celebration, is something that has
yet to occur, even in the more liberal congregations.”
Ben Sher, whose family belongs to Agudath Israel, is an openly gay teenager attending university in Montreal. He agrees with
Rabbi Greenberg’s evaluation.
“Growing up in Ottawa, it’s like gay issues
aren’t even on the radar. I had my gay friends
and my Jewish friends and it never occurred
to me that they were anything but completely
incompatible.”
While Ben acknowledges that Temple Israel is known for embracing GLBT issues, “I
grew up Conservative and, if I start to become
more involved in Jewish life, that is where I’d
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Page 2 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – September 5, 2011
Educational area provides unforgettable learning experience
(Continued from page 1)
Ben-Gurion at his home in
Sde Boker and listen to his
account of eight historic
events in the annals of the
State of Israel and in his own
life. Particular emphasis is
placed on Ben-Gurion’s special relationship with the
Negev and his vision of settling the desert and making
it bloom.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by Sara
Vered and a large group of
family, friends and supporters from both Israel and
Canada.
KKL-JNF Head of Protocol Andy Michelson, master
of ceremonies for the event,
said the presence of so many
members of Vered’s family,
including her grandchildren,
symbolized the passing of
the torch from one generation to the next.
Vered concluded the inaugural proceedings with a
moving speech in which
she recalled the Negev Dinner of 17 months ago.
Negev Dinners are a Canadian JNF tradition bringing
together Friends of KKLJNF in 11 cities to raise
funds for a variety of projects in Israel.
Vered quoted Ben-Gurion
Vered family members gathered outside the Sara and Zeev Vered Educational Area at Ben-Gurion’s home.
who said, “Every person
possesses tremendous hidden strengths, which need to
be discovered and put to
use.”
These words from Israel’s first prime minister
would appear to apply to
Sara herself, who has found
her own hidden strengths
and used them for the common good.
“How wonderful it is that
we have such a great country, of which we can all be
proud,” she added.
More than 80,000 people
visit Ben-Gurion’s cabin
every year. Among them are
large numbers of soldiers,
students, tourists and families. Thanks to the new Sara
and Zeev Vered Educational
Area, these visits will be-
come an unforgettable learning experience.
Paula and David BenGurion’s cabin at Kibbutz
Sde Boker has been preserved just as it was on the
day of his death in 1973. The
guard hut nearby contains an
exhibition documenting BenGurion’s close connection
with the Negev, while the
courtyard hosts three activity centres focusing on his
links with KKL-JNF: a sand
map, two relief maps of the
Negev and a rope game.
Rabbi’s visit a pastoral response
want to be. When I was a kid, there
was no sign I’d be welcome. Not
talking about it sends the message
that we have to stay invisible.”
Ben’s mother, Erica, is a member of the adult education committee at Agudath Israel. She said she
believes that, had the sort of discussions that will be going on during
Rabbi Greenberg’s visit happened
when Ben was younger, he might
be a more engaged Jewish adult.
“I want people to understand
that we don’t want to start a crusade. We just want to start a dia-
logue. We want kids, in particular,
to feel that it is an issue that is
being taken seriously,” she said.
Rabbi Charles Popky, the congregation’s spiritual leader, also
hopes the weekend will send a message to GLBT Jews, particularly
young people.
“Addressing this issue and inviting Rabbi Greenberg here is not
necessarily about policies and practices,” he said. “It is a pastoral response to members of our community, to let them know that they matter and we care about them. These
are our family and our friends.
Rabbi Greenberg said his goal is
to “encourage Jewish communities
to open their hearts to listen to our
stories. You are taught ‘Do not
judge your neighbour until you
have come to his place.’
“While you cannot walk in our
shoes, you can listen as we share
our stories with you and tell you
what it is like to grow up gay in the
Jewish world.”
Ben Sher said he’s looking forward to Rabbi Greenberg’s visit
and the discussion that is surrounding it.
“If mainstream Judaism wants
to be relevant to young Jews, this is
a necessary discussion. It’s time
for this issue to come out of the
closet.”
The schedule for Rabbi Greenberg’s September visit to Agudath
Israel is available online at
agudathisrael.net/AdultEd.html.
While in Ottawa, Rabbi Greenberg will also take the opportunity
to meet with various agencies and
Jewish youth groups. As well, he
will be available to meet “under the
radar” with anyone who wishes. He
can be reached in advance of his
visit at sgreenberg@clal.org
Rabbi Steven Greenberg will address issues of Judaism and homosexuality as visiting scholar at
Agudath Israel, September 9-11.
MARK S. BORTS
Insurance & Financial Services
Mark S. Borts, B. Comm., CFP, CLU, CH.F.C, RHU
Telephone: 613 565 6275
Facsimile: 1 866 267 5635
Cell: 613 851 1198
mark@bortsfinancial.com
Suite 350-117 Centrepointe Drive, Ottawa, Ontario K2G 5X3
818 Boyd Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario K2A 2C7
September 5, 2011 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 3
Non-Jewish Carleton student is new president
of Israel Awareness Committee of Ottawa
By Ilana Belfer
Leaving for home after
the Hasbara Fellowships, a
16-day education and activism program in Israel,
Hashem Hamdy was interrogated by security personnel at Ben Gurion International Airport for two hours,
July 7.
He was even carrying a
Hebrew letter from the Israeli Embassy validating his
participation on the trip.
“They said, ‘We read
your letter and everything
checks out; we just don’t
understand why it is that
you’re doing this,’” recalled
Hamdy, the new city-wide
president of the Israel
Awareness Committee of
Ottawa (IAC).
Hamdy’s mother, who is
from Nova Scotia, is Christian, and his father is Egypt-
ian and Muslim.
Hamdy gave them his
standard answer, an answer,
he said, he has given hundreds of times before.
“I got involved, in part,
because anti-Zionism reminded me so much of antiSemitism and also because
Israel has the same principles that we do… and the
same enemies.”
Growing up, Hamdy was
raised celebrating holidays
from both parent’s faiths –
Eid al-Adha and Eid ul-Fitr
for dad, Christmas and Easter for mom. He described
both parents as very religious, but not at all obtrusive.
“One of the things
they’ve always said is,
‘We’ve raised you in a
house of tolerance,’” said
Hamdy.
He keeps up some of the
cultural practices he is used
to, but said he has no religious inclination himself.
Having a Jewish Israeli girlfriend in high school, he
said, opened him up to
Judaism.
In 2009, his third year at
Carleton University, Hamdy
was president of the Political Science Society, which
co-hosted an event with
Hillel and IAC during Israeli Apartheid Week. He
got to know people, learned
more and more, and ended
up serving as IAC finance
chair in 2010-2011 before
becoming this year’s president.
Reflecting on his experiences, Hamdy said, “I’ve
seen people get really heated and, quite frankly, not
want to deal with it because
JEWISH NATIONAL FUND OF OTTAWA
invites you to an evening with
Barbara
Walters
on the occasion of our
2011 NEGEV DINNER
they feel personally attacked.”
For this reason, Hamdy
said, his not being Jewish
can sometimes be an advantage in his IAC work.
“It brings legitimacy to
the argument and offers an
outside perspective,” he
said. “This is a person who
has no stake in it either way
saying, ‘Listen, this is
something we should care
about.’”
However, Hamdy said
his being IAC president
doesn’t come without some
controversy. Jews are a
tight-knit community and
some find his involvement
with Israel unusual. The
Arab community, he added,
doesn’t really understand it.
“That’s something I’ve
kind of questioned myself:
whether or not that’s something worth getting involved in,” he said. “But
when you go to Israel, you
see [the Arab population]
living better there than in
[the Arab] countries.”
Hamdy said he particularly looked forward to the
more controversial aspects
of the Hasbara Fellowship
training and cited their visit
to Hebron in the West Bank
and their getting so close to
the Syrian border that Israeli Defense Force soldiers
pulled up in a Humvee and
told them to leave.
Hashem Hamdy is the new president of the Israel
Awareness Committee of Ottawa.
“It gave you perspective
on things you can’t really
understand unless you go
there,” he said.
He said he also gained an
understanding of the importance of the security fence.
“When you walk down
Ben Yehuda Street in
Jerusalem or … along the
beach in Tel Aviv, the
knowledge that five or 10
years ago you couldn’t do
that without worrying about
at the
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Tuesday, November 8, 2011, 6:00 p.m.
Special Performance by Members of
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Dinner Chair
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Master of Ceremonies
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being blown up or shot, and
knowing that the chance of
that happening is almost nil
now,” he said, “it’s absolutely necessary for it to
be there.”
Hamdy said he will be
able to use his experiences
from the trip in his IAC
leadership position. His
goal, he added, is to change
the environment at Carleton
and make people who support Israel feel safe.
ȐɬȨɜȣɤɕȘɄɑ
THE HIGH
HOLY DAYS
Congregation Beth Shalom’s history goes back more than
a hundred years, yet as old and as traditional as we are,
we pride ourselves on our modern approach to Judaism.
Under the inspired leadership of Rabbi Scott Rosenberg,
and the beautiful rendition of prayer from Cantor Daniel Benlolo
and the Beth Shalom Choir, our services come alive with insight,
feeling and meaning, as well as all-important congregant participation.
This, combined with our youth services and child care programs,
makes for a most spiritual and memorable Beth Shalom experience.
Join our Beth Shalom family and feel the warmth and welcome.
Become a member today!
Schedule of Services
Rosh Hashanah: Thurs. Sept. 29 and Fri. Sept 30,
8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Kol Nidre: Fri. Oct. 7, 6:10 p.m.
Yom Kippur: Sat. Oct. 8, 8:15 a.m.
Sermon followed by Yizkor, approximately: 11:15 a.m.
Neilah: 6:00 p.m.
Congregation
Beth Shalom
151 Chapel Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 7Y2 • 613-789-3501
info@bethshalom.ca • www.bethshalom.ca
Every donation and volunteer hour change lives for the better
It is a pleasure to write to the community in my inaugural year as the chair
of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa’s
Annual Campaign. Fundraising is a crucial component in the life of the Federation and, although sometimes difficult, if
canvassers and donors both have a good
understanding of its importance, the
difficulties seem to disappear.
Over the years, we have all heard the
slogans used to encourage people to give,
like “When you give, we thrive” and
“Live Generously: It does a world of
good.” All campaign slogans try to convey the importance of giving, but what
does it really mean to give?
Giving comes in many forms. While
giving monetarily is crucial to the future
growth and stability of the community,
giving of your time to assist our agencies,
the clients they serve and the people
working on the front lines day in and day
out, are all forms of giving equally important to the well-being of our community.
My first experience with canvassing
came during my first year of dental
school at the University of Toronto.
Working on behalf of the United Jewish
Federation
Report
Michael
Landau
Campaign
Appeal, I canvassed some of my fellow
students. My seminal moment came
when one of my classmates threw a two
dollar bill at me and told me to leave him
alone.
I had two choices. I could get angry
or I could educate and work towards
eliminating this type of response. I chose
the latter route and made a life-long
commitment to give both my time and
money and inspire others to do the same.
A very important question to ask yourself when canvassing, or when being canvassed, is “How will my life change with
the amount I give, and how will the lives
of others change?”
There is a wide variety of answers
here, but let me share with you just a few.
For those who are giving, your life
“How will
my life change
with the
amount I give,
and how will
the lives
of others
change?”
will change because you are doing a
good deed – the mitzvah of tzedakah –
and your inner soul will be rewarded.
We can also reflect upon the level of
giving and the impact that incremental
increases have on the community. It is
interesting how, in many instances, such
incremental increases have little impact
on one’s day-to-day living, but significant impact and benefit to the beneficiaries of such donations. Every donation
you make and every hour you volunteer
changes lives for the better.
When you give, you provide lifesaving and life-enhancing assistance to
Jewish people, here in Ottawa and
around the world. By giving, you support
a powerful local and global network of
aid, care, relief, advocacy, education,
protection and emergency assistance.
In these uncertain economic times, as
our community’s needs continue to grow,
and with more people and agencies than
ever before relying on the Federation, the
funds we raise, and the help we provide,
become more precious than ever. So, if it
is within your power to give, please consider increasing your commitment. You
will make a difference in the lives of
many.
Let’s work together to meet the challenges our community faces, to address
urgent needs and create a better future in
Ottawa, so that our long-standing tradition of caring for one another continues.
On behalf of the Women’s Campaign
Chair Susan Viner-Vered, and myself, I
wish the entire Jewish community of
Ottawa a year of health and happiness,
and a year of giving.
Shana Tova!
‘The long walk is part of the gift’
A young girl in Africa gave her teacher
a holiday gift. It was a beautiful seashell.
“Where did you get this?” the teacher
asked.
The child told her that such shells
are found only on a certain faraway
beach.
The teacher was deeply touched because she knew that the little girl had
walked many miles to find the shell.
“You shouldn’t have travelled so far
just to find a gift for me,” she said.
The girl smiled and replied, “The long
walk is part of the gift.”
During the upcoming holiday season,
each of us sets out on a path in search of
gifts. The gifts are intangible: healthier
living, emotional fulfilment, spiritual
growth, deeper self-understanding, happiness, forgiveness, and all the things we
From the
pulpit
Rabbi
Scott Rosenberg
Beth Shalom
pray for during this High Holiday season.
Our tradition is there to guide us. From
the beginning of the month of Elul, the
daily blowing of the Shofar (excepting
Shabbat) and the recitation of Psalm 27
serve as reminders along our path. Prayer,
repentance and acts of loving kindness also
serve as guideposts to our journey.
But how far is each of us willing to
walk to find these gifts? Do we stay on
course when the journey grows difficult?
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 send an e-mail to bulletin@ottawajewishbulletin.com.
Do we do the serious work that is required
to reap the rewards of personal growth and
change? Do we fully invest in this journey
or do we choose the short course, tasting
the meaning of the season without investing our souls in the journey?
When I think about the value of this
season, the long walk, as the young
African girl told her teacher, is part of the
gift. Some of this journey we must take
on our own, but most of it can be done
surrounded by others walking alongside
us on a parallel journey.
At this season, all of us who pride ourselves in our affiliation with the Ottawa
Jewish community are co-travellers. We
need to support each other and encourage
each other as we search for the many invaluable gifts found along this path.
We are a sacred community and, as
such, find great meaning in our shared
mission.
May this High Holiday season, which
quickly approaches, serve as a source of
light and inspiration for each of us as we
journey along life’s path.
May the work that we do along the
way challenge us to grow as Jews and
may we always find great meaning in
every journey we undertake.
Owned by The Ottawa Jewish Bulletin Publishing Co. Ltd., 21 Nadolny Sachs Private, Ottawa, K2A 1R9.
Tel: (613) 798-4696. Fax: (613) 798-4730. Email: bulletin@ottawajewishbulletin.com. Published 19 times a year.
© copyright 2011
PUBLISHER: The Ottawa Jewish Bulletin Publishing Co. Ltd.
EDITOR: Michael Regenstreif
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ADVISORY COMMITTEE: Seymour Diener, chair; Anna Bilsky; Stephen Bindman; Mark Buckshon; Jack Cramer; Diane Koven;
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The Bulletin gets some attention
As a small community newspaper, we’re
always pleased to see the Ottawa Jewish
Bulletin get some attention. We got some
recently in two lengthy posts on the
Ottawashtetl blog – ottawashtetl.wordpress.com
– written by “Ottawayenta.”
There were also some interesting responses in the ‘Comments’ section of each
of the posts.
I thank Ottawayenta for taking time to
think and write about the Bulletin. Like so
many people in this community, the blogger obviously cares about our community
newspaper.
I would like to comment on a couple of
things raised in the blog.
There was a stated assumption that the
Ottawa Jewish Bulletin is financially supported by the Jewish Federation of Ottawa.
A natural assumption, I suppose, because
many Jewish newspapers in North America
are subsidized by federations.
The Bulletin, though, is not. We are a
self-sufficient enterprise supported entirely
by advertising and subscription revenue.
Our modest profits, in fact, support the
work of the Federation.
By the way, the cost of a Bulletin subscription has not risen in many years. At
$30 per year, an annual subscription costs
about half what I pay every month for my
home Internet account.
after all, your community newspaper.
Editor
Michael
Regenstreif
Ottawayenta suggests the Bulletin
should be available online for free as many
people, particularly young adults, don’t
read print newspapers and rely on the Internet for news and information.
I wish we could just do that.
The problem is that few, if any, newspapers have been able to break even in their
online operations. Many, including the New
York Times, are scaling back or beginning to
charge for access to their online content.
We hope soon to give the Bulletin a
greater online presence in a way that is financially viable and that makes sense for
our subscribers and advertisers.
The Bulletin always welcomes feedback, suggestions and questions from anyone in the community. I’m easily accessible at the Bulletin office, on the phone, and
via e-mail. My door is open.
And we always welcome articles, letters-to-the-editor and guest columns on issues of concern from our readers. We are,
CIJA
As we’ve reported in past issues, the
various Jewish advocacy agencies formerly under the umbrella of the Canadian
Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy
(CIJA) – the Canadian Jewish Congress,
the Canada-Israel Committee, the QuebecIsrael Committee, the University Outreach
Committee and National Jewish Campus
Life – were merged, as of July 1, into a
single agency that was temporarily called
“CIJA 2.0” until a permanent name was
chosen.
There were many people across Canada
who hoped the new agency would be
called “Canadian Jewish Congress” and
maintain the continuity of an organization
that was the major voice of Canada’s national Jewish community for almost a century.
Alas, CIJA 2.0 will not be called Canadian Jewish Congress. After several
months of behind-closed-doors discussion,
the merged agency will be called the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, or CIJA.
Jack Layton
Seldom have Canadians – of all political stripes – been as united in grief and
mourning as we were with the untimely
passing, August 22, of Opposition Leader
Jack Layton.
In the election campaign last spring,
Jack – it seems so natural to call him Jack
– appeared to be getting stronger every
day, to be recovering from cancer, as he
led the NDP to unprecedented success in
the May 2 vote.
Although fiercely partisan, Jack
earned, and kept, the respect and affection
of political friend and foe alike.
Almost immediately after his death,
CIJA announced it would establish in his
memory the Jack Layton Scholarship for
Social Justice, “to be awarded annually to
a Canadian student who demonstrates a
meaningful commitment to enhancing
Canada’s quality of life.”
CIJA chair David Koschitzky said Jack
fought for “many causes dear to Canada’s
Jewish community … We join with all
Canadians in honouring the passing of a
passionate advocate and pillar of our Parliament.”
In a last letter to Canadians, written
just before his death, Jack continued to inspire.
“My friends,” he wrote, “love is better
than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be
loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll
change the world.”
Learning history by walking in the footsteps
of those who were there before
When we got off the boat at Grosse Île,
attendants quickly led us into the disinfection building right by the docks on the western end of the island.
Soon enough, we were undergoing
physical inspections – of our tongues, our
fingernails and our skin. Looming over us
and dominating the room was the giant
steam-powered disinfection machine, stateof-the-art when first installed, into which all
visitors to the island were required to place
their worldly possessions. For most, that
meant a beat-up old bag or two.
Before too long, we were led upstairs to
the shower room, also state-of-the-art at
some point in its history, where each metallic stall was equipped with rows of curved
horizontal pipes that would surround its occupants and spray water from all directions
to ensure a thorough cleaning. For many
visitors to the island, this mandatory disinfecting wash would have been the first
shower of their lives.
The disinfecting steam machines and
horizontal showers aren’t operational anymore, and the tongue inspections were just
a bit of theatre. These days, visitors to
Grosse Île arrive with cameras and boxed
lunches and stay for only a few hours. Past
visitors would often arrive with cholera,
Alan Echenberg
typhus or smallpox and would stay for
months at a time, if they ever left the island
at all.
In fact, any sign of disease would get
visitors shipped to the east sector of the island – the sick side. Many of them would
die there. Those lucky enough to recover
would get the coveted official papers they
required to set foot anywhere else in
Canada.
When it was in operation as a quarantine
station for more than 100 years until just
before the Second World War, this small island in the middle of the Saint Lawrence
River north of Quebec City served as the
first point of landing for most immigrants to
our country. Possibly some of your own
ancestors spent time on Grosse Île before
sailing on to new lives in places south and
west of there.
Of course, in all its years operating as a
quarantine station, no year brought as
much tragedy to Grosse Île as 1847, when
thousands of Irish immigrants fleeing the
Great Potato Famine fell victim to a typhus
epidemic that swept the island. This was a
number of decades before technological and
medical advances led to the disinfection and
quarantine processes I described.
A mass grave not too far from the landing docks hosts the remains of the 5,424
victims who died that long-ago summer,
the wavy appearance of the ground bearing
evidence of piles of stacked coffins underneath.
More than two-thirds of all the people
who died at Grosse Île over the course of a
century perished that summer. When you
approach the island by boat, the first thing
you see is a stark, giant monument in the
shape of a Celtic cross – the largest in
North America – that pays tribute to their
memory.
A smaller monument – a plaque inside
an old Anglican church on the island – is
similarly moving. It reads: “In memoriam
of the thousands of persons of many races
and creeds who, victims of pestilence, lie
buried in nameless graves on this Island.”
I knew a little bit about Grosse Île and
its history before I visited there this
summer. But nothing teaches the history of
a place as effectively as stepping foot there
and walking in the footsteps of those who
were there before.
Especially a place with as much
historical resonance as Grosse Île has to a
country made up of so many immigrants
and descendants of immigrants.
The Grosse Île site is now operated by
Parks Canada. In my experience, there is no
better guardian of its legacy than that
agency. Last year, my family bought an
annual pass that allowed unlimited access
to all of the national parks and historic sites
operated by Parks Canada. We visited as
many as we could on trips in Quebec,
Ontario and Atlantic Canada.
Every experience was worthwhile, and
the history and natural wonders of each
place we visited – from battle sites to
unique geological phenomena – were presented in fascinating and memorable ways.
Parks Canada’s mandate is to “protect
and present nationally significant examples
of Canada’s natural and cultural heritage,
and foster public understanding, appreciation and enjoyment … for present and future generations.”
It’s been doing so for 100 years. I hope it
continues to do so for centuries to come.
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Community should take steps
to prevent Type 2 diabetes
Rabbi Reuven P. Bulka points out that (Type 2) diabetes
can be prevented or diminished by lifestyle changes (From
the Pulpit, August 15). The community should and could
facilitate such changes.
The following reiterates points I made in a letter published in the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin in 1975.
Remove products with large amounts (more than 2 per
cent of calories, perhaps) of added sugars (sugar, glucose,
fructose, corn syrup, etc.) from the tables, menus and vending machines of all communal facilities and events: kiddush, meals, synagogues, Soloway Jewish Community
Centre, nursery schools, camps, Jewish Family Services,
nursing homes, Tamir homes, etc.
Sweeten baked and other products with fruit purée,
black strap molasses or other healthful sweets.
Serve fresh or dried fruits for dessert. (In my opinion, it
bulletin@ottawajewishbulletin.com
is un-Jewish to give young children, or anyone, products
that are mostly deceptive, possibly toxic, artificially
coloured/flavoured, high-calorie sugar water.)
Replace cakes, cookies, pastries, pasta and all breads
(bagels, challah, pita, matzo, crackers, sliced bread, etc.)
with 100 per cent whole grain products such as whole
wheat or brown rice pasta, 100 per cent whole grain rye
bread, whole spelt matzo, cakes made of 100 per cent
whole grain flour, etc. In my opinion, it is sacrilege to honour Shabbat with un-nutritious white flour challah artificially coloured a deceptive yellow to make the product look
more expensive with lots of real eggs.
Use only whole grain flour in products like gefilte fish,
breading for fish and chicken, and matzo balls.
I expect these suggestions to meet the same reaction
they met decades ago: silence from community leaders and
health care professionals.
Irma Cohen
Australia withdraws from Durban III
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(JTA) – Australia has
withdrawn from the upcoming UN conference on
racism over concerns of
Israel-bashing.
The government said it
was not convinced that “unbalanced criticism of Israel
and the airing of anti-Semitic views” would be avoided,
and therefore withdrew.
Other countries that have
previously announced they
would not participate in
Durban III – scheduled for
September 21 in New York
City – include Canada, the
United States, Israel, the
Czech Republic, Italy and
the Netherlands.
The conference has been
dubbed Durban III, after the
original anti-racism conference in the South African
city in 2001 that was marred
by anti-Semitism and Israelbashing.
Back then, Australia,
among other western countries, walked out.
Australia subsequently
boycotted a follow-up conference in Geneva in 2009,
which Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
used as an opportunity to
unleash a vitriolic attack on
Israel and Jews.
A spokesman for Australian Prime Minister Julia
Gillard said Australia remained involved in early
consultations “to oppose attempts to endorse extreme
language or explicit references to the text of the Durban Declaration.” But Australia would not be able to
“support a meeting that
chooses to reaffirm the original Durban Declaration, as
appears likely,” the spokesman said.
The president of the Executive Council of Australian
Jewry,
Danny
Lamm, welcomed the decision, which he had been
urging since last November.
“We have said that Australia should take no part in
a process that remains irredeemably corrupted by
racism and by attacks on Israel’s legitimacy as the
State of the Jewish people,”
he said.
“When a respected middle power democracy like
Australia decides to stay
away from as high profile
an event as Durban III, it
sends a powerful message
to the international community that the UN Human
Rights Council and related
organs of the UN General
Assembly need to clean up
their act.”
Rabbinical student Gadi Capela returns
to Adath Shalom for High Holidays
More than trees
613.798.2411
Oliver Javanpour
president
Negev Dinner to honour
all Friends of Israel in Ottawa
The Jewish National Fund was formed in 1901 to build the
foundation for a future Jewish State. It began with fundraising
and buying land. The first parcel of land purchased was 50
acres in Hadera. By 1921, JNF had purchased 25,000 acres.
When Israel became a state in 1948, 233 of Israel’s 305 towns
stood on JNF land.
In the 1950s and ‘60s, JNF turned to building the infrastructure and environment for a sustainable Israel (not that
anyone used the word “sustainable” back then). The 1960s
saw a renewed focus, not just on tree-planting, but on rolling
back the desert through afforestation in places where no one
ever imagined there could be vegetation of any size.
The next few decades saw JNF expand its environmental
activities to cover the creation of parks, and its people-focused
activities building the quality of life for all Israelis, whether
new immigrants, disabled or economically disadvantaged.
Now, in JNF’s 110th year, our programs are continuing to realize the dream of making the desert bloom (the Negev Desert
covers 60 per cent of Israel’s land, but contains only 8 per cent
of its population) and meeting the new challenge of overcoming the worst drought to hit the Middle East in 80 years.
And this is why we hold Negev Dinners – to keep our
dreams and Israel’s alive.
The first Negev Dinner in Canada was held in Toronto in
1948. Negev Dinners began as a Canadian way to honour outstanding community leaders and significant events in Jewish
life. This year, we honour all the Friends of Israel in Ottawa
in recognition of JNF’s 110th Anniversary, for it is all the
members of our community who contribute, in time, in
money, in steadfast commitment to Israel’s success as a nation, who are the real gift that JNF gives to Israel.
Our gift will also be our contribution to an agricultural
water reservoir in Sderot, one of more than 200 reservoirs already built that have added over 66 billion gallons of recycled
and flood water to the national water economy – a full 10 per
cent of the total water supply. This water irrigates more than
112,000 acres of crops that would otherwise consume scarce
fresh water, a particular concern in these years of drought.
JNF may have contributed 10 per cent of Israel’s water
supply so far, but we are 100 per cent committed to increasing
that percentage.
Please join us for our JNF 110th Anniversary Negev
Dinner, Tuesday, November 8, 6:00 pm, at the Fairmount
Château Laurier Hotel, with keynote speaker Barbara Walters;
Dinner Chair Vera Klein; Honorary Co-Chairs, the Honourable Linda Frum, the Honourable Judith Seidman and Dr.
Roseann O’Reilly Runte, President and Vice-Chancellor of
Carleton University; and our corporate supporters, including
the Ottawa Citizen.
Seating is limited, so get your tickets early. For information on 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 Inscription
Benjamin Bernard Javinsky, by his proud parents,
Susan and Edward Javinsky.
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).
By Sylvia Greenspoon
Adath Shalom
Adath Shalom Congregation is pleased to have
Gadi Capela, in his fourth
year of rabbinical training at
the Jewish Theological
Seminary in New York, return for a second year as our
spiritual leader for the High
Holidays.
As part of his rabbinical
program, Gadi, who was
born and raised in Israel,
studied in Jerusalem at the
Schechter Institute for Jewish Studies. After an absence of 16 years from Israel, he enjoyed spending
time with friends and family. In addition, he gained a
new perspective on the intricacies of Israeli-Palestinian issues.
Gadi’s most inspiring experience this year was
working for the Jewish
Council on Urban Affairs in
Chicago.
Through his teachings at
Or Tzedek, a teen program,
he was able to explore the
response to the raid on the
kosher meat packing plant
at Postville, Iowa. Delving
into the problems that were
exposed there, Gadi and his
students discussed the ques-
Gadi Capela
tion, “How kosher is our
kosher food?”
During the High Holidays, Gadi will explore the
question of pursuing justice
from a personal perspective
and will focus his teachings
on the pursuit of social justice. He will share his personal insights into the texts
he has become passionate
about during his recent year
of study.
As Rabbi Tarfon stated
in Pirkei Avot, “It is not up
to us to finish the task of
pursuing justice, but neither
are we free to desist from
it.”
Adath Shalom looks forward to a special spiritual
experience with Gadi
Capela.
An egalitarian, Conservative congregation, Adath
Shalom is lay led. Our
members take turns leading
different parts of the service.
Services for the High
Holidays will be held at the
Soloway Jewish Community Centre. Children’s services and childcare will be
available during the High
Holidays and throughout
the year.
Tishrei members will receive a discount on their annual membership fee. University students may attend
at no cost, but require a
ticket.
Families with children
who attend Jewish day
school or an afternoon Jewish studies program receive
a 50 per cent discount on
their membership dues.
For further information,
contact Elaine Hauptman at
613-829-6990.
vernissage/reception
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293 Dalhousie
Thursday, September 8
5 to 8 pm
exhibition continues
until September 21
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Advertorial
AJA 50+ to hold fall registration day, September 7, at SJCC
By Dena Speevak
for AJA 50+
Learn, create, think, share a laugh, nourish your soul – live your retirement years to
their fullest with the exceptional and varied
programming offered by AJA 50+.
AJA 50+ has more than 450 members
ranging from 50 to 90+. We are an independent, volunteer-driven organization and
a member of the Ontario Coalition of Senior Citizens’ Organizations. Membership
and program costs are very affordable.
Examples of this fall’s programs include
musical concerts such as “Jewish Music for
the Soul” with Ellie Glantz; thought-provoking lectures including “Medical Research Ethics”; guided walking heritage
tours of Manotick/Osgoode and Vankleek
Hill; classes in printmaking and watercolour techniques; and a visit to an artist’s
studio.
As well, the “Art at the National
Gallery” series and the Jewish Film Series
will continue. You can also develop skills at
beginner bridge classes, the chess group, or
attend a cooking demo. The list goes on.
There is also a lot of buzz about the November trip, “Discover Jewish New York
with AJA 50+,” which will include visits to
the theatre, museums and historical sites escorted by Scholar-in-Residence Rabbi
Steven Garten.
To learn more about AJA 50+, or to obtain our Fall Program Guide, drop by the
AJA 50+ Registration Day at the Soloway
Jewish Community Centre on Wednesday,
September 7, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm.
Musical entertainment by the Tamir Choir
will follow from 1:00 to 2:00 pm.
For information, contact Dan Sigler at
ajamembership@gmail.com or 613-2246110.
It was a dream-come-true for AJA50+ member Esther Williams to play chess with Ari
Williams, her 11-year-old grandson. Esther learned the game with the AJA50+ Chess
for Fun program.
Ottawa Torah Centre gets a jump on fall programs
By Pherris Hamilton
for Ottawa Torah Centre
While many view summer as a time of
rest and respite, the rabbis at the Ottawa
Torah Centre (OTC) use this time to put
their programming in place for the coming
year.
“We have some real innovative programs coming up,” said Rabbi Menachem
M. Blum, director of OTC.
“But, at OTC, we don’t wait around and
decided to roll out some of these planned
classes and events through the summer.”
These programs include a new monthly
‘Lunch and Learn’ during the last week of
every month, giving those working downtown a refreshing and stimulating Torah
study session and a delicious lunch in a relaxed atmosphere.
“The sessions have been very well
attended so far,” said Rabbi Blum.
Another is a weekly Torah study group at
Chapters Pinecrest on Sunday evenings at
7:30 pm.
“We named this study session, ‘Rediscovering Wonder,’” Rabbi Blum said. “By
looking at weekly Torah portion in some
depth we attempt to reclaim the wonder we
had as young children.”
“Our goal is to offer a variety of pro-
CONGREGATION MACHZIKEI HADAS
Serving the Ottawa Jewish community for over 40 years.
Orthodox services under the leadership of Rabbi Dr. Reuven P. Bulka
OUR CONGREGATION OFFERs a welcoming, friendly atmosphere for people of all levels of observance; daily
morning
and evening services; Shabbat services with Cantor Pinchas Levinson and Ba’al Kriyah Shimon Fogel; kosher meat
and dairy kitchens; a deep sense of community and commitment to Jewish values and Israel; a place
for joyful and meaningful celebration of festivals and commemoration of life cycle events for
families, couples and singles of every age.
• Scholars in Residence
• Breakfast & Speaker Series
• Sunday Night Dinners
• Weekly Classes
• Purim Carnival
• Senators Hockey Games
• Pre-Passover Dinner
• Shabbat Kiddushes
• Morning breakfasts
• Movie Nights
• Seniors’ Lunches
• Yoga Classes
• Shabbat Dinners
• Book Club
• Youth Director
Youth Programs on Shabbat
and the High Holidays include:
• Babysitting
• 2-5 Kids Group
• 6-8 Junior Congregation
• 9-12 Teen Alternative
* NEW YOUTH EVENING / WEEKEND EVENTS
qqqqqqqqqqq
EXPERIENCE SHABBAT WITH US!
Come to services, stay for a meal!
Join us for the High Holidays!
CONTACT THE SYNAGOGUE OFFICE
613-521-9700
machzikei@magma.ca
grams that would appeal to wide audience
from a cross section of our community,”
added Rabbi Sender Gordon, who joined
OTC this year and is involved in the planning and teaching of the classes. “We have
something for everyone whether you see
yourself as unaffiliated, Reform, Conservative or Orthodox.”
For more information on OTC programs,
visit ottawatorahcentre.com.
Guest Column
Jews must respond to the crisis in Somalia
By Caryl M. Stern
(JTA) – A tragedy is unfolding
in the Horn of Africa, where hundreds of thousands of children are
at immediate risk of death. The
disastrous combination of the
worst drought in 60 years, high
food prices and regional conflict
has left 12 million people, including more than two million malnourished children, in urgent need
of humanitarian assistance.
A huge migration is now taking
place from the areas of southern
Somalia that have been engulfed
in famine to the capital, Mogadishu, and to neighbouring
Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti.
Mothers carry their infants for
days or weeks on end, desperate to
find them nourishment, clean
water and medical assistance.
Some have been forced to make
an unthinkable Sophie’s choice
about which child to feed and
which to allow to die – a decision
no parent should ever have to
make.
The next rains are not due to arrive until October, meaning that no
new harvests can be expected in
the region before the end of the
year. Unless aid to affected areas
increases significantly, the famine
will likely spread and intensify
putting many more young lives in
jeopardy. However, despite the
scale of this catastrophe, the
drought and famine in the Horn of
Africa have not consistently made
headlines, nor have these scourges
caught the attention of many North
Americans. The international
donor community, so quick to mobilize after similar disasters, has
been slow to respond to the situation in Somalia this summer. This
catastrophe is not on the public
agenda, but it urgently needs to be.
With this in mind, I turn to the
Jewish community – my community – for support in efforts to save
the lives of children threatened by
conditions beyond their control.
My worldview, personally and
professionally, has been shaped by
a commitment to tikkun olam –
healing the world. It comes from
my mother, who was a child in Vienna during Kristallnacht. She
survived the Holocaust by being
sent to the United States in 1939,
at the age of six, along with her
four-year-old brother and a
woman she never saw again after
they arrived. They were raised for
two years in an orphanage for
Jewish refugee children on New
York’s Lower East Side. My
mother’s dislocation as a little girl
left both of us with the profound
desire to do whatever we could to
protect and care for other vulnerable children.
Today, it is in the Horn of
Africa where children’s survival is
most in peril. More than 400,000
refugees, the vast majority of
whom are women and children,
are crowded into three refugee
camps in Kenya. They desperately
require nourishment, medicine
and access to clean water and sanitation facilities to survive. Aid organizations are there, providing
those services – along with childfriendly spaces and educational
opportunities – but the needs are
tremendous.
In Somalia, the epicentre of the
emergency, tens of thousands of
people – mainly children – have
died in the last few months.
UNICEF and other humanitarian
groups are reaching thousands of
malnourished children with nutri-
tional supplies. One highly effective weapon is a nutritional peanut
paste that has the power to pull a
child back from the brink of starvation. Packed with protein and
vitamins, it is ready to use and
does not need to be refrigerated or
mixed with water. This miracle
paste is saving lives. But many
more are threatened and will per-
ish if we don’t act quickly.
The Jewish community must
take notice of the plight of these
children. As Jews, we have been at
the forefront of humanitarian
causes and responses to international disasters. Humanity is facing a devastating crisis in the Horn
of Africa. We cannot fail to fulfill
our Jewish responsibilities now.
The Jewish Federation of Ottawa has established a
fund to aid victims of the famine in Somalia and surrounding areas in the Horn of Africa.
Visit jewishottawa.com, or call Jean Myers at 613798-4696, ext. 242, to make a donation to the African
Famine Relief Fund.
Morris Schachnow to speak at OJHS AGM
By Ian Sadinsky
Ottawa Jewish
Historical Society
Ottawa Jewish Sports Hall
of Fame member Morris
Schachnow will be the guest
speaker at the annual general
meeting of the Ottawa Jewish
Historical Society (OJHS),
Wednesday, September 21,
7:30 pm, at Agudath Israel
Congregation.
Schachnow, a long-time
Ottawan, was born in Vienna
but spent most of his youth in
New York City where he was a
baseball phenomenon. Signed
to a minor league contract by
the New York Yankees,
Schachnow played in Missouri where he roomed with
future Hall of Famer Tony
Kubek.
After his professional baseball career was cut short by a
hereditary knee ailment,
Schachnow married Shelley
Mayberger and the couple settled in Ottawa where he was a
champion in basketball, softball and handball. Schachnow
won the city handball championship an incredible 10 years
in a row.
Schachnow’s talk will concentrate on his early days
growing up in New York and
on the challenges he faced
playing high-level sports in
the 1950s.
Also at the AGM, a presentation will be made to the family of the late John Holzman,
the OJHS past-president who
passed away last December.
The Ottawa Jewish Historical Society will also formally
install Interim President Ian
Sadinsky, Vice-President Anna
Bilsky, and new board members Harry Beck, Lynne
Cohen-Ben-Ami, Fran Freedman-Kessler, Tom Gussman,
Henry Molot and Sunny
Tavel.
The OJHS is devoted to the
study and preservation of Jewish history in Ottawa including the taping of all Jewish funerals. A copy of A Common
Thread: A History of the Jews
of Ottawa is presented to all
bar and bat mitzvah celebrants.
To join the OJHS, or for
further information, contact
Elaine Brodsky at 613-2448291.
(From left) Morris Schachnow, Irving Shapiro and Joe Zelikovitz at the 1987 Jewish Community Centre Sports
(Photo courtesy of the Ottawa Jewish Archives)
Award Dinner.
Tamir participants have their day in court
By Melanie Fulop
Tamir
Participants and staff from Tamir’s Outreach
and Supported Independent Living Programs
had the chance to get a look at the judicial system on a visit to the Ottawa Courthouse, July 7.
Arranged by outgoing Tamir President
Howard Yegendorf – a personal injury lawyer
and a regular face around the courthouse – the
visit included a tour of the building, a visit with
Justice Stanley Kershman, 15 minutes observing a criminal court trial, and, of course, a stop
for a nosh in the cafeteria.
The highlight of the visit was when the seven
participants and three staff were welcomed by
Justice Kershman into his courtroom and given
a short rundown of how the justice system
works.
Once seated in the jury box, they learned
about the roles of defence and prosecution attorneys, the court clerk and court reporter, and the
judge himself. They asked many questions, including one which focused on the definition of
“contempt of court,” a popular interest for the
participants who watch a lot of legal drama programs on television.
“It’s not like TV at all,” said Debby Waserman, a big fan of such shows as Law and Order
and Boston Legal. “Except maybe that the judge
looks the same,” she said pointing out Justice
Kershman’s long black robes.
“Judges have extremely busy days and it was
very gracious of Justice Kershman to welcome
us into his court,” said Yegendorf. “Our participants peppered him with questions and they
learned a lot from him.”
The participants enjoyed their visit and are
looking forward to putting on a mock trial during one of their Saturday night social events.
Tamir is a charitable organization that offers
residential and day services for adults with developmental disabilities in a Jewish environment.
For more information about Tamir, or how
you can get involved, call 613-725-3519 or visit
tamir.ca.
Participant Shirley Harris with Justice Stanley Kershman during Tamir’s visit
to the Ottawa Courthouse.
(Photo: Howard Yegendorf)
Montessori Preschool offers new program for toddlers
By Sara-Lynne Levine
for Westboro Jewish Montessori Preschool
The Westboro Jewish Montessori Preschool has announced a new toddler program for children aged 18
months to two-and-a-half years for the September 2011
school session.
“The curriculum is fantastic, the quality of the education
is outstanding and to see the way the school applies the
Montessori method consistently, is amazing,” said parent
Elianna Saidenberg.
“The children are learning skills that will last them a really long time and to see children of different ages together
is wonderful. For the younger children, it gives them a person to emulate, and for the older children it allows them to
become a role model.”
“Our school is a great educational option for working
parents,” said preschool director Devora Caytak. “Our new
toddler program complements our existing preschool program for children aged two-and-a-half to six. With our early
care, after care and hot lunch program and our loving envi-
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ronment, this is a great place for children to begin their aca- with organic ingredients. Teachers are ECE certified,
demic journey.”
Montessori-trained, and teacher-student ratios are kept
The toddler program offers children a Montessori option in small. Early-care and after-care is available.
Tours of the school are available and an orientation is
a cozy and nurturing setting. Montessori teachers are specifically trained to observe and take leads from a child and to held to welcome new parents and students.
For more information, visit the school’s web site at
meet the needs of their students. A Montessori child leaves the
environment with a feeling of independence and confidence. westborojewishmontessoripreschool.com or contact Devora
With the added benefit of a Jewish curriculum, students have Caytak at dev18@sympatico.ca or 613 729-7712.
a unique opportunity to enjoy,
learn, thrive and grow in a
truly special early childhood
setting.
The Westboro Jewish
Montessori Preschool has
David Cantor
Shaker Realty Ltd., Brokerage
some unique features: yoga
Commercial Leasing & Sales
Sales
Representative
classes, botany and geogra185 Somerset St. W., Suite 304
phy, music, science, learning
Ottawa, Ontario K2P 0J2
three languages (English,
davidcantor@shakerrealty.ca
(613) 762-8911 Tel
French and Hebrew), and dewww.shakerrealty.ca
(613) 233-2083 Fax
licious hot lunches prepared
Bob Chiar
Chiarelli,
ellli, MPP/Député
MPP/Député
Ottawaa West-Nepean/Ottawa-Ouest-Nepean
Ottaw
West-Nepean/Ottaw
wa-Ouest-Nepean
The Sephardi Association of Ottawa
wishes you
Health, Happiness and Success for 5772
Your
Y
our voice
voice at
Queen’s
Q
ueen’s P
Park
a
Shana Tova U’metuka
Please join us for High Holiday services
at Shikun Oz, 57 Bateman
Rosh Hashanah
Constituency Ofﬁce/Bur
Ofﬁce/Bureau
e de Cir
eau
Circonscription
conscription
2249,
2249, aavenue
venue C
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Avenue,
venue, SSuite/Bureau
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Ottawa,
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TTel/Tél:
el/Tél: ((613)
613) 7721-8075
21-8075
bbchiarelli.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org
chiarelli.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org
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Wednesday September 28
Thursday September 29
Friday September 30
6 pm
9 am
9 am
Yom Kippur
Friday October 7
Saturday October 8
6 pm
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Young Women’s Leadership Council prepares for coming year
By Ilana Belfer
Emma Cohen, the new co-chair
of the Young Women’s Leadership
Council (YWLC), said she didn’t
need much arm twisting when fellow co-chair Lauren Bronstein
asked her to take on the position.
Cohen and Bronstein have completed their first year of the twoyear program. Sponsored by the
Jewish Federation of Ottawa,
YWLC is designed for women aged
25 to 45 to enhance leadership skills
through education and training, as
well as hands-on experience.
“YWLC had a great impact on
me … It really showed me how vibrant the Jewish community is in
Ottawa. I was really not connected,” said Cohen, an Ottawa native
who recently spent several years
living in Toronto and Vancouver.
YWLC was initiated in 1991.
But, as the bulk of interested
women from the target demographic finished the program, it eventually fizzled out. After five years of inactivity, YWLC was resurrected in
2009 and recently saw its first new
graduating class.
“I think it was a great opportunity to ... see what exists [and] how
the community works,” said recent
YWLC graduate Julie Greenspoon,
Emma Cohen (left) and Lauren Bronstein are the new co-chairs of
the Young Women’s Leadership Council.
(Photo: Ilana Belfer)
a lawyer for the Department of Justice and originally from Montreal.
Participants attend seminars
each month in the first year and
partner with Jewish agencies in the
community as volunteers, acting as
observers to the boards of directors.
In the second year, they continue
these partnerships and help execute
the program for first-year participants.
Stephanie Appotive, another
recent YWLC graduate, did her
agency partnership with Jewish
Family Services. She has continued working with them ever since
and said she would be happy to sit
on their board if she ever gets the
opportunity. Prior to the program,
she said, she was involved in the
greater Ottawa community, but
not the specifically Jewish community.
“So many times you just don’t
even know where to get started,”
she said. “I’ve also met a lot of really nice friends. I think that it’s
hard now to meet Jewish friends if
you’re not a really active part of a
synagogue, or don’t spend a lot of
time at the JCC.”
Cohen and Bronstein are currently conducting mini-interviews
with second-year participants to
find out how they can enhance central aspects of the program: community involvement via seminars
and board placements, and the social component.
Feedback, they said, has included incorporating more religiousbased programs with educational
Jewish content and increased social
programming. They said it is their
goal to bring in relevant, engaging
speakers. Past topics have included
anything from Jewish work-life balance to international criminal law in
Rwanda.
“What we learn within our Jewish lives … helps shape the other
parts of our lives,” Bronstein said.
A public speaking tutorial held last
year was an example of this, she
said.
Cohen and Bronstein also said
they would like board members
from partner agencies and community leaders to act as mentors to the
women in the YWLC program.
YWLC alumni, they said, will
be invited to maintain their involvement by attending social gatherings
as friends and as role models.
Bronstein said an “exit strategy”
or transition program for graduates
is something that should be considered.
“Just seeing the dedication that
people have to the community and
involving young people in that is really important,” said Cohen, commenting on the Federation’s need to
keep young adults engaged.
“Young people can be equally
committed and make a difference
too.”
An information session for
prospective YWLC participants
will be held Wednesday, September
21, 7:30 pm, at 29 Clemow Avenue.
Anyone interested in learning more
and meeting second-year participants is encouraged to attend. For
information, call 613-798-4616,
ext. 248.
Join us for the High Holy Days
Or Haneshamah
Ottawa’s
Reconstructionist
Community
t &HBMJUBSJBOEJWFSTF
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Jewish Canadian Studies in the Community
Featuring the presentation of the
The Petigorsky Family Scholarship
and
Guest Speaker:
Anna Sheftel, Conflict Studies, Saint Paul University
t 4FSWJDFTMFECZ
NFNCFSTBOE
WJTJUJOHDMFSHZ
“The General Idea Was That We’d Never Make It”: Holocaust
Survivors at the Periphery and Centre of Montreal Jewish Life
t 1SPHSBNTGPSDIJMESFO
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t )JHI)PMZ%BZ5JTISFJ
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The Vered Jewish Canadian Studies Program
at the University of Ottawa
would like to invite you to
Sunday, September 25th, 2011
2:30 pm – 4:00 pm
Visiting Rabbi, Marna Sapsowitz
Contact us at 613-239-4988 (please leave a message)
or by email at ottawahavurah@yahoo.com
Visit us at www.orh.ca
University of Ottawa
Room 129, Simard Hall
60 University Private
Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5
For more information, please visit www.Vered.uOttawa.ca
Mothers Circle: Program
for non-Jewish women
married to Jewish men
returns to Soloway JCC
Jen Arron Photographs
ers Circle] the celebration
of Shabbat with my family.
The program, for me, was
an enforcement of what I
spent the last 25 years
teaching myself and trying
to teach my children,” said
Susan.
Using a format oriented
toward discussion rather
than instruction, the women
had the opportunity to share
experiences about religion
in their own upbringings
and to talk about how they
deal with issues and practices in their homes.
For many of the participants, the Mothers Circle
opened the doors and exposed them to the different
services and programs offered in the city.
Inger Weibust said the
program made a concrete
difference to her in a number of ways including providing a better understanding of the differences between the city’s various
synagogues. Information
she obtained at Mothers
Circle sessions influenced
her decision to send her son
to summer camp.
“Sabina told us about
studies showing that attending overnight Jewish summer camp is a strong predictor of Jewish identity in
adults. I also found out
about PJ Library, which is
expanding my kids’ expo-
Social worker Sabina
Wasserlauf leads the
Mothers Circle program at
the SJCC.
sure to Jewish books,” she
said.
With their new found
knowledge and confidence,
some Mothers Circle graduates say they feel supported
and more confident bringing Jewish practices into
their homes. One woman
has since added Havdallah
to her family’s Shabbat tradition.
While the premise of the
class is to welcome women
to Judaism and to educate
them on the religion, what
the women ultimately
gained from this class was
much more than that. It was
an opportunity to belong
and to create a network for
sharing experiences.
The Mothers Circle begins again at the Soloway
JCC in the fall.
If you or anyone you
know is interested, contact
Maxine Miska at 613-7989818,
ext.
263,
or
mmiska@jccottawa.com for
more information.
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613-798-4696, ext. 242
MAZEL TOV
SHAYNA and ELLIOT
THANK YOU DAVID SMITH
Awesome, magical, wonderful, beautiful.
Romantic, elegant, delicious, spectacular.
Lots of fun and lots of love –
all describe Shayna and Elliot’s wedding,
July 3, 2011.
Thank you to David Smith
and his team of professionals
at Creative Kosher Catering
for the perfect wedding weekend and
for making Shayna’s dream come true.
With appreciation,
Rhoda and Joe Levitan
• Mazal Tov • Mazal Tov • Mazal Tov • Mazal Tov • Mazal Tov •
Mazal Tov • Mazal Tov • Mazal Tov • Mazal Tov • Mazal Tov • Mazal Tov • Mazal Tov • Mazal Tov • Mazal Tov
a rare opportunity for the
women to connect with a
community in which they
have not always felt comfortable, to speak and bond
with other mothers facing
the same challenges, and to
ask questions they may not
have felt safe asking.
“We have a very high
rate of intermarriage in our
community and, when you
have intermarriage, you
have the opportunity to be
less connected,” said Sabina. “Many times, people
who have intermarried
don’t know how to connect,
there is nothing that says
come on in. The Soloway
JCC is doing that by offering this formal program that
says, ‘you exist, come on
in.’”
Susan Finkelman has
been married to her Jewish
husband for 25 years and always felt like an outsider in
the Jewish community until
her four daughters introduced her to the Mothers
Circle.
“I love the traditional aspects of the Jewish holidays: the food, the focus on
family, charity and, most recently, [thanks to the Moth-
Getting married,
celebrating
a special birthday
or anniversary,
just had
a Bar or Bat Mitzvah?
Share your good news
(photo too)!
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Cindy Manor-Kennedy
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Ottawa, Ontario K2A 2R9
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Mazal Tov • Mazal Tov • Mazal Tov • Mazal Tov • Mazal Tov • Mazal Tov • Mazal Tov • Mazal Tov • Mazal Tov
By Pamela Rosenberg
Soloway JCC
For eight months, beginning last fall, nine women
with one thing in common
gathered at the Soloway
Jewish Community Centre
(JCC) to learn about the rituals, holidays and values of
Judaism, a culture they married into and are now trying
to fit into and teach to their
children.
The Mothers Circle, a
free program created by the
Jewish Outreach Institute,
teaches non-Jewish women,
married to Jewish men, how
to include aspects of Jewish
tradition in their family life.
The program is not a conversion course and respects
the women’s choice to retain their own religious or
cultural background.
With Sabina Wasserlauf,
a clinical social worker, at
the helm, the women went
through a detailed curriculum that included readings
and handouts, as well as
Shabbat and Chanukah celebrations and a model
Passover seder.
In addition to the educational component, the bimonthly meetings provided
Celebrations
• Mazal Tov • Mazal Tov • Mazal Tov • Mazal Tov • Mazal Tov •
JET launches Glebe Shul at Tu B’Av party
By Marlee Wasser
for the Glebe Shul
Tu B’Av this year marked the
beginning of an exciting new development for Ottawa’s young,
urban Jewish community with the
inauguration of a new shul in the
Glebe. The 15th day of the Hebrew month of Av (known as Tu
B’Av), regarded by many as a day
of love, hope and community connections, seemed the perfect time
to officially launch the Glebe
Shul, remarked Rabbi Michael
Goldstein in a toast delivered to
the crowd of more than 60 young
professionals who gathered in his
home on August 14.
“It’s more than just a day for
interpersonal relationships,” he
explained. “It’s also a day celebrating our connection to the divine. And we hope this is what the
Glebe Shul can be for all of you, a
place to make connections, a place
to eat together, pray together and
share a love for exploring spirituality together.”
Rabbi Goldstein and his wife,
Stacy, moved to Ottawa last year
to lead JET’s Young Professionals
division. After an overwhelmingly
positive response to hosting frequent Friday night dinners and
davening in their Fifth Avenue
home, and witnessing a growing
appetite for Jewish learning and
relationship-building in the down-
(From left) Alexandra Kuperman, Rachel Levine, Rabbi Michael Goldstein, Josh Raizman and Miriam
Farber at the Glebe Shul launch party.
(Photo: Howard Sandler)
town community, the couple
began floating the idea of a new
unaffiliated urban shul. They envisioned an informal, self-identifying congregation without a dedicated location, which would grow
together through regular Friday
night services and member-driven
programming. They said the proposal was met with immediate enthusiasm and offers of support.
“There are a lot of great Jewish
programs around Ottawa for net-
working and socializing, and a lot
of wonderful congregations. But
this idea of creating a shul-without-walls seemed like a good
bridge between the religious and
the social aspects of our community. More of a chance to take
ownership in a spiritual direction,” said Rachel Levine, a member of the Glebe Shul launch team.
Rachel and her husband, Justin,
were thrilled when the Goldsteins
invited them to help get the shul
off the ground. They gladly volunteered to handle most of the organization of the wine and cheese
launch event on Tu B’Av.
“This is really fulfilling, in a
sense, what we’ve been longing
for and looking for in the city,”
said Justin. “It was also exciting
for us to get involved in something from its early stages and to
see it have such momentum and
be so well attended. It was a great
testament to the Goldsteins and
members of the launch team, and
I’m confident it will be a sign of
things to come.”
On the Friday night before the
launch event, the Goldsteins hosted the Glebe Shul’s first official
Shabbat dinner and service. The
minyan was the largest they’d
ever had under their roof, Stacy
said.
“We were shoulder to shoulder,
wall to wall. And the ruach, the
energy was really amazing. There
was also a great sense of cohesion
from everyone, it really felt like it
was a place for the community to
come and gather,” she said. “Lots
of people were pitching in to make
the launch weekend a success.”
“Honestly, I think a lot of the
reason why it’s attracting so many
people is the Goldsteins are such
generous people,” said Beata Romanovsky, a recent Carleton University Sprott School of Business
graduate who attended the shul’s
launch event. “The way they welcome you, it’s like they’ve known
you your entire life. Not being religious, it doesn’t matter; I still
feel part of their community.”
For young professionals looking
for a place to spend Rosh Hashanah
in Ottawa this year, the Glebe Shul
will be offering dinner and services
on Wednesday, Sept. 28.
For information about the
Glebe Shul, visit glebeshul.com.
New rabbi at U.S. congregation grew up in Ottawa
By Ilana Belfer
“Certainly the path I chose is surprising
to people who knew me way back when I
was in Ottawa,” said Rabbi Deborah Zuker,
who was ordained just four months ago.
On October 1, she will become the first female rabbi at Temple Ner Tamid, a Conservative synagogue in Peabody, Massachusetts.
“[Female rabbis are] much more common in the States than in Canada and it’s
becoming more common in the Conservative movement,” said Rabbi Zuker, “but religions change very slowly … it’s a process
for Jewish communities to get used to
women rabbis.”
Rabbi Zuker described herself as “fairly
involved” in Jewish life growing up in Ottawa. She and her family were members of
Temple Israel, the Reform congregation,
and had Shabbat dinners at home. She was
a student at Akiva High School and attended Camp Gesher.
“But I never thought about being a
rabbi,” she said.
However, in her second year at Queen’s
University, she became involved with Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus
Life, attending international Hillel conferences and meeting more Jewish professionals.
During her third year at Queen’s, she
said, she started considering the rabbinate
as a potential career.
“I realized I really enjoyed what I was
doing with Hillel, being an organizer in the
Jewish community. It felt like a very strong
part of my identity,” she said.
After graduation from Queen’s, she
spent a year in Israel before going to New
York to get her master’s degree in social
work and Jewish studies, a joint program
offered by the Jewish Theological Seminary
of America (JTS) and Columbia University.
In 2006, she began the five-year rabbinical
school program at JTS, a Conservative institution.
“When I was in Israel after undergrad, I
was being exposed to a lot of different communities and I was … meeting a lot of people who were affiliated with different
movements,” said Rabbi Zuker. “Living
with Jewish rhythms and taking Jewish law
very seriously, [Conservatism] just felt like
the right fit for me.”
Throughout her rabbinical studies, Rabbi
Zuker said she had a lot of practical pulpit
experience through internships. As a student, she led High Holiday services at
Adath Shalom Congregation of Ottawa for
three years between 2007 and 2009.
Rabbi Zuker was ordained in May and is
currently preparing to take on her new role
at Temple Ner Tamid by getting to know
people in the Jewish community in
Peabody, which is located on Boston’s
North Shore, as well as getting to know the
area itself.
“This is a really warm community, really welcoming. There’s a lot of pride in the
North Shore identity,” Rabbi Zuker said.
Rabbi Zuker said Peabody’s Jewish
community is comparable to Ottawa’s in
that it is large enough to be eventful, but
small enough to be co-operative and collaborative.
As a “young, naïve, fresh rabbi,” Rabbi
Zuker said her goals are to contribute her
energy by bringing new ideas to the congregation and also to learn about their history,
partnering with them to produce spiritual
growth and deepen spiritual connections in
the community.
“It’s a very big job, but it’s still where I
want to be and what I want to be doing,” she
said.
“I know that my Jewish experience in
Ottawa … really did have an influence,
even though it didn’t show until later. It sent
me in this direction and brought me to this
day.”
Rabbi Deborah Zuker, who grew up in
Ottawa, will assume her first pulpit at a
Conservative congregation near Boston
next month.
French Jewry rethinks its JCCs,
focuses on culture over ‘community’
By Alex Weisler
Paris (JTA) – It’s hard to
think of a more innocuous
word for most North American Jews than ‘community.’ But, in France, things
aren’t so simple.
France’s national ethos
frowns upon displays of
ethnic difference. So, for
many French Jews, the
word ‘community’ conveys
a sense of separatism and
insularity that clashes
with the way they see their
lives: French first, Jewish
second.
That, in turn, causes
headaches for France’s Jewish community centres – or
centres communautaires, as
they are known.
“When you say ‘Jewish
community,’ it’s considered
segregation and then it’s not
French enough,” said Smadar Bar-Akiva, executive
director of the World Confederation of Jewish Community Centres. “It’s interesting, because in other
countries, community is the
most important thing.”
The issue is distracting
enough that the Fonds Social Juif Unifié (FSJU) – the
umbrella group that co-ordinates most aspects of communal French Jewish life –
is considering changing the
name of the centres, removing the emphasis on community and stressing something that better reflects the
facilities’ commitment to
culture and identity.
“We’re working now on
improving the image of the
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JCC,” said Jo Amar, the
FSJU’s director of cultural
action. “We feel for a long
time that we have a problem.”
Though plans for change
are far from set in stone,
representatives of some
French community centres
said that a shift could be
welcome.
“The spirit is to find a
balance between community centre and cultural centre,” said Sharon Mohar, an
Israeli transplant who co-ordinates cultural efforts for a
centre serving the 2,000family Jewish community
in Bordeaux.
The question is also tied
to how the centres relate to
non-Jews. Mohar recalled
an instance in which some
older members of his community cautioned against allowing non-Jews to attend a
community-run preschool,
fearing that they would
scare away Bordeaux Jews.
Instead, she found that a
policy of openness ended up
appealing to Jews.
“In 2011, most people
are just people, and it’s not
that it’s less important for
them to keep Jewish ... but I
think they are truly trying to
find a balance between this
part and the rest,” she said.
“The balance is critical –
[otherwise], we’re talking
about a ghetto, and that‘s
not the reality people want.”
Ilan Levy, who co-ordinates cultural programs for
the three-year-old Hillel
building serving the Jewish
community in Lyon, France’s
second-largest city, said Jews
tend to be more apt to attend
events that target non-Jews,
too.
“If we make events for
all the people, then the others come and the Jews say,
‘Oh, if the others come,
then we can go,’” Levy
said.
At France’s largest Jewish community centre in
Paris – catering to the country’s largest Jewish community – there is a renewed
focus on bringing in new
audiences and interacting
with them virtually, said
Jean-François Strouf, the
centre’s communications
co-ordinator.
The centre is developing
an online university teaching Jewish and non-Jewish
topics. The first of its kind
in France, the project recently received funding
from the Paris regional government and should be operational by 2013.
The facility prides itself
on providing the Paris community with a well-rounded
slate of programming – not
discriminating on the basis
of religion or, within Judaism, by denomination.
“It appears that a community centre in [North America] is a kind of private club,”
said the facility’s director,
Rafy Marceanu, citing sometimes high membership fees
and perks such as pools and
fitness centres.
“In France, it is the place
of all Jews, and everybody
finds his place.”
Regarding the larger rethinking of JCCs’ identities,
the FSJU’s plan is still a
work in progress, and each
centre will have the ability
to make its own choices
about any future name
change. But, Amar said the
conversation is still worth
having.
“We want to put it on the
table and revisit the whole
notion,” he said.
Newcomers’ Tea
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Sunday, September 18, 2011
2:30 - 4:30 pm
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A wonderful way of meeting others in our community.
If you are a newcomer to the Ottawa Jewish community,
or if you know someone who is, please call
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There is a Tree: Murray Citron’s English translation
of Itzik Manger poems launched
By Ilana Belfer
There is a Tree (Shteyt a Boim),
a book of 13 Itzik Manger poems
translated from Yiddish into English by Ottawa’s Murray Citron,
was officially released at a Tree
Reading Series event on July 26.
Citron said it wasn’t his decision to write the book, it was the
poems’.
“I would go for a walk, go to
bed, do anything and the translations started coming into my head,”
he told the Bulletin.
Born in New York and raised in
Toronto, Citron, who moved to Ottawa in 1958, spoke Yiddish as a
child, but lost it once he started
school in English. He didn’t use the
language again until a few years
ago, when he happened to pick up
The Penguin Book of Modern
Yiddish Verse.
Citron is familiar with poetry –
he graduated from the University of
Toronto in 1952 with a BA in English literature. He said he had never
heard of Manger before, but was at-
tracted to his poetry, which tends to
focus on Bible stories and the lives
of Jews in Eastern Europe.
“I was kind of startled when I
read it,” he said, comparing Manger
to the likes of Mark Twain or
Charles Dickens, and calling him
the most popular Jewish poet of the
20th century.
Manger was born in Romania
around 1900 and died in Israel in
1968. Citron said much poetry written in European languages at that
time was obscure, dealing with the
poets’ own emotions, whereas
Manger’s works, often traditionalstyle ballads, are written in a precise manner people can understand.
“He puts emotions into the characters that you just don’t get with
really terse biblical narratives,” Citron said. “Manger’s poems typically tell a story in a very witty and
charming way.”
Soon after his initial encounter
with Manger’s work, while on a
drive to Gananoque, Citron thought
it might be fun to translate the
poem, “Eve and the Apple Tree.”
“The stanzas kept just presenting themselves to me in English in
rhyming stanzas. Fortunately, I
wasn’t kicked out by the OPP for
driving while my ability was impaired by poem,” Citron said.
Once he had translated a number
of Manger’s poems with the help of
a couple of Yiddish dictionaries and
Uriel Weinreich’s College Yiddish:
An Introduction to the Yiddish language and to Jewish Life and Culture, Citron said he wanted to try
them out somewhere.
He found out that the Tree
Reading Series, a non-profit organization that supports local writers, holds a bi-monthly reading series, including an open-mike segment, at Arts Court.
“I went down there and just
stood up cold and read in Yiddish
and English to people who knew
no Yiddish. They were very interested. They were very welcoming,” Citron said.
It was Tree Press, the Tree
Murray Citron reads from There is a Tree at the Tree Reading
Series, July 26.
(Photo: Ilana Belfer)
Reading Series’ publishing company, that approached Citron
about producing a bilingual book.
“You would be surprised how
close my version is to being word-
Israel plays host to European baseball
championship qualifier tournament
By Tal Gilboa
I recently returned from an
amazing two-week family vacation
in Israel. One place we visited,
more than once, were the baseball
diamonds at Baptist Village, just
outside Petach Tikvah.
My son, Eitan Maoz, is a member of the Israeli Senior National
Baseball team and, this year, for the
first time in the 25-year history of
baseball in Israel, Israel hosted a division of the European Championship Qualifiers. Also participating were Great Britain, Georgia and
Lithuania. The winner of the tournament will go on to the European
Championship in the Netherlands
this month. A total of 3,000 fans
from around the world came to
watch the four-day tournament,
July 26 to 29.
Israel began the tournament,
July 26, by defeating Georgia 11-1.
The next evening, Israel faced
Great Britain, the team favoured to
win the tournament, after having
played in last year’s European
Championship in Germany. Great
Britain was leading 8-1 when Israel
came back and scored five runs.
Unfortunately, Israel’s rally was not
enough to defeat Great Britain,
the first game by winning 7-0. Israel
then took the lead early in the second game until a fourth inning error
gave the lead to Great Britain, which
went on to win 5-2 and advance to
the European Championship.
The Israel Association of Baseball (IAB) is the governing body for
baseball in Israel and is recognized
by the Israel Olympic Committee,
the Confederation of European
Baseball and the International Baseball Federation, Positive Coaching
Alliance, Major League Baseball
International and Little League. The
IAB is dedicated to developing
players, coaches and umpires and to
develop Israeli players into world
class baseball players.
“We have the potential, and I
think, if we play well, we can be in
serious contention to win the qualifier,” said Pat Doyle, global co-ordinator for Major League BaseCatcher Eitan Maoz, who grew up in Ottawa, led Team Israel in bat- ball’s envoy program and the Team
ting at the European Baseball Championship Qualifiers in Petach Israel head coach, before the start
Tikvah.
of the tournament.
which won the game 8-6.
Championship. The Israeli team
Team Israel proved Doyle right
On July 28, Israel defeated was ready for a daytime double by playing hard and being a conLithuania 13-2.
header on July 29 and spirits were tender until the end.
Israel then had to defeat Great high amongst both the team and its
For more information on baseBritain twice to win the tournament fans.
ball in Israel visit baseball.org.il or
and advance to the European
Israel surprised Great Britain in israelbaseball.org.
for-word of the original,” said Citron, who called the whole experience “life-changing” because another world of language has
opened up to him.
“There is a Tree beside the
Road,” from which the book’s title
is taken, is Manger’s best-known
poem said Citron. He said a version of the poem is a Zionist anthem from the old days in Europe.
The tree, Citron said, represents
the Jewish people in the sense that
it is still standing.
Although, he said he was never
able to write poetry for all the
years he practised law – “the use
of language … is very different” –
it would appear that Citron’s love
of literature and poetry is still
standing, and taking on new life at
that.
Citron has been published in
several publications including
Modern Poetry in Translation,
Outlook: Canada’s Progressive
Jewish Magazine, Jewish Currents and Trail & Landscape.
To date, Citron has translated
100 of Manger’s poems and said
he intends to keep translating
more of them.
A “Breakfast Book Launch”
for There is a Tree will be held at
Congregation Machzikei Hadas
on Sunday, September 25. For information, call Machzikei Hadas
at 613-521-9700.
Copies of There is a Tree are
available at the Machzikei Hadas
Gift Shop. They are also available
from Tree Reading Series by e-mailing treereadingseries@live.com or
by contacting Murray Citron directly at 613-731-7530.
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A primer on Palestinian statehood
By Uriel Heilman
New York (JTA) – On September
20, when the annual session of the UN
General Assembly opens, Palestinian
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas
is expected to ask UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to present a Palestinian request for statehood recognition to the UN Security Council.
The long-anticipated request will
kick off a chain of events that some
analysts are warning could result in a
new paroxysm of violence in the
Middle East.
Here is a guide to what might happen, and what it might mean.
What do the Palestinians want
the United Nations to recognize?
The Palestinians want recognition
of the state of Palestine in the entirety of the West Bank, Gaza and eastern Jerusalem. The West Bank – an
area controlled by Jordan from the
end of Israel’s War of Independence
in 1949 until it was captured by Israel
in the 1967 Six-Day War – includes
lands on which Jewish settlements
now sit. Eastern Jerusalem was effectively annexed by Israel, but the international community views it as occupied territory. In total, more than
600,000 Jews reside in eastern
Jerusalem and the West Bank.
What’s the legal process for becoming a state?
The UN Security Council’s approval is required to become a UN
member state. The United States,
which is one of the 15-member council’s five permanent, veto-wielding
members, has promised to veto a
Palestinian statehood resolution.
Is there a way for the Palestinians to overcome a U.S. veto?
Not in the Security Council. However, the Palestinians still could seek
statehood recognition at the UN General Assembly. While a General Assembly vote in favor of Palestinian
statehood would not carry the force
of law, the passage of such a resolution would be highly symbolic and
represent a significant public relations defeat for Israel.
Is there any benefit short of full
statehood recognition that the
Palestinians can obtain at the United Nations?
Yes. The Palestinians already
have non-member permanent observer status at the United Nations, which
they obtained in 1974.
This time, the General Assembly
could vote to recognize Palestine as a
non-member UN state, which would
put Palestinian UN membership on
par with that of the Vatican. While
being a non-member state wouldn’t
give the Palestinians much more than
they have now as a non-state observ-
Israeli soldiers scuffle with Palestinians during a demonstration near the West Bank village of Beit
Omar, August 13. Some analysts have warned that a UN vote on Palestinian statehood could set off a
new wave of Palestinian-Israeli violence.
(Photo: Najeh Hashlamoun/Flash 90)
er, it would be another symbolic victory.
If the Palestinians can get a twothirds majority in support of statehood in the General Assembly, they
also could put forward a so-called
‘Uniting for Peace’ resolution. This
nonbinding, advisory resolution
could provide legal cover to nations
wanting to treat Palestine as a state –
for example, allowing sanctions and
lawsuits against Israel to go forward.
The ‘Uniting for Peace’ option was
first used to circumvent a Soviet veto
in the Security Council against action
during the Korean War, and it was
employed during the 1980s to protect
countries that sanctioned apartheid
South Africa from being sued under
international trade laws.
Why are the Palestinians seeking statehood recognition from the
United Nations rather than negotiating directly with Israel?
The Palestinian leadership has eschewed renewed peace talks with Is-
rael, either because Abbas believes
that talks with Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu won’t produce
desired results or because Abbas believes he has more to gain by going to
the international arena – or both.
Abbas essentially is gambling that
the UN move will give him more
leverage vis-à-vis Israel, making it
more difficult for the Israelis to stick
to their current negotiating positions
and establishing the pre-1967 lines as
(Continued on page 33)
In support
of the Bess and Moe
Greenberg Family
Hillel Lodge
In the Joseph
and Inez Zelikovitz
Long Term Care Centre
by Claire and Irving Bercovitch
Card Donations
Card donations go a long way to improving the
quality of life for our residents. Thank you for considering their needs and contributing to their wellbeing.
On behalf of the residents and their families, we
extend sincere appreciation to the following individuals and families who made card donations to the
Hillel Lodge Long-Term Care Foundation between
July 27 and August 15, 2011 inclusive.
HONOUR FUNDS
Unlike a bequest or gift of life insurance, which
are realized some time in the future, a named Honour Fund (i.e., endowment fund) is established during your lifetime.
By making a contribution of $1,000 or more,
you can create a permanent remembrance for a
loved one, honour a family member, declare what
the Lodge has meant to you and/or support a cause
that you believe in.
A Hillel Lodge Honour Fund is a permanent
pool of capital that earns interest or income each
year. This income then supports the priorities designated by you, the donor.
Ruth and Irving Aaron Family Fund
In Memory of:
Beatrice Kreisman by Ruth and Irving Aaron
In Honour of:
Hy Bloom Congratulations on the well-deserved
article in the Ottawa Citizen with love by Ruth and
Irving Aaron
Bill and Leona Adler Memorial Fund
In Memory of:
Tili Wilner-Atlas by Elayne Adler, Farley,
Benjamin and Jordan Stenzler
In Observance of the Yahrzeit of:
Bill Adler our beloved father by Jeff, Marilyn
and Elayne Adler
Auxiliary of Hillel Lodge Fund
In Memory of:
Martin Boyer by Carolyn and Sid Katz
In Honour of:
Larry Hartman Mazal tov on your special birthday by Carolyn and Sid Katz
David Kardish Happy special birthday by
Carolyn and Sid Katz
Jenny and Murray Citron Endowment Fund
In Honour of:
Murray Citron With many thanks for your devotion by the Yiddish Group
Tania Firestone Family Fund
In Honour of:
Dr. Philip Firestone With grateful appreciation
Friedberg and Dale Families Fund
In Memory of:
Tili Wilner-Atlas by Elaine Friedberg and Bob
Dale
Rise Silverstein by Elaine Friedberg and Bob
Dale
Malcolm and Vera Glube
Endowment Fund
In Memory of:
Mae Schwartz by Malcolm and Vera Glube
Bina Maser by Malcolm and Vera Glube
In Honour of:
Chuck Merovitz Congratulations on receiving
the award for Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser at
the AFP Ottawa Philanthropy Awards by Malcolm
and Vera Glube
Nell Gluck Memorial Fund
In Honour of:
Ted Overton Happy belated special birthday by
Manny Gluck and Cheryle Hothersall
Richard Nesbitt Mazal tov on achieving your
Masters of Science by Julia Gluck, Ted Overton and
Jess
Andrea Nesbitt Mazal tov on achieving your
Bachelor of Fine Arts by Julia Gluck, Ted Overton
and Jess
Meira Yan Behatzlachah on making aliyah by
Julia Gluck, Ted Overton and Jess
In Memory of:
Saul Silverman by Henry and Maureen Molot
Mother of Rabbi Yisroel Rabinowitz by Henry
and Maureen Molot
Rise Silverstein by Henry and Maureen Molot
Evelyn and Irving Greenberg Fund
R’fuah Shlema:
Ethel Kerzner by Evelyn Greenberg
Gunner Family Fund
In Honour of:
Ozzie and Sheela Silverman Mazal tov on the
birth of your granddaughter by Sol and Estelle
Gunner
David, Harvey, Victor Kardish Family Fund
In Honour of:
David Kardish Happy 60th birthday by Phil and
Sue Bronsther
Dorothy and Maurie Karp
Endowment Fund
In Honour of:
Sandra and Norman Slover Mazal tov on the
marriage of your son by Dorothy Karp
Morris and Lillian Kimmel Family Fund
In Honour of:
Mr. and Mrs. David Siegel Mazal tov on your
daughter Penina and Ariel’s wedding by Morris
Kimmel, Nathan, Brenda, Jesse and Daniel
Levine
Morris Kimmel Mazal tov on receiving the
Shem Tov Community Volunteer Award by Sonja
and Ron Kesten
R’fuah Shlema:
Marty Saslove by the Kimmel, Kaiman and
Levine families
Matthew Bobkin by Brenda, Nathan, Jesse and
Daniel Levine
Joan and Russell Kronick
Family Fund
In Honour of:
Ed and Betty Rose Congratulations on the birth
of a grandson by Joan and Russell Kronick
Gordon Roston best wishes on your special
birthday by Joan and Russell Kronick
In Memory of:
Libbie Freedman by Joan and Russell Kronick
Bill and Phyllis Leith Family
Endowment Fund
R’fuah Shlema:
Marilyn Isenberg by Lisa, David, Sydney and
Zachary Leith
In Honour of:
Anna Cantor Best wishes on your special birthday by Roz and Arnie Kimmel
Abe and Bertha Palmer
Endowment Fund
In Honour of:
Larry Hartman Happy special birthday with
love by Sunny and John Tavel
Shelley and Sidney Rothman
Family Fund
In Memory of:
Risë Silverstein by Shelley Rothman and family
Irma and Harold Sachs Family Fund
In Honour of:
Lew Auerbach Belated birthday wishes by Irma
Sachs
Stephen and Debra Schneiderman
Family Fund
In Memory of:
Beatrice Kreisman by Stephen and Debra
Schneiderman
Rise Silverstein by Stephen and Debra
Schneiderman
Sarah and Arnie Swedler Family Fund
In Honour of:
Larry Hartman In honour of your 70th birthday
by Arnie Swedler and Rhoda Zaitlin
In Memory of:
Esi Ebrani by Arnie Swedler and Rhoda Zaitlin
Milton and Mary (Terry) Viner Family Fund
Cecil Viner by Millie Schaenfield and family
Carole and Norman Zagerman
Family Fund
In Honour of:
Gordon Roston Happy special birthday by
Carole and Norman Zagerman
Laura Roston Happy special birthday by Carole
and Norman Zagerman
*****************
Feeding Fund
In Honour of:
Betty and Ed Rose In honour of your 40th wedding anniversary by Dee and Yale Gaffen
Ritual Supplies Fund
In Honour of:
Henry and Maureen Molot Mazal tov on the
birth of your two new girls by Ruth and Dale
Fyman
Therapeutices Fund
In Memory of:
Louis Weiner by Jack and Beverley Weiner; by
Fred and Maureen Weiner; by Sonja Kesten
IN HONOUR OF:
Sara Melamed In honour of your birthday by
Ruth and Dale Fyman
Rhoda Aronson In honour of your birthday by
Ruth and Dale Fyman
Issie Rabinowitz In honour of your birthday by
Ruth and Dale Fyman
Carol Pascoe Happy birthday with love by
Maureen and Clary Ottman
Mira Royz and Brad Gold Best wishes on your
upcoming wedding by Tamara and Mikhail Royz
Frumie Appotive Happy 90th birthday with love
by the Bicks and the Appotives
Marty and Ellie Black Mazal tov on Ashley’s
engagement by Steve and Roz Fremeth
Rachel Maya In appreciation by the Hillel
Lodge Auxiliary
Sandra, Eli and Aaron Hoffman In appreciation by Shirley Viner
Lana and Stephen Tanner In appreciation by
Shirley Viner
Henry and Maureen Molot Mazal tov on the
birth of your twin granddaughters by David and
Judith Kalin
IN MEMORY OF:
Libbie Freedman by Bill and Jane James
Beatrice Kreisman by Danny, Rhonda, Sam,
Zachary and Shelby Levine; by Bev, Bryan, Alison
and Rob Glube; by Ingrid Levitz; by Liz Lesh and
family; by Karen, Walter, Steven and Mitchell
Fogel; by Seymour, Joy, Jessie, David and Jared
Mender
Sister of Beatirce Torontow by Sylvia Monson
Elizabeth Milk by the Residents, Board and
Staff of Hillel Lodge
Gordon Viner by Shirley Viner
R’FUAH SHLEMA:
Eleanor Brotman by Arlene and Norm Glube
George Gara by Noreen and Syd Bosloy
THE LODGE EXPRESSES ITS SINCERE APPRECIATION FOR YOUR KIND SUPPORT
AND APOLOGIZES FOR ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS. DUE TO SPACE LIMITATIONS, THE WORDING APPEARING
IN THE BULLETIN IS NOT NECESSARILY THE WORDING WHICH APPEARED ON THE CARD.
GIVING IS RECEIVING – ATTRACTIVE CARDS AVAILABLE FOR ALL OCCASIONS
Here’s a good opportunity to recognize an event or convey the appropriate sentiment to someone important to you and at the same time support the Lodge. Card orders may
be given to Bev at 613-728-3900, extension 111, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm Monday to Thursday, 8:30 am to 3:30 pm Friday. You may also e-mail your orders to
donations@hillel-ltc.com. E-mail orders must include name, address, postal code, and any message to person receiving the card; and, amount of donation, name, address and
postal code of the person making the donation. Cards may be paid for by Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Cheque or Cash. Contributions are tax deductible.
Inez Zelikovitz honoured at CHW Mother’s Day Tea
By Ruth Kahane Goldberg
Amit Chapter CHW
Inez Zelikovitz was the 2011
honouree of the Amit/Mollie
Betcherman/Ina McCarthy Chapters Annual Tea held on Mother’s
Day.
The tea attracted three generations of CHW supporters who celebrated the prominent 94-year-old
philanthropist and her contributions to the development of numerous health care and seniors’
projects in Ottawa.
The spirit of Canadian Hadassah-WIZO women working together is an amazing force, said
Zelikovitz who had donations to
the tea directed to the Sarah Wetsman Davidson Hospital Tower in
Ein Kerem, Jerusalem, which will
open in 2012 at the Hadassah University Hospital.
“It is my great pleasure to extend thanks, on behalf of CHW
and Inez Zelikovitz, for the support the community has given to
this endeavour,” said incoming
Amit Chapter President Sophie
Frenkel. “The tea was a huge success as a result of the efforts of
CHW chapter members and the
hospitality of hostess Ingrid
Levitz. Delectable desserts, party
Presentation to honouree Inez Zelikovitz at the Amit/Mollie Betcherman/Ina McCarthy Chapters Annual Tea: (from left to right) Ruth Kahane Goldberg (Amit Chapter past president), Sophie Frenkel (Amit Chapter incoming president), Candice Wilder (tea co-chair), Inez Zelikovitz, Susana Bleuer (tea co-chair), Esther Kulik (CHW Ottawa president).
sandwiches, fruit, the wonderful
company and an extensive silent
auction were enjoyed by everyone
who attended.”
Amit Chapter’s Fall Opening
Meeting, to be held on Thursday
evening, September 15, is open to
anyone interested in joining CHW.
Guest speaker Dvora Rotenberg will relate her experiences in
Uganda with the Pearl Children
Care Centre and the Abayudaya, a
Ugandan community that practises Judaism. For information, contact Sophie Frenkel at 613-7261538.
Congratulations!
In honour of your marriage,
the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin
is pleased to present you
with a six-month subscription.
Services all held at 627 Kirkwood
(in the Social Hall of Young Israel of Ottawa)
Rosh Hashanah
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and mail to: Ottawa Jewish Bulletin,
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Yom Kippur
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Address
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Kol Nidre Service begins at 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, October 8th
(Includes Break-the-Fast)
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Service begins at 9:00 AM
Cost: $36
For reservations and assistance with accommodations,
contact JET at 613-798-9818 ext. 247, email jet@jccottawa
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Photo: Peter Waiser
Tomatoes, a new cure
for seasonal affective disorder
Forget light boxes or double dosing on St. John’s wort
and melatonin. I have discovered an alternate cure for seasonal affective disorder.
Cook up a few batches of Marcella Hazan’s tomato
sauce and freeze them for the dark winter days ahead. You
will instantly be transported back to the glorious summer
we just experienced.
Marcella Hazan is widely credited with introducing
North Americans to traditional Italian cooking. Her first
cookbook, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, published
in 1973, is still relevant and timely today.
With the Parkdale and ByWard Market stalls nearly
bursting at the seams with tomatoes of every size and
colour of the rainbow, now is the time to stock up and get
to work. This recipe recently came to my attention on the
food blog, Food52.com. Every Wednesday, Food52 senior
editor Kristen Miglore unearths what she calls “genius
recipes.”
“There are good recipes, and great ones – and then there
are genius recipes. Genius recipes surprise us and make us
rethink cooking tropes. They’re handed down by luminaries of the food world and become their legacy. They get us
talking and change the way we cook. And, once we’ve folded them into our repertoires, they make us feel pretty genius
too.”
The genius of this recipe is that it contains three ingredients and tastes like Italian sunshine on a spoon. All you
need are plum tomatoes, butter and an onion.
When I first looked at the ingredient list, I have to admit
I thought there was a printing error. Where were the garlic,
the oregano and the basil?
And, this is the part you will have to take a leap of faith
on and just trust me: Yes, you must put in all five tablespoons of butter called for in this recipe. Do not skimp on
the butter or even think about substituting margarine. I will
find out about it and hunt you down!
I know that five tablespoons of butter seems like an ungodly amount for a tomato sauce. But, if you do the math
(and you don’t have to, I have done it for you – no need to
thank me, it’s what I’m here for), you will see that this
recipe makes enough sauce to feed six people.
One tablespoon of butter contains 100 calories, so that
makes 500 calories in butter for this recipe. But divide that
by six and each person is only getting a measly 2 1/2 teaspoons or 82 calories from butter. A small indulgence when
you consider the flavour payoff.
In what seems like a culinary sleight of hand, these three
simple ingredients create a thick, full-flavoured velvety
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Cindy Feingold
sauce. It is pure and rich and luxurious.
The butter gives a soft creamy note while, at the same
time, it tempers the acidity of the tomato. The onion adds a
slight savoury note, just hidden in the background of this
sauce.
Just in case you don’t follow my advice and make this
sauce right now while tomatoes are at their peak, you can
still make this sauce with canned tomatoes. Try to seek out
cans of whole Italian plum tomatoes.
Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter
This recipe is from Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Italian Cooking. Serves six, enough to coat 1 1/2 pounds of pasta.
For the sauce
2 pounds fresh ripe plum tomatoes,
prepared as described below
(or 2 cups canned imported Italian
plum tomatoes, cut up, with their juice)
5 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, peeled and cut in half
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Put either the prepared fresh tomatoes or the canned
tomatoes in a saucepan, add the butter, onion and salt,
and cook uncovered at a very slow, but steady simmer
for about 45 minutes or until it is thickened to your liking and the fat floats free from the tomato.
Stir from time to time, mashing up any large pieces of
tomato with the back of a wooden spoon.
Taste and correct for salt. Discard the onion. Stir
sauce well and toss with pasta. Serve with freshly grated
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
A series of short legends
It was well known in Chicago that Jake the Mosquito and
his gang buzzed from bank heist to bank heist acquiring a
fortune in cash before they were captured by undercover
cops in a sting operation.
Atlas, finding the strain on his back intolerable from carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, eventually retired and distributed the weight, unequally, to all of us.
Moses carried the responsibility for the Jewish people and
their fate on his back. The real reason he was unable to go
into the Promised Land was that his guilt and regret were so
heavy by the time he got to Moab, he could no longer lift his
feet without direct heavenly assistance. It was rumoured he
was so spiritual that, without the weight of this world to hold
him down, he would have floated away.
King Canute sat on the beach and gave an order to the tide
not to come in, an order that succeeded only because he was
a careful student of the phases of the moon, thus proving that
in leadership, timing is everything.
The Roman writer Macrobius, wishing to instruct his son
Eustacius, left a collection of tales and moral lessons, both
large and tubular, for him. Yet, with a slight spelling error,
Made
with Love
was accused of using microbial logic to blame the fall of
Rome on an infection caused by Germans.
A learned philosopher convicted of murder decided on the
day of his execution to apply Zeno’s paradox by marching
first half-way to the scaffold, then half-way again, and so on,
with the hope of never reaching his goal. But he was surprised and disappointed when his feet proved too large to
take infinitesimally small steps and he came close enough
for the rope to reach around his neck.
About this nameless man the saying arose that “he
marched quickly toward his doom, taking very small steps.”
Although it is known that Samson got his strength from
his hair, it has only lately been revealed that Delilah got her
ability to charm and enthrall men through the length of her
fingernails, a talent she acquired when she was dedicated to
the goddess. It was through her indifference and boredom,
after absently trimming her nails in the balcony of the Philistine temple, that Samson regained enough hair and strength
to bring down the whole edifice.
Ahab, King of Israel, after his final defeat by the Assyrians, accepted a mission from the God of Justice to bring
your account or to conduct market research and surveys in an effort to continually improve our product service offerings.
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613-798-4696, ext. 256.
Making fresh tomatoes
ready for sauce
There are three options.
The blanching method: Plunge tomatoes into boiling
water for a minute or less.
Drain them and as soon as they are cool enough to
handle, skin them and cut into coarse pieces.
The freezing method (from David Tanis via thekitchn.com): Freeze tomatoes on a baking sheet until
hard. Thaw, either on the counter or under running water.
Skin them and cut into coarse pieces.
The food mill method: Wash the tomatoes in cold
water, cut them lengthwise in half, and put them in a
covered saucepan.
Turn on the heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes.
Set a food mill fitted with the disk with the largest holes
over a bowl.
Transfer the tomatoes with any of their juices to the
mill and purée.
Humour me,
please
Rubin Friedman
God’s judgment on Nineveh and its great white walls.
Changing his name to Jonah, he set off on this errand only to
be swallowed by a whale on the way, and to learn, at the end,
that God is also merciful. It was a bitter pill for a defeated
king, who sat under a shady palm and dozed in the heat of
the day, dreaming he was a sea captain in search of a white
whale to exact vengeance. It was only when he woke from a
nightmare of death and defeat and saw the destroyed palm
under which he had been sitting that he understood the necessity of mercy to balance justice.
Some say Jesus and his disciples were followers of a
Pharisaic path, which considered God was the only legitimate monarch for Jews. One such group, the Zealots, used
arms to achieve their goals while those around Jesus believed God himself would bring about the desired result.
Ironically, this early division between Jews and Christians
was reversed because the Zealots were defeated. The lesson
taken by the rabbis was to wait for the Messiah. The Christians, meanwhile, saw their religion become the official form
of worship in the Roman Empire and promptly set out to
conquer the world.
What are we teaching our kids
about the Palestinians?
Having been overseas for several weeks this spring, I
was recently catching up on back issues of the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin when the front page of the May 30 issue caught
my attention. My eyes lingered on a photograph of Ottawa
Jewish Community School kids performing on Yom
Ha’Atzmaut. I noticed several kids were holding large
maps.
The maps depicted the tell-tale long, triangular shape of
Israel. But, peering more closely, I noticed that nowhere
was the Green Line visible. The 1949 armistice border that
separates Israel from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the
Green Line is the only marker available to signify what is
legally Israeli land and what is occupied territory.
It wasn’t the first time in a month I’d seen a map like that
around town. In one of the many classrooms my kids frequent on the Jewish Community Campus, I had recently
seen a map tacked to a bulletin board that similarly negated
any form of Palestinian autonomy.
Many in our community are rightfully distressed about
the messages the other side sends to their children about
Jews and Israelis. Much is made within the Diaspora Jewish community about the alleged lack of representation of
Israel on many Palestinian maps, and of messages about Israel in Palestinian textbooks. YouTube videos showing
Palestinian children speaking ill of Jews go viral within our
networks.
But, today, I call upon our community to ask ourselves
what kinds of messages we are teaching our kids about the
Palestinians, and about the reality of Israeli occupation? It
seems that we, too, are contentedly playing the same game
of denying the other their collective geography, thereby
supporting the continuation of the occupation without
thought.
Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan, and the Gaza
Strip, as well as the Sinai, from Egypt, in the Six Day War
in 1967. In 2005, Israel withdrew its ground troops and all
8,000 settlers from Gaza (while maintaining a ground,
naval and air blockade around the area). But, in the West
Bank, Israeli military occupation remains (with some parts
under the limited autonomy of the Palestinian Authority).
Most importantly, aside from East Jerusalem, Israel never
annexed the territory. Palestinians living there are not Israeli citizens. They are stateless. Nor does the area enjoy
normal Israeli civil law. Instead, the West Bank is subject to
Israeli military law.
Life in the West Bank is one of the most glaring examples of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (The exchange of
rocket fire and fighter jets between Hamas and the IDF with
their respective civilian populations in between is another
tragic and important element.)
West Bank settlers have their own roads, and Palestinian
daily life includes regular passages through military checkpoints. The checkpoints are largely determined by the route
of the ‘separation barrier’ that snakes through the West
Bank (or Judea and Samaria as the Israeli government calls
it). Sadly, the barrier does not follow the path of the Green
Line, making a two-state solution harder and harder to envision. Settlements are on one side, and Palestinian villages
and cities are on the other.
For 70 years prior to 1948, Jews clamoured for international recognition in the form of a Jewish state, which
would join the family of nation-states. Here in the Diaspo-
Values, Ethics,
Community
Mira
Sucharov
ra, we teach our kids Hebrew, we teach them Israeli folk
songs, and we sing “Hatikvah” at community events. Surely we should give them the most minimal of tools to help
them realize that our national struggle – fortunately awarded with sovereignty, by dint of international diplomacy and
military prowess – has not (and will not) be the only national struggle in which our Israeli counterparts are entwined.
Even intellectually, the least we can do is have the maps
in which we wrap our children approach geographic and
political accuracy. There is no reason for sowing even more
confusion about what is a complex – but not terribly complicated – reality of the post-1967 territorial situation. This
is the line that the Palestinians will be demanding the UN
recognize as the border of a Palestinian state this month.
This is the border to which successive international peace
plans have encouraged Israel to withdraw (with relevant
land swaps and annexation of settlement blocs). And this
border is clearly shown on the map of Israel –
tinyurl.com/IsraeliGovtMap – found on the Israeli government’s own web portal.
At the moral level, the maps we use should at least convey the tiniest hint that there is another people over which
our Israeli kith and kin rule, and who desire independence
just as our people once did.
Mira Sucharov, an associate professor of political science
at Carleton University, blogs at Haaretz.com.
How does the Bible address
contemporary issues?
The Bible Now
By Richard Elliott Friedman and Shawna Dolansky
Oxford University Press
220 pages
Unfortunately, religion is often a muddy prism through
which some of society’s most important social debates are refracted. In The Bible Now, biblical scholars Richard Elliott
Friedman and Shawna Dolansky, an Ottawa-based religion
professor, attempt to illuminate what the Hebrew Bible actually says on a number of hot-button issues: homosexuality,
abortion, women, the death penalty and the environment.
The authors are careful to show that they are not here to
bring their own personal opinions to bear. Rather, by doing
what Bible scholars are trained to do, namely interpret using
all the linguistic, anthropological, archeological and critical
tools at their disposal, they attempt to let the Bible speak for
itself.
Their introductory statement, “We are scholars, not politicians. We may have positions, but they have no business in
our scholarship. A scholar’s job is to tell the truth,” gave me
some degree of pause. As a scholar myself, I certainly understand their desire to divorce their own beliefs from their trade.
But this passage led me to think about what sorts of demands
a society should make of its intellectuals. Is the scholarly task
only the naked search for truth, or is there a role for advancing the cause of social betterment? Many colleagues I know
would certainly say yes to the latter question (though some
would not).
Be that as it may, the authors are scrupulously honest about
their task, so the book can be judged easily by the standards
Friedman and Dolansky set. Accordingly, they deliver an excellent, concise and scholarly analysis of each issue. Readers
who are new to Biblical criticism will find a treatment that is
accessible and non-intimidating, while honouring the depth
and breadth of scholarship coming before it. The authors also
clarify some popular misconceptions, such as the role of ancient animal sacrifice being more about honouring the capture
before eating it, rather than being about animal cruelty.
Drawing on what they refer to as “laws, prose and poetry,”
the authors comb the available evidence on each issue, carefully render and defend their analyses, position themselves in
the context of other scholarly treatments, and come to clear
conclusions. This is the case even when their conclusions
sometimes call for more uncertainty (as in whether what is
popularly known as the “Rape of Dinah” was actually a rape).
On homosexuality, for example, Friedman and Dolansky
conclude the story of Sodom may have been referring to
“men” or to “people” (the Hebrew anashim can mean both,
that in any event it was about rape, not simply sex; and that
there is no reason to assume the poetry about David and
Jonathan was about physical love. They ultimately suggest the
“prohibition in the Bible applies only so long as male homosexual acts are perceived to be offensive,” and they carefully
draw out the legacy of change involving the term toevah, generally understood to mean abomination.
In a telling discussion of the broader role of the Bible, the
authors suggest what meaning this prohibition may have for
individuals. Some, they argue, may view the Bible as having
much wisdom, but may see this particular prohibition as outmoded. Others might take the Bible’s injunctions as a literal
guide to their own life’s conduct. And still others might see
Book Review
Mira
Sucharov
the Bible as entirely irrelevant. This last view, the authors
argue, is “wrong.” They add the Bible “was composed by 100150 persons, spread over a thousand years for the Hebrew
Bible alone and centuries more for the New Testament.” The
wholehearted skeptic likely will not be satisfied by their defence of the Bible’s relevance for drawing moral truths. But it
is admirable they at least open the debate.
Their discussion of abortion also urges readers to draw
their own moral conclusions (they claim it is unclear whether
abortion is “murder” or “killing,” for it is only murder that enjoys an outright biblical ban).
It is certainly plausible to think of the Bible as one source
of personal and communal morality. But I would submit that
in order to properly assess what is at stake in any moral decision, the Bible would need to be complemented very directly
by the long and well-honed Western philosophical tradition of
ethics. Friedman and Dolansky acknowledge the limits of
their task, but readers may still be asking themselves whether
discovering what the Bible actually says on a number of major
social issues is simply an intellectual, literary and cultural act
of curiosity, or whether it has any significant bearing on our
everyday life as moral beings.
The Bible Now by Richard Elliot Friedman and Shawna
Dolansky will be launched Sunday, September 18, 1:00 pm at
the Soloway Jewish Community Centre. Co-author Dolansky
will read from the book, and there will be a book-signing and
reception. For information, contact Roslyn Wollock at 613798-9818, ext. 254, or rwollock@jccottawa.com.
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Ottawa’s Sasloves featured in book about extended family’s history
We genealogists are often asked
what we intend to do with all of the
materials we accumulate about our
families. In my case, assembling a
family tree with almost 2,500 members involved locating hundreds of
pictures, vital records, newspaper articles and more, and putting them together in a logical format. Most of us
use software programs to organize the
materials, allowing us to print charts
and decipher the complex relationships between members on our trees.
Usually, those of us engaged in this
hobby do it for personal satisfaction
and to pass down the details of our
ancestry to our family members.
A few genealogists take the
process a step further and publish a
book based on their years of research.
I recently came across such a book that I want to tell you
about because it covers one of our community’s prominent
families, the Sasloves, and because it’s so well done. Out of
Uman: The Zaslavsky Family, Descendants, and Legacy is a
500-page masterpiece compiled by William Saslow of Narragansett, Rhode Island. Saslow brilliantly tells the story of his
ancestors and their descendants.
In Saslow’s introduction, he talks about factors that motivated him to begin his research. He thanks his wife, Michelle,
who came from a family of 15 siblings, who inspired him to
find out more about his own less connected family. He was
fortunate to have several cousins who had already done some
work recording the history of their branches of the family, and
they were happy to share their information with him.
As it should, the book begins with history. Much detail is
dedicated to the origins of the family, and talks about the cities
of Justingrad and Uman, now in Ukraine, where the Zaslavskys lived. Maps and pictures appear on almost every
page and add life to the narrative about the political, economic and social conditions that existed in those communities.
The reader is given a vivid picture of what life was like for
Saslow’s ancestors living in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
As with many of our families, the Zaslavskys had to endure the pogroms and unfavourable conditions that influenced
their difficult decision to uproot. The next section, “Escape
and Emigration,” tells the story of the family coming to their
new life in North America. Saslow writes about the ships that
brought the family members over, the hardships they encountered on their way, and the uncertainty and stresses the immigrants experienced not knowing what to expect in their new
lives. This section is beautifully illustrated with photographs
of the ships and copies of the manifests listing the immigrants’ names.
The following section, “Making a New Life,” tells the stories of the immigrants and their descendants in Canada and
the United States. Much of the account talks about settling
here in Ottawa and covers this branch of the family from arrival until today.
The Ottawa branch of the Zaslavsky family became
Saslove. In Canada, they married, and the book tells the stories of family members with such locally known names as
Ballon, Slipacoff, Marcovitch, Karp, Lazear, Shapiro, Kimmel and Taller. The tale is told with charts, family pictures,
anecdotes, recipes, newspaper articles and more. It is a fascinating history of the Sasloves, and a reflection of the history
of our local Jewish community.
As a native Ottawan, I was very interested in this section
as it covered many people whom I have known for decades.
Much detail is given to the fact that many in the family went
into the food business, particularly as butchers. At one time,
there were five ByWard Market businesses operated by, or at
least begun by, Saslove family members.
Saslow then provides a section on
the lineage of the family – the names
and dates that one usually associates
with a family tree, and a very interesting timeline section, which matches
events in the family’s history with historical events in Russia, Canada, the
United States and Israel. The book
concludes with a series of appendices
of more than one hundred pages of
photographs, transcripts of interviews
and anecdotes.
Saslow told me he created the
book at no cost using publish-on-demand capabilities. He downloaded
Microsoft Word templates and created
a Zaslavsky family page on Facebook
where cousins could comment and
correct PDF versions of the manuscript as it was put together.
The finished book was the 88th such version. Bill chose to
Connecting
the branches
John
Diener
forgo any revenues or royalties associated with the book, and
ensured that a free downloadable version as well as an inexpensive black and white version would be available.
For those related to the Sasloves, this treasure is a must,
something that can and must be handed down to younger family members. Because of its excellent coverage of our local
Jewish community’s history, as well as Eastern European Jewish life, it is a fabulous read, even if you have no connection
to the Saslove family. The book can be ordered online at
lulu.com as a free download or as print copies for purchase. I
have read and reread Out of Uman several times and given it
a prominent place on my bookshelf.
Eighteen things you may not
know about Rhona Levine
Let’s get one thing straight, Rhona Levine is a self-professed “Ottawa girl.” Yes, she gave Toronto a try earlier this
year, but is delighted to be back in her hometown. And we’re
happy to have her back!
So, here is a wonderful opportunity to either meet or remeet this wonderful lady. Here are 18 things you may not
know about Rhona Levine …
1. As a child, my parents always called me Rivkah.
2. I love Rosh Hashanah and Pesach because I know that
my children, Rachel and Robert, who live in Montreal and
Toronto respectively, will always come home and visit. I also
really enjoy how Robert leads a seder!
3. For years, I was a teacher’s assistant at Hillel Academy for the junior kindergarten classes and always rented a
fantastic full-body costume for Purim. I have dressed up as
Cookie Monster, a duck and a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. I
loved walking up and down the hallways handing out suckers
and knowing that the younger students had no idea that it was
me!
4. I was born and raised in Ottawa and love the city, especially the Rideau Canal and ByWard Market.
5. My favourite movie is The Sound of Music and I have
seen it ‘a million times.’ When I was in Grade 5, my teacher,
who played guitar, taught us all of the songs. I will never forget that he rented a bus and took our whole class to see it
downtown at the Nelson Theatre (now the ByTowne Cinema).
6. I love to make lemon meringue pie. This was my late
father’s favourite dessert, and I still make it on holidays and
think of him.
7. My favourite comfort food is Cherry Blossom ice
cream.
8. I have been to Israel four times and my favourite place
is Givat Ada, which is about 45 minutes outside Tel Aviv. I
have friends who live there and find that it is so nice to leave
the hustle and bustle of Tel Aviv and be out in the country. I
have even been woken up by a rooster while staying with
them!
9. My children would describe me as reliable, organized
and honest.
10. My dream trip would be to visit Italy. I am interested
in absolutely everything about that country.
11. I have become somewhat of a gym rat over the past
few years and love using the treadmill.
18 things ...
Sarah
Silverstein
12. I really love shoes. My favourite pair, so far, are my
purple suede heels from Pom-Pom.
13. If people comment about my height – I am 5-foot-ish
– I tell them that good things come in small packages!
14. I really enjoy singing and have sung in choirs around
the city. One Chanukah, my choir sang on CJOH, which was
a lot of fun.
15. I am afraid of mice.
16. I am an avid reader. At the moment, I am reading Rich
Boy by Sharon Pomerantz and really am enjoying it.
17. One of the best parts of my job is the opportunity to
meet new and interesting people from all over the world.
18. My most prized piece of Judaica is a beautiful gold
menorah given to me by my cousins. It is special to me because of who gave it to me.
Rhona Levine, self-professed “Ottawa girl.”
FOUNDATION DONATIONS
Our future is in your hands
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The Board of Directors of the Ottawa
Jewish Community Foundation acknowledges with thanks contributions to the
following funds as of August 16, 2011.
APPOTIVE FAMILY
ENDOWMENT FUND
Birthday wishes to:
Florence Appotive by Jeff Appotive; and by
Sharon Appotive.
Mazal Tov to:
Sam and Sonya Holtzman and family on the
birth of their first granddaughter, Anjali by Carolyn and Stephen Appotive.
IRVING AND ESTHER BELLMAN
MEMORIAL FUND
In memory of:
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EDITH AND OTTO BRUCK
MEMORIAL FUND
Mazel Tov to:
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TILLIE AND HARRY CHERM
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HOWARD, JEFFREY, ANDREW,
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AND ZACHARY COGAN FUND
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Dr. Sandy and Murray Ages on the engagement of their son Daniel to Marlo by Fred and
Lisa Cogan and family.
DAVID AND QUEENIE COHEN
MEMORIAL FUND
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SANDI AND EDDY COOK
ENDOWMENT FUND
In memory of:
Beatrice Kreisman by Sandi, Eddy and
Samantha Cook.
Risë Silverstein by Sandi, Eddy and
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Birthday wishes to:
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Weinstein; and by Pam and Sam Handelsman.
Best wishes to:
Connie and George Lathouras in the 24-hour
Bikeathon at Tremblant by Sandi and Eddy Cook
and family.
NATHAN AND REBA DIENER
ENDOWMENT FUND
In memory of:
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JOSEPH AND JEAN DOVER
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In memory of:
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In appreciation of:
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Continued on page 32
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Mazal Tov to:
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by Ingrid Levitz.
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B’NAI MITZVAH FUND
What do your “kids”
really care about?
Do they care about hanging out
with their friends? Playing sports?
Playing their musical instruments?
How about helping the homeless in
their community? Fighting antiSemitism? Supporting people with
disabilities?
Through the Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation, our community’s
youth can achieve both! They can be
the active individuals that they are all
while making a difference through
tzedakah, one gift at a time.
Teens can make their Bar and Bat
Mitzvah’s an extra special event by
opening a B’nai Mitzvah Fund in their
name. This gives them the vehicle to
support causes dear to their hearts.
Forever!
You can make a difference in your
child’s life by encouraging your son or
daughter to establish a B’nai Mitzvah
Fund. Their participation in the B’nai
Mitzvah Club, which is for teens age
12 up to pre-post secondary, will
affect the rest of their lives in a
positive and philanthropic manner.
Now is the time to encourage your
child to become a charitable,
responsible member of the Jewish
Community.
To obtain information on how
to open a B’nai Mitzvah Fund for as
little as $250, call the Foundation
office today at 613-798-4696
extension 252 or email info@ojcf.ca.
Additional information can be found
on our website at www.OJCF.ca.
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Paul and Sharon Finn on the graduation of
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Schachnow.
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and Jack Torjman.
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In memory of:
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Howard and Sara Miller.
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Miller.
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LYNDA NADOLNY FAMILIES FUND
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JEAN AND MAX NAEMARK
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Thinking of you to:
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Anniversary Wishes to:
Barbara and Sid Cohen by Marilyn and Bill
Newman.
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AARON HARRY COHEN
Thinking of you to:
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Prehogan.
SHELLEY AND SID ROTHMAN
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Mazal Tov to:
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Kesten.
SOL AND ZELAINE SHINDER
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Mazal Tov to:
Sheli Braun on receiving the GrinspoonSteinhardt Award for Excellence in Jewish
Education by Sol and Zelaine Shinder.
Edward and Betty Rose on the birth of their
grandson by Sol and Zelaine Shinder.
JACK AND SARAH SILVERSTEIN
FAMILY ENDOWMENT FUND
In memory of:
Risë Silverstein by Jean Myers and James
Glen; by Dan Bleichman and Erin Bolling; by
Phillip and Cathy Stein; by Elissa and Avraham
Iny; by The Levitz Family; by Lindsay
Rothenberg; by Sylvie Bordeleau; by Andrea
and Cyril Tiwari; and by Rick and Helen
Zipes.
Abraham Stein by Jack and Sarah Silverstein
and family.
STELLA AND LOUIS SLACK
MEMORIAL FUND
Condolences to:
Gail Edelstein on the loss of a dear sister by
Myra and Lester Aronson and Family.
Birthday Wishes to:
Elaine Citrome by Myra and Lester Aronson.
Allan Schwartz by Myra and Lester Aronson.
Lester Aronson by Carol and Stuart Levine.
MOE AND CHARLOTTE SLACK
MEMORIAL FUND
Birthday Wishes to:
Gordon Roston by Marlene Levine and
Andrew Siman.
Laura Roston by Marlene Levine and
Andrew Siman.
DORIS AND RICHARD STERN
FAMILY FUND
In memory of:
Solomon Sinyor by Doris and Richard Stern
and family.
Birthday wishes to:
Gerry Davis by Doris and Richard Stern.
Debbie and Gerry Davis by Doris and
Richard Stern.
SAMUEL AND ANNE TALLER
ENDOWMENT FUND
In memory of:
Joseph Gottlieb by Marilyn and Wendy
Waserman.
CLAIRE AND SAM TANNER
MEMORIAL FUND
Mazal Tov to:
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upcoming wedding of their daughter Penina to
Michael by Lana and Stephen Tanner.
Continued on page 33
THE TARANTOUR FAMILY FUND
Mazal Tov to:
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In memory of:
Abraham Stein by Lise and Mark Thaw and
family.
Risë Silverstein by Lise and Mark Thaw and
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39TH BOY SCOUTS
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and family.
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HAZE WAINBERG FAMILY FUND
In memory of:
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MIRIAM AND LOUIS WEINER
ENDOWMENT FUND
In memory of:
Louis Weiner by Marilyn and Daniel
Kimmel.
HALTON/WEISS FAMILY FUND
In memory of:
Abraham Stein by Debbie and Ron Weiss.
SAM AND HELENE ZARET
MEMORIAL FUND
In memory of:
Annette Lesonsky-Lithwick by Debi and
Neil Zaret, Mark & Simmy Zaret and Families.
Beatrice Kreisman by Debi and Neil Zaret
and family.
Mazal Tov to:
Sandy and Murray Ages on the upcoming
marriages of their sons, Daniel and Jon by Debi
and Neil Zaret and family.
ZIPES KARANOFSKY FAMILY
ENDOWMENT FUND
In memory of:
Beatrice Kreisman by Rick and Helen Zipes.
Manny Melamed, a beloved husband and
father by Rick and Helen Zipes.
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Providing support for services and programs
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Birthday Wishes to:
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In Appreciation to:
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Soderstrom.
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B’NAI MITZVAH PROGRAM
RYAN GOLDBERG
Condolences to:
Israel Rabinowitz and family on the loss of
his mother by Mary and Len Potechin.
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In memory of:
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Hamburg.
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In memory of:
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Mazal Tov to:
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Palestinian statehood
the basis for negotiations.
What tools does Israel have to respond to
the Palestinian bid?
Israel’s strategy now is trying to persuade as
many nations as possible – as well as the Palestinians – that a UN vote favouring Palestinian
statehood would set back the peace track. The
argument is that it would make it less likely that
Israeli-Palestinian negotiations would succeed,
forcing Israel to dig in its heels.
Beyond that, Israeli experts have warned,
Israel may consider the unilateral Palestinian
bid for UN recognition an abrogation of the
Oslo Accords, which stipulated that the framework for resolution of the conflict be negotiations between the two parties. If the Oslo Accords, which provides the basis for the limited
autonomy the Palestinians currently have in the
West Bank, are nullified, Israel may re-occupy
portions of the West Bank from which its forces
have withdrawn, end security co-operation with
the Palestinian Authority and withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in tax money it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.
What are some of the other possible negative consequences for the Palestinians of
UN statehood recognition?
The U.S. Congress has threatened to ban assistance to the Palestinian Authority if it pursues recognition of statehood at the United Nations; that could cost the Palestinians as much
as $500 million annually, potentially crippling
the Palestinian government.
What’s the plan for the day after the UN
vote?
It’s not clear. The Palestinian leadership
doesn’t seem to have a plan. The Palestinian
public is expected to stage mass demonstrations. Israel is preparing for a host of worstcase scenarios, including violence.
If the United Nations does endorse Palestinian statehood in some form, it will be seen as a
public relations victory for the Palestinians.
But, in the absence of progress on the ground in
the Middle East, a UN vote could set off popular Palestinian protests against Israel that could
escalate into another Palestinian intifada.
No one knows what another Palestinian intifada will look like. It’s possible that soon after
a UN vote, Palestinians will march on Israeli
settlements and military positions much like
Palestinians in Syria and Lebanon marched on
Israel’s borders in mid-May to commemorate
Nakba Day – the day marking the anniversary
of the “catastrophe” of Israel’s founding.
Or, a UN vote could unleash a new wave of
violence, with attacks and counterattacks that
destroy the relative calm that has held between
Israel and West Bank Palestinians since the second intifada waned in 2004.
The outbreak of violence, however, could
undermine Palestinian interests. In the relative
absence of Palestinian terrorism in recent years,
the Palestinians have managed to get increased
economic assistance, established upgraded
diplomatic ties with nations throughout the
world, rallied more global support for their
cause, and seen a considerable rise in their GDP
and quality of life in the West Bank. They don’t
want to throw that all away.
That may leave the Palestinians and Israel
back where they started before talk of UN
recognition began: at a standstill.
The unveiling
of a monument
in loving memory of
Akiva Kriger
will take place
Sunday,
September 18, 2011
at 10:30 a.m.
Bank Street Cemetery
Family and friends
are invited to attend.
JEWISH MEMORIAL
GARDENS
YOUR ONE-STOP RESOURCE CENTRE
FOR FUNERAL PLANNING
To better serve our community, we have one central number to handle
all cemetery enquiries and to arrange for our services
613-688-3530
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Make your donation online
at www.OJCF.ca
Call 613.798.4696, ext. 232
Email: donation@ojcf.ca
Interment Rights*
Bank Street
Osgoode
* Pre-purchasing of interment rights is only available
to members of JMG’s founding synagogues.
Pursuing Jewish dreams in their 40s and 50s,
and embarking on second careers as rabbis
By Penny Schwartz
(JTA) – Ten years ago, Sonia
Saltzman was a frequent business
traveller to Latin America for a
Boston-based non-profit job in international micro-lending.
Evette Lutman spent more than
10 years working as an attorney
representing battered women and
serving as a family referee in a
Michigan county courthouse.
Charles Friedman worked for
nearly 15 years in his family’s
business in plastics construction
manufacturing.
Today, all three are rabbis, having changed careers midlife to
pursue their Jewish dreams.
“Switching to become a rabbi
in midlife is not like becoming an
engineer,” Rabbi Saltzman told
JTA. “It permeates your entire life
and changes who you are.”
The three belong to a small
group of second-career rabbis who
are finding their place in the world
of Jewish religious leadership in
their 40s and 50s.
Various factors are propelling
these individuals into the rabbinate. Some had long-harboured
dreams of becoming a rabbi, but
wound up pursuing other careers
for personal or financial reasons.
Others became interested in the
rabbinate later in life, prompted
in some cases by something specific.
Not all the new rabbis are pursuing congregational jobs. More
professional options exist now for
rabbinical school graduates, including in the chaplaincy, education and Jewish communal work.
Pursuing the rabbinate as a
second career is not a new story
in North American Jewish life,
but it’s more common for those in
their mid- to late-20s or early-30s
after working for some time in
professions such as law or medicine, said Jonathan Sarna, a professor of American Jewish history
at Brandeis University and the
chief historian at the National
Museum of American Jewish
History.
Sarna said it is unusual for
those in their 40s, 50s or 60s to go
for the rabbinate, and that it’s
more common for older secondcareer clergy members among
Christian denominations.
After the tragedy of 9/11, there
was a sudden increase in the number of older rabbinical students,
Sarna noted – those who were
Rabbi Evette Lutman, 52, who was ordained in 2010 at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, is the
rabbi at B’nai Havurah in Denver. She was the student rabbi at the Ottawa Reconstructionist Havurah
in 2009.
(Photo: David Zalubowski/Denver Post)
moved to pursue more meaningful
careers.
Indeed, Rabbi Friedman, 47,
said that the September 11, 2001
terrorist attacks were a wake-up
call for him.
“It was so horrific, many people were re-evaluating their lives,”
he said.
Rabbi Friedman was ordained
in 2008 at Yeshivat Chovevei
Torah, a modern Orthodox rabbinical school in New York. Today, he
is the chaplain and director of pastoral care at Englewood Hospital in
northern New Jersey.
Rabbi Saltzman received rabbinical ordination from the nondenominational Hebrew College in
Boston in 2008 – at the age of 52
when she already had two grown
children.
Her road to becoming a rabbi
brought about changes at home.
As her level of religious observance deepened, Rabbi Saltzman
said she and her husband found
themselves negotiating lifestyle
changes. In August, she began her
second job since being ordained:
as rabbi at Temple Ohabei
Shalom, a large Reform congregation in Boston and the oldest Jewish congregation in Massachusetts.
Rabbi Lutman, 52, was ordained in 2010 at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in
Philadelphia. She has been serving for the past year as rabbi at
B’nai Havurah in Denver. In 2009,
she served as student rabbi at the
Ottawa Reconstructionist Havurah
(now Or Haneshamah).
Despite the differences in their
backgrounds, the three rabbis revealed, in conversations with JTA,
a common sense of answering a
call to explore more fully their
Jewish spirituality. They faced
challenges as well: four to six
years of rigorous study and, in
some cases, up to a year’s study in
Israel.
Sarna pointed to Rabbi Helene
Ferris, rabbi emerita at Temple Israel in Croton-on-Hudson, NY, as
a pioneer among older second-career rabbis. Ferris, ordained in
1981 at the Reform movement’s
Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, was 36 and had
children when she attended rabbinical school.
Rabbi Ferris recalled that 35
years ago, when she began studying for the rabbinate, it was difficult to be a pioneer, although she
said her classmates were very congenial. When word got out that
she was in rabbinical school, she
would receive weekly phone calls
from people seeking guidance.
Now, she said, the calls are much
less frequent as older second-career rabbis aren’t so unusual.
The prevalence of older, second-career rabbis varies by denomination and rabbinical school.
At Boston’s Hebrew College,
15 students older than 50 have attended since the rabbinical school
opened in 2003, said Rabbi Dan
Judson, its director of professional
development and placement. In
recent years, the average age of incoming students has dropped,
drawing a more typical age range
for rabbinical students – those in
their late-20s. Still, Rabbi Judson
stressed, it is not unusual for 25year-olds to have study partners in
their 40s or 50s.
In the past two years, the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) in
New York, Conservative Judaism’s flagship educational institution, has enrolled a handful of
students in their 40s and 50s who
are pursuing the rabbinate later in
life or as second careers, according to Rabbi Daniel Nevins, dean
of the JTS rabbinical school.
At the New York campus of the
Reform Movement’s Hebrew
Union College (HUC), two of the
12 rabbis who were ordained this
year were second-career rabbis in
their late-40s or early-50s, according to HUC Associate Dean Renni
Altman. She said the number of
older students varies from year to
year and HUC has always had
some older students, but never
large clusters.
The average age of rabbinical
students at Yeshiva University’s
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological
Seminary is the mid-20s, according to Rabbi Yona Reiss, dean of
the Orthodox, male-only rabbinical program in New York. For the
occasional older student, the motivation is generally personal
growth as opposed to professional
advancement.
By contrast, over the past
decade at the Reconstructionist
Rabbinical College (RRC), approximately one-third of the rabbinical students have been in their
second careers, including some
over 50, according to Rabbi
Amber Powers, who oversees admissions at the suburban Philadelphia school.
“Part of what makes classroom
discussions so dynamic at RRC is
the diverse backgrounds of the
students,” Rabbi Powers said.
“Learning Jewish history really
comes alive when a student who
was an anthropologist brings their
expertise to the discussion.”
Of the 75 graduates of Yeshivat
Chovevei Torah’s rabbinical
school, only three have been second-career students, and they have
all been in their 30s and 40s, according to Ruthie Simon Strosberg, director of recruitment and
placement for the 11-year-old
school in the Bronx.
Rabbi Saltzman said she considers herself fortunate to have
found two fulfilling careers that
reflect her Jewish values.
Rabbi Friedman similarly said
that becoming a rabbi was a good
decision. While acknowledging
the emotional difficulty of hospital chaplaincy, in which he often
counsels gravely ill patients,
Rabbi Friedman said he finds pastoral work meaningful and worthwhile.
Rabbi Lutman said she hopes
to inspire others as she has been
inspired.
“Even if I failed, at least I
tried,” she said. “It took a leap of
faith.”
Analysis
Terror attacks highlight new challenges
on Israel’s border with Egypt
By Leslie Susser
JERUSALEM (JTA) – Last
month’s multi-front Palestinian
terrorist attack along the EgyptianIsraeli border highlighted two
major new challenges to Israel’s
national security.
First is the breakdown of
Egyptian central authority in the
Sinai Peninsula, which has created
fertile ground for terrorism against
Israel. Complicating matters further is a heightened sensitivity in
post-Mubarak Egypt to Israeli retaliation, especially if it entails action in territory nominally controlled by Egypt.
If not carefully managed, the
twin challenges could bring the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty, a cornerstone of regional stability for
over three decades, into question,
Israeli analysts say.
In separate interviews on Israel
Radio, former generals Giora Eiland and Yisrael Ziv both argued
that the top priority for Israel now
is to take care to prevent any erosion in the peace with Egypt.
Nahum Barnea, senior political analyst for Israel’s daily Yediot
Achronot, expanded on the theme.
“What is at stake,” Barnea
wrote August 22, “is: How can Israel help the new Egyptian regime
fend off the street pressure to cancel the peace treaty with Israel?”
Ever since former Egyptian
president Hosni Mubarak’s ouster
last February, the Sinai has been in
a state of virtual anarchy. Any
semblance of order that existed
under Mubarak has been eroded.
Scores of terrorists from Gaza and
farther afield have been able to
move in the area with impunity.
Arms smuggling through the
Sinai to Gaza – always a problem
– has reached unprecedented levels. The pipeline carrying Egyptian natural gas to Israel has been
sabotaged five times since February.
In order to enable the Egyptians
to reassert their control, Israeli officials indicate that they may be
willing to consider an amendment
to the Egyptian-Israeli peace accords to allow a stronger Egyptian
military presence in Sinai, close to
the border with Israel and in the
key area along the border with
Gaza. A week before the terrorist
attack, Israel agreed to the deployment of an additional 1,000 Egyptian troops in the sensitive area, de-
Eight Israelis were killed when Palestinian gunmen fired at Israeli vehicles, including this bus, near the
Egyptian border on August 18.
(Photo: Ariel Hermoni/Israeli Defense Ministry)
spite treaty limitations that allow
for only a few hundred lightly
armed policemen to ensure that the
Sinai never again becomes a staging ground for an Egyptian assault
against Israel.
Israeli military analysts say that
much will depend on the degree to
which the Egyptian forces are willing to take on the smugglers and
the terrorists.
Until now, soldiers in the Sinai
or lightly armed policemen closer
to the border have been taking
kickbacks to look the other way.
Without a change in attitude, simply beefing up Egyptian forces
will not solve the problem, Israeli
analysts say. Indeed, some of the
Gaza terrorists who fired on Israeli
vehicles last week operated unhindered close to an Egyptian military
position, they noted.
Even more worrying for Israel
than the danger of having terrorists
roaming freely around the Sinai is
the potential threat the new situation poses to the peace with Egypt.
In the August 18 exchanges of
fire with the terrorists, three
Egyptian border policemen were
killed. Although it is not yet clear
how they died, the Egyptians were
quick to blame Israel and demand
an apology. The incident sparked
angry demonstrations outside the
Israeli Embassy in Cairo, where
one protester scaled the building to
tear down the Israeli flag and replace it with an Egyptian one.
What makes this particularly
troubling for Israel is that in the
new Egypt, a product of the Arab
Spring that has given greater
weight to the voice of the people,
the country’s new leaders will
have to take the widespread popular animosity toward Israel into account.
This, the analysts say, could
bring the peace treaty with Israel
under review.
Still, for all the public debate
on the issue in Egypt, most experts
do not anticipate a new Egyptian
government abrogating the peace
treaty with Israel in the near future.
They point out that the two
countries still share common interests – for example, a quiet Sinai, in
which forces like al-Qaeda, which
also threaten Egypt, are neutralized. More importantly, the Egyptians know that if they cancel the
peace treaty with Israel, they will
forfeit the huge economic and military aid package they have been
receiving from the United States
ever since the treaty was signed
under American auspices in 1979.
At one point during the current
crisis, when the Egyptians appeared to threaten to recall their
ambassador from Tel Aviv, the
United States reportedly warned
that, if they went ahead, some of
the aid would be withheld. The
Egyptians quickly dialed down the
rhetoric. Egyptian Foreign Minis-
ter Mohammed Kamel Amr denied
that a recall of the ambassador was
ever on the table.
A key element that already has
changed, however, is Egypt’s attitude toward Hamas, which controls Gaza. Mubarak’s Egypt
strongly opposed Hamas, seeing it
as extremist and within the Iranian
orbit.
Egypt’s new leaders are far less
hostile toward both Iran and
Hamas. They’ve used their closer
ties with Hamas to create a potentially important role for themselves as mediator – both in matters concerning captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and in negotiating
a ceasefire to end the recent round
of hostilities.
In the wake of last month’s terrorist attack, which left eight Israelis dead, Israel moved quickly
to eliminate the leaders of the Popular Resistance Committees, the
group behind the attack. That led
to several days of missile, rocket
and mortar fire on southern Israeli
towns and cities, and sporadic Israeli air raids on Hamas and other
militia targets in Gaza. By August
22, however, things quieted down
though the rocket attacks did not
stop completely after Egypt helped
to broker a halt to the hostilities.
Yoram Meital, a leading Israeli
expert on Egypt at Ben-Gurion
University, says the changes in
Egypt have significantly altered
the military equation between
Israel and the Gaza militants.
For one thing, Palestinian action from Sinai puts Israel in a
very tricky position, because, if
Israel hits back hard on Egyptian
territory, it risks escalation with
Egypt. Secondly, should Israel undertake a major military operation
in Gaza, it is likely to encounter
much firmer Egyptian censure
than it did in Mubarak’s day, given
the predominant anti-Israel sentiment in today’s Egypt.
Leaders of the Israel Defense
Forces (IDF) are thinking deeply
about this. Over time, military
planners say, Israel cannot afford
to allow Gaza militants to use the
Sinai as a launching pad for operations against Israel precisely because that could lead to conflict
with Egypt. At some point, they
say, Israel will have deal with the
Palestinian terrorist infrastructure
in Gaza itself and not in Sinai, to
minimize the risk of a confrontation with Egypt.
On August 22, however, Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to calls for a
new operation against Hamas in
Gaza by saying that a full-scale
war in Gaza would be inadvisable
at this time, and his cabinet voted
against further action in Gaza.
In the meantime, Israel has decided to accelerate the completion
of a high-tech fence along the border with Egypt that is designed to
keep both terrorists and asylum
seekers from Africa out. The fence
will be approximately 15 feet high
and equipped with sophisticated
electronic warning devices. The
big question is whether Israel will
have the resources and the manpower to patrol the fence’s 145
miles from Eilat to Gaza effectively and how much that activity
would compromise the IDF’s capacity to act elsewhere.
As for Gaza, for now, it is clear
that both sides don’t want to escalate matters. Hamas leaders don’t
want to become targets for assassination, and Israel does not want its
southern cities bombarded by
rockets.
Israeli officials are also working behind the scenes with the
Egyptians, primarily to ensure that
whatever happens with Gaza or in
the Sinai won’t compromise the
peace treaty, perhaps the singlemost important element of Israel’s
national security doctrine.
WHAT’S GOING ON
September 5 to 18, 2011
WEEKLY EVENTS
TUESDAYS
Israeli Folk Dancing, no
experience or partner necessary, Ottawa Jewish Community School, 31 Nadolny Sachs
Private, 7:00 pm. Info:
judy@ottawaisraelidance.ca.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7
AND
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8
An Israeli Love Story – a
one-woman play, sponsored by
the SJCC, Embassy of Israel,
Jewish Federation of Ottawa
and Vered Israel Cultural and
Educational Program. National
Arts Centre, 8:00 pm. Tickets:
www.ticketmaster.ca or the
NAC box office. Info: 613-7989818, ext. 243.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7
CHW Opening Council
Meeting. The community is invited to hear Laurie Dougherty,
archivist from the Ottawa Jewish Archives. Dovercourt Community Centre (top floor studio),
411 Dovercourt Avenue, 7:30
pm. Info: 613-521-9092.
CANDLELIGHTING
BEFORE
Sep 9
✡
7:09 pm
Sep 16
✡
6:55 pm
Sep 23
✡
6:42 pm
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9
Oneg Shabbat for Seniors.
Enjoy songs, crafts, challah,
and discussion at Embassy
West Senior Living, 1400 Carling Avenue, 2:30 pm. Info:
613-729-4331.
Glebe Shul Shabbat Dinner, sponsored by JET. Jewish
young professionals are invited
to relax and enjoy Shabbos
with Rabbi Michael and Stacy
Goldstein in the new shul, 302
Fifth Avenue, 7:00 pm. RSVP:
613-798-9818, ext. 247.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 11
Soloway
JCC
Open
House. Try classes for free and
help celebrate the SJCC’s 13th
birthday! Fun activities all day
from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm, including a Bar Mitzvah party at
2:00 pm, and “Israel Unplugged,” a celebration of Israeli songs with Cantor Daniel
Benlolo at 7:00 pm. Info: 613798-9818.
PJ
Library
Launch
Event. All PJ families, as well
as non-registered families
with pre-schoolers, are invit-
For more community listings,
visit ottawa.jewishottawa.com
Select Calendar/Upcoming Events
and Click to See More
ed to a birthday party, where
the book Today is the Birthday of the World will be read.
Children will enjoy crafts and
Rosh Hashanah snacks. In
conjunction with SJCC Open
House and the Family Life
Centre. Book readings at
9:30 and 10:15 am. Info: 613798-4644.
Monster Indoor Garage
and Estate Sale in support of
Congregation
Machzikei
Hadas. Many items including
housewares, china, glassware,
toys, books, small appliances,
and sporting goods, 2310 Virginia Drive, 10 am to 4 pm. Info:
613-521-9700.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12
Jewish Federation of Ottawa’s 2012 Campaign Kickoff with Joan Rivers, National
Arts Centre, 7:30 pm. Tickets:
www.ticketmaster.ca or the
NAC box office. Event info:
613-798-4696, ext. 255.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13
Malca Pass Book Discussion Group will review Let the
Great World Spin, by Colm McCann. Reviewer: Jack Schecter.
Everyone welcome. Agudath Israel, 1400 Coldrey Avenue, 7:30
pm. Info: 613-829-2455.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18
Biking for Bubbies, in support of Hillel Lodge. Riders will
bike 54 km to raise money for
operations. Starts at 10 Nadolny Sachs Private, 9:00 am. To
register or to sponsor a cyclist,
call: 613-820-2213.
Book launch of The Bible
Now, sponsored by the SJCC.
Co-author Shawna Dolansky
will read from the book. Includes book signings and refreshments, 1:00 pm. Info: 613798-9818, ext. 254.
Ladies’ Reception Committee Newcomers’ Tea. All
recent arrivals in Ottawa are
welcome to attend. Meet other
newcomers as well as members of the committee, 14 Parkglen Drive, 2:30 pm. Info: 613727-1917.
COMING
SOON
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20
March of the Living Information Night.
Students in grades 10 to 12 and their parents
are invited to learn about the April 2012 trip
to Poland and Israel. 7:00 pm.
Info: 613-798-4644.
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 bsiemiatycki@jewishottawa.com 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:
Lillian Freedman,
Florida (mother of Marjorie Feldman)
Gydalyah Rosenfeld
Risë Silverstein,
London (mother of Jack Silverstein)
Abraham Stein,
Montreal (father of Phillip Stein)
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
SEPTEMBER 14
FOR OCTOBER 3
OCTOBER 5
FOR OCTOBER 31
OCTOBER 26
FOR NOVEMBER 14
* Community-wide Issue
(all dates subject to change)
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3%
Source: Statistics Canada, Bank of Canada, RMIF Annual Report
In a world of uncertainty, global upheaval, rock bottom interest rates and an
unpredictable economy, the world of Romspen has remained steadfast and true.
At a certain time in your life, it becomes harder to wait for the profits from stock
markets that are up and down like a roller coaster. We reach a place where our
investments need to generate monthly income and peace of mind. The Romspen
Mortgage Investment Fund can help you maintain your hard earned wealth.
In fact, it has never failed to do that!
416.966.1100
1.800.494.0389
www.romspen.com
You’ve heard of the Romspen Mortgage Investment Fund. Isn’t it time you found
out more? Call us to receive an information package or visit www.romspen.com.
162 Cumberland Street, Suite 300
Toronto, Ontario M5R 3N5