Yad Vashem bestows honour on Renfrew family

Transcription

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Ottawa Jewish Bulletin Publishing Co. Ltd.
bulletin
november 5, 2007
•
21 Nadolny Sachs Private, Ottawa, Ontario K2A 1R9
volume 72, no. 4
•
Publisher: Mitchell Bellman
•
cheshvan 24, 5768
Editor: Barry Fishman
$2.00
Righteous Among the Nations:
Yad Vashem bestows
honour on Renfrew family
By Michael Regenstreif
Benjamin van Vlymen was a
three-year-old Dutch Jewish boy
when the Nazis occupied the
Netherlands. When deportations to
the death camps began, his life was
saved because his parents found
him refuge with the family of Anna
and Antony van Woezik in the village of Helenaveen.
Antony was active in the Dutch
resistance and worked finding safe
hiding places for Jewish children.
Known then as “Little Benny,”
van Vlymen, and a teenaged Jewish
boy named Weit, became members
of the van Woezik family until the
older boy was betrayed by a neighbour and caught by the Nazis. It is
believed Weit was deported to an
extermination camp and murdered
in a gas chamber. Little Benny,
meanwhile, was spirited to another
hiding place by the resistance and
lost contact with the van Woeziks.
The van Woezik family immigrated to Canada in 1949 and settled in Renfrew. Anna passed away
in 1967 and Antony, at age 92, in
1998. But their six children, now in
their 50s, 60s and 70s, gathered
recently at the Embassy of Israel in
Ottawa as Ambassador Alan Baker
honoured their parents as Righteous
Among the Nations.
Mary Humphries van Woezik with the certificate from Yad Vashem
honouring her parents as Righteous Among the Nations.
(Continued on page 2)
(OJB photo: Michael Regenstreif)
One Voice rallies
on the Hill for peace
Hockey Night in Kanata
Israel’s National U18 team meets the Nepean Raiders. See story on page 14.
(Photo: Peter Waiser)
By Michael Regenstreif
Although a pair of peace concerts, to have taken place in Tel
Aviv and Jericho on October 18
were cancelled, support rallies in
several world capitals, including
Ottawa, went ahead.
Canadian rock star Bryan Adams
was to have headlined the concerts
with supporting Israeli bands in Tel
Aviv and Palestinian bands in Jericho. The concerts were organized
by One Voice, a grassroots initiative
of Israelis, Palestinians and international supporters who believe a twostate solution is the key to peace
and to the long-term prosperity of
both Israel and the Palestinians and
that conflicts must be resolved
through negotiations free of terror
(Continued on page 2 )
One Voice Ottawa vice-president Joel Tietolman addresses
Parliament Hill peace rally.
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Page 2 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – November 5, 2007
Yad Vashem honour: ‘meaningful and humbling’
(Continued from page 1)
Righteous Among the
Nations is Yad Vashem’s honour for non-Jews who risked
their own lives saving Jewish
people during the Holocaust.
The award, the ambassador
explained, is considered
Israel’s highest honour.
“This is a very moving
event, for me personally and
for all of us here in the Israeli
Embassy,” said Baker. “We’re
the second generation after
the Holocaust and we’re here,
largely, thanks to your parents [and others] who did
what they did, each saving an
individual soul. Each one,
added together, enabled us,
the Jewish people who flourished in Israel, to continue to
exist.”
Karel de Beer, ambassador of the Netherlands to
Canada, attended the ceremony and told the family of his
pride in seeing their parents
honoured. De Beer said he’d
been posted to Israel earlier
in his diplomatic career and
knew, from attending other
ceremonies at Yad Vashem,
about the courage involved in
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saving a Jewish life during
the Holocaust.
“I’m a proud ambassador,” he said, “because of
many Dutch people of your
parents’ generation who have
done these things. Things I
hope that we would do if we
came under the same circumstances.”
It was van Vlymen, now
67, who nominated Anna and
Antony van Woezik for the
Yad Vashem honour after a
reunion with the family six
decades after the war.
In an interview with the
Bulletin at the Israeli
Embassy after the ceremony,
Mary Humphries van Woezik
explained that she tracked
down van Vlymen via the
Internet after her older sister,
Agnes Lynch, wondered
about his fate on the 60th
anniversary of the liberation
of the Netherlands.
“I was born in ‘48, but I’d
always heard the stories
about Little Benny,” she said.
Mary found out that van
Vlymen had been taken to
Jerusalem after the war and
still lived there. They made
contact and van Vlymen
came to Canada the following year for an emotional
reunion with the family that
saved his life as a small child.
“It was a wonderful occasion when I met him at the
airport in Toronto,” said
Mary. “That completed the
whole cycle. We always felt
like he was part of our
family.”
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Being honoured by Yad
Vashem has been “a very
meaningful and humbling
experience” for the family,
added Mary. “My parents
would never have expected
this. They did what was righteous, and what was just, during that terrible time. They
were always like that and
they taught us the same
thing.”
While Mary wasn’t yet
born when van Vlymen lived
with her family, older sister
Agnes, 72, was eight years
old at the time and has never
forgotten the young boy.
Agnes told the Bulletin
how meaningful it was for
her to talk with “Little
Benny” on the telephone
after Mary tracked him
down, to see him again more
than 60 years after they’d
played together as children,
and to share memories of her
parents and their times
together.
Since 1963, Yad Vashem
has honoured more than
21,000 non-Jewish people as
Righteous Among
the
Nations.
Agnes Lynch proudly holds the Yad Vashem medal.
Canadian parties support One Voice goals
(Continued from page 1)
and violence.
According to One Voice,
security concerns forced the
cancellation of the Jericho
event after threats from
Palestinian extremists. The
Tel Aviv event was cancelled
in solidarity because Israeli
organizers said it was important that the two concerts be
held at the same time. One
Voice insists the concerts
will be rescheduled.
The lunchtime Ottawa
rally, held on Parliament Hill
in the shadow of the Peace
Tower, attracted a diverse
crowd of several hundred
including members of Parliament from all parties and
people from the Jewish, Arab
and Muslim communities,
many of them students. Men
in kippot mingled with
women in hijabs.
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Speaking in tandem, One
Voice Ottawa vice-presidents
Joel Tietolman, a Jewish student, and Sarah Aouchiche, a
Muslim student, were the
first of many speakers to
address the crowd. They said
that while, all too often, only
the hardliners on both sides
of the issue are heard from,
the overwhelming majority of
both Israelis and Palestinians
favour a two-state solution.
A goal of the One Voice
movement, they said, was to
collect one million signatures
from Israelis and Palestinians
for their petition supporting
intensive negotiations that
will lead to a peaceful resolution to the conflict. To date,
the petition has been signed
by more than 600,000 people
– more than 309,000 Israelis,
more than 275,000 Palestinians and more than 15,000 supporters from other countries.
Representatives from all
political parties in Parliament
addressed the rally and all
pledged their party’s support
for the One Voice movement
and its goals.
“A viable two-state solution” for Israel and the Palestinians is the policy of the
Government of Canada, said
Jason Kenney, secretary of
state for Multiculturalism and
Canadian Identity. Kenney
also pointed to his Irish
descent and said the long conflict in Northern Ireland finally ended “when ordinary men
and women demanded their
leaders make compromises.
Ten years later, we have peace
on Northern Ireland.”
Liberal MP Irwin Cotler,
who spoke with several of his
caucus colleagues gathered
behind him, said his support
for One Voice was also very
personal. An international
human rights lawyer, Cotler
said he’s represented both
Palestinians and Israelis in
the courts and has friends on
both sides.
“I’ve shared the message
of One Voice with Palestinian
Prime Minister Salaam Fayad
and Israel’s Foreign Minister
Tzipi Livni,” said Cotler of a
recent trip to the Middle
East. Cotler also invoked the
Jewish tenet that saving a
single life is like saving the
entire world and said it was a
principle shared by both
Christianity and Islam.
Other MPs heard from
included Liberal Bernard
Patry, an honourary board
member of One Voice, Paul
Dewar of the NDP and Chris-
tiane Gagnon of the Bloc
Québécois. Qais Ghanem
represented the Green Party.
“The simple freedoms we
take for granted are not lived
out by Israelis and Palestinians,” said Nadav Aigen, an
Israeli-Canadian student who
recently served in the Israel
Defense Forces. “It’s time to
leave prejudice and hate
behind.”
The rally also heard from
peace movement representatives and religious figures
from the Jewish, Muslim and
Christian communities, including Cantor Daniel Benlolo of Congregation Beth
Shalom.
“The day will come,” said
Cantor Benlolo, “when Jewish children and Arab children will rest together in the
shade of the same olive tree.”
Referring to the biblical book
of Ecclesiastes, Cantor Benlolo said there is a season for
everything under heaven.
“Today is the time for peace,
for shalom, for salaam.”
In an interview after the
rally, Tietolman, who was
Hillel president at the University of Ottawa in 2004 and
2005, told the Bulletin that
One Voice has, so far,
received mixed reactions
from both Jewish and Arab
students on campus. Both
sides, he said, haven’t felt
they’ve had a partner with
the other. However, he added,
support from all sides has
been growing as the message
has spread.
Tietolman said that One
Voice Canada will be establishing chapters on campuses
and in communities across
the country in the near future.
Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – November 5, 2007 – Page 3
Torah yoga to Shoah scrolls: book looks at new rituals
By Sue Fishkoff
SAN
FRANCISCO
(JTA) – Jews who say the
Birkat Hamazon, or prayer
after a meal, sing the first
few lines to an upbeat
melody recognizable to Jews
all over the world.
It’s a well-established ritual that goes back … well, to
when?
Not that far, actually.
This singsong way of saying the prayer was developed
as a teaching device by
Mordecai Kaplan, the early
20th century rabbi who
became the founder of
Reconstructionist Judaism. It
was adopted by his students
and gradually became widespread.
“People think it goes back
to the time of Moses,”
quipped Jonathan Sarna, a
professor of American Jewish history at Brandeis University. “Once rituals are
around for a while, we
assume they have been
around forever.”
Jewish rituals, like those
of any other culture, emerge
at specific points to respond
to needs and values that are
constantly evolving.
Some last and are absorbed into the general lexicon. Examples are the Friday
night Kabbalat Shabbat service, developed by the 16th
century kabbalists of Safed
and now considered sacrosanct, or mixed seating in the
synagogue, an innovation of
early 20th century Reform
Judaism.
Other rituals do not have
the same staying power and
are discarded.
The delicate process of
creating and integrating new
Jewish rituals in America
today is explored in the new
book Inventing Jewish
Ritual, by Vanessa Ochs,
associate professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.
Ochs examines the genesis and adaptation of many
well-accepted contemporary
rituals in North American
Jewish life, including babynaming ceremonies for girls,
adult b’nai mitzvah and rosh
hodesh groups, as well as
Vanessa Ochs, author of Inventing Jewish Ritual
others just emerging, such as
Torah yoga and alternative
uses of the mikvah.
While showing how those
who succeed manage to find
a hook for their new practices
from within Jewish tradition,
thus giving authenticity to
innovation, Ochs points out
that North American Judaism
is in a particularly fertile
period today. New practices
are cropping up with increasing speed in the synagogue
and out in the world.
She attributes that growth
to the influence of feminism
and what she calls “democracy,” or the notion that indi-
viduals have the right to
develop their own ways of
accessing the divine.
Sarna adds that the idea of
ritual itself has been rehabilitated, as early 20th century
anthropological disdain for
rituals as a hallmark of primitive cultures slowly mellowed.
“Within a century, the
idea of a ritual as something
primitive that should be discarded by moderns has been
transvalued into something
that makes us human and
should be celebrated,” he
explains.
While it takes time for a
new practice to become the
norm, Ochs believes it happens much faster than it
used to, even in the Orthodox community, which traditionally has been viewed
as the most reluctant to take
on new practices. Bat mitzvah ceremonies, another
Kaplan invention, are fairly
well the norm today in
Orthodox circles, as are
rosh hodesh groups.
On the other hand, those
who come up with new ceremonies or practices rarely
refer to them as rituals either
because they don’t recognize,
or don’t think they have the
right to recognize, the significance of what they have created.
In fact, Ochs says, most
Jewish rituals were developed by Jewish families in
their homes or via other
grassroots methods.
One such example involves the hundreds of Torah
scrolls, many rescued from
the Holocaust, that have been
restored and donated to congregations in the former
Soviet Union in the past
decade. They are usually
handed over to the new congregation during a ceremony
constructed for the occasion
by the donating and or
receiving group. Those ceremonies, Ochs suggests, are
part of an emerging ritual.
Project Kesher, an organization of Jewish women
activists from North America
and the former Soviet Union,
has donated 14 Torah scrolls
to congregations in Russia
and Ukraine. Each is handed
over during a festive ceremony in the recipients’ home
city.
Karyn Gershon, executive
director of Project Kesher,
says the women involved
“absolutely” are aware they
are creating a Jewish ritual.
In 2004, when the first six
scrolls were donated, Kesher
staff made Torah mantles
from fabric purchased on
Jerusalem’s
Ben-Yehuda
Street combined with pieces
of velvet from Russia, “so
each has a piece of Israel and
of Russia,” Gershon explains.
Each donor handing over
a scroll was presented with
her own prayer shawl on
which Gershon embroidered
the name of the city where
her Torah was going to concretize the connection.
A ritual for donating
Holocaust Torahs is one
thing. But what about one for
buying a new car, which is
what Ochs’ 23-year-old
daughter demanded during a
recent telephone call.
“She called and said, ‘I
just sold my car; the guy has
the keys in his hand. What’s
the ritual I should do?’” Ochs
relates, laughing at how fully
the idea of finding ways to
make anything Jewish has
permeated the American
Jewish consciousness.
“This generation of young
people believes they can use
Jewish language and core
beliefs to fashion new rituals,” she says. “They know it’s
not transgressive to do so.”
Allan Taylor
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Citizen publisher honoured at Negev dinner
By Diane Koven
This year’s JNF Negev
Dinner honouree, Ottawa
Citizen Publisher Jim Orban,
is well known throughout the
Ottawa community for his
involvement in over 13 community advisory boards. He
has received numerous professional and community
awards and there is a James
E. Orban Scholarship awarded by the University of
Ottawa School of Management annually to deserving
students.
Orban, a friend to many in
the Jewish community, first
attended a Negev dinner 30
years ago, “at the old JCC,”
he said. He has been very
impressed with the work of
JNF and, as a philanthropist,
was pleased to be chosen for
this honour.
“I have been blessed all of
my life to be part of a kind
and caring family,” said
Orban, and his corporate
family, The Ottawa Citizen
and Canwest, has a long history of philanthropy as well.
“The world could be a
better place for our children
and grandchildren by helping
someone in need today,” he
said, explaining his ongoing
involvement in charitable
works.
The project chosen by
Orban to receive the funds
raised by this year’s JNF
Negev Dinner is a residential village for autistic
young adults in Beersheva.
JNF will provide all landscaping and infrastructure
work on the complex where
48 young adults will have
the opportunity to live as
independently as possible in
a comfortable, supervised
environment.
Upon presenting Orban
with a plaque, JNF National
President Dr. Sharon Marcovitz Hart said “his dedication, values and vision will
create a better and brighter
future for young adults, both
in Canada and in Israel and
will ensure that no child will
ever be left behind.”
The October 25 dinner,
held at the Congress Centre,
was co-chaired by Rabbi Dr.
Reuven Bulka, Jim Durrell,
Stephen Greenberg and Paul
Jim Orban, Negev Dinner 2007 honouree (third from right), is presented with a plaque
by (from left to right) Mark Mendelsohn, executive director, JNF Eastern Canada;
event co-chair Stephen Greenberg; Dr. Sharon Marcovitz Hart, national president,
JNF of Canada; and event co-chairs Rabbi Reuven Bulka and Jim Durrell.
(Photo: Howard Kay)
Hindo. Nearly 700 people
attended. In his inimitable
punning fashion, Rabbi
Bulka said “it has been a
pleasure to have been part of
‘St. Orban’s Horsemen.’”
Master of Ceremonies
Mark Sutcliffe began his
introduction with levity as
well, referring to last year’s
Negev Dinner keynote
speaker, President Clinton.
“Last year as a guest
speaker we had a president
and this year we have a king,”
he said.
The king, CNN television
talk-show host Larry King,
regaled the audience with
anecdotes and stories of his
childhood growing up Jewish in New York and of his
early years in broadcasting.
“I was a little kid in
Brooklyn, New York, who just
wanted to be a broadcaster …
I’m living a dream,” he said.
For many people accustomed to tuning in nightly to
CNN to see who his guest
might be, it was an interesting twist to hear King, in
person, as entertainer rather
than interviewer.
King has conducted more
than 40,000 interviews in his
50-year career and hosts the
first worldwide phone-in
television talk show. He has a
star on Hollywood’s Walk of
Fame, is a member of five
broadcasting halls of fame
and has received numerous
awards for excellence in journalism and broadcasting.
Alan Baker, ambassador
of Israel to Canada, brought
greetings and congratulated
JNF and the dinner honouree.
Attendees included Mayor
Larry O’Brien, MP Jim Watson and former deputy prime
minister Herb Gray, as well
as several past Negev Dinner
honourees.
Lisa Cogan, immediate
past-president of JNF Ottawa, announced that the
fundraising goal of $450,000
for the event had been surpassed.
Sutcliffe concluded, “We
have heard a good speaker,
we have honoured a very
deserving person and we
have raised a lot of money for
a good cause.”
JOIE addresses priorities set at Symposium 2007
Editor’s note: JFO Chair Jonathan
Freedman has arranged to share his column, on occasion, with the chairs or presidents of the community’s major beneficiary
agencies or committees so they can provide
some insight into their operations.
The need for a solid education system
and finding better ways to engage our youth
was the consensus from Symposium 2007.
The Federation’s Jewish Outreach, Identity and Education Committee (JOIE) has
the responsibility to address these issues
and offer recommendations to the Board.
Building on work done by the Jewish Identity and Responsibility Committee (JIC),
JOIE members are formulating a vision to
translate the thoughts and wish-list from
Symposium 2007 into achievable and
doable actions.
This work is fundamental to sustain our
vibrant Jewish community.
The committee’s first priority is to help
organizations develop sustainable programs
for Jewish education. Members are recommending practical actions to achieve strategic objectives such as life-long Jewish
learning, and developing a sense of belonging to the larger Jewish community. Examples include exploring new models for
Federation
Report
Kathi Kovacs
Jewish Outreach
Identity and Education
school funding (allocations, scholarships
and tuition); sharing resources and services
for special education and enrichment
(music, drama, science, phys-ed, excursions); increasing the profile of schools and
educational offerings by selecting their
physical location (Jewish campus, shuls,
outreach areas) and wider-reaching publicity; lively integration of Jewish values and
traditions into education (Shabbat experiences, enhanced connection and attachment
to Israel); and bundling programs and
incentives to create an energetic buzz
around education (discounts for families of
Jewish school on shul membership,
the Bulletin, birthday party at SJCC).
To make recommendations, JOIE aggressively draws from our community as well as
outside experts, resources and associations.
There is always great interest in sustaining vibrant Jewish schools – elementary,
secondary and afternoon. Ideally Jewish
education should be available to all. This is
not just about money. It’s also about
lifestyle choices for families and steady
support from all stakeholders – Federation,
schools, volunteers, parents, donors. Here,
marketing talents are needed to attract and
retain students; targeting kids, parents and
grandparents.
All the while, JOIE is considering transitions and life stages. At these fragile
times, people can turn toward, or away
from, their religious traditions. Here, outreach is so important to sincerely welcome
individuals and groups to any and all Jewish activities.
Effective outreach programs in our community include A Taste of Judaism, free
courses on Jewish life offered in neutral
locations at non-core areas (Old Chelsea,
Orleans); and Shalom Baby, which includes
a Jewish-themed welcome basket for the
newborn and family with gifts and
resources, followed by fun and informative
programs. The recent opening of JSA-Hillel
House is a prime example of a positive Jewish experience aimed at engaging college
youth. All the while, seniors are supported
through cultural, recreational and healthrelated programs and assistance for inde-
pendent living.
In consultation with schools and agencies, JOIE hopes the fresh approach being
recommended will draw and retain people
through these phases – offering multiple
gateways for people to (re)enter, strengthen,
contribute to and benefit from their Jewish
heritage and community.
At the same time, the committee knows
that not everything can be done, or be done
right away. Funds are limited, religious
approaches differ, talent is hard to recruit
and retain, and time moves along. Committee members appreciate that the process is
as important as the outcome. Consultation
with the full range of stakeholders is a guiding principle to how the options are
approached and advanced. The committee is
dedicated to ongoing discussions with all
involved parties to ensure that opinions are
heard and thoughts presented without
stalling the process.
JOIE recognizes that this is a large
undertaking. Yet, without these efforts, the
prognosis for a strong and vibrant local
community with ties to Israel and Zionism
seems less likely. Recalling the enthusiasm
from the symposium, however, it is clear we
have the will and desire to make this happen
for our community and for our future.
Time for us to provide necessary funding for schools
With the predicted demise of faithbased funding as a result of the recent
Liberal victory in the Ontario elections,
what happens now vis-à-vis necessary
funding for the day schools of our community?
Will the Federation community leadership step up to the plate and establish the
necessary mechanisms for provide funding for those who cannot afford the
tuition?
Will the funds necessary for special
needs students be raised to allow them to
enter and remain in the day schools of
Ottawa?
Faith-based funding was touted as a
panacea and a relief for all of our financial woes in regard to our day schools. In
truth, every prescient person knew fully
well that this proposal would never have
seen the light of day.
Contingency plans should be developed to provide the necessary funding for
our students above and beyond the annual
grants given to the schools. Present
endowments that exist to support Jewish
education should be strengthened. One
cannot and should not rely on the government to resolve our financial issues as
they apply to our schools.
Jewish education is a communal and
familial responsibility. It is not a government need or requirement. Obviously,
while the proposed faith-based funding
scenario appeared appealing and attractive,
too many unanswered questions remained
as to its efficacy and practicability.
From the
pulpit
Rabbi
Howard Finkelstein
Beth Shalom West
In any event, these questions are now
moot.
Therefore, we must turn to our leadership and the members of the Jewish community of Ottawa and state emphatically
that funding must take place in a concerted fashion so as to assure the continued
attendance of our children in the day
schools of Ottawa, where, unfortunately,
attendance is dwindling.
There is no need for surveys, guest
speakers or symposia to discuss the
requirements that face us in the educational system in the Jewish community today.
The facts stare us in the face. Our students are dropping out of our schools and
high tuition plays a major role for the
drop in attendance. There is no need to
waste community resources on studies to
find out why we are losing our youth. One
does not need to be an ‘expert’ to figure
out why.
At the same time, community members
must continue to vigorously support the
Federation in order to ensure that our dollars are being used to support Jewish education. Yes, there are many important programs and projects in Jewish Ottawa, but
Jewish education seems to be the odd one
out, for it has no government support of
any kind, in contrast to others that do. Our
future is our children.
Will we in Ottawa have the courage
and foresight to follow the examples of
other communities such as Seattle and
Chicago where efforts have been made to
keep tuition at a ‘reasonable’ rate?
Does the Ottawa Jewish community
have enough benefactors who see the
value of Jewish education as the key to
our continued success and presence in the
future in Canada?
Do we care enough to ensure that every
Jewish student will be able to enrol in a
day school or Jewish high school in
Ottawa regardless of ability to pay?
The future of our community is in our
hands and in the hands of the Federation
leadership. We cannot afford to sit back
and mourn the loss of faith-based funding.
We must act to guarantee our future by
supporting Jewish education and our Jewish young men and women by providing
the necessary funding to enable them to
attend the day and high schools of their
choice.
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Ottawa gobsmacked by rabbi’s move to Australia
Don’t be gobsmacked the next time you
see Rabbi Mordecai Berger and he greets
you with a hearty, “G’day mate,” and then
proceeds to invite you over for a barbie next
time you are in the land of Oz.
Translation: don’t be surprised if Rabbi
Berger invites you over for a barbecue next
time you are in Australia.
After 31 years in Ottawa as an educator,
head shaliach for Chabad Lubavitch in the
Ottawa area and spiritual leader of Young
Israel, Rabbi Berger and his wife, Chaya
Leah, will soon be moving to Melbourne
where he will begin his new job as educational director of the boys division of Yeshiva College of Melbourne. The school, made
up of 700 girls and 600 boys, runs classes
from Grade 1 to 12.
“It is an exciting and challenging school
that has both observant and non-observant
students, with multiple classes at each
grade, and a very exciting high school program with both Jewish and secular studies,”
he says.
The rabbi is no stranger to Australia. In
fact, he has been to Australia seven times to
visit his son – also in the family business as
a pulpit rabbi in Sydney – and daughter-inlaw and grandchildren.
“I’ve been there so often that it does not
feel like a foreign country to me,” he quips.
Editor
Barry Fishman
He has fond memories of his time at
Young Israel.
“It was my first pulpit, and for me, it
was an exciting new adventure. The synagogue offered me a platform to share my
views and be able to help people who had a
desire to connect further to Judaism,” he
says.
During his time in Ottawa, Chabad
Lubavitch has grown to two synagogues, a
library, summer camp, countless adult and
children education programs and a new
Russian centre.
“Chabad is very blessed here with so
many young dynamic directors of outreach
programs,” he says. “Some of the programming I was doing 30 years ago is being
done at a much greater level now with all
the Chabad representatives that are in the
community.”
Other highlights include helping establish and grow the French immersion Maimonides School (now Cheder Rambam), the
people he met while teaching Jewish education classes both at Young Israel and
throughout the city, working with students
at Carleton University and Ottawa high
schools, and his ongoing radio show.
He is proud to have lived in a community that has become so inclusive.
The Jews of Ottawa have
a lot to be proud of.
“Despite its relatively small
Jewish population,
the amount of Jewish services
it has is quite significant ... ”
– Rabbi Mordecai Berger
“There has been an enormous change
in attitude by both the professional and lay
leadership that volunteer for the community,” he maintains. “A person who is
Orthodox or Chassidic can feel extremely
comfortable being part of this community.
Their voices are heard and their needs are
met to a great extent. Twenty-five years
ago, this wasn’t so. Unfortunately, the
subliminal message from the Vaad then
was ‘we don’t support you because we
don’t think we need you,’” he says.
It is this new openness to all, regardless
of religious beliefs, that impresses the rabbi.
“If you are able to view something that
is not your experience as being legitimate
because it serves Jews in the community,
that it is very healthy,” he says.
The Jews of Ottawa have a lot to be
proud of.
“Despite its relatively small Jewish population, the amount of Jewish services it has
is quite significant, both in the field of education and kosher food services,” he says
He has learned that living in a smaller
Jewish community has its advantages.
“You develop very strong friendships
because it is a smaller community. In the
larger communities, it tends to be more
insular. You associate with your group, your
friends are from your group and it is very
limiting. You don’t get exposed to other
people’s kindness, perspective and sensitivities. In Ottawa, your community is everybody in the Jewish community. I also have
many, many good friends from the non-Jewish community as well. In a larger Jewish
centre this would never happen,” he says.
Rabbi Berger will be leaving Ottawa for
Melbourne in mid- to late-December. Young
Israel is planning a special event to honour
the rabbi. Watch the Bulletin for details.
Making assumptions about ethnic voters
Parliament returned to work a few
weeks back. Maybe you heard the news.
The Conservative government delivered
a Speech from the Throne.
The opposition Liberals scrambled from
one crisis to another.
Journalists speculated about whether or
not the country was election-bound.
Almost lost in all this was what one
writer called, “The Great Greeting Card
Controversy.”
The first week back, Ontario Liberal
MP Susan Kadis stood in the House and
blasted the Conservatives for sending Rosh
Hashanah greeting cards to some of her
Thornhill constituents, more than 35 per
cent of whom are Jewish.
She characterized these cards as a violation of privacy and questioned how the
government compiled the list of recipients.
Jason Kenney, the government’s point
man on multiculturalism, responded by
reading a letter sent to him from a Thornhill resident complaining about receiving a
Rosh Hashanah card from ... Susan Kadis.
“We know that Rosh Hashanah is the
Jewish New Year,” Kenney said. “But it
seems for that member it is the high holiday for hypocrisy.”
Political parties competing for ethnic
votes? Not exactly headline news.
Scratch that. Here was the main headline in the Globe and Mail on the morning
of the Throne Speech, printed in big bold
Alan Echenberg
type across the entire front page: Tories
target specific ethnic voters
The article went on to describe – in
detail – the Conservative strategy for wooing the votes of ethnic minorities, votes
long considered the near-exclusive property of the Liberal Party of Canada.
Some of the article’s details were a bit
… embarrassing: a leaked document from
the party stated that only 79 per cent of
minorities are “accessible communities”
for the Conservatives.
Most of it was the sort of stuff you’d
expect any party to do to win over the
votes of any group: attend community
events; translate campaign literature into
minority languages; canvas groups on the
issues important to them; seek out “natural
links” (i.e., community leaders sympathetic
to the party’s policies).
That last item suggests a potential pitfall for any political party – maybe the
Conservatives more than most because this
is not their traditional base of support.
That pitfall? A tin ear for intra-group
diversity and a tendency to group every
member of an ethnic group into one homogeneous blob.
In fact, debates within the Jewish community, the Sikh community, the Greek
community, the insert-your-own-ethnicgroup-here community, etc., are often more
passionate and more polarized than debates
among the public-at-large.
Politicians who listen only to those
community leaders whose views most
closely match their own do so at their own
risk. Those leaders may not represent the
mainstream (i.e., vote-rich) points of view
of the communities from which they come,
as Ontario PC Leader John Tory learned in
the recent provincial election. He met his
Waterloo on faith-based funding, an issue
crafted to win over ethnic voters … failing
in the process to win over too many ethnic
voters.
Coincidentally, the Globe and Mail article spotlighted the federal Conservatives’
efforts to woo the Jewish community in the
same Thornhill riding that was ground zero
for Rosh Hashanahgate. It is also,
arguably, the only provincial riding Tory
won over with his faith-based school-funding plan, although that issue has no resonance in federal politics.
Like many ‘ethnic’ ridings across the
country, Thornhill is traditionally considered a safe Liberal seat. Kadis garnered
29,934 votes in the last election, almost
11,000 more than her Conservative opponent. So-called ethnic ridings also tend to
be located in Canada’s biggest cities where
voters have proven to be the most resistant
to Stephen Harper’s charms.
That has obviously been a problem for
Conservatives, and their remedy seems to
be … well, check out the Globe and Mail
headline reproduced above.
According to the Globe report, the Conservatives believe there is “growing anecdotal evidence” that new immigrant and
minority groups increasingly share the
same values as their party – read traditional
values.
Is that true? Not particularly, in the case
of the Canadian Jewish community. For
example, a 2004 religion survey found 64
per cent of Canadian Jews approved of
same-sex marriage.
A hazard, again, may be a tendency for
the party to listen to a vocal minority of
small-c conservative activists from Jewish
– and other ethnic – groups, whose concerns do not necessarily match those of the
broader community they claim to represent.
It may be a way for the party to build a
few select bridges. But it will take another
election to determine whether the Conservatives’ anecdotal evidence really translates
into new votes.
Alan Echenberg is TVOntario’s
Parliamentary bureau chief.
Exciting Russian Gypsy trio returns to Ottawa
Trio Loyko, one of the
music world’s top Russian
Gypsy ensembles, who
electrified the audience
when it performed in
Ottawa last year, returns to
the city for a concert on
November 25.
Violinist Sergey Erdenko
and guitarist Michael
Savichev will be joined by a
new violinist, Vladimir
Bessonov.
The Loyko musicians, all
educated at classical conservatories in Russia, bring a
technical and tonal brilliance to their largely traditional repertoire that’s more
refined than the raw
approach of many traditional Gypsy ensembles but still
manages to capture the
emotional eruptions typical
of Gypsy music.
In addition to instrumental music, Loyko also performs songs from the Russian Gypsy vocal tradition
with a repertoire ranging
from old and modern Gypsy
songs to new compositions.
The trio was established
by Erdenko in 1990 in London. They were impressed
by the thriving music scene
Violinist Vladimir Bessonov (left) joins violinist Sergey Erdenko and guitarist Michael
Savichev when Trio Loyko performs in Ottawa, November 25.
in Ireland and spent a
decade based in Dublin
until Erdenko decided to
return to Russia in 2000.
Since forming, Loyko
has performed more than
2,000 concerts all over the
world and has appeared on
many television and radio
programs.
They have 10 albums to
their credit and a new DVD,
Return of Gypsy Maestro,
recorded live at the
Tchaikovsky Concert Hall
in Moscow.
Loyko performs Sunday,
November 25, 7:30 pm, at
Dominion-Chalmers United
Church, 355 Cooper Street.
For ticket information, call
613-731-0476, e-mail info@
miriadevents.com or visit
www.miriadevents.com.
Hillel Academy prepares blue balloons
on anniversary of Israeli soldier’s capture
Students at Hillel Academy participate in remembering Air Force navigator Ron
Arad and other missing and captured Israeli soldiers. For 21 years, Ron has been
Israel’s best-known MIA (missing in action) since being captured by Shiite militia
forces after bailing out of his crippled plane over Lebanon in 1986. Every year on
the fourth day of Cheshvan, the anniversary of his capture, blue balloons are
raised in a sign of hope that Ron will come home and that all other Israeli prisoners of war will soon be “free like balloons.”
Christian group stands firmly with Israel
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By Alexander Baker
Christian supporters of
Israel gathered in Ottawa
during Sukkot when Christians for Israel held its sixth
annual Eyes to Zion celebration.
The event, which aims to
raise awareness of Christian
support for the Jewish people and Israel, took place at
the West Ottawa Celebration Centre, the first time
that Eyes to Zion was held
outside Brantford, the headquarters of Christians for
Israel Canada.
“It’s a night to honour
Israel, to recognize that the
God of Israel is the same
God of the gentiles and to
let Jews know there really
are Christians who care
about the fate of Israel and
the Jewish people,” says
Reverend John Tweedie,
chairman of Christians for
Israel Canada.
“Jewish communities
need to see there are Christian communities who are
concerned about them.”
It was a night of singing
and dancing. The songs
related to Judaism, the Jewish people and Israel and
included interpretive dance.
One song, “Naomi,” was
the story of a little orphaned
Israeli girl whose parents
were killed. Another, “The
Watchman,” talked about
Jews and Christians standing firm with Israel and
showed the courage of
Israelis.
“They really showed
their understanding and
support for Israel, and their
heartfelt appreciation for
Jewish people, was genuine,” says Adam Aptowitzer, who attended the
event with his wife.
“These people have a
real commitment to supporting Jewish communities
and culture. There was very
little ‘Jesus-content,’ no
crosses or psalms, and there
was kosher food and outside
was a sukkah.
“They made efforts to
make Jewish people welcome. I’m glad that was the
case because I would not
have felt comfortable otherwise. I came to show there
are people in the Jewish
community who appreciate
their support and what they
do.”
Organizers
estimated
there were about 120 people
at the event, although Jewish people, or “honoured
guests,” were barely in the
double digits.
“As always,” says Tweedie, “we would have liked to
have had more Jewish people there. It’s really encouraging for the performers
when they come.”
Christians for Israel was
designed for the purpose of
“helping Christians understand our roots are Jewish
and that the God of Adam,
Israel and the Jewish people
stands by his chosen people,” says Tweedie.
“But we also know that
God and the Christian God
are one and the same, and
we respect the covenants
he has with the Jewish
people.”
Tweedie has been pastor
at a Brantford church for 19
years. Throughout that time,
he has made many efforts to
reach out to Jewish communities in the Toronto, Hamilton and Brantford areas and
beyond.
“It’s a sensitive thing
because Jewish people can
see Christians in a certain
way,” he says, “but we are
trying to send the message
that they have to get to
know us and not paint all
Christians with the same
broad brush. Many of us
genuinely care about Israel
and Jewish communities
elsewhere.”
Tweedie explains that
besides throwing parties to
show their support, Christians for Israel organizes
group tours of Israel, supports Israeli charities and
non-profit organizations,
provides educational resources for Jews and Christians alike, and helps people
who want to immigrate to
Israel.
“Our policy is really to
work through established
Israeli charities that are
credible, rather than invest
in front-line work ourselves.
“We work with soup
kitchens, orphanages, shelters, etc., and we always to
try to emphasize our solidarity with Jewish people
and communities.”
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Ottawa’s Maccabeans served with
distinction in the Second World War
By Dawn Logan, Archivist
Ottawa Jewish Archives
“18 Jewish boys in club of
25 members join up,” read
the headline from a 1941 edition of Ottawa’s Evening Citizen. The Ottawa Jewish
Archives has assembled photographs and stories of many
of the club members who
served in the Second World
War for a Remembrance Day
exhibition on the second floor
of the Soloway Jewish Community Centre. The exhibition is available throughout
the month of November.
The club was the Maccabean Athletic Association
(MAA) that formed around
the time of the second Maccabiah Games held in Tel
Aviv in 1935. The Sandy Hill
boys were aged between 13
and 15 in 1935 when they
formed the MAA rather than
join Aleph Zadik Aleph, a
much larger organization
directed from Montreal.
The boys met regularly in
the old George Street Talmud
Torah building and in their
individual homes. It was a
time of innocence and exuberance for them – playing
ball, going to dances, thinking about girls and attending
school. But that all changed
when war was declared on
Germany on Sunday, September 3, 1939. Soon after, Duke
Abelson, Bill Bloom and
Arnie Greenberg were walking down Rideau Street and
going into the recruiting station to sign up. They were not
quite 18 years old and each
had to wait for his birthday to
enlist.
Many of the Ottawa Maccabeans wanted to fly and be
part of an air crew, so they
joined the Royal Canadian
Air Force (RCAF). The air
force was the newest service
and held extra cachet over the
navy and army. It also had a
high casualty rate.
Some airmen never made
it overseas. Pilot Officer
Albert (Abe) Schwartz was
working as an instructor at
RCAF Station Uplands when
he died of injuries sustained
in a training flight near
Kemptville. He was one of
the few Ottawa servicemen
who were buried close to
MAA boys (standing, from left to right): William Bloom,
Harold Glatt; (kneeling) Laurence Sugarman, Arnold
(Photo: Ottawa Jewish Archives)
Greenberg; c 1939.
home at the Bank Street
Cemetery during the war.
Pilot Officer Jackie Spevak and Flying Officer Duke
Abelson were far from home
when their planes crashed.
Spevak, who is fondly remembered by his sister, Ruth
Soloway, went down near the
French-German border after a
bombing run over Stuttgart,
Germany in the summer of
1944. Abelson was killed in a
flying operation in England.
Two months earlier, he had
written to his parents, Jess
and Mollie Abelson, about
“the importance of the person
you crew with, especially
when there are only two in the
airplane, for you are going to
fight the war together.”
Ground crew Aircraftman
William (Bill) Bloom and
Sergeant Allan Karp both
suffered near-fatal accidents.
Bloom was struck by a propeller at Centralia, Ontario.
His life was saved by Dr.
Wilder Penfield’s operating
skills at the Montreal Institute of Neurology. Karp was
left for dead after being
injured in a German raid on
his aerodrome on the east
coast of England. But he was
nursed back to health and
later served on a Catalina flying boat near Greenland and
was the sole survivor of a
plane crash.
Other airmen beat the
odds. Warrant Officer First
Class Arnold (Arnie) Greenberg brought home a Gold
Wing for a complete tour of
operation over enemy territory. Greenberg modestly explained that “he became a
fatalist” when his crew was
listed for a flight. One looked
over the flight room and wondered “whose turn is it
tonight?”
Flight Lieutenant Eli
Baker received the Distinguished Flying Cross at about
the time he was reported
missing when his plane was
shot down over Holland on
May 24, 1944. He was captured and sent to a prisoner of
war camp. A year of captivity,
and two forced marches at the
end of the war, reduced his
weight to 114 pounds from
140.
Wing Commander Cy
(Sonny) Torontow had a distinguished career in the Second World War and in the
Korean War. He was awarded
the Air Force Cross on the
King’s Birthday Honour List
in 1943.
Flight Sergeant William
(Bill) Kahansky and Flight
Sergeant Lawrence Progosh
both flew missions over
Europe while Phil Swedlove,
the Maccabean leader and
outstanding Lisgar athlete,
served in Canada.
Maccabeans who entered
the army included Sergeant
Harold Glatt, the Shore
brothers, Gordon and Mannie, Warrant Officer Jack
Pleet and Corporal Norman
Maser. Glatt was killed when
his ship, the Nerissa, was torpedoed by a German U-boat
off the coast of Ireland.
Pleet was part of the greatest seaborne landing in military history when he went
ashore at Normandy in 1944.
In a recent telephone conversation, he described his landing as “just like the photographs – guns high above
the water level and wading
ashore.” He was with the First
Canadian Army and was decorated with the Oak Leaf
medal by King George VI at
Buckingham Palace. This
medal was for being Mentioned in Dispatches.
One Maccabean volunteered for the navy. Laurence
Sugarman, served on the
North Atlantic convoy runs
out of Halifax as a wireless
operator. In a Remembrance
Day speech in 1985, he said,
“King and country ... valour
... courage ... honour ... the
right stuff. Sure, no doubt
about it, we never questioned
it! But, when I realized that
most of my friends were joining the air force, I joined the
navy just to be different.”
The Second World War
changed their lives. The Maccabeans went away as boys
and returned as men. The
memories of Duke Abelson,
Harold Glatt, Abe Schwartz
and Jackie Spevak will always
be honoured. The other Maccabeans all survived. They
returned safely, married and
started new careers.
Bill Bloom now resides at
Hillel Lodge. Eli Baker lives
near Los Angeles and visits
his Ottawa friends each summer. Arnold Greenberg, Jack
Pleet and Sonny Torontow
reside in Ottawa. Allan Karp
married a British woman and
lives in Nottingham, England. Lawrence Progosh lives
in Florida and spends a lot of
time sailing. Gordon Shore
moved to Montreal.
They all remember their
carefree days as Ottawa boys
in the Maccabean Athletic
Association.
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Israeli and Temple Israel
teens personalize Zionism
By Annette Paquin
As the setting sun turned
the trees to gold, the still lake
reflected the trees and sky
like a mirror and the voices
of 10 teens celebrating Shabbat together rose in prayer
over the landscape.
This was one of many
magical moments shared by
five Temple Israel Grade 10
students and their five Israeli
partners from Emek Hahula
High School in Northern
Galilee during a week of
non-stop activities and cultural experiences in early
October.
The exchange was part of
the Partnership 2000 project
whose goal is to personalize
Zionism by making personal,
meaningful connections between the students. The Temple Israel students will visit
their new Israeli friends in
March.
The program for the
Ottawa week focused on
three areas: social interaction, Jewish life in the Diaspora, and Canadian culture
and politics.
Activities at Temple Israel
included having family dinner in the Temple Sukkah,
giving a presentation about
themselves to the community, participating in Simchat
Torah celebrations and seeing the Consecration ceremonies of the Temple
School’s youngest students.
The Israeli students arrived with little knowledge
about Canada but were a
quick study when they had a
private tour of Parliament
and were met by Ottawa Centre MP Paul Dewar.
During a visit to the Canada-Israel Committee offices,
where they were hosted by
Richard Marceau, the students learned how Canada
Students from Emek Hahula High School in Northern Galilee and Grade 10 students
from Temple Israel on the town in Ottawa.
supports Israel from a political perspective. A visit to the
Museum of Civilization
introduced the Israelis to
Canadian history. The students also spent a morning at
their partners’ public schools,
which, for many, was an eyeopener to the multicultural
nature of Canada.
Special emphasis during
the visit was placed on nature
and the outdoors. The Israeli
and Canadian students spent
a full day white water rafting
on the Ottawa River.
A favourite activity
among some of the students
was the Aerial Park at Camp
Fortune. For almost three
hours, the students were in
the forest canopy moving
from treetop to treetop along
a set of challenges. With
encouragement and support
from each other, all of
the students mastered the
course.
An overnight at a cottage
We Care Home Health Services
Professional Nursing and Home Support Services
When and where you need us.
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in the Gatineau Hills introduced the Israelis to canoeing and the students spent
many hours talking, sharing
music and building friendships. Some of the students
didn’t want the evening to
end and stayed up all night to
watch the sunrise.
When not in group activities, the Israelis were hosted
by their partners’ families.
When the Temple Israel students travel to Israel in
March, they’ll stay in their
partners’ homes and travel to
Jerusalem together.
Temple Israel’s partner
school, Emek Hahula High
School, is located on Kibbutz
Kfar Blum. As a regional
school, the students there
come from all over the area.
When they visit Israel, the
Temple Israel students will
be hosted by their partners’
families in the town of
Metulla, as well as on a
moshav and two different
kibbutzim. This will afford
the Temple Israel students a
true sense of the area and of
family life in Northern
Galilee.
The Israeli and Ottawa
students are already planning
for the March trip and counting down to the time when
the Temple students arrive in
Israel.
Goldstein
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anytime
In support
of the Bess and Moe
Greenberg Family
Hillel Lodge
In the Joseph
and Inez Zelikovitz
Long Term Care Centre
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 well-being.
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
October 1 and 17, 2007 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.
Bill and Leona Adler Memorial Fund
In Memory of:
Jack Breski by Elayne Adler, Farley,
Jordan and Benjamin Stenzler
In Honour of:
Shimon Fogel In appreciation for the
honour of the Aliyah given to me. Todah
Raba for such a wonderful gift by Benjamin
Stenzler
Geri Goldstein and Joe Miller Mazal
Tov and best wishes on your marriage by
Elayne Adler and Farley Stenzler
Julia Gluck, Ted and Jess Overton
Toby and Joel Yan Wishing you Mazal
Tov on the birth of your first two grandchildren by Julia Gluck, Ted and Jess Overton
R’fuah Shlema:
Mr. P. Hatfield by Julia Gluck, Ted and
Jess Overton
Sylvia Morawetz by Julia Gluck, Ted and
Jess Overton
Gunner Family Fund
In Memory of:
Nathan Dinovitzer by Estelle and Sol
Gunner
Lillian and Morris Kimmel
Family Fund
In Memory of:
Percy Levine by Janet Kaiman and Family
In Observance of the Yarzheit of:
Yeshoua Heilman by Janet Kaiman
In Honour of:
Lou Eisenberg Happy Birthday with love
by Janet, Steve, Tobin and Aaron Kaiman
Bill and Phyllis Leith Family Fund
In Memory of:
Sidney Perry by Judi and Ed Kerzner
Sam and Dora Litwack Family Fund
In Honour of:
Dora Litwack by Beatrice and Nathan
Taubenfeld
Dennis Newton Memorial Fund
In Memory of:
Murray Klein by Barbara, Howard, Erica
and Lorne Geller
Schachter Ingber Family Fund
In Memory of:
Antonio Raspa by Rachel, Howard,
Davida and Joshua Schachter
Sam and Jean Akerman
Memorial Fund
R’fuah Shlema:
Zahava Kardash by Sheila and Larry
Hartman
Stephen and Debra Schneiderman
Family Fund
In Memory of:
Carole Riback by Debra and Stephen
Schneiderman
Nell Gluck Memorial Fund
In Honour of:
Mr. and Mrs. Bob Garnett Wishing you
a very happy 40th wedding anniversary by
Ralph and Anne Sternberg
Memorial Fund
In Honour of:
Harvey Slipacoff In appreciation for
being such a mensch. Hope you and Judith
enjoy your trip to Israel by Laya and Ted
Jacobsen
R’fuah Shlema:
Brian Strain by Laya and Ted Jacobsen
Edith Teitelbaum and Eddie Zinman
Family Fund
In Memory of:
Mickey Abramovitch by Fuzzy Zinman
Teitelbaum
Mayer Frank by Fuzzy and Max
Teitelbaum
Joe Loomer by Fuzzy and Max
Teitelbaum
Mollie Tradburks by Fuzzy and Max
Teitelbaum
Bea Wright by Fuzzy Zinman and Max
Teitelbaum
In Honour of:
Henry Bloom Wishing you a happy birthday and many more by Fuzzy and Max
Teitelbaum
Hy Braiter Wishing you a happy birthday
and a happy retirement by Fuzzy and Max
Teitelbaum
Ruth Calof Wishing you a happy birthday
and many more by Fuzzy and Max
Teitelbaum
Rabbi Arnie and Mrs. Chevy Fine
Mazal Tov on your anniversary by Fuzzy and
Max Teitelbaum
Mera and Bill Goldstein Mazal Tov on
the birth of your grandchild by Fuzzy and
Max Teitelbaum
Henry Molot Mazal Tov on receiving the
Public Service Award of Excellence by Fuzzy
and Max Teitelbaum
Milton and Mary (Terry) Viner
Family Fund
In Memory of:
Mollie Tradburks by Millie Schaenfield
In Observance of the Yahrzeit of:
Arthur Viner, beloved brother by Millie
Schaenfield
In Observance of the Yahrzeit of:
David Schaenfield, beloved husband by
Millie Schaenfield
Toby and Joel Yan Family Fund
In Honour of:
Joel Yan Wishing you a very happy 60th
birthday and many, many more by Patti and
Sol Gombinsky; Ruth Rohn and Paul Pascal;
The Kahane-Goldbergs; Etta, David, Yael and
Ora Nitkin; and Fran Klodawsky, Aron,
Gabriel and Noah Spector
****************
IN MEMORY OF:
Bill Adler by Sonja and Ron Kesten, and
Edith Sporn
Maurice Ben-Kalifa by Sonja and Ron
Kesten
Nathan Dinovitzer by the Residents,
Board and Staff of Hillel Lodge
Percy Levine by Lily Feig
Sofia Nayvelt by Sonja and Ron Kesten
Ghita Schneiderman by Sonja and Ron
Kesten, and Edith Sporn
IN HONOUR OF:
A Touch of Klez In appreciation for their
participation at Temple Israel by Temple
Israel
Sara and Leslie Breiner Mazal Tov and
best wishes on your anniversary by Aunt Lily
Feig
Al Cohen Wishing you a very Happy
Birthday and many, many more with love by
Sylvia and Joel Cohen
Shirley Cohen Wishing you a very Happy
Birthday and many, many more with love by
Sylvia and Joel Cohen
Sylvia and Joel Cohen Mazal Tov and
best wishes on your 50th anniversary by
Lorraine Zides
Zahava and Barry Farber Mazal Tov
and best wishes on your anniversary by Aunt
Lily Feig
Yitzhak Kalin Mazal Tov on your 80th
birthday and best wishes for many years of
good health by Lily Feig
Norma and Phil Lazear Mazal Tov and
best wishes on your 50th wedding anniversary by Lily Feig
Bernie and Ethel Rosenblatt Thank you
so much for your valuable help by The
Ottawa Jewish War Veterans
Laya and Sol Shabinsky Mazal Tov and
best wishes on the occasion of your grandson’s Bar Mitavah by Barbara and Sid
Cohen.
Rabbi Levy and Mrs. Dina Teitlebaum
In appreciation for a wonderful Succot dinner
by Tanya and Marty Abrams
R’FUAH SHLEMA:
Enid Gould by Brian and Rochelle Pearl
Jackie Sitwell by Mara and Isaac
Muzikansky and Family
Roz Taller by Sonja and Ron Kesten, and
Edith Sporn
THANK YOU
FOR ESTABLISHING A FUND
The Foundation would like to
thank Estelle and Sol Gunner for their
generosity and support in establishing
the Gunner Family Fund at Hillel
Lodge.
The Foundation would like to
thank the Ballon Family for their generosity and support in establishing the
Jack and Betty Ballon Family Fund in
honour of the 100th birthday of Betty
Ballon.
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 Debra or Rhonda at 613-728-3900, extension 111, 9:30 am to 3:30 pm Monday to Thursday; 9:00 am to 2:00 pm Friday. You may also e-mail your orders to donations@hillel-ltc.om. 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.
Israeli U18 national hockey team visits Ottawa
By Irv Osterer
Friends of Israel Hockey
Organizing Committee
Israel’s U18 team returned
to the nation’s capital for the
third time on Monday, October 15 as part of a three-week
fundraising tour that saw the
blue and white play exhibition games in Winnipeg,
Chicago, New York, Montreal, Ottawa, Kingston and
Toronto.
Funds raised at these
games go to offset the significant cost of sending
Israeli teams to the annual
International Ice Hockey
Federation Championships.
In April 2008, Israel’s junior
team will compete in
Tallinn, Estonia while the
Israeli National team will
play in the Division II tournament in Newcastle, Australia.
While in Ottawa, the
U18 team served as true
ambassadors for the State of
Israel.
They were billeted with
Jewish families, played
floor hockey with the Grade
7and 8 students at Hillel
Academy; met with John
Baird, MP Ottawa-West
Nepean, on Parliament Hill;
watched an Ottawa Senators
practice at Scotia Bank
Place and took part in a
skate with the Ottawa 67’s
and their coach Brian Kilrea
at the Civic Centre.
John Baird, MP (Ottawa West-Nepean) and members of the Israeli Under-18 hockey team meet on Parliament Hill.
The team made a stop to meet Baird while on a goodwill tour of Canada and the United States. (Photo: Mitch Miller)
The Canada/Israel exhibition game was played at
the Bell Sensplex in Kanata,
on the International rink in
front of a very enthusiastic
crowd of over 600 people.
Because there are four wellused pads of ice at the Sensplex, many people from the
Ottawa-Carleton
region
were also treated to their
first exposure of Israel’s
hockey program. One observer, who was not Jewish,
watched the game as his son
practised on another rink in
the complex. He was very
impressed with the spirit of
Ottawa’s Jewish community
and quite touched that the
game was being played in
memory of Roger Neilson.
The opposition was the
Nepean Minor Hockey
Association Competitive
Midget AA Nepean Raiders, coached by Peter Tenute
who also coached the
NMHA team that played the
Israeli Nats last year.
The Ottawa Senators
Foundation has endorsed
the request that this annual
event be named the Roger
Neilson Memorial Hockey
Game. The late Ottawa Senators coach made a significant contribution to the
State of Israel’s hockey program during the four summer camps he conducted
in Metulla at the Canada
Center.
Israel U18 captain
George Pisha started his
hockey career at a Roger
Neilson Hockey camp in
Metulla and each year, in
Neilson’s memory, the
Israeli team visits Roger’s
House to make a substantial
donation. This was Pisha’s
third visit to Ottawa, and he
will be starting his military
service next year when he
turns 18.
It was a terrific evening.
Jonah Shinder and Daniel
Segal carried a Canadian
and Israeli flag the length
of the ice and skated to
centre ice for the opening
ceremony. Hatikvah was
sung by Merrin Lithwick
and O Canada by Chelsea
Sauvé.
The Sens’ Mike Fisher
dropped the opening face-
off and visited each dressing
room before the game. Fisher was very generous with
his time and signed many
autographs for fans. Former
Sens and Philadelphia Flyers defenceman Brad Marsh
volunteered to act as guest
coach for the Israeli Nats
for the games in Ottawa and
Kingston. Current Israeli
National Team veteran Ron
Soreanu also helped with
the opening festivities.
When the best under-18
hockey players Israel can
ice are a mixture of Bantam
and Midget, it becomes a
varsity team, which makes it
difficult to compete against
a full complement of
midget-aged players. Israel
had several 14- and 15-yearold players on its roster.
Despite having several
14- and 15-year-olds, Israel’s
U18 team put up a game
fight, but came out on the
short end of an 8-2 score
against the stronger Nepean
team.
Scoring for Israel were
Vitali Schwatzman and Ely
Sherbatov. Both were beautiful goals drawing applause from the enthusiastic crowd.
Sherbatov was clearly
Israel’s strongest player. He
can skate and handle the
puck exceptionally well.
Even though small in
stature, he was one of the
best players on the ice.
Also impressive on the
Israeli lineup was 14-yearold Ayal Azimov, who
promises to be a future star
on the team. Ontario Tier II
Junior A players Ethan
Wereck and Daniel Erlich
were not in the lineup and
would have made a difference, but it was 3-0 after the
first few minutes and the
Nepean boys, in a show of
true sportsmanship, clearly
let up a bit to keep the game
respectable.
Plans are already under
way for next year’s game.
For more information, contact the Friends of Israel
Hockey - Ottawa chapter
chairman Mitch Miller, c/o
the Soloway JCC. Watch for
the Friends of Israel Hockey
booth at the Yom Ha’Atzmaut community celebration at the Civic Centre in
2008.
Like Abraham and Sarah, Jewish world
should welcome all into a ‘Big Tent’
By Rabbi Elliot Dorff and
Rabbi Kerry M. Olitzky
WASHINGTON (JTA) —
Imagine you are trekking
through town on a scorching
summer day when you pass a
man sitting at the entrance to
his home, which happens to
have all its doors open. The
man and his wife, whom you
have never met, invite you into
their home, provide you with
water to drink, food to eat, a
refreshing shower and even
rest in their den or guest room.
While this may not seem
plausible to most of us, it is
familiar to Bible readers. It is
an updated version of the
well-known story of Abraham and Sarah, Jewish
ancestors who modelled a
variety of important values
and behaviours for us.
Long before the rabbis
began to codify actions in
Jewish law, Abraham and
Sarah innocently modelled
simple welcoming Jewish
behaviour. They did not just
invite guests into their home;
they served them. They
offered them water with which
to wash. And they provided
them with physical and spiritual sustenance. Their actions
actively communicated one
message to their guests: All
are welcome in our tent.
Certainly this story of Abraham and Sarah’s tent – as
described in Genesis 18 and
explicated in Midrash – is
directly relevant to what the
Jewish community has become
and where it wants to be.
The community, today, has
the opportunity to realize its
potential as one Big Tent. Like
Abraham and Sarah, we can
open our doors on all sides to
welcome, include and serve all
who would enter, regardless of
where they may be on their
religious journey, their choice
of life partners, their race and
anything else that has the
potential to contribute to the
beautiful diversity that has
become the Jewish community.
“But rabbis,” some may
respond, “my Jewish institution already is welcoming.”
We have no doubt your
institution is welcoming – to
you. For those of us on the
inside – and we happily
count ourselves among them
– it is difficult to imagine our
beloved Jewish homes, synagogues and organizations as
potentially cold and unwelcoming places.
But we are insiders. Those
who have not yet ventured
into our homes, synagogues
and community centres may
not have experienced that
sense of community. Perhaps
they’ve never been invited.
Or maybe they ventured in
but we insiders did not rush
to greet an unfamiliar face,
instead expecting that job to
fall to someone else.
The tension between how
we feel about our institutions, and how newcomers
perceive them, is one with
which we must grapple.
It is why we have chosen
to issue a challenge to everyone involved in the Jewish
community: We must look at
our institutions from the outside. We need to evaluate
how our institutions can best
welcome all newcomers.
It’s time to put out welcome mats. Let’s post signs
that say “All are Welcome,”
and state that in marketing
materials and on web sites.
To truly welcome all, we
must look at why newcomers
are choosing not to engage
with the Jewish community
and address those reasons
head on. For example, costs
of membership and programming often stand in the way
of those who would like to
engage in our institutions.
By giving newcomers
“free samples” of our offerings, we can lower barriers to
participation and provide
access to Jewish community
programming.
We can make our institutions more welcoming by posting signs clearly indicating
entrances and program locations. Let’s station greeters at
entrances before all events, like
services at synagogue, or book
fairs at JCCs. We can even
enlist active members in the
mitzvah of outreach by encouraging them to invite newcomers to meals after events or
establishing a buddy system
simply by introducing those
with common interests.
We can offer a personal
welcome by providing names
of contact people in our organizations rather than a general
information number or info@
e-mail address. And let’s
make sure we have some
basic yet enticing information
available about what our organizations offer to newcomers.
Rabbis and lay leaders can
lower literacy barriers by
being more aware of their
diverse populations; we
should create a supportive
environment for Hebrew and
Yiddish translation and avoid
other forms of “in-speak.” We
must have programs specifically directed to different
populations including young
adults, single parents, empty
nesters and young couples
with, and without, children.
Lay leaders and Jewish professionals can work together to
plan programming outside of
their institutional buildings to
expand their reach to those
who are not yet comfortable
entering a Jewish building.
The fear of a shrinking
and increasingly unengaged
Jewish population seems to
pervade the thoughts of Jewish community leaders and
philanthropists and provides
the motivation for many of
our current communal programs and structures. But the
Big Tent Judaism we are
advocating emerges from the
foundational value system of
Judaism, which is not based
in fear, but rather in the joy of
sharing what we find so wonderful about being Jewish.
It is time for the Jewish
community to rally together
around the issue of welcoming newcomers. No mitzvah
is repeated more often in the
Torah than to “welcome the
stranger.” (“Stranger” is not
our preferred translation
because of its sometimes negative connotations in English,
so we say “newcomer.”)
Welcoming newcomers is
not the domain of just one
movement or institution. We
must co-ordinate across denominational and organizational lines to determine
what works best in finding
and reaching people, how we
on the inside can engage
those on the outside, and
what are the messages of
meaning and value that will
draw them in.
If we are to carry Abraham and Sarah’s message
forward, we are obligated to
join our voices together to
advocate for a more welcoming and inclusive Jewish
community. Together, we can
form a tent like Abraham and
Sarah, and grow an inclusive
and welcoming Jewish community. Together, we can
transform the Jewish community into a Big Tent.
Rabbi Elliot Dorff is the
rector, Sol & Anne Dorff distinguished service professor
in philosophy, co-chair of the
bioethics department at the
American Jewish University,
and is on the Big Tent
Judaism advisory board.
Rabbi Kerry M. Olitzky is
executive director of the Jewish Outreach Institute.
Jewish Outreach Institute's Senior Program Officer Eva
Stern conducts one of JOI's Public Space Judaism programs, Passover in the Matzah Aisle. Jewish programming in secular venues can attract people who are not
yet comfortable entering a Jewish building.
(Photo: courtesy Jewish Outreach Institute)
Limited
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JET, SJCC, Na’amat to host style
and substance expert Adrienne Gold
By Lauren Shaps
On Sunday, November
25, 2007 at 7:30 pm, JET,
the Soloway Jewish Community Centre and Na’amat
Ottawa will host Adrienne
Gold for a talk entitled: Subliminal Messages: Judaism
and the Messages of Modernity to be given at the SJCC.
When Gold was featured
in Chatelaine Magazine in
Adrienne Gold
the fall of 2002, she had a
career many would envy.
Gold was the style commentator for Canada AM and the
host of her own cable television program, Images With
Adrienne Gold.
Her job was to help people get dressed and to feel
good. Yet, as she and her
husband Jason Davis – parttime rock ‘n’ roller, part-
time house-painter when
they first met – began to
explore their Judaism, Gold
morphed from a freedomloving young woman to one
deeply concerned about our
consumer culture.
Her direct, no-holdsbarred approach and her
often disarming honesty
have built her a large and
loyal following, which
appeals to both men and
women. She challenges her
audiences to reclaim their
self respect, by questioning
the seductive imagery and
celebrity worship so predominant in our culture.
Gold is a fascinating
modern woman who, according to Chatelaine, has
“figured out how to have a
hip, fast-paced career and a
rich spiritual life … and like
most of us ... Gold has had
to struggle to find the balance between her inner self
and the outside world … she
is succeeding and having a
good time in the process.”
Tickets are $10 and can
be purchased through Na’amat, the Soloway JCC, or
JET at 613-798-9818 ext.
247 or jet@jccottawa.com.
Ma’ale Film School of Jerusalem promotes
understanding through films about life in Israel
By Maxine Miska
Israel is a country fissured
with contrasting ways of life. The
Ma’ale School of Television, Film
& the Arts in Jerusalem employs
the intimacy of the camera to
enhance understanding between
the disparate and often antagonistic segments of Israeli society.
On Sunday, November 20,
7:30 pm at the SJCC, the Vered
Israel Cultural and Educational
Program and the Jerusalem Foun-
dation will bring a series of short
films from the Ma’ale School
concerning orthodox life in
Israel.
The Ma’ale Film School was
established in 1989 to involve
Israel’s religious Jewish community in television and film. Located between the old and new cities
of Jerusalem, the school trains
filmmakers to produce works that
foster open dialogue, based on
listening, observation and toler-
ance, with Israeli society as a
whole.
In 2000, Ma’ale opened the
Institute of Torah and Creative
Endeavor to bring rabbis, educators and television professionals
to explore creative expression
from a Jewish viewpoint. Student
films serve as the impetus for
spirited arguments about life in
modern Israel.
The Jerusalem Foundation will
present three films and a discus-
T heInez
I nezand
and Joseph
J oseph ZZelikovitz
elikovit z
The
Set t lement Unit
U nit
Settlement
sion by an Israeli filmmaker
Kathy Green. Each film is like a
short story – one plotline, few
characters, but a fully developed
sensibility about the issues
involved.
The Orthodox Way is a screwball comedy about a blind date
gone hilariously wrong. Eichah
concerns an adolescent girl in an
Orthodox West Bank settlement,
who wants to change her name
and detach herself from the polit-
ical activities of the movement.
Elyokim, which, unlike the previous two films is mostly in Yiddish, is a tragic tale of disability,
discrimination, passion and the
yetzir ha-rah (evil inclination) in
Mea Sharim.
The film showings are free for
SJCC members and $5 for nonmembers. For more information,
contact Penni Namer at 613-7989818, ext 243 or pnamer@jcc
ottawa.com.
MEMBERS MEETING
is pr
oud to
t opresent
pr esent
proud
A meeting of the members of
the Jewish Federation of Ottawa
will be held on
in
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Soloway JCC
21 Nadolny Sachs Private
Meeting is open to the Public
Contact: Dawn Paterson (613) 798-4696, ext. 236
dpaterson@jewishottawa.com
www.jewishottawa.com
Live Generously.
ITDOESAWORLDOFGOOD
®
Torah Academy
of Ottawa
Presents
Winning students and parents are (from left to right): student Sheldon Paquin, Merle
Paquin, Annette Paquin, Rosalie Schwartz, Harold Schwartz, student Naomi
Schwartz, Sharon Finn and Paul Finn; (missing) student Davina Finn.
(Photo: Elly Bollegraaf)
Jewish War Veterans honour
local students with awards
By Freda Lithwick
Ottawa Post,
Jewish War Veterans
Scholarship Committee
At the Jewish War Veterans of Canada, Ottawa Post,
luncheon on October 14
at Agudath Israel Synagogue,
three
Jewish
students
with outstanding academic
achievements and who had
contributed voluntarily to the
Jewish community and the
community-at-large
were
presented with awards and
scholarships.
The Jewish War Veterans,
Ottawa Post Award of $1,000
was given to Davina Finn, a
student at Queen’s University
who hopes to go into medicine.
The Abe Carlofsky Scholarship Award of $1,000 was
given to Naomi Schwartz, a
McGill University student
who plans to go into the medical health field.
The Max and Tess
Zelikovitz Award of $500 was
given to Sheldon Paquin, a
student at Carleton Universi-
ty studying humanities.
Guest speaker at the luncheon was Leonard Stern,
editorial pages editor of the
Ottawa Citizen, who spoke
about individual versus group
rights in the post-9/11 era.
The Veterans’ scholarship
is funded by income generated by the Jewish War Veterans, Ottawa Post Fund at the
Ottawa Jewish Community
Foundation. Donations to the
fund help ensure the awards
will continue in the years to
come.
Disabled Israeli veterans visit
In 1949, following Israel’s
War of Independence, more
than 6,000 of its soldiers
were left disabled, prompting
the creation of the Zahal Disabled Veterans Organization
(ZDVO).
Today, ZDVO serves more
than 50,000 disabled veterans at its Beit Halochem
rehabilitation centres in Tel
Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem
and at its Beit Kay recreation
centre in Nahariya.
One of ZDVO’s major
programs is organizing trips
for disabled veterans who are
able to enjoy tours as guests
of Jewish communities
around the world. These trips
have created strong bonds
between Diaspora communities and Israel’s disabled veterans. Ottawa is an important
stop on their Canadian tours.
Ruth Aaron has hosted 28
groups of disabled Israeli
veterans on their trips to
“Oceans”
A
Chinese & Silent Auction
Event
Sunday,
December 2, 2007
1119 Lazard Street
7 pm
Salad Bar & Viennese Table
Prizes Include:
• Airfare for Two to Israel •
• HP Laptop •
• Canon 8MP Digital Camera •
• Furniture •
• ipod Nano •
• TomTom GPS System •
This event is sponsored by:
Alfred Friedman receives an award for many years of
support of the disabled Israeli veterans from Ruth Aaron.
Ottawa over the past 22 years
and describes a recent tour:
“We visited Parliament
and the Museum of Civilization and had lunch at the
home of Israel’s ambassador
to Canada, Alan Baker, and
Dalia Baker. Dinner was at
the home of Dorothy Nadolny.
“The oldest of the veterans was involved in a Syrian
ambush during the Yom Kip-
pur War. Others sustained
their injuries in Gaza, in
Lebanon and in a terrorist
attack on bus number 4 in Tel
Aviv. One was injured while
giving medical treatment to a
comrade.”
During the tour, Ottawa
volunteer Alfred Friedman
was honoured for his many
years of support of the disabled Israeli veterans.
Hymie & Shirley Schildkraut
For more information
please contact 613-274-0110
or torahacademy@rogers.com
VOLUNTEER
CORNER
Volunteer Corner is courtesy of the Jewish Federation
of Ottawa. All beneficiary agencies are invited
to list their volunteer opportunities.
Volunteer Opportunities
JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES
A minute, a call, a visit … You make the difference
• Kosher Meals on Wheels is seeking additional drivers in
response to increased demands on this program. Mondays,
Wednesdays and Fridays, once a month or once a week, whatever works for you. If you are able to help ensure seniors
receive their Kosher Meals on Wheels, it would be greatly
appreciated.
• Drivers needed to offer seniors transportation to and
from medical appointments and to enable them to maintain
friendships and a social network. If you are available, please
give us a call.
• TeleShalom: We are currently seeking volunteers to
place a daily call to a senior. Something you can do from the
comfort of your own home and will only take a little time.
Please let us know if you can help.
• Making connections: Guten Tog program. Many of our
seniors are living in long-term care facilities. They would benefit from a visit; once a week, every other week or once a
month.
• Do you have one hour a week to visit a senior who is
visually impaired? This senior is seeking a volunteer to read
her mail to her weekly. Ideally, this senior is seeking someone
who is available Monday mornings.
• Do you speak Yiddish or French? A senior in the Craig
Henry area is seeking a volunteer who speaks French and Yiddish to go out for a coffee or play Gin Rummy or simply have
a conversation.
• Participation at committee level needed: The Shalom
Bayit Program (a program aimed at reducing violence against
Jewish women) is seeking committee members. If you are
interested, please contact Sarah Caspi at 613-722-2225, ext.
246.
Deborah is waiting to hear from you
at 613-722-2225, ext. 327.
THE BESS AND MOE GREENBERG
FAMILY HILLEL LODGE
Volunteers needed for:
• Student special: Do your community hours within the
community. To find out how, email judithw@hillel-ltc.com.
• Cashiers needed to help in the café at lunch (11:45 am to
1:30 pm, Monday to Friday).
• B-i-n-g-o! If this is one of your favourite words, come
play at the Lodge on Monday nights at 6:45 pm or Friday afternoons at 1:30 pm and have fun!
• Sing! Birthday parties (weekdays at 1:15 pm), Kindermusik (Wednesdays at 9 to 11 am), monthly Happy Hours
(1:45 pm) all need enthusiastic voices. Even if you don’t sing
opera, come!
• Talk, debate or just listen! Got a favourite topic on
which you’d like the wisdom of elders? Come visit a resident
and make a new friend!
• Outings anyone? Accompany residents to a museum or
shopping at a mall (weekday mornings)!
• Practice, practice! Give a preview of a presentation or
recital to our residents!
• Special mitzvah anyone? Bring a resident to Shabbos
services (Saturdays at 9:15 am) and enjoy the fantastic Oneg
with friends!
Satire, funnies and funny men
There’s nothing new about Jewish humour – it’s been
around a long time. Jewish tradition encourages us not to
take life too seriously, no matter where we find ourselves in
our difficult history. Sholom Aleichem’s tragicomic stories
about Tevye the Milkman are indicative of the self-deprecating, dark and satirical humour of the oppressed – and we
Jews are very familiar with oppression. Jewish comics and
social satirists have found a lot of material in that common
experience. These two books follow in that vein.
Book Beat
Kinneret Globerman
The Fun Never Stops!
An Anthology of Comic Art 1991-2006
By Drew Friedman (Foreword by Daniel Clowes)
Fantagraphics Books/Raincoast
Softcover, 2007
Schmucks! Our Favorite Fakes, Frauds, Lowlifes, Liars,
the Armed and Dangerous. and Good Guys Gone Bad
By Jackie Mason and Raoul Felder
HarperCollins Canada Ltd.
Hardcover, 2007
For those of you who have never heard of him, Drew
Friedman (whose book, Old Jewish Comedians, Fantagraphics/Raincoast, 2006, I reviewed in this column) is an
exceptional artist. Sure, he does caricatures, but he has elevated the generally cartoonish nature of caricatures into a
high art form.
For a kid who graduated from New York’s School of Visual Arts in 1985, and whose first job was at Screw, a weekly
porn magazine, Friedman has become the pre-eminent master of the caricature. He is an exceptional ‘photo-based’ artist
whose drawings are flawless in their realism; he does literal
studies of his subjects, warts (and acne and wrinkles and sagging skin) and all. His caricatures speak volumes more than
any photograph could, and that’s because his use of settings
provides a sardonic lens on his subjects – political and star
celebrities, for the most part.
The breadth of Friedman’s skill is nicely illustrated in this
book. The artist perfected stippling, which distinguished his
early style, a pointillist technique that gave his pencil drawings a gritty quality, but was very time-consuming. In 1994,
the artist exchanged stippling with colour, losing none of the
impact of his earlier monochromatic dot drawings, while
demonstrating his versatility.
The forward by graphic novelist Daniel Clowes explains
a lot about Friedman and his career development. He grew
up in a home that was always full of writers. His father,
Bruce Jay Friedman – an editor, novelist, playwright and
screenwriter – was one of the “black humourists.” His contemporaries included Philip Roth, Joseph Heller, Jules Feiffer and Kurt Vonnegut.
Friedman started out collaborating with his brother Josh,
doing comic strips: Drew did the drawing and Josh the writing. The Friedman brothers published their first anthology in
1985. A year later, Spy Magazine’s E. Graydon Carter, now
Vanity Fair’s editor-in-chief, called Friedman to ask if he’d
produce a series of single-panel cartoons called Private
Lives of Public Figures.
Since then, Friedman has done 100 covers for the New
York Observer and his unsubtle drawings have garnered criticism for being cruel. His claim is honesty in his stark depictions. Whatever the consensus, there is no argument that
Drew Friedman is an exceptionally talented caricaturist. This
book proves it beyond a doubt.
Put a lawyer and former rabbi-turned-comedian together
and what have you got? Two jokers with their own brand of
comedy; I mean, commentary.
OK, so the title’s kind of vulgar, but then, Jackie Mason
is no angel. The ordained rabbi has a reputation for his crude
humour and he capitalizes on it in this book with high-profile divorce lawyer, legal commentator and syndicated radio
talk show host of The Felder Report, Raoul Felder, with
whom he’s collaborated before (Jackie Mason & Raoul
Felder’s Survival Guide to New York City). The two have
become quite the social commentators.
Their acerbic wit knows no bounds and, if you can overlook the title, you might find them funny. No one goes
unscathed. They deride everyone from celebrities and the
rich and the powerful to international and home-grown jerks.
They’re all in here and they’ve all been categorized and clustered in their own sections. You’ll find Tom Cruise and
humourless Muslims under “Holy Schmucks,” Jimmy
Carter, Hilary Clinton and Al Gore under “Power
Schmucks,” Yasser Arafat and suicide bombers under “Dead
Schmucks,” Harry Belafonte and Steven Spielberg under
“Celebri-Schmucks.” The list goes on and on.
There are lots of short jibes. Here’s a sampling. On
Madonna: “She studies kabbalah more than a yeshiva full of
rabbis. But those red bracelets she wears makes her no more
a Jew than wearing a yellow bracelet makes you Lance Armstrong.” On Bill Clinton: “No politician has lied so consistently and pathologically as President Clinton. The Maharajah of Mendacity. A prevaricating weasel of the lowest form.
Of course, he didn’t lie all the time – only when he talked.”
You get the idea.
Elegant piano for all occasions
• Weddings/engagement parties
• Bar/Bat Mitzvah
• Private parties
Larry Tarof
To inquire further,
please call 613-728-3900, ext. 191.
613-592-8968 • pianoman@dr-l-music.com
Students welcome (please note:
children under the age of 14 require adult accompaniment)
profiled on CJOH “Regional Contact”
website: www.dr-l-music.com
A Remembrance Day to remember
A year ago, I woke up late for a Remembrance Day ceremony where I was to be featured in the program giving a bouquet of flowers to an honouree.
The school where the ceremony was being held was in the
countryside outside the city. I phoned them on my cell,
explained my situation and told them I would be there by
10:00.
I was flying along the road when I realized, in my haste, I
had not yet gone to the bathroom.
“All right,” I told myself, “I’ll just go when I get to the
school.”
All of a sudden, the hood on my van started to bounce up
and down. I pulled over to the side of the busy highway, still
in the middle of the city, and spent fruitless minutes trying to
force it closed. Finally, I lifted the hood up and simply let go
of it in despair and disgust. It latched.
I took off. In a few minutes, I saw the exit I needed to take.
As I left the highway, I remembered the secretary saying,
“After you leave the highway, it’s just a short 20 minutes to the
school.”
I entered the school parking lot at two minutes to 10. I
parked and ran to the school, although running with your legs
crossed turns out to be harder than you might think.
As I approached the door, I smiled. But, just as I entered,
the teacher who had invited me burst from the gym, grabbed
me and hustled me in. There I was, in front of 700 people, all
sitting quietly and reverently in the dark, as the Remembrance
Humour me,
please
Rubin Friedman
Day ceremony proceeded.
The teacher firmly guided me to a seat in the front row and,
in a stage whisper, told me, “You missed your part by two minutes. I think it is really important that you show your commitment by staying for the rest of the ceremony.”
It was impossible to go to the bathroom. I held my breath
and sat down trying to adopt a position that did not put pressure on my bladder.
“Anyway,” I thought, “surely there will be a break where I
can reasonably just get up and leave.”
But there was no break.
They showed a film from the local Royal Canadian Legion,
during which no one was allowed to leave. After about 20 minutes, I heard the narrator intone, “December, 1941, the day of
infamy came as the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour.”
I began to panic. “There’s almost four years left!” I started to sweat profusely as the moisture had to find a way out
of me somehow.
After the film, I was about to jump up to run out of the
auditorium when the moderator explained that we should all
stand for the wreath-laying ceremony. I stood and tried shallow breathing, the kind I learned with my wife in Lamaze.
I looked over at the stage and saw six crosses on the stage.
“Six wreaths,” I thought. “I can handle that.”
They did not stop at six. Rather, they laid wreaths for every
group of participants: the upper grades, the lower grades, the
cafeteria staff, the office staff, the administrative staff at the
Board of Education, the cadets and so on. I thought my eyes
would turn yellow.
Finally, the last wreath was laid and the whole ceremony
ended.
I leapt out of my seat. A woman teacher blocked my way,
but then gave me her arm. I leaned on it and staggered out.
She showed me to the bathroom.
Fifteen minutes later I came out in a more visibly relaxed
mood. The principal was waiting for me and greeted me with
a smile.
“We’re so glad you could make it after all,” she said. “It’s
such a relief!”
“My sentiments exactly,” I said and shook her hand with a
little more enthusiasm than she expected.
“But it all worked out,” she said. “In the end, we just had
one of the students pretend to be you and no one seemed to
notice.”
Woody Guthrie, the Klezmer bard of Coney Island
Woody Guthrie, perhaps the preeminent American
folksinger of the 20th century and an inspiration to generations of folk music performers, wrote about 3,000 songs
before his career was cut short in 1954 when he was hospitalized, at age 42, with Huntington’s Disease, a hereditary,
degenerative disease of the nervous system. He eventually
died from Huntington’s in 1967.
Woody only recorded about 10 per cent of those songs.
Most of the rest have remained unheard, filed away in the
Woody Guthrie Archives. Most of those songs have lyrics the
prolific writer never had a chance to set to music, or had tunes
that have been long forgotten.
About seven years ago, I was doing a radio interview with
Nora Guthrie. She’s Woody’s daughter and the executive
director of the Woody Guthrie Foundation and Archives in
New York City. Over the past decade, Nora has been working
with contemporary musicians, commissioning them to compose music and record some of the thousands of sets of
unrecorded Woody Guthrie lyrics in the archives.
As we were winding up the interview, Nora dropped, what,
for me – a lifelong folkie with a passion for Klezmer music –
was a bombshell. She was talking, she said, with the Klezmatics
about setting some of Woody’s Jewish-themed songs to music.
Woody’s Jewish songs?
I knew about a couple of Chanukah songs he’d written and
recorded in the late-1940s. But Nora told me she’d found
many dozens of other Jewish-themed songs: more Chanukah
songs, songs about Jewish history and culture, songs about
life in Coney Island, the Jewish neighbourhood in Brooklyn in
which the Guthries lived in the 1940s and ‘50s; even one of
the first songs ever written about the Holocaust.
I knew Marjorie Mazia, Woody’s second wife, was Jewish.
But I didn’t know that Marjorie’s mother was Aliza Greenblatt,
a prominent Yiddish poet, social activist and Zionist leader,
who had connected deeply with the Oklahoma-born folksinger through their shared passions for social justice, antifascism and the labour movement, and had a profound influence on her son-in-law.
During that radio interview, and in later conversations,
including a visit when Nora was in town in August for the
Jewish
Music
Michael Regenstreif
Ottawa Folk Festival, she told me about how her Bubbie and
father had long discussions about Judaism, Jewish history and
Jewish culture; that Woody was inspired to read everything he
could on Jewish subjects; and about how he was inspired by
the Jewish legends celebrated in holidays like Chanukah,
Purim and Pesach.
Nora also told me about the central role her Bubbie played
in caring for the children – Cathy, who died tragically in a
childhood fire, Arlo, Joady and Nora – and in preparing Shabbat dinners each Friday night. Woody’s long talks with Aliza,
the extensive reading he did and his participation in holiday
celebrations in the home, provided the inspiration for his
Jewish-themed songs.
In 1998, just before finding Woody’s Jewish-themed songs
in the archives, Nora went to a concert the Klezmatics were
performing with famed violinist Itzhak Perlman and heard
them play Fisherlid, one of her grandmother’s songs. She soon
recruited the Klezmatics to set Woody’s Jewish lyrics to music,
an undertaking the cutting-edge Klezmer band embraced.
The Klezmatics have released two CDs of Woody’s Jewishthemed songs: Woody Guthrie’s Happy Joyous Hanukkah, a
delightful album of Chanukah songs, and Wonder Wheel, a
sublime collection that includes songs about Woody’s Jewish
neighbourhood as well as reflections on issues of war, spirituality and mortality with arrangements ranging from quietly
poignant to rollicking and infectious.
Earlier this year, Wonder Wheel won the Grammy Award
for Best Contemporary World Music Album, the first time any
Klezmer recording had ever received a Grammy. I highly recommend both CDs.
There’s an interesting and ironic trivia note to the story.
When Arlo, Nora’s older brother, was preparing for his Bar
Mitzvah in 1960, his lessons were taught to him by a young
Brooklyn rabbi named Meir Kahane. Some years later,
Kahane founded the Jewish Defense League in New York City
before moving to Israel where he founded Kach, an anti-Arab
political party so racist and extreme it was banned from the
Knesset. Arlo Guthrie, of course, is now a famed folksinger
and raconteur himself.
There are many more of Woody’s Jewish-themed songs to
come. When we talked at the Ottawa Folk Festival, Nora mentioned other Jewish musicians, including Brave Old World,
would be working on some of them. I’m anxious to hear them.
Websites
For more information about Woody Guthrie, his Jewishthemed songs or to order the Klezmatics’ CDs of those
songs, visit the Woody Guthrie Archives:
www.woodyguthrie.org
For more on the Klezmatics, visit: www.klezmatics.com
For more on Arlo Guthrie, visit: www.arlo.net
Virginia Strawn A.R.C.T.
Registered Music Teacher
has a small number
of recent openings
in Piano and Theory
• Students are prepared
for R.C.M. examinations.
• many years of experience
• accepts all ages and levels
• Committed to helping students
reach their goals
Music Can Be Fun
Phone (613) 224-2285
It’s a communal responsibility.
In previous generations, parents, relatives and the community played an active role in matchmaking. Today, countless singles are left to fend for themselves.
Judaism teaches we are responsible for one another. In
the face of a growing shidduch crisis, and considering that
the quality of matches have profound ramifications not only
for couples’ lives, but for all subsequent generations, it’s
worth asking: Are we doing enough to help Jewish singles?
Here are a few suggestions:
Maintain contact with your single friends after you get
married.
While interests change, responsibilities multiply and you
have less in common with singles. Still, a 15-minute call on
Chanukah or Passover can boost your old buddy’s sense of
worth and feeling of connectedness to the broader community. While you may not chat about girls or guys like you
used to, you can offer moral support and guidance. Having
experienced the nitty-gritty challenges and vicissitudes of
married life, you’ve acquired perspective on what is really
important in a life partner as opposed to what merely
seemed important during those heady dating years. While
singles may not want advice, they will appreciate your
insights and concern.
Keep a readily accessible notebook.
Dedicate one column to eligible men and another to eligible women you know. Include telephone number, city of
Photo: Michelle Valberg
Helping singles find their bashert (soul mate)
Dating 101
Jack Botwinik
residence and age (be sure to date the entries). Jot down a
few pertinent facts: a medical condition, vegetarian, wants
to move to Israel and so on. Every time you meet or think
of new singles, enter them in the appropriate column and
scan the other column for a possible match.
Invite singles for Shabbos or Yom Tov.
Host them individually in order to get to know them better, or have a mix of singles and married couples at your
table. However, don’t invite only two singles and try to set
them up in your home, unless you’ve first informed them of
your intention.
Include singles in your prayers.
Besides the power prayer has in effecting change, doing
so will secure them a place in your consciousness, making
it more likely that you will recognize, and follow up with,
any matchmaking opportunities that may arise.
Finally, consider establishing a shidduch committee in
Napoleon and the Jews
Napoleon was the first modern figure who had a direct,
major impact on Jews and Judaism.
Three aspects of Napoleon’s approach and system
should be considered in relation to his Jewish policies.
First, he regarded himself as a “man of destiny.” His role,
as he conceived it, included a providential mandate to bring
the Jews into modern life. So, at various times, he played
the role of a liberator, a reformer of Jewish life and a protoZionist.
Secondly, in his aims and modus operandi, Napoleon
was an administrative reformer. He had already reformed
the French educational system, general public administra-
Mazal Tov
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tion, the legal system (the Napoleonic Code) and banking
(establishment of the French central bank). Like later dictators, he believed all of society should be aligned to the state
and its practices. Why should Jews in the territories where
he ruled be an exception?
In 1806, he convened an assembly of notables to find
ways for Jews to co-exist within the new state system. Generally, the questions posed were so stereotyped that they
could be answered without compromising Judaism too
much (e.g., to a question about usury, the answer was given
that the prophets and rabbis condemned oppressive loans).
Napoleon established the consistory system (similar to
the status of French Protestants) as the basis for aligning
Jewish community institutions with French civil society.
In 1807, he convened what he called a Sanhedrin. To
understand this, we have to look at a third aspect of
Napoleon’s strategy.
Napoleon was a master propagandist, who used political
warfare to undermine his enemies. Napoleon’s propaganda
already included appeals to the Jews to welcome the French
as liberators (e.g., in his Italian campaigns). When he
attacked the Turks (notably at Acre, 1799) as an offshoot to
his Egyptian campaign, he proclaimed that a Jewish Palestine would be restored under French protection. However,
Jews refused the bait and instead helped the Turks who had
welcomed them as refugees from Spain.
The Sanhedrin should be viewed in part as a major propaganda device to promote the spread of state-defined
Judaism on the French model. Under Napoleon, Jews began
to enjoy a recognized legal status. But rights were individual and the corollary was that Jewish community life had to
conform to the state. Creation of the Sanhedrin implied that
the French model was sanctioned by religious authorities to
replace Judaism as it then existed. This was a major reason
why the original Lubavitcher Rebbe opposed Napoleon.
The biggest impact of the Napoleonic measures was on
the German states. In Westphalia (ruled by Napoleon’s
brother, Jerome) and the Rhineland, a variant of the French
consistory system was introduced. Secular schools for
Jews, with religious education by state-appointed rabbis
your synagogue that would be dedicated specifically to
addressing the needs of local Jewish singles.
Even better is a community-wide shidduch organization
that would recruit volunteers, raise funds and help singles
meet – much like a gemakh or other chessed organization in
the city.
What are the costs of trying to set up singles?
Time and effort. Also, if a set-up is way off base, you
may end up with resentful singles.
What are the benefits?
Satisfaction from trying. Gratitude of singles who don’t
feel alone in their struggle. Also, it helps connect the generations and it strengthens the community. Finally, it’s fun
and there’s the titillating possibility that an introduction will
lead to the chuppah.
Given our busy lives, it’s tempting to think, “If it’s meant
to be, it’s meant to be and there’s no need for me to get
involved.” However, as someone who once set up a successful shidduch, I believe that, although ultimately everything is divinely orchestrated, to the extent we can be a conduit for God’s work, we have a sacred obligation to do so.
Moreover, our collective future depends on it.
Jack Botwinik is the author of Chicken Soup with Chopsticks: A Jew’s Struggle for Truth in an Interfaith Relationship. Comments are appreciated and can be sent to Jack via
his Author Page at www.PaperSpider.Net (www.paper
spider.net/authors/jack_botwinik.html).
Global Shtetl
The Jewish Internet
Saul Silverman
were started. This educational system became one of the
foundations of Reform Judaism, an innovation in Germany
that began in Napoleon’s heyday and its immediate aftermath.
But Napoleon’s reforms were offset by his enemies who
learned to use ideology and propaganda to whip up populist
nationalism in their countries to defeat the French.
Very early, two modern anti-Semitic stereotypes were
used against the French. The canard of the alleged threat
from revolutionary Jews emerged as early as Napoleon’s
conquests in Italy and the tearing down of ghetto walls. Italian clericalists, opponents of the French, took an oath
against revolutionaries, the French and the Jews. And, in
1807, a pamphlet by Abbé Barruel foreshadowed the later
Protocols of the Elders of Zion – suggesting that the Sanhedrin was a conspiracy to subvert Christian Europe.
There can be no simple answer as to whether Napoleon
was good for the Jews. But there can be little doubt that
Napoleon played a significant role in changing Jewish society and the conditions and aspirations of Jewish lives.
Websites
French Jews, 1715-1815: http://tinyurl.com/2uawmh
Aish.com criticism: http://tinyurl.com/2wmgav
Pro-Napoleon: http://tinyurl.com/3yswgy
Maurice Samuels’ view: http://tinyurl.com/2l22g6
Consistory system: http://tinyurl.com/3yh4ae
French Sanhedrin: http://tinyurl.com/2ptl7t
Napoleon and Russia (Lubavitch opposition):
http://tinyurl.com/34w98p
Napoleon and German Jews: http://jbuff.com/c070104.htm
Current analogies: http://tinyurl.com/3xxsfa
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DORIS BRONSTEIN TALMUD TORAH
AFTERNOON SCHOOL FUND
OTTAWA TORAH INSTITUTE
MARTIN GLATT PARLIAMENT LODGE
B’NAI BRITH PAST PRESIDENTS’ FUND
RAMBAM MAIMONIDES
JEWISH CONTINUITY FUND
JEWISH MEN’S SOFTBALL LEAGUE FUND
SOLOWAY JEWISH COMMUNITY
SUMMER CAMP SCHOLARSHIP FUND
SARA AND ZEEV VERED ISRAEL
CULTURAL PROGRAM FUND
ENDOWMENT FUND
YOUTH SERVICES FUND
TORAH ACADEMY OF OTTAWA
YITZHAK RABIN HIGH SCHOOL FUND
IN MEMORY OF EVA WINTHROP
The Board of Directors of the Ottawa Jewish
Community Foundation acknowledges with
thanks contributions to the following funds as of
October 16, 2007.
ABELSON FAMILY ENDOWMENT FUND
Thinking of:
Beverly and Danny Cantor by Tracy Kronick and
Al Abelson.
AJA 50+ ENDOWMENT FUND
In appreciation to:
Dr. Lewis Perelmutter by AJA 50+.
Leonard Shore by AJA 50+.
Birthday wishes to:
Cecily Bregman on her 80th birthday by Ron and
Ruth Levitan.
Brenda Wolf on her 80th birthday by Ron and Ruth
Levitan.
ANNE AND LOUIS ARRON
MEMORIAL FUND
Mazal Tov to:
Nina and Elliott Arron on the birth of their grandson
by Daphne and Stanley Arron and family.
Birthday wishes to:
Alan Gilbert on his special birthday by Daphne
and Stanley Arron.
RICKI AND BARRY BAKER
ENDOWMENT FUND
In memory of:
Wallace Prince by Ricki and Barry Baker and
family.
Mazal Tov to:
Sandy and Marvin Granatstein on the birth of their
grandson, Gabriel David by Ricki and Barry Baker and
family.
MYRNA AND NORMAN BARWIN FOUNDATION
OF THE PINCHAS ZUKERMAN
MUSICAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND
Mazal Tov to:
Cayla and Michael Baylin on Lisa’s engagement
by Myrna and Norm Barwin.
Linda and Arthur Cogan on Linda’s birthday and
their wedding anniversary by Myrna and Norm
Barwin.
Congratulations to:
Norman Barwin on receiving an Honourary
Doctorate from Carleton University by the Esrock
family.
MAURICE BECK MEMORIAL FUND
Speedy recovery to:
Irit Beck by the Globerman family.
CLAIRE AND IRVING BERCOVITCH
ENDOWMENT FUND
In memory of:
Harold Struzer by Claire and Irving Bercovitch.
Mazal Tov to:
Claire and Irving Bercovitch in their new condo by
Rickie and Marty Saslove.
JAMIE BEREZIN ENDOWMENT FUND
In memory of:
Simon Spatz by Shelley, Gary and Jamie Berezin.
Percy Levine by Shelley, Gary and Jamie Berezin.
MARTIN AND ELLIE BLACK
ENDOWMENT FUND
Birthday wishes to:
Rhoda Miller on her special birthday by Marty and
Ellie Black.
In memory of:
Mickey Abramovitch by Ellie, Marty, Andrea and
Ashley Black.
R’fuah Sh’lemah to:
Shelli Kimmel by Marty and Ellie Black.
CYNTHIA AND DAVID BLUMENTHAL
ENDOWMENT FUND
Birthday wishes to:
David Blumenthal on his 75th birthday by Myrna
and Hy Beck.
RUTH AND HY CALOF ENDOWMENT FUND
Birthday wishes to:
Ruth Calof on her special birthday by Lilyan
Philipp; by Sandra and Barry Caplan; by Tova Clark
and Harry Sheffer; by Evelyn Greenberg; by A.J.
Darling; by Sharon and Herb Gray; by Sheila
Finestone; and by Vera and George Gara.
BENES AND SARAH CANTOR
MEMORIAL FUND
Speedy recovery to:
Danny Cantor by Dorothy Nadolny.
TILLIE AND HARRY CHERM MEMORIAL FUND
Birthday wishes to:
Donald Cherm by Sylvia and Sol Kaiman.
JACK AND SARAH COGAN MEMORIAL FUND
Speedy recovery to:
Rhona Cogan by Dorothy Nadolny.
SANDRA CZARNY FUND
FOR CHILDREN IN NEED
Mazal Tov to:
Larry and Ghita Segal on the Bat Mitzvah of their
daughter Jasmine by Sandra Czarny.
KATIE ELLEN FARBER MEMORIAL FUND
Mazal Tov to:
Izzy and Mary Farber on the birth of their granddaughter, Kennedy Beth by Sue and Steve Rothman
and family.
BENJAMIN AND FREDA FEINSTEIN
MEMORIAL FUND
With appreciation to:
Abe Feinstein by Evelyn Greenberg and family.
JACK AND TANIA FIRESTONE
ENDOWMENT FUND
Speedy recovery to:
Barry Davis by Sam and Susan Firestone.
ROZ AND STEVEN FREMETH FAMILY FUND
In memory of:
Sam Lewinshtein’s brother by Roz and Steven
Fremeth.
GILBOA/MAOZ FAMILY FUND
Congratulations to:
Mary and Izzy Farber on the birth of their granddaughter, Kennedy by Helen and Chaim Gilboa.
STAN AND LIBBY GLUBE FAMILY FUND
In memory of:
Reva Yumansky by Bev, Bryan, Alison and Rob
Glube.
ANN GLUZMAN MEMORIAL FUND
Anniversary wishes to:
Gary and Arlene Bonn by Ingrid and Gerry Levitz.
EVA, DIANE AND JACK GOLDFIELD
MEMORIAL FUND
In memory of:
Chuck Levy by Evie Goldfield and Roger Glade.
JEFFREY AND ENID GOULD FAMILY FUND
Thinking of:
Enid Gould by Sandi and Ken Cole and family.
Speedy recovery to:
Enid Gould by Dorothy Nadolny.
Continued on page 24
GREENBERG, HUTT, KONICK
ENDOWMENT FUND
In memory of:
Fanny Greenberg by Rose and Morrie Konick.
PINNEY AND LIBBY KARDASH
ENDOWMENT FUND
Zahava Kardash by Evelyn and Leslie Greenberg.
LAURA AND MILTON GREENBERG
FAMILY FOUNDATION
Warm wishes to:
Marlene Rubin by Laura Greenberg.
ARTHUR AND SARAH KIMMEL MEMORIAL FUND
Speedy recovery to:
Danny Cantor by Marilyn and Dan Kimmel.
LARRY AND SHEILA HARTMAN
ENDOWMENT FUND
Danny Cantor by Sheila and Larry Hartman.
HY AND PAULINE HOCHBERG
ENDOWMENT FUND
Birthday wishes to:
Max Zelikovitz on his 97th birthday by Pauline
Hochberg, Brian and Lisa and families.
RHEA AND JEFF HOCHSTADTER
FAMILY FUND
In memory of:
Helen Shusterman by Rhea, Jeff, Elana and Lorne
Hochstadter.
In appeciation to:
Jeff Hochstadter by Marilyn and Dan Kimmel.
ROSE AND MAXWELL KALMAN
ENDOWMENT FUND
Speedy recovery to:
Phyllis Rackow by Fran and Tully Yagod; by Elsa
Wendman; and by Max Kalman.
JEREMY KANTER
MEMORIAL FUND
In memory of:
Irving Feldman by Evelyn and Lou Eisenberg.
SHARON KOFFMAN
ATHLETIC SCHOLARSHIP FUND
Birthday wishes to:
Michael Gennis on his 50th birthday by Sandra
Zagon.
Bev Margolian on her special birthday by Sandra
Zagon.
KRANTZBERG KRANE FAMILY FUND
In memory of:
Murray Klein by Myra and Sam Krane, Joshua and
Justin.
HARRY AND ZENA LEIKIN ENDOWMENT FUND
In memory of:
Reva Yumansky by Fran, Ivan and Carly Kesler.
Mickey Abramovitch by Fran, Ivan and Carly
Kesler.
ERNEST AND IDA LEVITZ MEMORIAL FUND
Jamie and Doreen Levitz on their special wedding
anniversary by Ingrid and Gerry Levitz.
JOSEPH AND EVELYN LIEFF
ENDOWMENT FUND
Dr. Norman Raskin by Evelyn and Joe Lieff.
Enid Gould by Elissa Lieff, David Resnick, Zac
and Kayla.
Max Smolkin: Celebrating his 100th year
and leaving a legacy to his community
Maxwell J. (Max) Smolkin and his late
wife Pearl have deep roots in the small
towns of the Ottawa Valley. Born in Ottawa
in 1908 as the oldest of eight children, Max
moved to Almonte while in high school,
and to Arnprior in 1932, where he operated
M. J. Smolkin Ltd Men and Boys Wear for
more than 50 years. In 1936, he married
Pearl Wiseman, who was born and raised in
Smiths Falls.
Max and Pearl were both deeply
involved in civic life in Arnprior. Max
served on the town council, was instrumental in developing park and recreation facilities and housing there, and was long-time
chair of the elementary school board. Pearl
served on the library and hospital boards.
For most of their Arnprior years, the
Smolkins were the only Jewish family in
the town of 5,500 people, yet they maintained a strong Jewish identification. Their
friends in Arnprior learned about Judiasm
through them. Max says, “I always thought
it was my obligation to foster Jewish institutions to the best of my ability.”
After Max’s retirement at age 77, the
couple moved to Ottawa. Pearl died on
November 2, 2004 at age 89. Despite
chronic illnesses, she remained intent on
giving to Jewish and secular causes until the
Dan Cantor by Elissa Lieff, David Resnick, Zac
and Kayla.
In memory of:
Helen Shusterman by Elissa Lieff, David Resnick,
Zac and Kayla.
Birthday wishes to:
Ethel Sprackman by Elissa Lieff, David Resnick,
Zac and Kayla.
Mazal Tov to:
Gary and Debra Viner on the birth of their granddaughter by Evelyn and Joe Lieff.
Joe and Ruth Viner on the birth of their greatgranddaughter by Evelyn and Joe Lieff.
ARNOLD AND ROSE LITHWICK FAMILY
COMMUNITY ENDOWMENT FUND
Birthday wishes to:
Harvey Lithwick by Herby and Pam Beiles and
family.
Ibby and Joe Shuster by Yvonne and Harvey
Lithwick and family.
JACOB MALOMET MEMORIAL FUND
Speedy recovery to:
Diana Malomet by Dorothy Nadolny.
Mazal Tov to:
Ruth and Joe Viner on the birth of their greatgranddaughter by Diana and Alvin Malomet.
BONNIE AND CHUCK MEROVITZ
FAMILY FUND
In memory of:
Mollie Tradburks by Bonnie and Chuck Merovitz.
Speedy recovery to:
Dan Cantor by Bonnie and Chuck Merovitz.
PINKUS AND YEHUDIT NEWMAN
MEMORIAL FUND
Speedy recovery to:
Danny Cantor by Marilyn and Will Newman.
PHYLLIS AND ALAN RACKOW
ENDOWMENT FUND
Speedy recovery to:
Phyllis Rackow by Gloria Goldberg.
FLORENCE AND GDALYAH ROSENFELD
ENDOWMENT FUND
Continued good health to:
Florence Rosenfeld by Gloria Goldberg.
SAMUEL AND RUTH ROTHMAN
MEMORIAL FUND
In memory of:
Percy Levine by Corinne and Sheldon Taylor and
family.
Max Smolkin and Pearl Smolkin z”l
very end of her life. In Pearl’s memory and
in celebration of his 100th birthday (January 16, 2008), Max opened the “Max and
Pearl Smolkin Family Fund” with the OJCF.
“I am particularly interested in Hillel
Lodge, where I am the oldest regular volunteer, and in the Ottawa Jewish Historical
Society, because it preserves the stories of
the old Jewish families in the region,” says
Max.
To leave your mark in the community by
establishing a fund with the OJCF, contact
the Foundation office at 613.798.4696 (ext.
252/248) today. www.OJCF.ca
SHELLEY AND SID ROTHMAN
FAMILY FUND
In memory of:
Percy Levine by Shelley Rothman and family.
RICKIE AND MARTIN SASLOVE
FAMILY FUND
Birthday wishes to:
Ralph Saslove on his 80th birthday by Rhoda,
Jeff, Howard and Sara Miller.
ELAYNE AND WESLEY SCHACTER
ENDOWMENT FUND
Mazal Tov to:
Thelma and Isi Davis on the birth of their grandson
by Elayne, Wesley, Adam, Joshua and Michael
Schacter.
SOL AND ZELAINE SHINDER
ENDOWMENT FUND
Danny Cantor by Sol and Zelaine Shinder.
LORNE AND LAURIE SHUSTERMAN
FAMILY FUND
In memory of:
Marguerite Rowland by Lorne, Laurie, Zak and
Ben Shusterman.
Mazal Tov to:
Zachary Shusterman on the occasion of his
swearing in with the IDF by Mom and Dad.
JACK AND SARAH SILVERSTEIN FAMILY
ENDOWMENT FUND
Congratulations to:
Norm Barwin on receiving an Honourary Doctorate from Carleton University by Sarah and Jack
Silverstein.
MOE AND CHARLOTTE SLACK
MEMORIAL FUND
Birthday wishes to:
Ben Kanter on his 90th birthday by Marlene
Levine and Andrew Siman.
SAM AND SUE SLACK ENDOWMENT FUND
Joy and Seymour Mender by Sue Slack.
HARRIET AND IRVING SLONE
ENDOWMENT FUND
Harriet and Irving Slone on their 55th wedding
anniversary by Blossom Read; by Phyllis and Max
Sternthal; by Dorothy and Ben Greenberg; and by
Ethel and Irving Taylor.
Continued on page 25
LAURA AND GORDON SPERGEL
ENDOWMENT FUND
In memory of:
Carl Muchmaker by Marla, Mark, Andrew,
Samantha and Evan Spergel.
Murray Klein by Mark and Marla Spergel.
In Appreciation:
I would like to express my warmest appreciation to all my
friends and family for their kindness, cards and generous donations during my recent illness. A sincere thank you to everyone.
Barry Davis
FREDA AND PHIL SWEDKO MEMORIAL FUND
Good health to:
Zahava Kardash by Claire and Irving Bercovitch.
BRENT AND RISA TAYLOR
ENDOWMENT FUND
In memory of:
Betty Korn by Risa, Brent and Shira Taylor.
STEPHEN AND GAIL VICTOR
ENDOWMENT FUND
Speedy recovery to:
Danny Cantor by Gail and Stephen Victor and
family.
RUTH AND JOSEPH VINER
ENDOWMENT FUND
Birthday wishes to:
Ruth Calof on her 70th birthday by Ruth and Joe
Viner.
Mazal Tov to:
Ruth and Joe Viner on the birth of their greatgranddaughter, Arielle by Sol and Zelaine Shinder.
Gary and Debra Viner on the birth of their granddaughter, Arielle by Sol and Zelaine Shindere.
MICHAEL WALSH AND LISA ROSENKRANTZ
ENDOWMENT FUND
In appreciation to:
Lisa Rosenkrantz by Brian Johnson and Suzanne
Waldman.
MAX H. AND CAROLINE WEISSBORD
MEMORIAL FUND
In honour of:
Our dear parents (O.B.M.), Rev. Max H. and
Caroline Weissbord, Harry Singer and Goldie
Wittenberg by Ruth Singer.
ZIPES KARANOFSKY FAMILY
ENDOWMENT FUND
In memory of:
Murray Klein by Rick and Helen Zipes.
Mazal Tov to:
Avi and Marsha Costin on the birth of their grandson, Aaron Matthew Linetsky by Rick and Helen Zipes
and family.
Congratulations to:
Peter and Kathy Brett on the wedding of their
daughter Andrea by Rick and Helen Zipes.
THE SAUL AND EDNA GOLDFARB
B’NAI MITZVAH PROGRAM
HANNAH GABRIELLE GENNIS
B’NAI MITZVAH FUND
Mazal Tov to:
Frank Rosen on the engagement of his daughter,
Nathaly by Philip Gennis.
MAX JONAH GENNIS B’NAI MITZVAH FUND
Birthday wishes to:
Michael Gennis on his 50th birthday by Dorothy
Nadolny.
JONATHAN, MATTHEW AND ADAM SHERMAN
B’NAI MITZVAH FUND
Birthday wishes to:
Simmie Reinish on her special birthday by Bea
and Murray Garceau.
Contributions may be made online at
www.ojcf.ca or by phoning Bev Glube at 613-7984696 extension 274, Monday to Friday. We have
voice mail. Our e-mail address is bglube@
jewishottawa.com. Attractive cards are sent to
convey the appropriate sentiments. All donations
are acknowledged with an official receipt for
income tax purposes. We accept Visa, MasterCard
and Amex.
Donating made easy
at www.ojcf.ca
Send one or multiple tribute
cards to your friends
and loved ones
in one secure transaction.
A detailed confirmation
and e-receipt will be sent
to your email account.
Try it TODAY!
CARLSON WAGONLIT TRAVEL
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CALL FOR DETAILS: CHRIS CALDER, ext 229 // SANDRA GRANATSTEIN, ext 224
Two Tours Celebrating Israel’s 60th Anniversary!
Join Rabbi Gary Kessler who will lead a tour in honour of Beth Shalom’s 50th Anniversary
May 8 - 19, 2008 to Israel
Rabbi Steven Garten will lead a tour to Prague and Israel June 26 - July 8, 2008
exploring Jewish life in Czechoslavakia and the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948
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Into every day a little chocolate must fall
I think the original saying goes something like this, “Into
every life a little rain must fall.”
My daughter Jenna has reinterpreted it as, “Into every
day a little chocolate must fall.” Her healthy eating plan
must include a little chocolate each day.
We have found a wonderful product that is not only good
for you, but also good for the environment.
Endangered Species Chocolate bars are both organic
and ethically traded. The company buys only cocoa beans
grown under the natural canopy of the rainforest as
opposed to clearing the precious land to accommodate
farms with synthetic canopies. In addition, since its products are ethically traded, the company ensures that farmers
thrive in humane working conditions and receive a fair
price for their cocoa. Ten per cent of the net profits are
donated to help support the habitat of several species of
tigers.
Our favourite flavours are Dark Chocolate with Espresso Bean and Dark Chocolate with Cranberries and Almond.
You can find them at Rainbow Foods and Ottawa Bagel.
Made with Love
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
I have been making these cookies for about seven
years now, ever since I found the recipe in Bon
Appetit’s March 2000 issue.
Cindy Feingold
If you’re feeling a bit more ambitious, here are two terrific chocolate recipes to try.
The first is for chocolate and peanut granola. This is not
the type of granola you pour milk on and eat for breakfast.
It’s more of a snack that you have with some coffee or milk,
any time of day. It is totally addictive and looks beautiful
sitting out on your counter in an airtight glass jar.
The second recipe is for chocolate toffee cookies. This
recipe contains only 1/4 cup of flour, but one pound of bittersweet chocolate. These are for true chocolate lovers who
need a big fix.
Chocolate and Peanut Granola
This recipe comes from Nigella Lawson’s Food Network TV show, Nigella Feasts. She made it on the
“Breakfast All Hours” episode. In addition to sweetening
the granola with honey and brown sugar, the recipe also
calls for brown rice syrup.
Brown rice syrup is a sweetener derived by culturing
cooked rice with enzymes (usually from dried barley
sprouts). It has a much lower glucose content than regular white sugar. Brown rice syrup is almost 50 per cent
maltose, which takes up to 1 1/2 hours to be digested,
providing a much steadier stream of energy, as opposed
to glucose, which is absorbed into the bloodstream immediately.
When using a liquid sweetener in place of white sugar,
reduce the liquid content in the recipe by 1/4 cup. Rice
syrup has a shelf life of about a year and, once opened,
should be stored in a cool, dry place. You can find it at
Rainbow Foods.
Chocolate Toffee Cookies
4 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup sunflower seeds
3/4 cup white sesame seeds
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/3 cup brown rice syrup
1/4 cup clover honey or other runny honey
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 cups salted peanuts
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons canola oil or sunflower oil
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
Mix everything together very well in a large mixing
bowl.
Spread the mixture evenly on 2 baking sheets and bake
for 40 minutes to 1 hour, turning over halfway through
baking.
Allow to cool and store in an airtight container.
Makes about 30
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pound bittersweet (not unsweetened)
or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 3/4 cups (packed) brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
8 Skor Bars, coarsely chopped
1 cup walnuts or pecans, toasted, chopped
(optional)
Combine flour, baking powder and salt in small
bowl. Whisk to blend.
Stir chocolate and butter in top of double boiler
set over simmering water until melted and smooth.
Remove from over water. Cool mixture to lukewarm.
Using electric mixer, beat sugar and eggs in a bowl
until thick, about 5 minutes. Beat in chocolate mixture
and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture, then toffee and nuts.
Chill batter until firm, about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 large baking
sheets with parchment paper.
Using an ice cream scoop that measures about 2
inches across, scoop dough onto cookie sheet, spacing
about 2 1/2 inches apart. You will get about 12 cookies onto each large baking sheet.
Bake just until tops are dry and cracked but cookies are still soft to the touch, about 12-13 minutes.
Cool on sheets.
Cookies can be made 2 days ahead. Store airtight at
room temperature.
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MOVING?
DON’T MISS ONE ISSUE!
Call Rhoda Saslove-Miller,
613-798-4696, ext. 256
to provide your new address.
The Ottawa Jewish Bulletin Publishing Co. Ltd. collects and uses
your personal information primarily
for the purpose of providing you with
the products and services you have
requested from us.
The Ottawa Jewish Bulletin may
also contact you from time to time to
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To enable us to more efficiently
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your personal information with the
Jewish Federation of Ottawa, the
Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation and the Soloway Jewish Community Centre.
If you would like more information,
or to speak to the Privacy Officer,
please call 613-798-4696 ext. 256.
Picture books personalize
the diversity of Jewish families
The diversity and complexity of many of today’s Jewish
families is not a recent phenomenon. Interfaith marriages
and families have been a reality from biblical times onward.
Just read the Chumash.
The following books personalize that reality by focusing
on loving family relationships and the continuity of
Judaism through the generations.
Papa Jethro
By Deborah Bodin Cohen
Illustrated by Jane Dippold
Kar-Ben Publishing 2007
Unpaged. Ages 5 - 9
Readers may remember Reform rabbi and author Deborah Bodin Cohen from my recent review of her earlier book,
Lilith’s Ark. In that review, I mentioned her interest in showing that the Chumash does, indeed, provide lessons in
behaviour and character that are applicable to the modern
world.
In Papa Jethro, Cohen returns to that theme, focusing on
interfaith child/grandparent relationships. She wants to
assure grandchildren of interfaith marriages and their grandparents that, even if they aren’t of the same religion, they can
love, encourage and learn from each other.
To arrive at that message Cohen throws down a biblical
gauntlet in the form of a parallel story within a story.
Grandpa Nick often answers his granddaughter Rachel’s
questions with a story. On this particular visit, Rachel asks
why they have different religions.
Grandpa Nick responds with the story of Jethro, Moses’s
Midianite father-in-law and the grandfather of Moses’s
sons, Gershom and Eliezer.
The moral: Just as Gershom could love and enjoy the
company of his grandfather, Papa Jethro, so too can contemporary Jewish children and their non-Jewish grandparents love, enjoy and learn from each other. Loving, full-
HANDYMAN
PETER ENTERPRISE
Small repairs or home renovation.
General carpentry, plumbing,
painting inside and out.
Excellent references and Bonded.
Call: 613-797-9905 (cell)
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Kid Lit
Deanna Silverman
colour pictures emphasize the fun and delight of grandchildren and grandparents, across the ages, being together.
Always an Olivia
By Carolivia Herron
Illustrated by Jeremy Tugeau
Kar-Ben Publishing 2007
Unpaged. Ages 7 - 10
Always an Olivia is the fascinating story of author Carolivia Herron’s Jewish African heritage. Presented as historical fiction, the story covers a vast expanse of history and
geography. It ranges from the Spanish Inquisition of 1492
to contemporary U.S.A. Along the way, the family lived in
Spain, Portugal, Italy, the Georgia Sea Islands and
Portsmouth, Virginia.
Again, the story-telling device is a story within a story.
A young black girl, Carol Olivia, asks her Great-Grandma
Olivia about “slavery times,” meaning the slavery of
African-Americans in the United States. But Great-Grandma Olivia’s response is that her slavery occurred in Egypt
because her own “Great-Grandma Sarah was a Jewish
woman.”
That launches the multi-generational story of Sarah’s
family fleeing from Spain to Portugal during the Spanish
Inquisition. In Portugal, they assumed a new name and celebrated Shabbat secretly. When the Inquisition reached Portugal, they again fled. This time to Venice, Italy where they
could, once again, practise Judaism openly.
However, Jews were fair game for pirates back then.
Sarah was kidnapped by pirates and shipped to Tripoli,
Libya. On the ship, she met James, a man who also had
been kidnapped and forced into piracy. When the pirate ship
docked in Tripoli, Sara and James escaped.
Aided by Libyan Jews, they boarded an American ship,
were married by the captain, and, in 1805, arrived on the
Georgia Sea Islands off the coast of the United States. There
they lived among the Geechees, free “black people who had
come from West Africa.”
After her marriage, Sarah began using her middle name
Shulamit, meaning peace. This was to remind her of her
Jewish heritage. On the island, Sarah changed her name to
Olivia, symbolic of olive branches, again meaning peace,
and she resumed lighting Shabbat candles.
Although Sarah and James’s descendants married
Geechees, daughters in every generation were named Olivia
By Deborah Bodin Cohen;
illustrated by Jane Dippold
and lit Shabbat candles. That is how the family preserved its
Jewish heritage right up to the present day. Author Carolivia
Herron is a member of Tifereth Israel Congregation in
Washington, D.C.
Expressive full-colour pictures help readers relate to the
times, places and characters in this truly remarkable family-based story.
Always an Olivia is a unique celebration of love, determination and family loyalty at its best. Its end note on “Jews
and Racial Designation” is equally interesting and thoughtprovoking. We are, indeed, a multi-faceted people!
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WHAT’S GOING ON
November 5 to 18, 2007
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5
The Ottawa College of Jewish
Studies and Saint-Paul University,
“Looking at the Holocaust
Through Family History,” Saint
Paul University, 223 Main, 9:30 am.
Jewish Federation of Ottawa,
Holocaust Education Week 2007
lecture by Barbara Coloroso – a discussion on bullying, for teachers
and students, Nepean High School,
574 Broadview, 1:00 & 2:00 pm.
Holocaust Education Week
2007, keynote lecture and book
signing, Barbara Coloroso, “A
Short Walk to Genocide,” Sir
Robert Borden High School Auditorium, 131 Greenbank, 7:00 pm.
CANDLELIGHTING
BEFORE
Nov 9 ✡
Nov 16 ✡
4:22 pm
4:14 pm
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6
Jewish Family Services and
Hillel Lodge, “Colour Meets Life,” a
showcase of Jewish artistry featuring Ed Shapiro, Hillel Lodge, 10
Nadolny Sachs, 10:30 am. (November 6-7).
Israeli Folkdancing, Hillel Academy, 31 Nadolny Sachs, 6:30 pm.
2007, Interfaith Panel, “Preserving
the Memory to Save the World,”
SHOUT Ottawa and Carleton University Ecumenical Chaplaincy, Carleton
U, Paterson Hall Room 303, 7:00 pm.
2007, book launch, “The Second
Escape,” by Louis Lemkow, Temple
Israel, 1301 Prince of Wales, 7:30 pm.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7
Canadian Friends of the
Hebrew University, Best of Hebrew
U, Agudath Israel Congregation,
1400 Coldrey, 5:00 pm.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8
2007, discussion with Rabbi
Garten, Holocaust issues using
original documents from Melton
School, Temple Israel, 1301 Prince
of Wales, 10:00 am.
State of Israel Bonds and
Peace Tower Church, To Build and
Be Built / Interfaith Honorees, The
Peace Tower Church, 1550 Chatelain, 7:30 pm.
2007, book presentation and video,
“Guardian Angel House” by Kathy
Clark, the story of a group of righteous Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul who protected a
group of Jewish children inside the
walls of their convent in Budapest,
Hazeldean branch, Ottawa Library,
50 Castlefrank, 7:30 pm.
2007, Zelikovitz Centre for Jewish
Studies lecture, Jeff Peck, “Being
Jewish in New Germany,” co-sponsored by the German Embassy, Carleton U, 608 Robertson Hall, 7:30 pm.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10
Jewish Federation of Ottawa,
Shoah (Holocaust) Committee,
Kristallnacht Candlelight commemoration, 7:00 pm.
For a detailed listing
visit www.jewishottawa.org
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 11
Holocaust Education Week,
Ottawa Jewish Film Society, “Secret
Lies,” stories of Jewish children
saved from the Holocaust by nonJews through extraordinary acts of
bravery and kindness, 2:00 pm.
2007, lecture, Religious perspectives of the Holocaust, with Rabbi
Finkelstein and Rabbi Braun, Beth
Shalom West, 15 Chartwell, 7:00 pm.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12
JET, Lawyers Lunch and Learn,
Topic: The Ten Commandments,
Gowlings, 160 Elgin, noon.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13
Jewish Family Services and
Hillel Lodge, “Colour Meets Life,” a
showcase of Jewish artistry, featuring Shayna Tate and Aranyani
Rosen, Hillel Lodge, 10 Nadolny
Sachs, 10:30 am. (November 13-14).
10th Ottawa Celebrity Sports
Dinner, Civic Centre, 6:00 pm.
Israeli Folkdancing, Hillel
Academy, 31 Nadolny Sachs, 6:30
pm.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14
Kosher Lunches Open to the
Community, Congregation Machzikei Hadas, 2310 Virginia, 11:30 am.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15
Annual Campaign, JFO, Young
Adult Division, Thirsty Thursday, Blue
Cactus, 2 ByWard Market, 8:00 pm.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18
Soloway Jewish Community
Centre, Chanukah Gift Fair, 10:00 am.
Emunah Women Opening
Event & Membership Drive, Israeli
film and buffet luncheon, home of
Barbara Crook, 10:30 am. RSVP
Rivka Kraus 613-241-5613.
Greenberg Families Library
and SJCC, Bagel Brunch with Professor Rebecca Margolis, a discussion on the better and lesser
known Yiddish Jewish writers in
Canada: J.I. Segal, Ida Maza, Yudika and others, 10:30 am.
SJCC Youth Department, Sundays R 4 Kids Workshops @
Bayshore Shopping, 1:00 pm.
JFS, Inez and Joseph Zelikovitz
Settlement Unit, Judy & David’s
Chanukah Live, a Chanukah family
concert, Notre Dame High School,
710 Broadview Avenue, 2:00 pm.
COMING SOON
TUESDAY - WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20-21
JFS and Hillel Lodge, “Colour Meets Life,”
a showcase of Jewish artistry, featuring Lily Tobin
and Ed Shapiro, Hillel Lodge, 10:30 am.
Info: www.jfsottawa.com/events
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 25
JET, SJCC and Na’amat Ottawa, Adrienne Gold, “Subliminal
Messages: Judaism and the Messages of Modernity.”
Tickets: 613-798-9818
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 Community Campus of Ottawa Inc. Organizations which would like their events to be listed, no matter where they are to be held, should make sure they are
recorded by Brenda Schafer, calendar coordinator at 798-9818 ext. 265. We have voice mail. Accurate details must be provided and all events must be open to the Jewish public. You may fax to 798-9839 or email to bschafer@jccottawa.com.
PJ QUIGLEY’S BAR & GRILL IS BACK WITH A FRESH NEW LOOK!
OPEN DAILY AT 11 am! WEEKEND BREAKFAST SERVED 7:30 am - 2 pm!
P.J. Quigley’s Bar & Grill in Greenbank Square • 250 Greenbank Road
613-820-2969
Condolences
Condolences are extended to the family of:
Sam Brozovsky
Rosa Iny, Montreal
(mother of Avraham)
Sidney Katz, Toronto
(brother of Miriam Weiner)
Srul (Sam) Mussman, Toronto
(father of Brenda)
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
Bev Glube,
613-798-4696, ext. 274.
Voice mail is available.
BULLETIN
DEADLINES
NOVEMBER 14 FOR DECEMBER 3 *
2008
JANUARY 2 FOR JANUARY 21
JANUARY 16 FOR FEBRUARY 4
JANUARY 30 FEBRUARY 18
FEBRUARY 20 FOR MARCH 10
MARCH 5 FOR MARCH 24
* Community-wide Issue (all dates subject to change)

Yad Vashem bestows honour on Renfrew family

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