April 2019 – Page 6

Dreamers and builders fêted

Temple Sholom pays tribute to Susan Mendelson and Jack Lutsky at its Dreamers and Builders event next month. (photo from Temple Sholom)

When Temple Sholom members and friends come together May 5, they will celebrate decades of community-building by two honourees. They will also catch a glimpse into the future, as an annual award is presented to two young people with big dreams.

Dreamers and Builders is a biennial event, the first of which was held two years ago, with renowned landscape

architect Cornelia Oberlander being honoured. This year’s honourees are Susan Mendelson and Jack Lutsky, a couple whose lives and careers have focused on building successful businesses and making philanthropic contributions.

At the same event, the annual Temple Sholom Teen Tikkun Olam Awards will be presented to young people with visionary plans for making the world better. This year, the co-winners are Sam Albert and Liana Gerber, and they will be featured in an upcoming issue of the Jewish Independent.

Mendelson is best known for the culinary empire she has built over years as a founder of the Lazy Gourmet and as a food commentator, caterer, author and business leader. Her husband, Jack Lutsky, has an equally stellar resumé as an architect and businessperson.

Lutsky, who was born and raised in Edmonton, attended the Technion, in Haifa, Israel, and completed his studies at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, in London, England. He moved to Vancouver to begin his career and soon opened an eponymous architecture firm.

“My first clients actually were from the Jewish community,” Lutsky recalled in an interview with the Independent. “People I knew, that I could approach. I did work at the Jewish Community Centre and I did work at Schara Tzedeck Synagogue.”

An addition to Temple Sholom in the 1990s, in which classrooms and flexible meeting spaces were added above the driveway, was designed by him. In addition to a few churches and other institutional projects, Lutsky’s portfolio includes many commercial and retail projects. He was also the architect for the Holocaust memorial located in Schara Tzedeck Cemetery.

Lutsky’s philanthropic work includes serving as chair of the board of Jewish Family Services, involvement in Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, serving on the Temple Sholom board and heading or co-leading many fundraising campaigns, including a retirement event for Cantor Arthur Guttman that raised more than $100,000 for the synagogue. Lutsky was also on the transition committee when the synagogue’s Rabbi Philip Bregman retired and current Rabbi Dan Moskovitz assumed the post, and helped raise funds to ensure that Vancouver’s high cost of housing would not affect the synagogue’s ability to hire the ideal candidate.

Mendelson’s life has been devoted to food and philanthropy. Born in Toronto, she came to Vancouver for university and began baking treats for sale at intermissions at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre. This was the genesis of Mendelson’s professional food career. A co-founder of the Lazy Gourmet, an iconic local caterer, she has been a regular media commentator on food, is the author of 10 cookbooks and has mentored countless up-and-comers in the sector. Her community work includes serving as honourary board chair of Big Sisters BC Lower Mainland, chairing Federation’s women’s campaign, serving on the dean’s advisory board at the University of British Columbia and being founding chair of Arts 149, whose mandate is to present contemporary performing arts that innovate and inspire new professional community arts practices. Already famous locally, Mendelson was featured last month in the New York Times, which credited Mendelson in part for the popularity of the Canadian dessert Nanaimo bars.

The couple joined Temple Sholom in the 1990s and they agree it is a relationship they are thrilled to nurture.

“It’s been a good move for us and we really love the congregation,” Lutsky said.

Agreeing to be honoured at this event is really a chance to strengthen Temple Sholom, added Mendelson.

“It’s been an incredible opportunity to bring so many people together to become part of this event,” she said. “When we were approached, we just thought this was a great opportunity for us to be able to find a way to help Temple Sholom using our network, our friends, our family and our passion for Temple…. They’ve honoured us with donations and participation and sitting on committees. It’s been a pretty joyous experience all around.”

The couple promises some unexpected components of the event, which is envisioned as more laid back than a typical formal gala.

“I’m not going to give out any secrets, but we want our event to be a fun event,” said Lutsky. “We are designing it so that it will be very enjoyable.”

Mendelson is especially excited about the tie-in with successive generations through the Teen Tikkun Olam Awards, which was envisioned by Moskovitz and is funded in perpetuity by Michelle and Neil Pollock.

“That’s a wonderful opportunity – to reach out and find young people in this community, the next leaders in the community,” Mendelson said. “We want other people to be inspired, as well, by these brilliant young kids who are out there doing remarkable acts of kindness and tikkun olam in the world. It really is about looking to the next generation and honouring them at the same time.”

To encourage a younger audience, the event offered half-price tickets for people 30 and under.

Helen Heacock-Rivers who, with Karen Gelmon, is co-chairing Dreamers and Builders, said the event was almost sold out.

“It is a testament to how much Susan and Jack are loved; also Temple Sholom, but Susan and Jack in particular,” she said. “They are a perfect example of people who should be honoured.”

Heacock-Rivers lauded Mendelson and Lutsky for being hands-on in promoting and planning the event.

“They are the honourees, they don’t have to do anything,” she said. “But they are very invested in making sure this is successful for Temple Sholom, to make sure that we can have the means to support the programs that they have earmarked for the monies that come in.”

Because many younger members are moving outside of the city proper, outreach programs to suburban congregants and potential members will be funded with revenue from Dreamers and Builders. Upgraded security at the synagogue is another project earmarked for funds.

Love starts with the self

Most of us are familiar with the concepts of “inherent worth” and “unconditional love.” But many fewer of us actually live by these precepts. Anne Andrew would like to help change that fact. She does this in her work, as well as in her new book, What They Don’t Teach in Prenatal Class: The Key to Raising Trouble-Free Kids and Teens, the launch of which takes place April 11, 2 p.m., at the Isaac Waldman Library at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver.

In the introduction, Andrew shares, “My experience as a worried parent of a once-troubled teenager (now a well-functioning adult) and my wish to help other parents avoid the sleepless nights, debilitating fear, helplessness and despair, led me to write this book. Our family’s ordeal lasted more than six years and, during that time, we learned strategies that not only helped us survive but actually allowed us to thrive…. At the same time, I was working as a school principal and became aware of the mental health crisis that was starting to take hold in younger and younger students.” As examples, she notes that 77% of children report having been bullied at school and 80% of 10-year-old girls wish they were thinner.

Andrew was a school principal at Temple Sholom for 20 years. “It’s likely,” she writes, “that one or more of your children will face some kind of difficulty, whether it’s an eating disorder, bullying, drug addiction, depression or other mental health issue, and it is almost impossible to predict whose child that might be. You can’t always see it coming – we certainly didn’t!”

Based on what she was learning from her family’s therapist, Andrew “concluded that there is an absolute and fundamental concept that underpins healthy human life.” That concept – inherent worth – is the subject of the first section of What They Don’t Teach in Prenatal Class. Part 2 focuses on unconditional love, explaining “why it is so difficult for us to accept and own our inherent worth, then explain[ing] how this can be done and become part of your ‘way of being.’” The third part of the book discusses parenting priorities, “kindness versus grades,” and “teaches how to parent out of love – not fear.”

While targeted to parents, What They Don’t Teach in Prenatal Class is a valuable guide for anyone who has negative opinions about themselves, which, to hazard a guess, is the vast majority of us.

“Part of the reason that I named my book the way I did is that it would be ideal if parents did some of the self-work ahead of having children,” Andrew told the Independent. “That way, they’d be better prepared to face the challenges of parenting and they would have a deeper understanding of how their children pick up negative beliefs right from the beginning. They’d have a bit more time and space to think clearly about the bigger picture in terms of purpose and priorities before the baby arrives. Imagine if prenatal classes included a few sessions on this topic!”

One of the tools Andrew presents in her book is the Choose Again Six-Step Process, which was developed by Diederik Wolsak, founder and program director of Choose Again Attitudinal Healing Centre and author of Choose Again: Six Steps to Freedom. Wolsak wrote the foreword of What They Don’t Teach in Prenatal Class. In it, he notes that Andrew – who is a Choose Again facilitator – “has written a manual which draws directly from her own heroic and victorious battle with depression and her transformation of some crippling core beliefs. But, more to the point, it tells the story of two people, parents, coming to terms with what they needed to heal to become real parents. Real parents teach by demonstration. Real parents are transparent and not afraid of what they’ll encounter when they begin their own journey to removing all barriers to love.”

By healing a negative belief about ourselves, we can change our behaviour. “By following our familiar feelings, we can retrieve early childhood memories in which we can discover the genesis of our beliefs and we can begin to transform them,” writes Andrew. “You have to be in the feeling for it to work – it is a process that has to be felt, not an intellectual exercise.” In brief, when you’re upset, for example, acknowledge that you’re upset; take responsibility for the feeling – it is not your child’s fault, but rather “a negative belief that you made up in early childhood has been triggered”; focus on the feeling and identify it; remember the feeling and try to determine when you first ever felt it; once you have that memory, contemplate how you judged yourself in that moment and how you thought others judged you; and, lastly, try “to fix your mistaken belief by a process of forgiveness that replaces your mistaken belief with the truth of you – that you are inherently worthy, whole and complete.”

If loving ourselves isn’t hard enough, parenting out of love, and not fear, is as much or more of a challenge. Not blaming your children for your anger, not punishing them for acting out, etc., would seem to require infinite patience and constant self-awareness.

“If people read my book and are feeling overwhelmed, then I would say do one thing, and that is to have a gratitude practice,” said Andrew. “I have a section in the book on exactly how to do that and I know that it’ll make a huge difference. Begin with one thing and then perhaps add another.

“Awareness is half the battle, so simply being aware that young children are developing negative beliefs about themselves will be helpful in the ways you respond to your child’s behaviour. I’ve presented the concept of inherent worth as the antidote to all of these beliefs, so I have actually simplified parenting into one challenge – how to get across to our children that they are inherently worthy beings. They don’t have to establish their own worth by getting good grades or winning competitions. I’ve suggested several techniques, so parents just need to adopt the ones that will work for their family.

“Many of the things that I suggest are simple, such as remembering to smile at your children more often – put a smiley face sticker on your phone, on the fridge or on the bathroom mirror to remind you. Mindfulness can be practised at the dinner table or getting ready for bed by helping children focus on their senses in the here and now.

“Parenting is a marathon, not a sprint,” she continued, “and it is OK to take awhile to get into the stride, stumble and get back up. Parents tend to judge themselves rather harshly (we all do!) and that’s not helpful. Be gentle with yourself and know that it is impossible to make a mistake – we make healing opportunities for ourselves and our children!”

Andrew invites “parents to use the day-to-day parenting upsets as portals to self-healing so that parenting becomes a journey into self-awareness. This in turn benefits the kids enormously. When parents heal their own negative beliefs, they won’t worry about being judged by others, they won’t be drawn into competitiveness and will not need to over-program their children, so that makes life and parenting less stressful and more fun for the whole family.”

Andrew is a parenting coach, and she presents workshops in the United States, Canada and Europe. She said parents take what they can from her recommendations.

“Parents who have taken my workshops, on which my book is based, report that they have more patience, greater understanding of their children’s behaviour and their own, and the ability to communicate more effectively with their children as well,” she said. “I have been told that the methods are transformational and that was certainly my experience. One parent (Roanna Glickman) told me that she dived headfirst into self-healing using the Choose Again Six-Step Process and she has transformed her life and her kids are thriving as a result. She said, ‘It may seem like more work initially but, when you take away the power struggle, it’s way less work in the long run.’”

Andrew shared feedback from another parent, Pam Roy, who said, “Parenting isn’t about trying to do it right but about learning along the way, being authentic with your kids when we don’t get it right; making yourself better helps you be more present and aware with and for your kids.” While acknowledging that self-work is time-consuming and difficult, Roy said it is crucial and, if Andrew’s suggestions “feel overwhelming or time-consuming, that should trigger that there’s work to be done. Change aversion is there but, when these fears come up, it’s the more reason they should be looked at.”

One of the more surprising pieces of advice, perhaps, is to be careful with praise. “How many of us do what we do to win approval from our bosses, peers, spouse, other family members and even our children?” writes Andrew. “When that approval is not forthcoming we beat ourselves up wondering what we did wrong or reminding ourselves that once again we failed.”

As to how to reduce our dependency on external validations of our worth, Andrew told the Independent, “Firstly, I suggest you gradually phase out praise – it tends to be a habit so takes awhile to correct. Notice when you automatically use praise and then follow it up with a question that indicates your sincere interest in whatever it is that was praised. Praise-dependency tends to undermine the concept of inherent worth – it encourages kids to look outside themselves for their worth.

“As far as knowing how to handle praise and criticism, knowing one’s inherent worth is the way to handle praise and criticism. Neither praise nor criticism has an impact on one’s inherent worth, though it may have an impact on self-esteem. Criticism says more about the person doing the criticizing than it does about the one being criticized. Children can be taught to just say ‘thank you’ to anyone who offers them criticism (or praise for that matter). The criticism can be taken for what it is – a neutral fact to be examined or ignored – not an emotionally charged thing.”

If you can’t make the April 11 launch, What They Don’t Teach in Prenatal Class is available on Amazon, and Andrew is currently putting her workshops online so that parents can access them more easily. She said they should be available in May or June at anneandrew.com.

Quebec’s underlying goal

Sometimes in complex or far-reaching events, a small, seemingly less significant factor can illuminate a larger understanding. Successive efforts by Quebec governments to enforce laïcité, a policy of compulsory secularism in the delivery of public services, have included a minor exception that really speaks to the inequality such efforts seek to create.

Since 1936, a not-at-all-subtle crucifix has hung above the speaker’s chair in the legislative chamber of the Quebec National Assembly. A week ago, the Quebec government voted to take down the crucifix as part of a much broader policy against religious symbolism in the province’s public life. Even as they proposed policies that would ban religiosity in the forms of Muslim, Sikh and Jewish head coverings and other items, such as pendants with stars of David or crucifixes, previous governments have contended that the legislature’s cross is exceptional. In the narrative advanced across a decade of this debate, the cross represents an indisputable aspect of Quebec history. Reading between the lines of this argument, the crucifix – the definitive symbol of Christianity – transcends its religious particularity, presumably on the idea that Christianity was an inherent part of Quebec’s history and development.

The message of this exceptionalism is clear as a bell: this place was founded on Christian principles and those of other religious traditions, despite whatever contemporary contributions they might make to Quebec society, rank below the founding religion even as we seek to erase all of them from the public eye. Christianity, in other words, is a first among unequals.

To their credit, the government of Premier François Legault is not excepting the crucifix from this latest bill aiming to impose secularism. The bill, which was introduced last week by the centre-right Coalition de l’avenir du Quebec government elected last year, has all the characteristics that have been discussed in recent years by various governments intent on erasing outward appearances of religious difference. In the provision of government services in which an employee has “coercive” influence – including police, prison guards, judges and teachers – kippot, chadors, turbans, kirpans, crucifixes and anything else that speaks to an individual’s religious affiliation will be banned.

The decision on the National Assembly’s crucifix at least pays lip service to the idea of equanimity in the crushing of religious identity. But it cannot erase the foolishness and inherent injustice of the move. The Quebec government makes absolutely no defence against the charge that the bill contravenes Canada’s and Quebec’s constitutional protections of individual and religious rights. In introducing the new law, the government stated it would use the notwithstanding clause, exempting the law from those constitutional safeguards.

The injustice is a matter of principle. The government – backed, according to public opinion polls, by most Quebecers – is fully prepared to infringe on the rights of people who heed obligations to display certain outward evidence of religiosity. Depending on interpretation and levels of observance, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh and other people are required to wear identifiably religious objects. Lay Christians, by contrast, are not. A crucifix necklace is a choice, not a requirement. For observant Jewish men, a kippah is not optional.

On a related front, it is illuminating to hear non-Muslims discuss whether a chador, hijab or niqab is a cultural or a religious requirement. Over the years, some who have justified banning head coverings have contended that Muslim law does not require them. The fact that many or most of those making this case are non-Muslims adds insult to injury: not only will we argue that we don’t want you wearing your religious garb, we will go so far as to argue that you can’t even interpret your religion correctly.

Aside from the principle of the matter, the nuts and bolts of the proposed law guarantee confusion and offence. The bill grandfathers existing employees, meaning that a currently employed teacher who wears some form of religious accoutrement will be free to continue doing so, but a new hire would not. More bizarre is that, if they were to receive a promotion – from teacher to vice-principal, say – the grandfather clause would be removed, and so would the religious article. The opportunities for mayhem abound.

Ostensibly, the bill, which is really the culmination of years of discussion around “reasonable accommodation” and similar concepts in Quebec society, is intended to preserve the importance of Quebec culture. Understandably, as an undeniably distinct cultural and linguistic minority vastly outnumbered by anglophone North Americans, Quebecers are vigilant in preserving their uniqueness. But it is tough to discern any substantive advantages this bill will grant to Quebec’s distinct culture other than to underscore assumptions of intolerance and insularity. The genuine intent of the law – and the larger ideology that drives it – is to encourage assimilation into a dominant (French, nominally Christian) population. In a visit to France last year, Legault didn’t mince words. He wants a Quebec that is more “European.”

Many Canadians outside Quebec accept that some accommodations are necessary to save what makes Quebec unique. We see this as something apart from the xenophobic nationalisms sweeping Europe. But what is inherent in Quebec society that would not also be found in Swiss or Finnish or Hungarian society to justify banning symbols of different cultures? If Quebecers have a right to “protect” their cultural identity through admittedly discriminatory laws, why wouldn’t Polish and Ukrainian people?

Ultimately, a law preventing religiously observant people from displaying the evidence of their faith will not strengthen or save pur laine Quebec society, unless by doing so it discourages such people from coming to Quebec in the first place. And there’s the key to understanding this bill.

One of the first steps Legault took as premier was to reduce Quebec’s share of immigrants by 20%. This was about the same time he went to Paris and declared he wanted more migrants who are European. With this in mind, the secularism bill is probably less about the people who are already in Quebec than about sending a message to those considering a move there. The bill says stay away, Quebec does not welcome you.

A further peek at Cohen’s Orfeo

Dancers Jeremy O’Neill, Ted Littlemore and Kate Franklin. (photo by Idan Cohen)

Last May, Idan Cohen introduced local audiences to his reimagining of Christoph Willibald Gluck’s opera Orfeo ed Euridice. He will share more of this ongoing work in EDAM dance company’s Spring Choreographic Series, in which he is a guest artist, along with Jennifer McLeish-Lewis.

In six performances between April 10 and 20 at EDAM’s home at the Western Front on East 8th Avenue, Cohen and McLeish-Lewis will present new work, while EDAM, under artist director Peter Bingham, will present a directed improvisation.

“I was introduced to Peter and the EDAM family through Linda Blankstein, who I met through the DanceLab residency I took part in last May at the Dance Centre,” Cohen wrote the Independent in an email from London’s Heathrow Airport, as he waited for his flight back to Vancouver. “Among the many other roles through which Linda supports Vancouver’s arts community, she is on the board of EDAM, and was kind enough to introduce my work to Peter.

“The space and people at EDAM were very welcoming,” said Cohen, who is artistic director of Ne. Sans Opera and Dance. “Peter invited me and the performers to take his daily morning classes, and offered this wonderful opportunity for me, Ne. Sans and the artists collaborating on this piece – musicians/dancers Jeremy O’Neill, Ted Littlemore and Kate Franklin.”

The part of Orfeo ed Euridice that Cohen will showcase next week is called Trionfi Amore (in English, The Triumph of Love).

“In Greek mythology, Orpheus [Orfeo, in Greek] was a musician and a poet who had the ability to enchant all living creatures through his musical gift, and could even stop the waves of the ocean from rolling,” explained Cohen. “In an attempt to bring his newly married wife Eurydice back to life from the dead, Orfeo persuades the guardians of the underworld to allow him entry to their kingdom.

“Trionfi Amore deconstructs the key elements and motives of the story and puts it into a contemporary context. We integrate dance with a bit of live music in a piece that speaks of love, and of the power of music and art to move, entertain and touch us. We also look at the power of art to manipulate, exploring the ways in which different aspects of love can be transformed into the act of performance. I am focusing on the ‘love story’ part of the mythological tale, recreating its themes through the intimacy and fragility of the body.”

For more about Orfeo ed Euridice, see jewishindependent.ca/the-power-of-music-and-love. For tickets to one of the EDAM Spring Choreographic Series performances, visit edamdance.org.

Story of love and second chances

Judy McLellan as Lady Russell and Roger Monk as Sir Walter Elliot in Metro Theatre’s production of Persuasion. (photo by Tracy-Lynn Chernaske)

Who hasn’t wished for at least one do-over, a second chance? Who hasn’t made the mistake of following bad advice, even if it was well-intended?

In Jane Austen’s Persuasion, Anne Elliot falls in love with naval officer Captain Frederick Wentworth and they become engaged, but, based on the counsel of a family friend, Anne breaks off the engagement. Jewish community member Judy McLellan plays Lady Russell – the purveyor of that counsel – in Metro Theatre’s upcoming production of Persuasion, which runs until April 20.

“Lady Russell was a very close friend of Anne’s mother, who died, and she had taken the role of surrogate mother to Anne since that time,” explained McLellan. “She is very protective of Anne and felt that Anne was too young to get married, especially to a man who, at that time, had no money and no real position in society. This is why she now sees Mr. Elliot [Anne’s cousin] as a much more desirable match for Anne.”

Persuasion was adapted for the theatre by British playwright Timothy Luscombe. The Metro Theatre production is directed by Joan Bryans. McLellan, who was part of the cast of Metro’s Calendar Girls, which the Jewish Independent quite enjoyed (jewishindependent.ca/calendar-girls-now-at-metro), auditioned specifically for the role of Lady Russell. “Got a call back and then Joan offered me the role, which I was very excited to accept,” said McLellan.

Pride and Prejudice was McLellan’s “first venture into Jane Austen.”

“Loved it,” she said. “Went on to read the rest!”

About Persuasion, she said, “It’s a wonderful period piece of mid-19th century. The characters are diverse and interesting, and very reflective of society at that time. But, above all, it’s a love story, which, after all the trials and tribulations, comes to a delightful happy ending. Who wouldn’t enjoy that?!”

For tickets to Persuasion, visit metrotheatre.com.

To raise funds for building up-keep, Metro Theatre is holding a silent auction during the run of Persuasion for a painting by Tracy-Lynn Chernaske. “By tying together appropriate colours and soft textures, the painting reflects suggestions of [Jane] Austen’s historical multi-location story line, full of ships, seaside beaches, grand old manors and tidy cottages.” The opening bid is set at $300 and the winner will be announced on closing night. Bidding ballots, the artist’s bio and more information can be found at metrotheatre.com/show-persuasion-2019.

Could the plague come back?

With his latest novel, We All Fall Down (Simon & Schuster, 2019), Vancouver writer and emergency-room physician Daniel Kalla covers both familiar and new territory. He once again postulates with scary enough realism what might happen if there were an outbreak of a deadly disease, but this time, it’s the plague – the same bacteria that caused the Black Death in the 14th century.

Kalla, who is head of emergency at St. Paul’s Hospital and a clinical associate professor at the University of British Columbia, will talk about his new book on April 17 at Incite: Riveting Crime Tales, presented by the Vancouver Writers Fest and Vancouver Public Library, in partnership with the Crime Writers of Canada. He will be joined by fellow Vancouverite Eve Lazarus, author of Murder by Milkshake: An Astonishing True Story of Adultery, Arsenic and a Charismatic Killer (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2018), about the murder of Esther Castellani by her husband Rene in 1965 in Vancouver, and Toronto-based Kim Moritsugu, whose latest book is The Showrunner (Dundurn, 2018), described as a “Hollywood-noir, darkly humourous suspense.”

We All Fall Down is set in Genoa, Italy. It alternates between current-day events – the site of an old monastery that has been demolished to make way for new condominiums seems to be ground zero for the reemergence of the plague – and the year 1348, when that monastery’s inhabitants are almost decimated by the Black Death, as is much of Europe. There is a link between the two outbreaks and North Atlantic Treaty Organization infectious diseases expert Alana Vaughn, called in from Belgium, is among those who must figure it out, along with a World Health Organization expert, Canadian epidemiologist Byron Menke, and Alana’s former lover, Dr. Nico Oliva, who sounded the alarm when a patient was brought into his hospital, coughing up blood and with a bubo (lump, swelling) in her armpit. The patient had been working on the construction site when she took ill and was dead soon thereafter.

The rapidity with which the plague takes a life drives the urgency to determine its sources and stop its spread. The most emotive chapters of We All Fall Down are short. Kalla briefly introduces readers to various people in the midst of tender or happy moments, who then suddenly feel chilled or choked by phlegm and blood. These scenes add meaning to the consistently provided death tolls, and personalize the suffering. Readers will empathize, and shiver.

As in his previous novels – Pandemic (Forge Books, 2005), about a fictional new flu, more deadly than SARS, and Resistance (Tor Books, 2006), about the outbreak of an antibiotic-resistant bacteria – the disease in We All Fall Down is deliberately being spread. Initially, Alana’s theory is that it is bioterrorism, but eventually the WHO-led team comes to another conclusion and the race is on to find the perpetrator.

In the mid-1300s, one-third to a half of the European population was killed within three years, a character in the novel notes – “The worst natural disaster in all of recorded history.” And the novel offers a glimpse into that horrific time via the diary of a barber-surgeon, Rafael Pasqua, who lost his wife to the plague. His story is graphic at times, and it is he who relates how Jews were attacked and persecuted, as the assumed cause of the devastation. Kalla juxtaposes this persecution and violence with that of Muslims in the modern-day instance of the outbreak, as it is first thought that Muslim terrorists might have developed the plague as a bioweapon. Despite hundreds of years of evolution, people’s fear and desperation still drive them to seek a scapegoat.

Less interesting in We All Fall Down are the romantic storylines: Alana and Nico dealing with their past relationship, Alana’s new relationship with Byron, and Rafael’s with Camilla, the daughter of a Jewish friend and fellow physician. At least the medieval love story adds some tension to the plot, as Jews become more and more at risk as the plague continues unabated. And, in truth, the relationships provide some respite from the death taking place all around the characters.

On the whole, We All Fall Down is a good read. Kalla, being an emergency physician who has researched and written about different pandemics, makes the possibility of the Great Plague resurfacing seem frighteningly possible. There are countless benefits of globalization, but it certainly makes containment of an epidemic that much harder. It is a sobering thought.

Incite events are free, but registration is required. To attend Riveting Crime Tales, which takes place in the Alice MacKay Room at the central branch of VPL downtown at 7:30 p.m. on April 17, fill out the form at writersfest.bc.ca/programs/incite/incite-form.

First Temple stamps discovered

The stamp of “Ikar, son of Matanyahu.” (IAA photos courtesy Ashernet)

The 2,600-year-old stamp of “Ikar, son of Matanyahu” was among the artifacts uncovered in archeological excavations at the Givati Parking Lot, in City of David National Park in Jerusalem. The dig was conducted by archeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and Tel Aviv University and, according to TAU’s Prof. Yuval Gadot and IAA’s Dr. Yiftah Shalev, the artifacts were found inside a large public building that was destroyed in the sixth century BCE, probably during the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. Large stone debris, burnt wooden beams and numerous charred pottery shards were discovered, all indications that they had survived a fire.

The stamp and bulla (seal impressions), which are about one centimetre in size, were deciphered by Dr. Anat Mendel-Geberovich of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Centre for the Study of Ancient Jerusalem. “The name Matanyahu appears both in the Bible and on additional stamps and bullae already unearthed. However, this is the first reference to the name Ikar, which was unknown until today,” said Mendel-Geberovich.

According to Gadot and Shalev, “These artifacts corroborate the highly developed system of administration in the Kingdom of Judah and add considerable information to our understanding of the economic status of Jerusalem and its administrative system during the First Temple period, as well as personal information about the king’s closest officials and administrators who lived and worked in the city.”

מרכז להלבנת כספים

(גלובל טי.וי)

קנדה משמשת מרכז להלבנת כספים של ארגון הטרור הלבנוני החיזבאללה שמקורם ממכירת סמים (בעיקר קוקאין). הסמים מועברים לקנדה מהמדינות הלטיניות ובהן קולומביה ומקסיקו, על ידי פעילים של החיזבאללה. הכספים ממכירת הסמים מולבנים ומשמשים למימון פעולות הטרור של הארגון. כך עולה מתחקיר נרחב של רשת החדשות גלובל טי.וי המקומית. ממשלת הקנדה החליטה לפני כשבועיים, במסגרת תקציב המדינה החדש לשנה זו, על הקמת כוח מיוחד למלחמה בהלבנות הכספים שהיקפם הולך וגדל. הלבנת הכספים קשורה בין היתר בעליית מחירי הנדל”ן בוונקובר וטורונטו, ולחילופין במשבר האופיואיד. יצוין כי ממשלת בריטיש קולומביה פועלת בחודשים האחרונים למגר את תופעת הלבנות הכספים במחוז, בין היתר באמצעות בתי קזינו ובנקים מחתרתיים. קרוב לוודאי שיש קשר בין גורמים סינים שמזה שנים מלבינים כסף בקנדה ובעיקר במחוז בריטיש קולומביה, לבין ארגון הטרור של החיזבאללה.

רשויות החוק בארצות הברית העבירו מידע רב למשטרה הפדרלית הקנדית (האר.סי.אם.פי) לפני כעשר שנים בדבר ארגון החיזבאללה, שמלבין כספים בקנדה. לפי התחקיר מתברר שאז במשטרה הפדרלית בחרו משום מה שלא לפעול. הועלו טענות בין היתר שהמשטרה הפדרלית הקנדית לא מעוניינת כלל, להתעסק בהלבנות כספים והברחות של סמים. רק בארבע השנים האחרונות החלה המשטרה הקנדית סוף סוף לחקור את הנושא לעומק. עוד נודע כי פעילים של ארגון הטרור הלבנוני מלבינים כספים בהיקפים גדולים מאוד, בעזרת מספר ארגוני פשע מקומיים. הפעילות מתבצעת בעיקר בחמש הערים הבאות בקנדה: טורונטו, מונטריאול, ונקובר, קלגרי והליפקס. גורם אמריקני מציין בהקשר זה כי מהחקירות השונות מתברר בצורה חד משמעית, כי ארגון הטרור הלבנוני מעורב במימון כספים מקנדה לפעילויות טרור, על ידי העברת כספים לקרטלי הסמים השונים. לדבריו בניגוד לקנדה רשויות החוק והאכיפה באוסטרליה פעלו נמרצות למגר את פעילות ארגון הטרור להלבנת כספים במדינה, והם זכו להצלחות לא מבוטלות בנושא. מהחקירות עלה כי כספים רבים לרכישת סמים עברו בין אוסטרליה לקנדה. אותו גורם אומר כי לפעילי החיזבאללה יש יכולות מעולות להלבין מיליארדי דולרים במדינות השונות.

חקירות דומות בנוגע להבנת כספים של ארגון החיזבאללה ממכירת סמים, מתקיימות במדינות נוספות שמשתייכות “לברית חמש העיניים” בנוסף כאמור לארה”ב וקנדה. מדובר בריטניה, אוסטרליה וכן ניו זילנד.

לפי החקירות המסובכות של האמריקנים בשיתוף בין היתר של הרשויות בקולומביה, עולה כי החיזבאללה פועל במשותף עם ארגוני פשע בינלאומיים ברחבי העולם. בין היתר במדינות כמו סין וההונג קונג, בשיתוף עם שכירי חרב, סוחרי סמים וקרטלי סמים גדולים (בהם קרטל מדיין של פאבלו אסקובר שחוסל לפני כעשרים ושש שנים). מהאזנות לשיחות טלפון רבות של פעילי החיזבאללה מתברר, שהארגון מפעיל את קשריו לפעילויותיו הפליליות השונות, ברחבי העולם. ובעיקר במדינות הבאות: ארה”ב, קנדה, אוסטרליה, פנמה, ירדן, דובאי וכמובן גם לבנון.

הפעילות של איראן וארגוני הטרור המסונפים לה התרחבה בשנים האחרונות משמעותית אל מדינות אמריקה הליטינית השונות. זאת בשל הסנקציות האמריקניות הקשות שהוטלו עליה והגבילו את יכולתה לגייס כסף, מימון לטרור וכלי נשק. מבחינת ארגון החיזבאללה לפעילות של מכירת הסמים למדינות המערב יש חשיבות עליונה ביותר. בכך הארגון גורם להחלשתו של האויב המערבי בשל ההתמכרות לסמים, וכן לאור העלויות הכספיות הגבוהות למלחמה במאבק בסחר ובהתמכרויות.

המשטרה הפדרלית הקנדית סירבה להגיב בפרשה ולפרט על חקירותיה בנושא החיזבאללה. באר.סי.אם.פי רק הסכימו לציין כי הם עובדים במשותף עם משטרות ברחבי העולם בנוגע לחקירות פליליות בינלאומיות.