freelancer – Page 533

Stand-up rabbi returns

Rabbi Bob Alper will perform as part of Congregation Beth Israel’s Purim festivities on March 23. (photo by Sultan Khan)

It’s too good not to lead with – Pope Frances’ honorary comedic advisor, Rabbi Bob Alper, will be bringing his comic stylings to Congregation Beth Israel on erev Purim March 23.

A professional comedian for some 30 years now, Alper said his life hasn’t changed that much since he became the papal advisor last fall. “I now drive my very own popemobile in my hometown in Vermont,” he said. “It gets 150 miles to the gallon, but is not great in blizzards. Otherwise, nothing has changed, though I do ‘use’ the title whenever I can. It’s a great story.”

No doubt, Alper will be flying to Vancouver. He was invited by the congregation, “people who obviously know how to make Purim rock,” he said.

He’s been here twice before, “once for a show at Temple Sholom and, earlier, for a Federation event. One of the most difficult of my career, since it fell just two weeks after 9/11.

“I’ll only be in Vancouver for a day or two,” he added about this month’s trip, “but I hope to do the highlights. The best part of every trip, for me, is performing!”

Alper won the title of honorary comedic advisor to the Pope in a contest held by the Pontifical Mission Societies in honor of the Pope’s September 2015 visit to the United States and to raise awareness and money for three pontifical missions. He beat out more than 4,000 people from 47 countries, including fellow American funnymen like Bill Murray and Conan O’Brien. You can watch his video, as well as those of the other contestants, at jokewiththepope.org, but the joke is: “My wife and I have been married for over 46 years, and our lives are totally in sync. For example, at the same time I got a hearing aid, she stopped mumbling.”

“I grew up in a religious Reform family for whom our synagogue was central, and my uncle was a Reform rabbi,” said Alper of his background. “My father loved humor, and told long ‘shaggy dog’ stories, which, naturally, prompted me to take the opposite route into the quick-hit world of stand-up. Bob Newhart, Shelley Berman and Mel Brooks records were my childhood companions and, in Jewish youth group, in high school, I would memorize and perform their routines at regional convention talent nights, thereby attracting the hottest girls. Comedy is good.”

Nonetheless, Alper was ordained as a rabbi in 1972 and then worked in congregations for 14 years. It was another contest that led him to become a comedian.

“In 1986, living in a Philadelphia suburb and armed with a doctoral degree from Princeton Theological Seminary, Bob was charting a different path, trading congregational life for a counseling practice,” writes editor David Crumm in the introduction to Alper’s book Thanks. I Needed That. And Other Stories of the Spirit (Read the Spirit Books, 2013). “But, at that same time, comedy reared its ugly head in the form of a ‘Jewish Comic of the Year Contest.’ Bob entered, came in third behind a chiropractor and a lawyer, and went on to make stand-up a full-time career.”

Alper’s wife, Sherri, is a psychotherapist. On his website, it notes, “Professionally, he makes people laugh, while she helps people cry.”

With literally thousands of shows under his belt, Alper has made a lot of people laugh. “It gets easier and easier,” he said about performing. “That’s how comedy works. I agonized before I did my first five minutes in 1986. Now performing is a delight and, since stand-up is cumulative, I have tons of material from which to choose.”

Among Alper’s shows are duos with Muslim comedians.

“My Muslim colleagues include Ahmed Ahmed, of Egyptian background, Azhar Usman, of Indian background, and Mo Amer, a Palestinian born in Kuwait,” writes Alper in Thanks. I Needed That. “We do Muslim-Jewish shows, frequently enhanced by the addition of a Baptist minister, Rev. Susan Sparks. And we have so much fun at each performance, it’s almost criminal.

“We call our shows Laugh in Peace.

“Back in late 2001, Ahmed and I were brought together as a gimmick by a savvy publicist,” he continues. “Our relationship quickly developed into a friendship based on the camaraderie of fellow artists and the breezy banter of guys who really enjoy one another’s company. We laugh together a lot.”

Alper began working with Usman when Ahmed became more focused on acting, and he also works with Amer quite often.

He admits, “No question, Laugh in Peace was conceived initially as a way to further our comedy careers, to book more gigs, to raise our visibility. It would be disingenuous to suggest anything else. But as the act and our personal relationships evolved, we quickly understood how Laugh in Peace brought a sense of hope and relief and healing that shared laughter, especially shared laughter between communities in frequent tension, can provide.”

Alper is also the author of Life Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This, a collection of stories, and the cartoon book A Rabbi Confesses, and he has produced two CDs and a DVD. For more information and a five-minute demo of Alper’s comedy, visit bobalper.com. Readers can also watch the video “Rabbi Bob Alper’s dog respects religions” and many others on YouTube.com.

Beth Israel’s Purim celebration starts at 6:15 p.m. on March 23 with a kid-friendly Megillah reading and costume parade, followed by carnival activities. The full Megillah reading and comedy by Rabbi Bob Alper starts about 8:15 p.m. Food will be for sale during the evening. Visit bethisrael.ca for more information and to register for the kids events.

Yom Ha’atzmaut confirmed

Achinoam Nini (photo from Federation)

The Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver has confirmed that it has invited Israeli singer Achinoam Nini (Noa) to perform at the Vancouver Jewish community’s Yom Ha’atzmaut celebrations on May 11 at the Chan Centre.

After initial controversy because of Nini’s political views, including a petition that has stalled at just over 430 signatures and the withdrawal of funding by JNF Canada, Pacific Region, support has grown.

The Jewish Independent was one of the first to publicly support Federation’s decision, telling the Canadian Jewish News in a Feb. 19 article that the controversy was “unmerited,” and following up in a JI editorial that was published online Feb. 22 and in the newspaper last Friday. (jewishindependent.ca/lets-talk-about-nini) Also on Feb. 22, a group of more than 30 Israeli Canadians sent a letter urging Federation to “stick” to its invitation.

On Feb. 23, Federation announced two new event sponsors: the embassy of Israel in Canada and the consulate general of Israel in Toronto, which is the official representative office of the government of Israel in Ontario and the Western provinces. “We were thrilled when both the embassy and the consulate approached us with offers to be official sponsors of our Yom Ha’atzmaut celebration,” said Stephen Gaerber, chair of the Federation board, in a statement. “As official representatives of the state of Israel, we see support from the embassy and the consulate as strong messages that there is room for diversity both within Israel and within our community. We are also very happy that the deputy consul general is once again planning to represent the state of Israel at our Yom Ha’atzmaut celebration.”

JNF Canada chief executive officer Josh Cooper and president Jerry Werger issued a statement on Feb. 25 clarifying JNF’s position: “We want to be absolutely clear that JNF Canada is not protesting, boycotting, delegitimizing or censoring this event. After hearing from so many of our donors, we simply are not comfortable using charitable funds to support this particular artist.

“JNF Canada is a non-political organization which believes in strengthening the state of Israel for all of her citizens. It remains our position that Yom Ha’atzmaut celebrations and other community events should be inclusive.”

Last week, Federation received letters of support that are cited here and can be found in their entirety at jewishvancouver.com.

In addition to saying, “in no way can we allow for differences of opinion to undermine those core values which unite us in our desire for a strong Jewish future with a strong Jewish democratic Israel at the centre,” Natan Sharansky of the Jewish Agency for Israel wrote, “As one who has often had the pleasure of enjoying Noa’s outstanding voice and spectacular talent, I applaud the Vancouver Federation and I know your Yom Ha’atzmaut celebrations will be wonderful.”

The director general of the Jewish Agency for Israel, Alan Hoffmann, also issued a supportive statement: “Canada and Israel share the same democratic values that allow for a wide range of opinions, including diverse expressions of Zionism. An inclusive dialogue about Israel is at the heart of JAFI’s efforts to build a thriving Jewish future and a strong Israel.”

Former CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, Mark Gurvis, who is now executive vice-president of Jewish Federations of North America, wrote, “In today’s political environment, which is so highly polarized, it has become all too common to brand political opponents as enemies – disloyal, treasonous. It isn’t unique to Israel – we see it today in every Western democracy. It is a phenomenon that is ultimately a far greater threat to communal or national cohesiveness than the different ideas themselves.”

Gurvis spoke of the compromise that was necessary to arrive at the recent landmark decision in Israel to create an egalitarian prayer space at the Kotel. He concluded that there should be a place at the celebration of “Israel’s central place in our collective Jewish gestalt … for the broadest possible cross-section of people who love Israel. The only way we have a future together as a people is if we make our tent larger, and not smaller. It doesn’t mean we have to agree with one another. It just has to mean we recognize and accept each other’s place in our collective journey.”

Julia Berger Reitman and Linda Kislowicz of Jewish Federations of Canada-UIA also stressed the importance of pluralism and the need to “support the values of Israel and Canada where democracy and freedom of expression are promoted.” They pointed out, “Artists often play a unique social role. Not only do they entertain us, they also help us to confront issues and stretch beyond the usual sensibilities. They help us find new forms of expression through their art.”

From several local rabbis, Federation received letters of support, or was copied on letters that thanked Israel’s representatives for Israel’s support and/or discussed the importance of a large tent and a multiplicity of opinions in Judaism. Writers included Rabbi Dan Moskovitz of Temple Sholom, Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt of Congregation Schara Tzedeck and Rabbi Philip Bregman of Hillel BC. Beth Israel Rabbi Jonathan Infeld wrote a letter thanking Israeli Ambassador to Canada Rafael Barak and made a short video for his congregation, which can be viewed on the home page of jewishindependent.ca.

Members of the Rabbinical Association of Vancouver – Moskovitz, Infeld, Rosenblatt, Bregman, Beth Tikvah Rabbi Howard Siegel, Har El Rabbi Shmuel Birnham and Or Shalom Rabbi Hannah Dresner – expressed their “appreciation to all of those that have come out in support of our community’s Yom Ha’atzmaut concert and celebration…. Our community, like others, has a spectrum of opinion about Israel, its policies and politics. We are grateful that the spirit of democracy, which is one of Israel’s trademarks in the Middle East, has been championed in Vancouver by Israel’s diplomats.”

The RAV letter concluded with the hope that members of the community would include the May 11 concert “among their observances of Yom Ha’atzmaut.”

More than 50 Jewish community organizations support the annual event.

Replace your fear with hope

David Diamond, Theatre for Living, directs Reclaiming Hope. (collage graphic design by Dafne Blanco, photos by Wolfgang Rappel)

Starting on March 10, Theatre for Living (formerly Headlines Theatre) will be presenting a new event. Called Reclaiming Hope, it will “engage communities in identifying and transforming the narrative of fear that permeates our culture.”

Reclaiming Hope, led by Theatre for Living’s co-founder and artistic director David Diamond, will take place 12 times from March 10 to April 2 at various locations.

“The work that I do is really based in using theatre as a way to create dialogue in the community. We are a professional theatre company, but one that is really committed to collaborations with people in all communities,” said Diamond.

Diamond originally trained as a professional actor and came out of theatre school in 1975. He worked in professional theatre, radio, television and film for a few years before creating Theatre for Living with some of his peers.

“A number of us, writers, directors, actors, became frustrated in the late ’70s with the kind of work we were being asked to do. We wanted to do some kind of theatre work that was socially relevant. After complaining about that for a very long time, we decided we would stop sitting around and complaining, and we would do something about it.”

In 1981, Diamond and his peers created a play about affordable housing. It was a hit, and thus began the establishment of Theatre for Living.

Reclaiming Hope, Theatre for Living’s newest work, was born out of an unexpected turn of events. Diamond and company were initially planning a new project entitled Freedom, which would focus on the idea that corporations may unethically possess the freedom to generate exceptional wealth. But, as Theatre for Living was raising money for this production, the Canadian federal election took place.

“The impulse for that project was grounded, frankly, in Harperism. It isn’t that those issues have now gone away, the issues still exist out there, but the juice of it changed dramatically. Changing the government hasn’t solved all of those problems, but changing the government has changed the perception of those problems.

“We had to really reframe the project. Added to that, we were having trouble raising money for that project, because it was really challenging the financial structures that we have built around us. One of the elements of Freedom that we decided to focus on in Reclaiming Hope is that we are being asked to be afraid, we are being asked to live in fear from so many different sectors,” said Diamond.

Theatre for Living decided they would mount a series of theatrical events that would look at the different ways that various communities are experiencing being asked to live in fear. They would use theatre to identify those voices of fear that take up residence in the community’s psyche. They would also use theatre to try to change the community’s relationship to those voices, so that, according to Diamond, society could move into a more actively hopeful realm.

“‘Hope’ is a verb. ‘Hope’ isn’t just sitting in your living room wishing things were different. ‘Hope’ is getting up off your ass and doing something to make our communities safer in a really human type of way for everybody.

“Somehow,” he said, “we have decided on this little blue speck of a planet, that there is a ‘them.’ That decision that there is a ‘them’ out there, that there is more than just ‘us’ living here is fueled by voices of fear.”

Diamond believes that he and his peers are not inventing something new, but rather reaching back into something ancient. Moreover, he intends to bring back the ancient idea that art itself can once again be seen as the psyche of the community.

Diamond and his company believe that the community may reclaim its collective hope through art.

“Years ago, both as an artist and as an activist, I got really tired of working against a world that I did not want. I made a real choice to work towards a world that I do want. So, at the heart of our theatre work, is the sense of reclaiming positive action,” he said.

An audience member unfamiliar with Theatre for Living’s style should expect to be very active when attending Reclaiming Hope. The event, though structured, will be different every night, as it unfolds with the stories of its nightly participants. As each show will be sponsored by different co-hosts, Diamond anticipates that the chemistry of the audience will be different every night. (For the schedule and tickets, visit theatreforliving.com.)

Diamond will begin each show with a discussion about the idea of living in fear. The audience will then choose one story that resonates the most. The person whose story that is will assume a role on stage, interacting with other audience members who will act out the voices of fear found in the story.

“Audience members will come to play those characters not because they want to play a theatre game,” said Diamond, “but because they have information to share, they understand the ‘voice.’”

Each event will be highly improvisational, and Diamond expects both funny and profound moments to occur. Judging by past events, Diamond expects about 60 to 150 people per night.

On April 3, the series of events will culminate in a day of action planning. This day will only be open to individuals who have attended at least one of the Reclaiming Hope performances. The daylong session will consist of a facilitated workshop where people will form groups based on ideas gathered from Reclaiming Hope. These groups will then make concrete plans for actions that will be the ultimate realizations of Reclaiming Hope.

“On some level,” said Diamond, “I think it is important as a culture, as an over-arching Canadian culture, that we understand and reclaim this idea that culture is not a commodity, that theatre is not a commodity, but it is a language, and we are all supposed to speak. And if we were all of us in our daily lives speaking more art, we would be living in a healthier world.”

Jonathan Dick is a freelance writer living in Toronto. His writing has appeared in the Canadian Jewish News, and various other publications in Canada and the United States.

Celebrating our unity

Left to right, Anna Karatchun, Malka Pischanitzkaya and Jenya Friedman at the N’Shei Chabad Unity Event on Feb. 22. (photo by Esti Loeub)

On Feb. 22, Chabad Lubavitch of Vancouver hosted the N’Shei Chabad Women’s Unity Event. Introduced by Henia Wineberg, it was organized to coincide with similar gatherings taking place in 50 cities in 15 countries on six continents in honor of Hakhel, a year of gatherings.

photo - Left to right: Shula Klinger, Pamela Shapiro, Miki Mochkin with Anya, and Genny Krikler — Left to right: Shula Klinger, Pamela Shapiro, Miki Mochkin with Anya, and Genny Krikler (photo by Esti Loeb)

The local dinner and lecture was attended by more than 120 women. The meal, prepared by Menajem Peretz of FortyOne Catering, was followed by the talk given by Freidy Yanover.

Yanover spoke about joy in the days leading up to Purim. Given that we have two months of Adar this year – being a Jewish leap year – we have two opportunities to consider what it means to live with joy, she explained. Her talk was illustrated with reference to the Torah and her own anecdotes and personal stories. It was followed by live music by Adina Selfinger and her singers.

Every seat came with a party bag containing pamphlets from mikvahcampaigns.org about Shabbat candles and the role of the mikvah. To illustrate the scale of the event, each table carried a globe with stickers showing where the events were taking place.

The atmosphere was relaxed and light-hearted, with diners being encouraged to mingle with new acquaintances. Introductions were helped along by a Connect 4 game provided at each seat, along with conversation starters, such as “Talk to someone who bakes challah” or “Talk to someone from out of town.”

Shula Klinger is an author, illustrator and journalist living in North Vancouver.

Sheep closer to home

Jenna and Gil Lewinsky with Israeli Ambassador to Canada Rafael Barak, who is holding one of the Lewinskys’ Jacob sheep. (photo from Friends of the Jacob Sheep)

Israeli Ambassador to Canada Rafael Barak was recently hosted by Friends of the Jacob Sheep, a Jewish organization in Abbotsford whose mandate is to conserve the endangered four-horned heirloom Jacob sheep and to send them to a future heritage park for their conservation in the Golan Heights. Barak visited the sheep barn on Feb. 16.

Barak came to give an endorsement of the Jacob sheep project – led by Gil and Jenna Lewinsky – and offered to continue to help facilitate the sheep’s return to Israel.

“The first thing I did when I heard of this [project] from Jenna, was I opened the Bible to see if this is a true story … and, behold, the story was there. It is real,” said the ambassador. “Our hope is found in our national anthem, a strong hope of 2,000 years. And then we heard about the Jacob sheep. We have been helping Jenna [and Gil] with connecting with the agricultural ministry … it is right for the Israeli culture to give the green light for this and to help it.”

The Israeli embassy in Ottawa further commented: “We follow the project and do our best to help more than a year after the Lewinskys contacted us. Now there has been great progress in bringing the sheep and it is evident that the ministry of agriculture is trying to help the issue. We hope that all the bureaucratic procedures required to bring the sheep will be completed soon and will be brought to the ground.”

BDS condemned

The House of Commons this month voted overwhelmingly to condemn BDS, the movement that aims to boycott, divest from and sanction Israel.

The motion, put forward by Conservative members of Parliament Tony Clement and Michelle Rempel, reads fairly simply: “That, given Canada and Israel share a long history of friendship as well as economic and diplomatic relations, the House reject the BDS movement, which promotes the demonization and delegitimization of the state of Israel, and call upon the government to condemn any and all attempts by Canadian organizations, groups or individuals to promote the BDS movement, both here at home and abroad.”

The Liberal government backed the motion while the New Democrats and Bloc Quebecois opposed it, leading to a lopsided 229-51 victory.

A handful of Liberal MPs abstained and two voted against, but the vast majority of government members backed the Conservative motion. Two NDP MPs abstained from their party’s otherwise monolithic opposition to the motion. Both are Vancouver-area MPs – Vancouver Kingsway’s Don Davies and Port Moody-Coquitlam’s Fin Donnelly.

Supporters of the motion expressed views that have been prominent in these pages in recent weeks: that BDS unfairly targets one side in a conflict, that it is counterproductive and possibly based on bigotry. Opponents of the motion took a more novel approach.

NDP leader Thomas Mulcair said, “This goes against the freedom of expression we hold so dear in our society … to call upon the government to condemn someone for having that opinion, that’s unheard of.” He said the motion “makes it a thought crime to express an opinion” and contended that it is fair to disagree with BDS and still debate its arguments.

We like to think that you would be hard-pressed to find a more thoroughgoing defence of free expression than has appeared in this space over the past 20 years, and even longer. We have routinely taken a stand for open expression when some readers and community leaders urged variations on censorship. Yet the NDP leader’s defence of free expression is confused at best.

The motion does not make it illegal to support BDS. If it did, we would be out with our figurative pitchforks and torches opposing it. What the motion does is condemn a despicable idea. And here is where so many people who claim to support free expression in principle actually screw it up in the execution.

Mulcair argued that we should be able to debate BDS. That is precisely what Parliament did through this motion. He argued that his party does not support BDS, merely free speech. Leaving aside that several unions that support the NDP also support BDS, and that the NDP is the natural home in Canadian politics for anyone else who believes in BDS, his circumlocution on our sacred freedoms provides a tidy cover for avoiding the real issue that could paint his party into a corner: some – a few? a lot? a majority? – of his party members and MPs do, in fact, support the BDS movement. So, to avoid condemning BDS and perhaps alienating party members and supporters, he cloaked himself in a non sequitur of free expression, debasing the very value he claimed to be defending.

Too often, when unpopular views are expressed, those who might be counted upon to contest them abdicate that responsibility, defaulting to the argument that bad ideas are protected by our values of free expression. Indeed, they are. But so, too, are good ideas!

Supporters of BDS absolutely have a right to express their views. And, although it seems difficult for Mulcair to comprehend, so do its opponents. Every Canadian has a right to express their opinion within limitations around which our society has largely developed a consensus. Elected officials not only have a right, but an obligation to do so. A parliamentary motion condemning a terrible idea does not detract from anyone’s right to express and support that bad idea. In fact, it is the embodiment of free speech in action.

Sanders – both prophet and king?

Bernie Sanders is the first Jew (and first non-Christian) ever to win a presidential primary and be seriously considered as a candidate for the American presidency. Reactions from the Jewish community have been mixed and mostly pretty quiet.

Sanders is very familiar to Ashkenazi Jews like myself: he is basically our socialist uncle. His passionate denunciations, clear-eyed vision of injustice and chutzpah are heimish, almost nostalgic. The progressive Jewish community has seemed hesitant to throw its weight behind him, perhaps because until recently they saw him as unlikely to succeed. Or, maybe, there is a fear of jinxing him: “Shhh, they haven’t really realized he’s Jewish yet.” As Sarah Tuttle-Singer wrote last month in the Times of Israel, one of the great things about Sanders’ ascension is that his Jewishness has been so irrelevant to Americans. Meanwhile, big Jewish financiers, such as George Soros and Donald Sussman, have been backing Hillary Clinton, not Sanders.

So, what is Sanders’ relationship to Judaism? He seems comfortable with his Jewishness and appreciative both of what he finds valuable in the tradition and of Jewish customs. Despite some claims that Sanders has downplayed his Jewishness, J.J. Goldberg recently proved otherwise in a comprehensive analysis published in the Forward Feb. 26. In an article on chabad,org, Dovid Margolin spoke of Sanders’ fight for Chabad’s right to light a public menorah on public property in a key court case, which paved the way for the now-common practice. And Sanders declared the Rebbe’s birthday Education Day in Vermont with words of praise for the Rebbe’s work to universalize education, as well as praising Maimonides (it happened also to be Maimonides’ 850th birthday).

Sanders himself, when asked, has made it clear that he is not a religious Jew. When late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel asked Sanders last fall whether he believes in God, Sanders responded: “I am what I am … and what I believe in, and what my spirituality is about, is that we’re all in this together.”

“Bernie’s Jewishness is not the Judaism of the shul but of the street,” said Rabbi Dan Moskovitz of Temple Sholom. “It’s not the Judaism of rituals but of the ethical tenets of Judaism: about the holiness code and how you treat others. Bernie is Jewish in his kishkes.”

Sanders is relentless and consistent in his criticisms of the financial elite, his calls for a political system free of legal bribery, and his defence of education and the need for fair wages and medical care. He wants to free Americans from debt and modern slavery, and pull America away from militarism and hatred of the stranger. All of these themes echo in dozens of verses and laws structuring the political vision of the Torah and run deep in Jewish consciousness.

Sanders has called for tougher pressure on Israel to make concessions in peace talks and is known to take J Street seriously. On the other hand, he has defended Israel from attacks from the far left, saying it has a right to defend itself and must be able to establish its own security and long-term viability as a state. He has been among a handful of Senate regulars at the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Recently, a video surfaced of Sanders giving a speech during the Gaza war in August 2014. Asked by an audience member about Israel’s shelling of Gaza, he agreed that too many civilians had died, but said Hamas had instigated the fighting by firing rockets at Israeli civilians and that Israel has a right to defend itself.

In Israel, Michael Oren has expressed concern about Sanders being overly critical of the Israeli government, while others, including Ravi Eitan, Dov Henin and Yoel Cohen Paran, have expressed a resonance with him, citing his social policies.

Clinton’s campaign has criticized Sanders for his pledge to “normalize” relations with Iran in the wake of the Iran nuclear deal. Sanders agrees that Iran is a “bad actor,” that it funds terrorism and human rights abuses and must not get the atomic bomb, and he has voted to condemn the behavior and rhetoric of the Iranian government several times. But, Sanders argues that normalization is likelier to create the conditions that would spur change. As he said in the last Democrat debate: “It is easy to talk to your friends. It is hard to talk to your enemies. I think we should do both.”

There is no question that ethics is central in Sanders’ mind. It is commonplace for him to make a point by citing a statistic about life in America and then ask rhetorically, “Is this right? Is this moral?”

The most common criticism leveled against Sanders is that he is unrealistic. In The Prophetic Imagination, Walter Brueggeman, a leading scholar of the Hebrew Bible, describes the prophets in words that could apply to Sanders: “The prophet does not ask if the vision can be implemented, for questions of implementation are of no consequence until the vision can be imagined…. The same royal consciousness that makes it possible to implement anything and everything is the one that shrinks imagination because imagination is a danger…. It is the vocation of the prophet to keep alive the ministry of imagination, to keep on conjuring and proposing futures alternative to the single one the king wants to urge as the only thinkable one.”

Sanders, of course, is trying to be king, as well. But the charges that he is not practical fail to adequately consider his decades of service as a senator and his time as an effective and popular mayor of Burlington. He was known both for idealistic stances and for taking care of the “nuts and bolts of the job,” as his former campaign manager Jim Schumacher stated. The real question is how Sanders would function in the presidency and with the Republicans in Congress. Time will tell whether we’ll have the chance to find out.

Matthew Gindin is a writer, lecturer and holistic therapist. As well as teaching holistic medicine, Gindin regularly lectures on topics in Jewish and world spirituality, and has a particular passion for making ancient wisdom traditions relevant in the modern world. His work has been featured on Elephant Journal, the Zen Site and Wisdom Pills, and he blogs at Talis in Wonderland (mgindin.wordpress.com) and Voices (hashkata.com).

Election bid put into context

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders speaking at a town meeting at the Phoenix Convention Centre in Arizona in July 2015. While a Jewish American president would be a first, many other countries have had Jewish leaders. (photo from Flickr user Gage Skidmore via commons.wikimedia.org)

U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is the first Jew to win a presidential primary and, given that he is only one of two Democratic hopefuls in the race, there is the possibility of a Jewish president after this fall’s election.

But this milestone isn’t such a milestone when one looks around the world, and the United States – with its approximately seven-million-strong Jewish population (including children) – could be considered behind the curve. After all, Italy, France, New Zealand, Panama, Peru and Russia all have had multiple Jewish heads of state or heads of government in the past century or so. Such places as El Salvador, Honduras, Guyana, the Dominican Republic and Norway, with relatively few Jews, have all had Jewish heads of state.

We know some of the stories of antiquity, with Jewish leaders of lands other than Israel. The most famous are Joseph, as viceroy of Egypt; Moses, the prince of Egypt; and, in the fifth-century BCE, Queen Esther in Persia. Among others are:

In the early first century, Queen Julia Bernice II, married the Cilician king, Polemon II of Pontus.
Queen Shushandukht ruled Persia (and some of Mesopotamia) in the fifth century.
Beginning around the fourth century, Jewish kings and queens reigned in Ethiopia for about a millennia.
King Abu Karib ruled Yemen in the fifth century and, a hundred years later, King Dhu Nowas.
Queen Dahiya Kahina reigned in Algeria in the early eighth century.

In modernity, there are/were dozens of Jewish prime ministers, presidents and vice-presidents outside of Israel. As best as we can figure, with some latitude for converts, those born Jewish but raised in another religion, high-ranking officials that were a heartbeat (or two) from becoming head of state, and those who came close, there have been roughly three dozen Jewish leaders outside Israel, with about a dozen “almosts.”

Great Britain/United Kingdom

Benjamin Disraeli, prime minister in 1868 and 1874-80 (converted to Anglicanism)
Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading, viceroy of India, 1921-26
Almost: Ed Miliband, opposition leader of Great Britain, 2010-15; and Prime Minister David Cameron, elected in 2010, who in a speech to the Knesset, said his great-great-grandfather was a German Jew

Switzerland

Ruth Dreifuss, president, 1999

France

Leon Blum, prime minister, 1936-37, 1938, 1946-47
René Mayer, prime minister, 1953
Pierre Mendès France, prime minister, 1954-55
Michel Debré, prime minister, 1959-62 (convert to Catholicism)
Laurent Fabius, prime minister, 1984-86 (raised Roman Catholic)
Nicolas Sarkozy, president, 2007-12 (born to a Jewish father)

Spain

Juan Álvarez Mendizábal, prime minister, 1835-36 (raised Roman Catholic)

Italy

Alessandro Fortis, prime minister, 1905-06
Sidney Sonnino, prime minister, in 1906 and 1909-10 (raised Anglican)
Luigi Luzzatti, prime minister, 1910-11

Eastern Europe

Kurt Eisner, president of Bavaria, 1918-19
Paul Hirsch, president of Prussia, 1918-20
Zigfrids Anna Meierovics, prime minister of Latvia, 1921-24
Petre Roman, prime minister of Romania, 1989-91 (raised Romanian Orthodox)
Jan Fischer, prime minister of Czech Republic, 2009-10

Scandinavia

Jo Benkow, president of Norway, 1985-93
Dorrit Moussaieff, first lady of Iceland since she married President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson in 2003

Russia

Yevgeny Primakov, prime minister of Russia, 1999
Mikhail Fradkov, prime minister, 2004-07 (Russian Orthodox)

New Zealand

Sir Julius Vogel, premier, 1873-76
Sir Francis Bell, prime minister, 1925 (raised Anglican)
John Key, prime minister since 2008

Africa

Sir Roy Welensky, prime minister of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (Zimbabwe), 1956-63 (raised Anglican)

Central/South America (one-offs)

Francisco Henríquez y Carvajal, president of the Dominican Republic, 1916
Janet Jagan, president of Guyana, 1997-99
Mike Eman, prime minister of Aruba since 2009
Nicolás Maduro, president of Venezuela (raised Roman Catholic) since 2013

Honduras

Juan Lindo y Zelaya, president of El Salvador, 1841-42; and president of Honduras, 1847-52 (raised Roman Catholic)
Ricardo Maduro, president of Honduras, 2002-06 (raised Roman Catholic)

Panama

Max Delvalle, president, for one week in April 1967, because the National Guard General did not approve of his succeeding his predecessor
Eric Arturo Delvalle, president, 1985-88 (in 1988, he attempted to remove Manuel Noriega as the de facto military dictator, but instead Noriega overthrew him; Delvalle fled to the United States and died in Cleveland at age 78)

Peru

Efraín Goldenberg Schreiber, prime minister, 1994-95
Yehude Simon Munaro, prime minister, 2008-09
Salomón Lerner Ghitis, prime minister, 2011

Costa Rica (almosts)

Rebeca Grynspan Mayufis, vice-president of Costa Rica, 1994-98
Saul Weisleder, president of Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly, 1997-98
Luis Liberman Ginsburg, vice-president of Costa Rica, 2010-14 (the grandson of the first mohel of Costa Rica’s Jewish community)

North America (almosts)

Barry Goldwater, GOP presidential candidate, 1964 (Jewish father)
Henry Kissinger, as secretary of state (fourth in line of succession), 1973-77
Madeleine Albright, as secretary of state, 1997-2001
Joe Lieberman, 257 votes away from U.S. vice-president in 2000
Eric Cantor, former speaker of the House (third in line to the presidency), 2011-14
Herb Gray, deputy prime minister of Canada, 1997-2002 (Canada’s first Jewish federal cabinet minister, one of only a few conferred the title “right honorable” who were not prime ministers, and the longest continuously serving member of Parliament in Canadian history)

Dave Gordon is a Toronto-based freelance writer whose work can be found in more than 100 publications globally. His is managing editor of landmarkreport.com.

Teaching young chefs

Deborah French’s children – Henry, Elisheva, Amariah and Rafaella – about to enjoy the fruits of their labor, having made their first chocolate cake. French published The Cookbook for Children with Special Needs in 2015. (photo from Deborah French)

Deborah French’s rollercoaster ride began on June 14, 2004, when she gave birth to her second child, Amariah, who unexpectedly had Down syndrome. “Up until that point, we had absolutely no experience with special needs and never considered we ever would,” said French.

Growing up in northwest London, French made aliyah with her husband Johnny and their first two children in 2007. French chose to become a stay-at-home mom with the birth of Amariah. A year later, the couple’s eldest child, Henry, who was 2 years old at the time, was diagnosed with high-functioning autism.

“We felt incredibly alone and found those years extremely difficult,” French told the Independent.

Once a meticulous planner, these days, French finds that if she thinks too far ahead, she gets filled with anxiety and concern about how they will manage and how their children will fare in the future. “I don’t have the answers, so we don’t have expectations,” said French. “We take everything day by day, one step at a time…. We both only want our children to be happy and fulfilled.”

Going against the advice of many experts who said Henry could not concentrate on a single task for longer than five minutes and that he had poor motor skills, French set about baking cookies with her son one day when he was 4 years old.

“In the kitchen, his fine motor skills were excellent,” she said. “Henry worked solidly for an hour and, as freshly baked cookies with recognizable shapes came out the oven, I knew I was on to something. Being in the kitchen calmed Henry, channeled his energy and gave him a huge confidence boost, as he was able to provide food for others.”

French was asked if she would consider taking other kids into her kitchen. This paved the way for her cooking classes and, eventually, led to her compiling a comprehensive cooking course for children with special needs.

French, who is now the mother of five, has become an expert via life experience.

“After bringing my children into the kitchen, I saw firsthand the effect cooking had on their self-esteem and confidence,” she said. “I believe that any child suffering with learning or emotional difficulties will improve and develop their abilities at a faster rate if they are relaxed and participating in an activity that does not feel like therapy. This type of environment allows them to give of themselves to others and stimulates their creativity, giving them more chance to overcome their challenges.”

French is an advocate for families and their children with special needs in Israel. As well, she and her husband co-created the Chai on Life organization, which provides opportunities for such families to participate in regular activities while educating the wider community about children with special needs.

“We believe that education breaks down barriers and paves the way for acceptance and inclusion – a concept that benefits all children,” said French. “Our Mazal Le Chaim program takes children from mainstream to special needs schools to activities and events to encourage integration, teaching them to confront their fear of the unknown and embrace it.”

French’s first foray into writing was a memoir, A Brief Moment in Time (ASD Publishing, 2013), which won honorary mentions at Paris and New York book festivals. Her most recent publication is The Cookbook for Children with Special Needs (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2015).

French’s greatest pleasure comes from seeing how much Henry enjoys helping others who are struggling. “Many children with special needs are very in tune with the feelings of those around them,” she said. “And it is a wonderful feeling when my son notices that I’m tired and he responds by declaring, ‘Don’t worry, Mommy, I’m making lunch for everyone today. You sit down.’ Being able to help me in that situation gives him great satisfaction.”

Her cookbook is 200 pages and is geared toward children and young adults with special needs, their parents, caregivers and guardians. In essence, it is a cooking course to be followed from levels 1 through 3, with each level introducing additional foods, techniques and recipes.

Within each of the three levels, there are 10 recipes, seven of which are savoury and three of which are sweet. “The focus on savoury dishes reinforces the importance of moderation in our diet, ensuring that our primary foods are healthy ones, but that our indulgent foods are exactly that,” said French.

In the cookbook, she writes: “I was angst-ridden the day I allowed Henry to use a kitchen knife. After a month of continuously baking cookies, I took a giant leap of faith and watched as Henry followed my careful instruction and prepared a salad. There was not a chopped finger in sight! Henry sliced cucumbers, pepper and tomatoes. He was calm and attentive throughout. It was so exciting to see his elation after preparing the final dish. We ate salad for weeks after that day whether we wanted to or not!”

Said French, “Learning how to cook is an essential life skill that boosts self-confidence and develops individuality and creativity in all who try it. Those with special needs are no exception and proficiency in the kitchen will play a key role in their independence as adults.”

Rebeca Kuropatwa is a Winnipeg freelance writer.

Synagogue more inclusive

At Zemer Hazayit, a Modern Orthodox congregation in Efrat, when the Torah reading is finished, the scroll is passed from the men’s side to a woman who takes it through the women’s side. (photo from David Bollag)

Ten years ago, a group of people in a Modern Orthodox congregation in Efrat, a Gush Etzion settlement, decided they wanted women to be more involved in their synagogue services. The majority of the congregation was reluctant, however, so they set out to form a community of their own.

They consulted with Efrat’s chief rabbi, Shlomo Riskin, about the idea and, he said, “Listen, I don’t think it should be the only reason why you would start a new community – the position of women. Why don’t you also make it special in terms of prayer and make it kind of a song?” So, they named the community Zemer Hazayit (Song of the Olive). “There was strong contact with the head rabbi from the very beginning,” said Rabbi David Bollag, spiritual leader of Zemer Hazayit.

Bollag, originally from Switzerland, made aliyah 25 years ago. He has been with the community for the past eight years. He still flies home eight times a year to teach at two Swiss universities, the University of Zurich and the University of Lucerne.

“My field is Jewish philosophy, but I also teach some Jewish history, Bible, whatever they need in the institutes,” he said.

“Our congregation is Modern Orthodox. In Modern Orthodoxy, in almost every aspect of life, women are fully integrated and emancipated, and have almost the same role as men – socially, professionally, in politics and at home. They have the same rights, almost the same education possibilities.”

Ever since Zemer Hazayit opened its doors, the community has been growing. It has some 200 community members today. While this community is new to Efrat, there are many like it elsewhere.

“The process that is taking place is a slow development,” said Bollag. “More and more, laymen and rabbis realize the difference between normal life and religious life isn’t sitting well with most people.” While women are intellectually engaged at schools, workplaces and in politics, he said, “when it comes to religious life, they’re treated like second-class citizens, and they are just going to leave religion or consider it something primitive. For that reason, changes have to take place.”

While people see the need, they also understand that change takes time to be accepted. “That’s why the process is very slow, sometimes very painful – there’s a lot of opposition,” said Bollag.

The tensions and discussions are not only between their community and the rest of Efrat’s Modern Orthodox communities, but within Zemer Hazayit, as well.

“We definitely have people who are more progressive, who are interested in more changes, and others who are much less,” said Bollag. “Not only do we have to find the right balance between introducing new things and making sure we remain within the limits of Modern Orthodoxy, we also have to make sure we find the right balance that’s OK for everybody in our community.”

When Bollag was asked to be the community’s rabbi, one of the first things he wanted was to have an official meeting with members of other neighborhood synagogues. “I wanted to make sure to explain to them what we’re interested in doing, to make sure they would fully accept us,” he said. “They don’t have to agree with us, but I would like them to be accepting.”

photo - Women at Zemer Hazayit return the Torah scroll to the ark — Women at Zemer Hazayit return the Torah scroll to the ark. *(photo from David Bollag)*

Zemer Hazayit first gets Riskin’s blessing before implementing any proposed changes. So far, these changes have included splitting the prayer room in the middle from front to back, giving women equal access to the ark and, when the Torah reading is finished, the scroll is passed from the men’s side to a woman who takes it through the women’s side and then places it back in the ark.

“One of the main issues being discussed at the moment is whether or how women can read from the Torah,” said Bollag. “So, we have, about once in two months, a reading of the Torah by women, but just among women.”

At the moment, the opinion is that they cannot have women reading for men. “So, we separate for that reading – the women are in one place and the men in another,” said Bollag. “Women read for women. We usually also do that when there’s a bat mitzvah, as most of the girls are interested in reading Torah.

“Also, women say Kaddish – that goes without saying in our community – even if there is just a woman and no man.”

According to Bollag, the ordination of women in Reform synagogues has influenced Modern Orthodox congregations, as well, noting that these communities now will hire a woman as part of the discussion, including as a rabbi/spiritual leader.

“When they approached me about being the rabbi of this community, we made it very clear that it isn’t just me, but also my wife who will be very involved in leading our community,” said Bollag. “We also put a lot of emphasis on integrating children into the services as much as we can.”

Zemer Hazayit is currently raising funds to build a synagogue, as they have outgrown the room they have been using in a local school. For more information, visit buildzemerhazayit.org.

Rebeca Kuropatwa is a Winnipeg freelance writer.