Op-Ed – Page 3

If we forget, thee, Jerusalem

The Western Wall, Jerusalem, Israel. (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

When I was a teenaged member of the Zionist youth group Young Judaea in Saskatchewan, we recited this pledge: “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, may my right hand lose its cunning; may my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth.”

Well, I haven’t forgotten, and I’ve learned that, as never before, Jerusalem needs our help. In my Israel today, governmental criminal corruption and disinformation is so bad that citizens can’t have a rational discussion about politics without getting angry. Fear and anger at the government has brought hundreds of thousands of demonstrators into the streets of Israel’s major cities.

The fear and despair has spread to us here in the Diaspora. Our lovely ideals about our lovely, peaceful, democratic Israel are being systematically extinguished by a band of radical religious politicians, some with criminal records. Some of us here are going so far as to wonder that, if Israel is now being led by a covey of self-serving rascals, why should we ever repeat the age-old hope, “Next year in Jerusalem”? Now that I am an older man, I remember my pledge and I issue a warning. We’re in danger of losing our Israeli democracy.

Israel’s government today can be compared to a dog being wagged by its tail. The tail in this case is a small alliance of ultra-Orthodox Jews who hold the balance of power in the Netanyahu government. Two small political parties – Jewish Power and Religious Zionists – call the shots and their chief target is the Supreme Court. They want to gain control over it. And for what reasons would they promote such a radical step in the name of “judicial reform,” and why would they so endanger Israel’s democracy?

There has been a history of battles between the Supreme Court and the ultra-Orthodox community about who has the power to regulate religious law in Israel.

Round One: Supreme Court versus the Government of Israel on the thorny question of which converts are legally Jewish citizens of Israel. For years, the Orthodox rabbinate ruled that you had to be converted in Israel by an Orthodox rabbi.

Bring on the Supreme Court. In 2021, after more than 15 years of debate, the Court ruled that non-Orthodox converts to Judaism in Israel are Jewish and thus entitled to become citizens. The decision includes those who convert to Judaism through the country’s Reform and Conservative movements. “Jews who during their stay in Israel were legally converted in a Reform or Conservative community must be recognized as Jews,” the Court wrote in its majority decision.

Despite that this ruling would only affect some 150 Israelis, Aryeh Deri, leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, who, at that time, was interior minister, condemned the decision. He said it constitutes “a mortal blow to the Jewish character of the state. I promise to fix the law to ensure that only conversions under Orthodox religious law will be recognized in the state of Israel.” Deri was a minister in the current coalition, but was fired earlier this year because the Supreme Court ordered Netanyahu to do so, as Deri has a criminal record.

Round Two: As far back as 2007, women were being beaten on buses for refusing to sit at the back, as the ultra-Orthodox community ruled. In response to a petition submitted against the ultra-Orthodox Mehadrin sect, the Supreme Court ruled that you can’t tell a woman where to sit on a bus.

Round Three: The battle over chametz (foods with leavening, products not kosher for Passover). Recently, the ultra-Orthodox got even with the Supreme Court, which had struck down another religious law. This one forbade hospitals to allow chametz to be brought into hospitals on Pesach. Hospital visitors had to open their bags to be searched by security guards, and there was public outrage at being treated as criminals for concealing food.

The Supreme Court declared the law unnecessary and as offensive to non-Jews as well as Jews. Then, in March this year, the ultra-religious parties snuck in a new chametz law just before Passover. This time, the law allowed hospitals to decide whether or not to search bags or to reprimand people, and the bill passed the Knesset. Score one for the ultra-Orthodox alliance.

Round Four: Military exemption for ultra-Orthodox yeshivah students and the birth of the idea of “judicial reform.” As a condition for joining the Netanyahu government coalition, the ultra-Orthodox wanted to pass a law exempting yeshivah bochers from the military service that all Israelis are obligated to make. And they want to ensure that the Supreme Court can’t strike down the law. The Knesset, they maintained should be able to reverse the Supreme Court’s decisions if they rule against the law. Enter the idea of “judicial reform.”

When they talk about “judicial reform,” what the ultra-religious group really wants strikes at the very heart of Israeli democracy. They want the Knesset to be able to pick and choose which laws the Supreme Court can overturn. They want to give the government the power to make any laws they want without restrictions. They want the Supreme Court to be impotent.

This fearsome, anti-democratic power grab is what sends shivers down the spines of democracy-loving Jews everywhere, and brings thousands into the streets to protest “judicial reform” planned by the Netanyahu government.

In Canada, all the laws passed by Parliament must go through several hoops. First, the law must be approved by the House of Commons. After that, it goes up for debate at the Senate, which can send it back to the House of Commons for revision. Third, the law must be signed by the governor general, who can withhold signature if she feels that the law is repugnant to democracy. Finally, our Supreme Court can either demand that the law be changed or strike it down totally if it finds that it contravenes our Bill of Rights.

Israel has only the Supreme Court to protect its citizens from religious fanatics or rogue governments. Legal scholars are agreed:

allowing any government to reverse judgments of the Supreme Court would not only remove the protections of the Court; it would make Israel a dictatorship.

Rogue government? Look who Netanyahu hired to help him govern.

• The most dangerous and outrageous appointment is a man with a long criminal record, Itamar Ben-Gvir. The army refused to draft him because of his extremist ideas. To secure Ben-Gvir’s support, Netanyahu appointed this ultra-Orthodox Jew with a criminal record to the job of minister of national security and, incredibly, he now oversees police forces in Israel. He also holds the balance of power in the Netanyahu government. Anything that Netanyahu wants to do has to go through Ben-Gvir, who, in the face of widespread demonstrations gave his permission to temporarily halt progress on judicial reform.

• Haim Katz, a former minister of labour who was given a six-month suspended sentence for graft has been given the job of tourism minister.

• As stated above, Aryeh Deri, leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, was appointed minister of health despite going to prison for taking bribes as interior minister and, earlier this year, being given a suspended sentence and a fine for tax offences.

• Netanyahu himself faces charges of corruption.

Is it any wonder that hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets to oppose the government’s judicial reform plan? Is it any wonder that the majority of Canadian Jews are also against the reform proposals?

Like them, I know that Israel needs me and that is why I write about it. Neither should you “let your tongue cleave to the roof of your mouth.” Join the Jews around the world who are speaking out for Israel’s democracy. And, while you’re at it, say a prayer for the state of Israel; she needs all the help that she can get.

Stan Goldman is a retired English teacher who lives in Richmond.

The gift of sobriety

Pesach is approaching, and the connection to addiction is obvious – we were slaves in Egypt, we are slaves to substances and behaviours to our detriment. Sadly, we hear daily about the perils of addiction – certainly the news of the toxic drug supply and deaths as a result are constant reminders of the struggle many face.

In the same way that Pesach teaches us that the possibility of redemption exists, that the oppressed can survive and ultimately triumph over their oppressors, so too can we remain hopeful that there is a pathway out of addiction. The struggle is hard, but with perseverance and critical support along the way, recovery is certainly achievable.

Our work at JACS is multi-faceted – we meet new people weekly who are looking for recovery support and those who are not sure yet they are ready to address the struggle. We meet people wherever they are.

While the challenge is real, we wanted to share what some of our clients have told us – the gifts of sobriety.

Life is simpler – I used to have to steal to feed my addiction. It took time and I would wake up wondering when and where I would find my next “fix.” Now I celebrate each day knowing I am free of that struggle.
I feel better about who I am – I no longer have secrets that I have to keep from those I love.
I am present to my feelings – I recognize the urge to use drugs as just that – an urge. I am able to reach out for help as I need it.
I feel physically better – I appreciate my physical, mental and emotional health. Yes, it has been work and I am worth it.
I am part of a healthier community – the people I used to connect with were struggling with addiction as well. Now I surround myself with people who want to be healthy, living lives filled with meaning.
I live with purpose – by helping others who may be struggling with this challenge, or just being present to whatever I am doing or whomever I am with.
I feel the freedom to have fun – I enjoy a walk in the rain or the sun, I know that my joy and happiness is up to me.

We continue to be inspired by the clients we have the privilege of working with and supporting on their journey. May their courage and strength serve as inspiration to us all.

Wishing you a Pesach sameach!

Join rally to support Israeli democracy

The Vancouver action group UnXeptable has been rallying on Sundays, at noon, at Robson Square, as part of an international grassroots movement to save Israeli democracy. (photo from Daphna Kedem)

We are a group of Israelis and Canadian Jews watching the grim news from Israel closely and feel that Israel’s democracy is on a very slippery slope, without brakes. The judicial crisis is leading to a dramatic loss of checks and balances in a state that has been democratic since its inception. It is shaking Israel and tearing apart its very fabric. We are terrified that the road to dictatorship will be quick and abrupt.

Israelis have been going to the streets in masses for the last many weeks. The biggest demonstrations drew more than 300,000 people to the street, yet we don’t see reference to these events in our local community. It seems that Jewish organizations and leaders are choosing to be on the sidelines, by toning down the crisis. Some are choosing to be silent altogether.

We are utterly frustrated by this silence. We know very well the horrific consequences that silence can bring about. But we realize that unprecedented events have been unfolding. Israel has been our source of pride throughout changing times and because events are happening fast, leaders might feel lost, without a compass in an uncharted territory.

We would highlight the facts as we see them: the Israel that we have known has changed.

Recent elections brought to power a group of people with personal interests counter to the public interest. One is a convicted criminal (bribery) who wants to clear his way to be a minister. The religious parties seek to release religious young people from army service, which is compulsory in Israel. A messianic, racist party wants to spread its agenda. And the prime minister is a defendant in three indictments and, in our opinion, to get away from his trial, he is promoting a change of regime in Israel, a radical move that will eliminate the separation of powers and the independence of the Supreme Court. The legal system will become part of the ruling party.

Until now, the selection of judges to the Supreme Court required agreement between the representatives of the judges and the representatives of the government. But the coalition has voted on a series of laws that approve a change in the judicial system. According to the new proposal, only the representatives of the coalition will be able to choose judges for the court. It seems clear that a preliminary committee will appoint judges that will dismiss the defendant, Binyamin Netanyahu, from all his charges.

The core issue is that the Netanyahu we knew from his 15 years in power previously is not the same Netanyahu. In his previous terms, he defended the Supreme Court as an anchor for freedom and justice. The new Netanyahu’s trial is going into its third year.

Israel has no constitution and no other checks and balances. The Supreme Court is the sole judicial body that secures the rights and freedoms of individuals and minorities. We would like to encourage our local leaders and the community at large to address these issues that will no doubt influence the close and delicate relationship we have with Israel. We would like to encourage people to stand up in defence of Israel’s democracy – our family members in Israel, our friends and colleagues, and the democratic forces in Israel need our help.

We urge you to join the Vancouver action group UnXeptable – Vancouver, which is part of an international grassroots movement in more than 30 cities to save Israeli democracy. Rabbis and community leaders have come out to such rallies around the world to speak out and support the movement. We hope that you, too, will join us. Our next rallies will be held on March 12 and 19, at noon, at Robson Square in downtown Vancouver.

Rallying in Rishon Le-Tzion

Protesters in Rishon Le-Tzion Demonstrating against judicial reform February 25, 2023. (photo by Hayden)

It was a valuable experience to attend a protest rally in Rishon Le-Tzion. Several hundred people gathered in a city square to express concerns about the dramatic changes being initiated by the new Israeli government. The rally was more poignant, given that it was held in a square that commemorates people from this city who have died in combat.

As a Canadian, I had mixed feelings about attending. Who am I to be here protesting, as I don’t pay taxes and haven’t served in the army? On the other hand, the changes proposed by the government are going to affect Jews around the world and not just in Israel. Also, having three grandchildren in Israel increases my interest in what happens.

Rishon Le-Tzion, established in 1882, is well known as one of the first cities to be established in modern Israel. Its name, translating as “first in Zion,” says it all. The first Israeli Hebrew school was established here. Baron Edmond de Rothschild established what evolved to be a thriving wine industry here. The city predates the establishment of Tel Aviv by 27 years.

The square itself commemorates the large number of Israelis from Rishon Le-Tzion who have died in combat. Engraved in a monument is a listing, year by year, of names of the deceased. Israel today is one of the most successful countries in the world. When you visualize the large number of names engraved on these walls, it is clear that Israel’s achievements did not come without major losses of life.

The rally itself consisted of many people waving large Israeli flags. There were people of all ages, including many children present.

One of the speakers, Meir Sheetrit, served as minister of several different portfolios in previous Likud governments. Sheetrit was so respected that his name was brought forth as a candidate for the presidency of Israel in 2014. As a Likudnik, he decried the changes taking place and asserted that the current government is deviating radically from the direction of previous Likud governments.

Another speaker was Yair Golan, who was a member of the Knesset and has served on government committees. He was a former general in the Israel army and, at one point, was considered for the position of army chief of staff. He said he values a democracy that is based on law and not on tyranny, a press that is free and not based on peoples’ whims and a government that will protect the rights of minorities.

Merav Michaeli, the leader of the Labour party, was in attendance. She circulated through the audience, but, according to the protocols of the demonstration, being a sitting member of the Knesset, she was not permitted to speak.

The audience was mainly attentive, though occasional side conversations took place. People frequently erupted with Boosha! (Shame) in reference to various proposed government changes. The slogan De-mo-cra-tia frequently reverberated through the audience.

Periodic references were made to the diminishing status of women, LGBTQ+ people and minorities, especially Arab minorities, with the thought that these groups will bear the brunt of the changes.

Jews of non-Orthodox denominations feel that their rights will be diminished under the new government. The Women of the Wall fear they will always be relegated to second-class citizens when they pray at the Kotel. Several of the new government ministers want to cancel the annual Gay Pride parades. Many Israelis and leaders of other countries think the new government will end the possibility of ever having a two-state solution.

Most of all, people are concerned about the future of Israel’s fiercely independent judiciary. In a bill recently introduced into the Knesset, the government will have the ultimate say in who is appointed to the courts. Also, the Knesset will have the ability with a simple majority to overrule decisions of the Supreme Court. Many people, including a large number of Canadian judges and lawyers, have spoken out against these changes.

I came to Israel with major concerns about the new government’s policies and directions. It was instructive to see that a large percentage of the Israeli population shares similar feelings.

The demonstration I attended was only one of many that took place that night. According to reports in the press, there were 40,000 demonstrators in Tel Aviv, 20,000 in Haifa, 2,000 in Beersheva and smaller rallies all over the country. Clearly, a large percentage of the Israeli population strongly objects to the proposed changes. Large demonstrations occur every Saturday night, but also at other times during the week. If public engagement is a sign of a functioning democracy, then Israel is a healthy society.

Will these protests make a difference? So far, the new government has been firm in its conviction that major new directions are needed and is not backing down.

Rallies such as the one in Rishon Le-Tzion raise many questions. Are rallies an effective way to advocate for change in a society? Do democratic governments need to respond to what people participating in rallies are advocating? Are the proposed changes going to lead to a better or worse Israel? Is it important for Diaspora Jews to express their opinions about what is happening in another country far away?

As a Canadian, I came back with a firm opinion about the latter question. Diaspora Jews, who can be greatly affected by what is happening in Israel, need to express their opinions about the changes that may affect them. People who support democratic systems should weigh in anywhere in the world when they perceive that democracy is threatened.

But it is up to Israelis themselves to answer the basic questions as to what type of electoral and judicial systems they prefer. For the sake of the Jewish Diaspora and the rest of the free world, we hope that they will make the right decisions.

Larry Barzelai is a semi-retired physician living in Vancouver. He’s always had strong ties with Israel through the Canadian Zionist Federation, CJPAC and the annual Public Speaking Contest. His main connection now is his three grandchildren who call Israel their home.

Opposition to policies

In Tel Aviv on Jan. 28, Israelis demonstrate against their government’s judicial reform proposals. A majority of Canadian Jews also oppose the proposals. (photo by Oren Rozen)

A new poll shows that most Canadian Jews oppose policies favoured by the current Israeli government. Fully three-quarters of Canadian Jews say they are emotionally attached to Israel. However, 56% claim that Israel’s government is moving in the wrong direction, compared to just 13% who say it is moving in the right direction.

Opposition is especially strong to laws proposed by members of the governing coalition that would allow gender segregation in some public places, ban Pride parades and legalize conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ people on religious grounds, with between 83% and 88% of Canadian Jews expressing opposition to such moves.

Some 73% of Canadian Jews oppose judicial reform that would make it easier for the Israeli government to reverse Supreme Court decisions, thus adding their voices to that of well-known Canadian jurist and former minister of justice Irwin Cotler, among others.

Two-thirds of Canada’s Jews oppose the idea of disallowing Palestinians from serving in the Israeli parliament, compared to just 15% who support the idea. About twice as many Canadian Jews oppose building new Jewish settlements in the West Bank and incorporating parts of the West Bank into the state of Israel as favour such initiatives.

The so-called “grandparent clause” in Israel’s Law of Return allows anyone with one Jewish grandparent to claim citizenship, but religiously Orthodox members want the clause removed. Some 58% of Canadian Jews oppose such a move, while 17% favour it – hardly surprising since fewer than one-fifth of Canadian Jews are Orthodox.

Israel’s minister of national security was once convicted of incitement to racism and supporting a terrorist organization. Israel’s minister of finance recently described himself on radio as a “proud homophobe.” JSpaceCanada and the New Israel Fund of Canada have proposed that the Canadian government refuse to meet or build relationships with these ministers. Nearly six in 10 Canadian Jews agree with that proposal, while just two in 10 disagree.

Commenting on the results, Joe Roberts, board chair of JSpaceCanada, said, “These results couldn’t be clearer, Jewish Canadians are overwhelmingly concerned with the direction and policy decisions proposed by Israel’s radical governing coalition. These are not the shared values that the Canada-Israel relationship was built upon. Jewish Canadians, like the hundreds of thousands of Israelis taking to the streets to protest the undermining of democracy and assault on the human rights of Palestinians, expect bold and decisive leadership on this issue from the government that represents us in Ottawa.”

Ben Murane, executive director of the New Israel Fund of Canada, said, “Canadian Jews are worried that a country that removes basic democratic checks and balances and eviscerates the independence of the judiciary can no longer be referred to seriously as a full democracy. They overwhelmingly oppose the Israeli government’s legislation stripping power from the country’s judiciary, one of the few remaining institutions willing to protect the rights of Palestinians, LGBTQ people, women and other vulnerable populations.”

The poll was funded by JSpaceCanada and the New Israel Fund of Canada, organizations that promote democracy and equality in Israel, as well as a two-state solution to end the Israel-Palestine conflict. It was designed and analyzed by Prof. Robert Brym of the department of sociology and Centre for Jewish Studies at the University of Toronto. Brym commented, “To corroborate these findings we need more polls with larger samples asking similar questions. However, this poll provides a fair baseline representation of Jewish community perspectives on issues of vital importance to the approximately 404,000 Canadians who identify as Jewish by religion or ethnicity.”

The poll, fielded between Feb. 16 and 28, 2023, by EKOS Research Associates, is based on a nationally representative sample of 288 Canadian adults who identify as Jewish by religion or ethnicity. Nineteen of 20 polls like this one would likely yield results with less than a 5.8% margin of error.

– Courtesy JSpaceCanada

Condemn Smotrich’s comments

Independent Jewish Voices Canada is calling for immediate action by the Canadian government in response to comments by a senior Israeli minister that the Palestinian town of Huwara should be “wiped out.”

Speaking at a conference hosted by news publication TheMarker, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is also the minister in the defence ministry, in charge of civilian affairs in the occupied Palestinian West Bank, said he thinks “the village of Huwara needs to be wiped out” and that “the state of Israel should do it” rather than private citizens. Huwara is a Palestinian town on the outskirts of Nablus, surrounded by settlements, long subject to violence from Israeli settlers and orchestrated infrastructure shutdowns from the Israeli government.

The minister’s comments came a few days after Israeli settlers went on a violent rampage in Huwara and neighbouring villages, which has been widely labeled a pogrom, including by the Israeli military general in charge of troops in the West Bank and the former director of the Anti-Defamation League. Four hundred-plus Israeli settlers attacked the Palestinian villages of Huwara, Zaatara, Burin and Asira al-Qibliya, burning dozens of homes and killing a 37-year-old Palestinian man while wounding hundreds as Israeli forces stood by. The man who was killed, Samih al-Aqtash, had just returned from volunteering in Turkey to help earthquake victims. He was the 67th Palestinian killed by either the Israeli army or vigilante settlers this year alone.

A pogrom is a violent riot with the specific intent to massacre or expel a specific group of people. It emerged as a Yiddish word in the late 19th century to describe the attacks on Jews across the Russian empire. We use the word “pogrom” to recognize that Israeli settlers are recreating the kind of targeted, racialized terrorism that targeted Jews in Europe. We use this word to recognize the hypocrisy of claims that Jewish settler riots are protecting Jewish safety.

Many Canadian and Israeli Jews, including many of our members, have ancestors who lived through these horrific, targeted antisemitic riots in Europe. Many of our members are also descended from, or are themselves, survivors of ethnic cleansing and genocide. These atrocities often started with pogroms that were officially ignored or officially enabled.

The comments by Smotrich on March 1 are a clear validation of the previous Sunday’s pogrom and constitute an explicit call for ethnic cleansing if not outright genocide. To this we say loudly and unequivocally: “not in our name.”

What we are witnessing in Israel is shocking, but it is by no means an aberration. Emboldened by the impunity afforded to them by the likes of Canada and other Western governments, the Israeli government and settler groups are simply more explicit about their settler-colonial aims to displace, replace and keep Palestinians out from the lands they claim. Israel was founded on the ethnic cleansing of 750,000 Palestinians, known as the Nakba, or “catastrophe,” which continues to this day, 75 years later.

IJV calls on Canada to clearly articulate what the Israeli government is calling for as ethnic cleansing and condemn Minister Smotrich’s comments in the strongest possible terms. Canada cannot claim to be vigilant against ethnic cleansing and genocide while refusing to name Israeli action and incitement to these heinous acts.

IJV also joins calls on the Canadian government to boycott the new far-right Israeli government and to advocate for international protection for the undefended Palestinian people living under Israeli rule.

Finally, IJV calls on organizations representing Canadian Jewish communities to loudly condemn the settler pogrom and government officials’ incitements to violence. Our communities need clear moral leadership to hold Israel to account.

Israel isn’t shying away from saying it as it is. Neither should Canadians.

* * *

Editor’s note: This letter does not acknowledge that more than 850,000 Jews were forced to leave their homes in Arab countries in the 20 years following the Arab-Israeli war of 1948.

Making room for compassion

I’ve been under stress lately. It’s the usual: money, household, family and work concerns. Some of it is my own doing: in our enthusiasm for extracurricular activities, I somehow managed to sign our twins up for three different weekly ones during January and February. Yet, even though rushed dinners and drives through snowstorms and -30°C windchills aren’t my favourite activities, I found a silver lining. As my kids learned to use sewing machines at the studio, I got to knit and read quietly in the renovated waiting area overlooking river skating trails and watching the sunset. During chess club at the local Chabad, I saw friends briefly, then I hid, reading alone.

Thinking about the two sides of these activity nights made me reflect further. Having the time and energy and, yes, money to manage these extra enrichments is a gift, even if schlepping kids around can be hard and tiring for parents. The few moments of relative quiet, while the kids are happy, occupied and learning, usually enable me to regain my composure.

Once I have had those moments, I find room to be more patient, kind and compassionate. I’m not big on spas or manicures or tropical vacations. For me, something as simple as a few moments alone in a warm, quiet place with a good book or a good view can give me that reprieve.

I thought of this while speaking with my mom recently. She mentioned that, while on neighbourhood forums, sometimes she feels that all people do is complain. Worse, she feels that, in a Jewish forum, there is always someone who reads everything that happens to her as antisemitic. There was a pause in the conversation as I sensed her frustration. I was able to reach back into one of those warm, calm moments and suggest, in response, that perhaps in an era of rising antisemitism, the person concerned about antisemitism had actually experienced trauma. That, maybe, her fearful responses and anxiety were a response to a real incident.

Similarly, I wondered about those who were “always complaining” online. Perhaps those people also had bad experiences, but had no one offline to comfort or hear them. No one “saw” them. As a result, they were seeking that attention and reassurance online instead.

There is no shortage of distressing stuff happening, particularly if you’re reading about the ongoing earthquakes and displacements in Turkey and Syria, the deaths and violence between Israelis and Palestinians, or the increased crime or fatal drug overdoses at home in Canada. There is plenty of “awful” to go around.

The big challenge is in finding that space in which to compose ourselves and respond to others with compassion and patience. It can be as simple as a cheerful conversation or joke, and as difficult as listening to someone’s painful cries for help, on repeat.

As someone who grew up in the United States, I dreaded what I would hear after the Shabbat recently described as a “Day of Hate” proposed by neo-Nazis. All day, I remained tense, worried. What happened? Thank goodness, nothing much. My brother’s family attended a lovely bat mitzvah at our family’s long-time congregation … like many in the States, they went to synagogue and nothing happened. Yet, the overall increased antisemitic activity afoot made it hard for me to just relax and hope for the best. Even if nothing happened on that day, the amount of hate going around has increased. Almost worse though is the response that Jews who are anxious about this are simply “crybabies” or “crying wolf” or worried about nothing. The bad feeling comes from fear. Some of it, due to intergenerational trauma, is internalized.

My husband’s father was born in a displaced persons camp in Germany after the Second World War. Although my husband’s grandparents lived, they lost most of their families. They managed to survive the war, with harrowing stories. My husband’s bubbe, may she rest in peace, talked about her experiences over and over. I often sat next to her, holding space for her stories, as she repeated her trauma in different ways. She’d effortlessly shift languages, speaking whatever language – among them, Hebrew, Yiddish and English – to whomever also had that room to hear her, see her and listen.

By contrast, my husband’s zayde, z”l, spoke less about the war, but, in his final years, when he lived in a nursing home, he replayed a scary story over and over. At every door of the care home, the healthcare workers posted photos of him, because he’d try to escape. Mimicking what must have happened during the war, he’d trick someone or sneak past or do something that allowed him to leave the home. They were the enemy, trapping him, and he needed to get out. Zayde often succeeded, showing up on the doorstep or sitting in his car in the driveway. He scared the heck out of Bubbe when she found him. He, too, was replaying his traumatic past.

We’re lucky to have new kinds of therapies and medications that help some people cope with trauma, but many of us still are working through issues. Even with access to basics like housing, food, medication and, hopefully, love, we all struggle to be seen and heard, to find enough compassion and love to make it through. We need to each find that quiet, well-lit space to regain our composure, so we can then reach out and help others.

As Hillel says in Pirkei Avot: “In a place where there are no men, strive to be a man.” It could also mean: “In a place where no one is acting like a good person, strive to be one.” Nowadays, some of our places for listening are online. Our social encounters are different than before, and finding that patience or inner strength can require more effort.

Love, and its close cousin, compassion, are not limited commodities. A heart full of kindness can find more space to help. As my crazy wintertime parenting and worry load lightens, I realize that I wish everyone could have that gift of an hour of solitude, watching the sun set over a river, seeing a rabbit’s tracks or a biker commuting home. We can’t singlehandedly fix or stop the world’s trauma, but we can gift each other our time and patience to help others feel seen and to heal from it.

Joanne Seiff has written regularly for CBC Manitoba and various Jewish publications. She is the author of three books, including From the Outside In: Jewish Post Columns 2015-2016, a collection of essays available for digital download or as a paperback from Amazon. Check her out on Instagram @yrnspinner or at joanneseiff.blogspot.com.

Antisemitism fight continues

The City of Richmond on Feb. 13 adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Working Definition of Antisemitism, though not without controversy. Several members of the public expressed opposition to the motion, which eventually passed 6-3.

In many, if not most jurisdictions where this definition has been adopted, there has been opposition contending that free expression is threatened by the definition. In some cases, the motions to adopt have been defeated. Vancouver city council initially opted not to adopt the definition and only when a new council was elected last year did it pass – and, again, not unanimously, like one might expect a statement against bigotry to pass in a Canadian city.

Overwhelmingly, the criticisms are not about the definition itself, but about the fact that, of the 11 examples accompanying the definition, seven explicitly mention the state of Israel. But, if the examples are a problem, why aren’t we examining the examples on their merits? It is hardly an argument to say that the examples reference Israel and, therefore, make the definition insupportable. Let’s demand answers: which ones threaten free expression – by which we mean the right to criticize Israel?

The first Israel-related example offered is: “Accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust.” Is this the problematic example? Are critics of Israel afraid that they will not be able to make their case against Israel without resorting to Holocaust denial?

The second example is “Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations.” The “dual loyalty” canard has been a mainstay of anti-Jewish rhetoric for centuries, positing that “the Jew” is always an alien whose collective, tribal instincts trump their citizenship. Are opponents of the IHRA definition afraid of losing the right to invoke this age-old slander?

The third example is “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a state of Israel is a racist endeavour.” Is this the key phrase? Understanding the role that Jewish statelessness played in almost 2,000 years of tragic history is crucial to appreciating the connection of Jewish people to the land and the state of Israel – and it is one motivation of allies to ensure Israel’s continued existence. Is it the wish of IHRA definition opponents to make the Jews of Israel stateless people again? (Spoiler alert: Personally, if there is a single example that rankles, I think this is the one.)

The fourth example offered is “Applying double standards by requiring of [Israel] a behaviour not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.” Is opposition based on the fact that, after practically ignoring the state-sanctioned mass murder next door in Syria, the genocide against Uyghurs in Western China, the almost countless instances of human-created and natural catastrophes worldwide that are overlooked or eclipsed due to condemnation of Israel at the United Nations, opponents – in activist groups and churches, in social justice movements and academic committees – will be called out for their compulsive approbation of the one Jewish state? Is the problem that they do not want to have a spotlight shone on their gross hypocrisy?

Or is it example number five?: “Using the symbols and images associated with classical antisemitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis.” Are critics of Israel afraid that their effectiveness will be enfeebled if they cannot plumb the depths of the ancient and deadly accusation of deicide or killing babies?

Is it number six?: “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.” Is it the right to deface an Israeli flag by painting a swastika over the Star of David that opponents of the definition fear, the right to accuse Israeli soldiers of behaving like Gestapo?

The final Israel-related example is “Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel.” Is opposition to the definition founded on the fear that critics will not be able to pin blame on their Jewish neighbours for the actions of a government half a world away? Are they afraid that spray-painting “Free Palestine” on North American synagogues or kicking over Jewish headstones will be met with a condemnation these acts do not now evoke?

While critics are correct that seven of the 11 examples included with the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism reference the state of Israel, there is not one of these examples that should be problematic to any person of goodwill. Not one infringes on any right to engage in free and fair criticism of Israel or of anything else. Any doubts about this are negated by the fact that the definition itself explicitly states that it is “legally non-binding.”

Opposition to the IHRA definition is the indignation of bullies being called out as bullies, their belligerent tactics itemized, and their only response being to claim that they are the ones being bullied. It is a self-righteous ploy we have seen since the dawn of the anti-racist movement, now applied to antisemitism.

The adoption of the IHRA definition is a victory for the fight against bigotry and antisemitism. The opposition to the adoption shows us just how far we have left to go.

Different ways to celebrate

Meetings aren’t my favourite things, but sometimes they are stimulating or useful. At a recent meeting, I found myself thinking about the issues differently than the others in the online gathering.

Earlier this month, the Torah portion Yitro included the Ten Commandments, an important moment for the Jewish people, which we celebrate on Shavuot. We all received the Ten Commandments, and one interpretation says that this is an act of radical inclusion, because it includes all Jews. Not just the men, or the adults, or those over 13 years old, and not just those who are considered typical for one Jewish ritual or another, but everyone must be present to hear the reading of the Commandments. This means that a proper reading of the Ten Commandments should be accessible to everyone in the Jewish world, including people with disabilities of all kinds.

I have thought a lot about disability access, but I hadn’t reflected on it in terms of another holiday that is big in many Jewish communities: Yom Ha’atzmaut. At this meeting, a community leader explained – to those who had not experienced it – how the Israeli Day of Independence is celebrated here in Winnipeg. I knew she was directing her information to those who weren’t from Winnipeg. However, I’ve never been to this local event, either.

Her description was engaging: imagine a very large double gymnasium space, booths set up by many community organizations with different games, events and snacks for younger families. Then, later, kids’ choir and dance performances, and then more professional entertainment. The evening ends with fireworks.

Every year, I hear from families who have had a marvelous time at it. Yet, we have never gone. No, it has nothing to do with how we feel about Israeli politics. It has everything to do with having a child with some challenges. Early on, we knew it was impossible to manage our twins at an evening event. It messed with our bedtime schedules. It resulted in two screaming kids, overtired and unable to sleep properly. The outing wouldn’t be fun, nor would the aftermath the next day.

In the end, it wasn’t only that my twins didn’t sleep through the night until they were almost 5 years old. It was that one of my kids ended up with a diagnosis that loud noise, crowds, overstimulation and change in routines would all remain difficult for him. Sensory processing disorder, a part of his challenges, can mean a lot of things, but, for us, it means avoiding events full of noise, crowds, lights, colour and commotion – like the community-wide Yom Ha’atzmaut gathering – or splitting up parenting so that only one kid attends.

Of course, disabilities manifest themselves in lots of ways, changing and shaping our lives. Roughly 22% of Canadians age 15 and up live with some form of disability. As a younger kid, my child couldn’t stand watching movies; a short half-hour kids’ TV show was all he wanted. However, as 11-year-olds, both my kids lined up on the couch to watch The Lion King because they are doing this as a musical at school. Rather than going to a theatre or seeing it elsewhere, watching the movie at home works. It’s where we can control the volume, use a smaller screen and the pause button. This makes all the difference. Now my kid chooses, every so often, to watch an entire movie, and he thoroughly enjoys it.

As the online meeting progressed, I saw that I might be expected to work the booth at Yom Ha’atzmaut in the future. But something has shifted in me and I, too, would rather avoid this event now – both due to COVID concerns and, frankly, because it just doesn’t meet my family’s needs. Does it mean we won’t celebrate the holiday? Of course not. We’ve enjoyed our share of falafel, Israeli celebration specials streamed live online, and more, but I’ve hit a milestone of my own. I am OK with saying no to an obligation that I don’t want to do. Not everyone has to celebrate the same way to belong. Inclusion may mean that, when we gather to hear the commandments at Mount Sinai, some of us receive the message differently than others.

Part of our growth as people is getting to a place where we know who we are and what we can manage as individuals, families and as a people. I’m glad our community does this single huge event. It seems to be something treasured by several generations of Winnipeggers. That said, it’s not ideal for my family, and we don’t have to be pressured into attending it.

Jewish traditions and celebrations evolve and change over time, just as our cultural understandings of disability and inclusion do. Events that adapt to meet those needs promote Jewish continuity for generations to come. Most important, though, is knowing how to value and meet our individual needs in context of this, because, no matter what our challenges are, we are all made b’tzelem Elohim, or in the image of G-d. We all matter as part of the Jewish community, whether we attend an enormous community event or whether we stay home to celebrate instead.

Opportunity for healing

This article was originally presented as a d’var Torah called “Healing our relationship, as Jewish Canadians, with Ukraine and Ukrainians.” It was delivered at Or Shalom Synagogue on Shabbat, 14th of Tevet, 5783; Jan. 7, 2023. It is intended as a beginning of a conversation about how we, as Canadian Jews, can heal our relationship with Ukrainians and Ukraine.

When many of us Canadian Jews think about Jewish experience on Ukrainian territory, we think of antisemitic violence. We think of pogroms, of rape, of plunder. And, ultimately, of either escape or death. For those of us with personal ancestral history in the territory of Ukraine, this pairing of the land with violence is particularly acute. One Or Shalom member told me, with raw emotion, about his father’s experiences at the hands of brutal Ukrainian guards in various Nazi concentration camps. My Uncle Leo referred to Easter as pogrom season in the town of Yavorov, the town presently in western Ukraine, called Yavariv in Ukrainian, where he lived until the age of 11. He spoke to me of his childhood as a past from which he had, thankfully, escaped.

It is not uncommon for individuals to seek escape from a painful childhood past. However, we are learning from contemporary trauma theory that, as much as we may want to leave the past behind us, it lives on within us. Ukraine lives on in the deep psychic life of many of us and in the psychic life of the Canadian Jewish community with its extensive roots on Ukrainian territory.

As we are all aware, the Ukrainian people are heroically resisting a brutal assault by Russian forces. As well as eliciting fear, horror and outrage, this situation presents us with an invitation to move beyond our feelings of separation from our history on Ukrainian soil and from the Ukrainian people. The war provides us with the opportunity to claim our own legacy and place in the new, complex, multiethnic, multiracial, democratic Ukraine, with all its triumphs, challenges and contradictions. This is an opportunity for healing.

I want to share some of what I have learned that has helped me on this healing path.

If we look at the historic record of Jewish life on Ukrainian territory, we see that Jewish-Ukrainian coexistence was deep, complex and multi-dimensional. Demographically, Ukrainian territory was one of the main centres of Jewish life for more than 400 years. On the eve of the Holocaust, there were more than two-and-a-half million Jews in that area.

There were periods of horrific violence and crippling antisemitism against Jews on Ukrainian territory, as well as periods of ongoing systematic prejudice. These realities must not be overlooked or minimized. But we also see many examples of interconnection between Ukrainian Jews and ethnic Ukrainians. We see many examples of shared music with similar melodies and even bilingual songs; of similar folk stories; and of similar folk remedies and folk healing practices, with Jewish Ukrainian and ethnic Ukrainian folk healers sharing their remedies with each other and tending to both populations.

And there is considerable similarity in those quintessential Jewish activities – food preparation and consumption. This past summer, I made pickles with my Ukrainian-Canadian friend Beverly Dobrinsky, using an old family recipe of hers. The next day, I discovered the exact same recipe, grain of salt per grain of salt, in my own disordered family recipe collection.

Looking at literary translation, one of my passions, we find many examples of the translation of works between Yiddish and Ukrainian and between Ukrainian and Yiddish. In the late 1920s, Ukrainian writer Yuriy Budiak wrote two bird-themed children’s books that have been described as delightful and playful. Shortly thereafter, the books were published in Yiddish translation and enjoyed by Yiddish-speaking Jewish children. These books were recently published by Naydus Press in the United States in a trilingual edition – Ukrainian, Yiddish and English – to raise funds for the Ukrainian war effort.

During the 1930s, both Yiddish and Ukrainian writers experienced repression by the Stalinist Soviet government and experienced difficulty publishing their own writing. In response, they began translating one another’s work and the work of Soviet-sanctioned writers from one another’s cultures. The esteemed Yiddish poet Dovid Hofshteyn translated the work of Taras Shevchenko, known as “the national bard of Ukraine.” The Yiddish writer Leib Kvitko taught Yiddish to the Ukrainian writer Pavlo Tychyna, who went on to translate a number of Yiddish writers into Ukrainian.

As Prof. David Fishman from the Jewish Theological Centre in New York points out, all these similarities and interconnections‚“only happen with close contact.”

Moving into the present, by focusing solely or predominantly on past violence and persecution, we fail to take into account the cataclysmic changes Ukraine has undergone, notably since the breakup of the Soviet Union and the country’s emergence in 1991 as an independent nation with a sizable contemporary Jewish population. David Klion estimated, in Jewish Currents, that the Jewish population of Ukraine at the time of the Russian invasion in February of 2022 was more than 100,000 people.

Since independence, Ukrainians have been redefining what it means to be Ukrainian, moving from an ethnic category of belonging based on ethnic and religious identity to a civic category based on citizenship. This is an important issue for all Ukrainians, but particularly for the many individuals, including Jews, who are not ethnically Ukrainian.

Last April, I had the enormous privilege of hearing a Zoom talk organized by the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre and given by Dr. Magda Havryshko, a Ukrainian academic. Havryshko spoke of two different national narratives in Ukraine, an ethnocentric narrative focusing on the country as the homeland of the Ukrainian people, and a multiethnic narrative “that priorizes examining Ukraine’s difficult history in relation to Jews.” Havryshko shared information about several inspiring initiatives undertaken in Ukraine in relation to its Jewish population. I will outline three of these initiatives here: during the celebration of Ukrainian independence in 2021, Holocaust history and memory was central; the history of the Holocaust on Ukrainian territory is now taught in all schools beginning at the elementary level; and, lastly, President Volodymir Zelensky and his government have set out a definition of antisemitism, introducing legal punishments for antisemitic acts.

Prof. Amelia Glaser, who studies and teaches comparative literature and translation, has spoken about a desire among contemporary Ukrainian writers to “look very closely at past moments of history and of ethnic violence as Ukrainian tragedies‚” rather than solely as Jewish tragedies. The book-length poem “Babyn Yar in Voices‚” by Marianna Kiyanovska, a non-Jewish Ukrainian, about the 1941 slaughter of Jews in a ravine outside Kyiv, was recently published in English translation by Oksana Maksymshuk. Further, several works by Ukrainian Yiddish writers have been recently translated into Ukrainian, including the fabulous avant-garde Yiddish poetry of Debora Vogel and Sholem Aleichem’s Tevye, which many of you know as Fiddler on the Roof. By the way, Sholem Aleichem lived most of his adult life in Kyiv, a city that he loved.

Without in any way discounting the violence and antisemitism against Jews on Ukrainian territory, I hope I have provided a little forshpayz, an appetizer, about areas of cooperation and interconnection between Ukrainian Jews and ethnic Ukrainians. I have focused on translation and literature, two of my passions, but I encourage you to look for examples of interconnection in the areas of your own interest.

When I think about healing my relationship with Ukraine, it helps me to think about the complexity of my own identity and experience. I am the granddaughter of Jewish immigrants who fled poverty and persecution in different parts of the former Russian Empire, including Ukrainian territory, at the beginning of the 20th century. My maternal grandparents settled in Montreal; my paternal grandparents, in New York. It is telling that I do not know the specific history of the Indigenous nations in the areas in which my grandparents settled but I think I can assume that the lands had been forcibly taken from the Indigenous inhabitants. Two generations later, I continue to live on unceded (that is – stolen) territory, that of the Squamish (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh), Tsleil-Waututh (səlilwətaɬ), Musqueam (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm) and Kwikwetlem (kʷikʷəƛ̓əm) First Nations.

Canadian society is involved in a collective process of teshuvah, of redefining the relationship between us settlers and the Indigenous peoples on this land. Like all settlers, as Canadian Jews, we are challenged to take responsibility for our active involvement or silent complicity in the ongoing Canadian genocidal project against our country’s Indigenous inhabitants. Can we see our commonality with Ukrainians as we both address our brutal oppression of “the other”? Are we, as Canadian Jews, willing to embrace the complexity of our lived experience, to look both at our privilege, especially when it is experienced at the expense of others, as well as at our own painful experience of victimization? Can we hold both at once with integrity?

I finish by sharing the wisdom spoken by an Indigenous man, whose name I unfortunately did not get, at Grandview Park at this past year’s Orange Shirt Day. “When you take a step to heal, you also heal the ancestors. You heal the ones behind and the ones ahead.”

I welcome ongoing dialogue on the issues raised in this talk. Thank you for your kind and open attention.

Helen Mintz’s translation of Vilna My Vilna: Stories by Abraham Karpinowitz (Syracuse University Press, 2016) garnered three literary awards, and her translation of Janusz Korczak: Teacher and Child Advocate by Zalmen Wassertzug is under consideration by the University of Poznan Press. Mintz’s translations have appeared in In Geveb, Jewishfiction.net and Pakn Treger, and her writings about translation in Words without Borders and BC Studies. Her website is helenmintz.net.