{"id":40031,"date":"2022-12-09T02:50:09","date_gmt":"2022-12-09T10:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=40031"},"modified":"2022-12-07T19:31:19","modified_gmt":"2022-12-08T03:31:19","slug":"neville-sworn-in-with-shofar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2022\/12\/09\/neville-sworn-in-with-shofar\/","title":{"rendered":"Neville sworn in with shofar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anita Neville\u2019s swearing-in ceremony on Oct. 24 included the blasts of a shofar blown by her rabbi, Anibal Mass. (screenshot)<\/em><\/p>\n

Anita Neville says she \u201cfeels the responsibility\u201d of being the first Jewish person to be appointed as the lieutenant governor of Manitoba \u2013 an office she was sworn into on Oct. 24, using a Hebrew Bible.<\/p>\n

For the next five years, the vice-regal residence in Winnipeg will be where Neville calls home. And she was quick to start carrying out official duties like laying the first wreath during the province\u2019s Remembrance Day ceremony, and reading the government\u2019s Speech from the Throne to open a new Manitoba Legislature session on Nov. 15.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole thing is new. The protocol is new. I\u2019m fortunate that there are very knowledgeable, experienced people around me, so that makes it easier,\u201d Neville told The CJN Daily<\/em> in an interview from Government House, acknowledging that she has a steep learning curve for her new role.<\/p>\n

Which is why, shortly after her swearing-in, Neville flew off to attend a round of orientation meetings. She also learned that she will be going to Buckingham Palace, at some point, to present her credentials to King Charles III.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are three others who have not presented their credentials to the monarch, so there are four of us in line,\u201d said Neville. \u201cI don\u2019t know where I am in the order, but I look forward to it very much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Couldn\u2019t lose face with grandson<\/strong><\/p>\n

Neville was at her cottage with her grandchildren in July when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called to offer the position. She took time to think about whether she wanted this very public role. After all, she already had a fulfilling career in community service, including as chair of the city\u2019s public school board, and then 11 years as the Liberal member of Parliament for Winnipeg South Centre, from 2000 to 2011. She\u2019s also deeply involved in Jewish community matters, with her synagogue Shaarey Zedek, and the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada.<\/p>\n

At first, some members of Neville\u2019s family were worried the new position might be too much for their 80-year-old mother and grandmother.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got a very bad back,\u201d she said. Neville walks with the assistance of a cane.<\/p>\n

But her decision was made after she thought about her grandparents and her roots, having been born in the traditional Jewish immigrant neighbourhood in the North End of the city, then growing up after the Second World War, when barriers to advancement still existed for Jews.<\/p>\n

What clinched it was when a grandson scolded her and said, \u201cHow could you not take the job? How many people get this opportunity?\u201d Neville felt that she didn\u2019t \u201cwant to lose face with Aaron.\u201d<\/p>\n

Considering saying no was \u201cbeyond his comprehension,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Jewish and Indigenous touches<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 26th lieutenant governor in Manitoba\u2019s history made sure to put her own stamp on the official swearing-in. The formal ceremony was full of Jewish symbolism.<\/p>\n

It not only involved her choice of Bible to swear the oath, but it also had the piercing blasts of a shofar blown by her rabbi, Anibal Mass \u2013 who delivered blessings and then led the audience with a loud \u201cMazel tov!\u201d<\/p>\n

The opportunity is something the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants in Winnipeg\u2019s North End never dreamed would be possible for somebody with such origins.<\/p>\n

In her speech, Neville told the audience that her grandparents fled Bessarabia and Odessa a century ago, to escape a climate of murderous antisemitism, and to find freedom and opportunity in Canada.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted \u2026 the larger community of Manitoba to be aware of who I am and where I came from,\u201d she said. \u201cI did it thoughtfully. I don\u2019t think I was over the top.\u201d<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t only having Jewish rituals that marked a departure from previous swearing-in ceremonies. Neville pushed to include Indigenous people in the program, which she claims is the first time this has happened. It stems from her own decades of work on their behalf, and it will likely be a key part of her mandate.<\/p>\n

An Indigenous elder, Myra Laramee of the Fisher River Cree Nation, delivered an invocation during the ceremony, and even called her longtime Jewish friend by the title of \u201cAuntie.\u201d<\/p>\n

A positive signal: Neville<\/strong><\/p>\n

Neville\u2019s swearing-in also came just three days before the Manitoba government adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, becoming the fifth Canadian province to do so. (Canada adopted it nationally in 2019.)<\/p>\n

While she did not have anything to do with the timing, and did not work behind the scenes on that file, Neville agrees both things are good for Jews.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think, for the Jewish community, it is a signal of positive acceptance, integration,\u201d Neville said. \u201cNot that it wasn\u2019t there before, but it\u2019s a kind of stamp. It\u2019s like getting a check mark.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neville isn\u2019t the first Jewish person to hold a similar appointment in Canada: that milestone was pioneered by Myra Freedman, who served as Nova Scotia\u2019s lieutenant governor from 2000 to 2006. (Freedman held Shabbat dinners at the official residence and kept kosher.)<\/p>\n

For her part, Neville plans to install a mezuzah at the entrance to her private quarters when she moves into the century-old Government House. And she won\u2019t serve pork or shellfish.<\/p>\n

When she was initially appointed, a friend immediately called<\/p>\n

her, half-jokingly anticipating an invitation for the fast-breaking meal at the end of Yom Kippur. All Neville can say to that for now is, \u201cWe\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Centre-left stance on Israel<\/strong><\/p>\n

Neville is a long-standing supporter of Israel, and her appointment comes amid rising antisemitism, including a torrent of hate for Israel and Zionism.<\/p>\n

B\u2019nai Brith Canada\u2019s annual audit reported 223 anti-Jewish incidents in Manitoba last year, up from 92 in 2020, and 83 the year before that, according to Janna Minikovich, a spokesperson for the group.<\/p>\n

Does Neville fear becoming a target for anti-Jewish sentiment in her new role? During her days in Parliament, she remembers receiving some hate mail, but she declined to comment further on her current opinions on Israel, besides describing those views as \u201ccentre left.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neville co-chaired the Liberal Parliamentarians for Israel caucus when she was an MP. Moreover, in the House of Commons, she raised the plight of the 800,000 Jewish refugees expelled from Arab lands, saying people needed to pay attention to this historic injustice.<\/p>\n

But she also criticized Stephen Harper\u2019s Conservative government for cutting federal funding to KAIROS Canada, an aid agency supported by several churches. The group supports the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel as a method of combating what it considers oppression of Palestinians. (Neville said at the time that, without clear explanations of the change in funding, it appeared Canada was stifling criticism of Israel.)<\/p>\n

Operation Ezra volunteer<\/strong><\/p>\n

Neville has long been an advocate for social justice causes. One that is dear to her heart involves her work with a Jewish-led rescue organization in Winnipeg, Operation Ezra. The group has worked with other faith communities since 2015, to help bring 65 Yazidi refugees to Canada. (The federal government has brought in hundreds more under a federal sponsorship program starting in 2017.)<\/p>\n

In between rehearsals for the Speech from the Throne and planning her move-in date to her new quarters, Neville made sure to turn up at the Winnipeg airport to greet the latest new arrival.<\/p>\n

Ayad Alhussein, now 13, was captured by ISIS forces in 2014 \u2013 along with his entire family \u2013 when the Islamic extremists took over much of Iraq and Syria and set up a caliphate. Yazidis are not Muslims, and they were ordered to convert, or be killed. Ayad was just 5 years old at the time, and was kept prisoner for five years, until he escaped. He had been living in a displaced persons camp in Iraq, while two of his surviving sisters made it to Canada.<\/p>\n

According to Michel Aziza, co-chair of Operation Ezra, it took constant pressure by the committee on local MPs and on immigration officials to get Ayad\u2019s paperwork processed. \u201cThe world moved on, from Yazidis, to Afghans, to Ukrainians,\u201d said a frustrated Aziza after Neville welcomed the slightly overwhelmed teenager.<\/p>\n

Scenes like this underline why Neville\u2019s swearing-in speech referred to her core values of \u201ctikkun olam and tzedakah,\u201d referring to herself as a descendent of refugees.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that the Jewish community \u2026 because of what [feedback] I\u2019ve received, has been very happy and very pleased with my appointment. And I feel the responsibility of it, let me tell you.\u201d<\/p>\n

To listen to Ellin Bessner\u2019s podcast with Anita Neville, visit thecjn.ca\/news\/anita-neville-profile<\/a>. The swearing-in ceremony can be viewed at youtube.com\/watch?v=d0i3C2lce-g.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anita Neville\u2019s swearing-in ceremony on Oct. 24 included the blasts of a shofar blown by her rabbi, Anibal Mass. (screenshot) Anita Neville says she \u201cfeels the responsibility\u201d of being the first Jewish person to be appointed as the lieutenant governor of Manitoba \u2013 an office she was sworn into on Oct. 24, using a Hebrew […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40035,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[21959,218,21960,6797,8108],"class_list":["post-40031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","tag-anita-neville","tag-judaism","tag-lieutenant-governor","tag-manitoba","tag-operation-ezra"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}