Before Passover, a relative of ours in New Jersey asked if we would have problems getting Manischewitz wine. I told her all would be fine. Even though US alcohol had been taken off Manitoba\u2019s shelves, we would just buy other brands of kosher wine instead, I said.<\/p>\n
I felt confident about this possibility until I marched to the kosher section of the wine shop and saw the notification. The store encouraged us to buy whatever was available \u201cright now\u201d because all kosher wine, no matter where it is made, is imported through the United States. We were fine for Passover and, to be honest, my family is more flexible about wine the rest of the year, so the situation didn\u2019t worry me too much.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A Manischewitz joke from my mom, visiting from the States, made me wonder about how much kosher wine is available now in Manitoba, and I did some googling. Between the provincially run Liquor Marts and the private wine shop that caters to those who keep kosher, I saw about six wine varieties available.<\/p>\n Then, my husband told a story he\u2019d heard from someone attending minyan. Their family kept kosher. To get the kosher wine they wanted during Manitoba\u2019s ban on US alcohol, they placed a special order with Happy Harry\u2019s liquor store in Grand Forks, ND. The dad drove from Winnipeg, crossed the border, picked up two cases of wine, paid the duty at the border and drove home again. It was a 470-kilometre round trip, more or less, to resolve the issue.<\/p>\n You don\u2019t think a lot about this when supply chains function between countries, but, in the absence of kosher wine imports, you have whatever odds and ends are left \u2013 and Kedem grape juice, which is still available.<\/p>\n Plenty of Jewish Canadians may be asking what they will drink on the holidays. This made me think about the Babylonian talmudic tractate I\u2019ve just started studying, Avodah Zara. This tractate, compiled by about 500 CE, concerns how one lives alongside idol worship. It considers issues like whether Jews should do business with non-Jews before their festivals, because the money they earn might go towards ritual sacrifice to idols.<\/p>\n It gets more specific though. Jews lived in diverse places, with many different cultures around them. The rabbis wondered, what if there were a water fountain and the water spurted out of a Greek god or an idol? Jews may not drink \u201cfrom Zeus\u2019s lips.\u201d<\/p>\n The rabbis then suggest a more concerning health issue about these fountains with pipes. There was danger, they posit, because these pipes brought water from ponds or rivers. You might swallow a leech. Medical suggestions about what to do if you swallow a leech (or, heaven forbid, a hornet) follow. Apparently, one is allowed to boil water on Shabbat to deal with this problem, or swallowing vinegar might help.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This discussion on Avodah Zarah, page 12, examines how to deal with many issues in communities where we Jews interact with others, working and living together, specifically mentioning Gaza and Bet She\u2019an. Yes, those two locations have been in the news \u2026 funny how little changes.<\/p>\n This tractate page describes how to cope with another even more difficult dilemma. During this period \u2013 the Mishnah was compiled by about 200 CE, and the Gemara was added by 500 CE \u2013 some people believed that Shavrirei, a water demon, came out at night. If you got thirsty at night, you must wake up someone else to accompany you, as the demon would only be a problem if you were alone. However, if you were alone and thirsty, there was another solution. One knocked on the jug lid and recited an incantation: \u201cshavrirei verirei rirei yirei rei<\/i>.\u201d\u00a0Maybe reducing the name of the demon at each repeat results in causing the demon to disappear, too?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n To most modern thinkers, this whole approach will seem bizarre. An entire tractate is devoted to avoiding idol worship, since Jews believe in only one G-d. Yet, at that time, Jews also seemed to believe that dangerous demons existed, swallowing leeches could be resolved by consuming hot water, and a person would die from swallowing a hornet but might delay their demise by drinking vinegar. Worldviews are complicated, and full of contradictions.<\/p>\n These days, Jews, both in Israel and the diaspora, live in community with non-Jews. We must cooperate and get along even when our traditions don\u2019t jibe. Further, we must consider when our actions are meaningful and when they\u2019re tokenism. Some examples of avoiding idol worship suggest that Jews should avoid even the appearance of worshipping idols. For instance, if you get a thorn in your foot near an idol statue, don\u2019t bow down there to pull out the splinter! It looks bad.<\/p>\n From the outside, sure, Jews in Canada can stand behind our country\u2019s counter-tariffs and the choices made by our country and provinces to deal with trade issues. It\u2019s within the rights of provinces to pull US alcohol from our shelves. That said, how then do Jewish families who require kosher wine to say Kiddush, celebrate Shabbat or weddings or holidays? According to at least one household, it requires crossing the border, paying the duty and getting on with things.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not clear whether the counter-tariffs, lack of US alcohol sales or decreased Canadian tourism to the United States will make any difference in the Canada-US trade relationship. Like the incantation to get rid of the demon Shavrirei, perhaps reducing the names of those who bother us makes them disappear. Maybe it\u2019s just a ritual that makes us feel better. We can\u2019t tell from here.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Over time, our priorities differ. Sometimes, we\u2019re scared of a water demon. Other times, we\u2019re feeling thrashed about by trade talks with an \u201corange\u201d ruler of a different sort. In both cases, we might respond with token acts or incantations, which mostly don\u2019t change things. Yet, the rabbis point out, water is essential to life. We must drink, so we come up with hopefully safe solutions to quench our thirst. Wine is a little less necessary, but we bless it multiple times a year, so does the kosher wine shortage matter more now? The issue creates discord between our Canadian and Jewish identities, as we live in the diaspora.<\/p>\n Perhaps all will be resolved when Canada\u2019s internal trade between provinces improves. Maybe we\u2019ll think less about this when the weather cools and we\u2019re not quite so \u201cthirsty.\u201d Here we are, almost 2,000 years after these issues were first discussed, still wondering the best ways to live in diverse societies, meet our needs and get along with our neighbours.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Joanne Seiff <\/b>has written regularly for the <\/i>Winnipeg Free Press and various Jewish publications. She is the author of three books, including <\/i>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<\/a> or at joanneseiff.blogspot.com<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Before Passover, a relative of ours in New Jersey asked if we would have problems getting Manischewitz wine. I told her all would be fine. Even though US alcohol had been taken off Manitoba\u2019s shelves, we would just buy other brands of kosher wine instead, I said. 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