Tag: Israel

Jerusalem a multifaceted hub

Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion, left, speaks with Rabbi Jonathan Infeld on June 9. (photo by Pat Johnson)

Against the backdrop of regional and global challenges, Mayor Moshe Lion of Jerusalem brought a message of resilience, innovation and unity to Vancouver this month during a community event co-hosted by Congregation Beth Israel, the Jerusalem Foundation and Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University.

Now in his second term as mayor of Jerusalem, Lion spoke about his vision for one of the world’s most complex and sacred cities. His priorities, he said, include improving the quality of life for all residents, expanding affordable housing, creating economic opportunities, and reinforcing Jerusalem’s role as a city that belongs not just to its citizens but to all people of faith and conscience.

“Jerusalem is not just a city for Jerusalemites,” the mayor told an audience at Beth Israel June 9. “It is the capital of the Jewish people. It belongs to every Jew in the world – and it welcomes people of all backgrounds.”

With nearly one million residents – one-third secular and religious Jews, one-third ultra-Orthodox, and one-third Muslim – Jerusalem is not an easy place to govern, Lion acknowledged.

“Every day is different. Every day brings new challenges,” he said. “But I wake up every morning and say thank you to God for the privilege of being the mayor of Jerusalem.”

A certified public accountant and former chair of Israel Railways and the Jerusalem Development Authority, Lion acknowledges the differences among his population but said he strives to represent all.

“I am the mayor of everyone,” he emphasized. “I don’t agree with everyone, but I must care for them.”

That approach was tested acutely after Oct. 7, 2023, as the entire country reeled from the Hamas terror attacks. Lion acted swiftly to prevent similar violence in Jerusalem.

“My first thought was: how do I make sure that Gaza doesn’t happen in Jerusalem?” he recalled. “And I’m proud to say that despite tensions, we did it. We stayed united. We kept the city peaceful.”

Now, Lion said, he and his administration are focused on building on a 3,000-year foundation.

“The focus is on the future, education, economic opportunity, culture, innovation,” he said. “With the Jerusalem Foundation, we are creating a city where young couples, young families, dreamers and builders can thrive.”

The mayor’s visit to Vancouver coincides with the 100th anniversary of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, founded by such visionaries as Albert Einstein, Martin Buber and Sigmund Freud. Today, its three campuses serve more than 24,000 students from diverse backgrounds – Jewish, Arab, Druze, Christian, religious, secular, immigrant and local – studying side-by-side, noted Dina Wachtel, vice-president, community affairs, Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University, who emceed the evening’s event.

Lion highlighted the strong partnership between the university and the municipality, including the construction of new buildings, and the development of employment opportunities and research programs. 

While some associate Jerusalem with prayer and problematic politics, the mayor wants people to think of it as a dynamic hub of science, culture and coexistence. Lion would like to see Jerusalem become one of Israel’s numerous high-tech hubs.

“It takes time because we have to develop it,” he said, “but we are doing it with Hebrew University.”

Projects like the Bloomfield Science Museum, the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens, and the Hebrew University Youth Division for the Advancement of Science are touching lives in both East and West Jerusalem, he said.

One standout initiative, Sahi, targets youth at risk. Teen volunteers identify families in need and then participate in programs that assist them anonymously.

“These are the young people who will shape the next Jerusalem,” Lion said. “We are investing in education, in culture, in the power of everyday kindness.”

Lion outlined ambitious infrastructure goals, including high-rise housing to prevent suburban sprawl, expanded light rail networks, and preservation of Jerusalem’s cherished green spaces. Under his leadership, annual housing unit construction has jumped from 2,000 to more than 7,500.

“Jerusalem is undergoing an evolution,” he said. “We are building not just a city, but a future – one where Jews, Muslims and Christians all have a place to thrive.”

From the revitalization of Mahane Yehuda Market – once limited to produce stands by day but now with restaurants and social life at night – to cutting-edge healthcare and high-tech campuses, Lion sees Jerusalem as Israel’s next great engine of opportunity.

Beth Israel’s Rabbi Jonathan Infeld interviewed the mayor and posed the historical question: “If you could sit with King David, Jerusalem’s first Jewish mayor, what would you say?”

“I would ask him – are you satisfied?” Lion replied. “After 3,000 years, is this what you hoped for?” He paused. “And I think he would say yes. Jerusalem is a complicated city, but it is united, it is strong, and it is ours.”

The mayor urged anyone considering making aliyah – or who knows anyone pondering the move – to choose Jerusalem as their destination.

The evening featured remarks from Joel Reitman, president and chair of the Jerusalem Foundation of Canada, and Arik Grebelsky, president of the Jerusalem Foundation. Both highlighted Canada’s deep and ongoing investment in Jerusalem’s development and social fabric, including projects that encourage academic excellence, youth empowerment and cross-cultural partnerships.

Reitman lauded Hebrew University’s role not only investing in academic excellence but in helping shape the city’s economic and civic trajectory, and spoke of the contributions made by the Jerusalem Foundation, which was founded in 1966 by the legendary, longtime mayor of the city, Teddy Kolek.

“Together, we are creating a Jerusalem that is smart, inclusive and prepared for the future,” hsaid.

While Grebelsky was in town in his capacity with the Jerusalem Foundation, he could not resist noting another connection. He is the third-generation proprietor of the company that provided the wall of Jerusalem stone behind the Beth Israel bimah, in front of which the speakers sat.

Reitman and Grebelsky traveled with the mayor on a cross-Canada tour that began in Toronto and carried on to Calgary after the Vancouver stop. 

Israel and international law

British barrister Natasha Hausdorff speaks with StandWithUs Canada executive director Jesse Primerano in Toronto on June 11, as part of a four-city Canadian tour. (photo by Dave Gordon)

British barrister Natasha Hausdorff is challenging prevailing narratives about Israel’s legal rights, arguing that the uti possidetis juris principle of international law – which mandates that newly independent states inherit their predecessor’s borders – undermines claims of “illegal occupation” and “settlements” in the West Bank and Gaza, and exposes what she calls a double standard in global responses to territorial disputes.

Hosted by StandWithUs Canada, Hausdorff spoke June 9 in Vancouver, at King David High School. On June 10, she was in Calgary and, on June 12, Montreal. On June 11, she spoke in Toronto at the Nova Exhibition, which features videos, presentations and artifacts from the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on the Nova music festival in Israel. (See jewishindependent.ca/ visiting-the-nova-exhibition.)

Uti possidetis juris “is a universal rule that applies as a default wherever there is no agreement to the contrary,” Hausdorff explained at the Toronto talk. Mandatory Palestine – which included today’s Israel, Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) and Gaza – would, by law, become Israel’s territory, at the time of independence.

In 1967, Israel recovered Judea and Samaria, the eastern part of Jerusalem and Gaza, and expected a forthcoming “land for peace” formula with Jordan, she said. But, in the 1994 peace agreement between the two countries, Jordan stepped back from any demands for territory.

Hausdorff said there are modern parallels, giving as an example the “consensus that Russia has occupied Crimea from Ukraine.” According to international law, once the Soviet Union collapsed and its former states declared independence, the states inherited the previous borders, which means Crimea is Ukrainian territory.

If Ukraine were to recover Crimea from Russia in the same way that Israel recovered East Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria from Jordan in 1967, she said, most likely no one except for Russia would complain Ukraine had taken what didn’t belong to them.

She sees world bodies guilty of a double standard, “a total inversion of international law.”

“You cannot have a general rule and an exception for a country you don’t like very much, that you have some political or ideological opposition to,” she said. “You cannot occupy what is your own sovereign territory – it puts the lie to illegal settlements, which is predicated on calling this land occupied.”

Hausdorff, an expert in international law, regularly briefs politicians and organizations worldwide on legal matters, and has spoken at parliaments across Europe.

On the charge of genocide against Israel, she said Amnesty International’s report with the allegation had faulty methodology – including using “local authorities in Gaza,” a codeword for Hamas, as a source. The report cycled through several parts of the United Nations and, in turn, made its way to the International Court of Justice, she said.

The “disinformation cycle” continues to spin its way through the media, who “are complicit in parroting this Hamas propaganda and in snuffing out the realities of the situation,” she added.

Several issues cast a pall over the international court, including that it has no jurisdiction over Israel, which isn’t a signatory – and neither is the Palestinian Authority, for lack of a state, said Hausdorff.

The International Court of Justice lost more credibility when, last year, it called for the ethnic cleansing of Jews from East Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, she said. “That is unacceptable on every basic moral level. The position that Jews should not live in certain areas simply because they are Jews is what is being advocated by the international community?” she questioned.

The court’s former president, Nawaf Salam, who left his post earlier this year to become Lebanon’s prime minister, had called Israel a terror state while he was an ambassador to the UN. “A judge like that would need to recuse himself,” she said, owing to a clear conflict of interest.

“If we are going to be honest about the drivers of this conflict,” she said, it would be “indoctrination to terror, incentivization to terror – that is what the international community needs to commit itself to counter.”

StandWithUs Canada executive director Jesse Primerano told the Jewish Independent that the speaking tour’s goal was for attendees “to hear the legal truths buried beneath the headlines.” 

“With Israel’s legitimacy and actions constantly under scrutiny, it’s more important than ever to turn to experts who can clarify the facts,” said Primerano.

“What became most clear over the week,” he said, “was this: in a world where truth is often distorted, Canadians are eager for clear, fact-based insight to push back against the rising tide of misleading narratives.” 

Dave Gordon is a Toronto-based freelance writer whose work has appeared in more than 100 publications around the world. His website is davegordonwrites.com.

Pacific JNF 2025 Negev Event

Australian actor and Israel advocate Nathaniel Buzz speaks at the June 19 JNF Canada, Pacific region, Negev Event, as National Post editor-in-chief Rob Roberts and Nova festival survivor Noa Argamani look on. (photo from JNF Pacific region)

photo - David Greaves, executive director of JNF Canada, Manitoba/Saskatchewan, and interim director, Pacific region, addresses those gathered at Congregation Beth Israel for the June 19 Pacific Negev Event
David Greaves, executive director of JNF Canada, Manitoba/Saskatchewan, and interim director, Pacific region, addresses those gathered at Congregation Beth Israel for the June 19 Pacific Negev Event. (photo from JNF Pacific region)

 

Putting allyship into action

Zara Nybo leads an Israel on Campus meeting at the University of British Columbia. Nybo is the new BC representative for StandWithUs Canada. (photo from Zara Nybo)

When Zara Nybo transferred to the University of British Columbia from Camosun College on Vancouver Island, she wasn’t sure if Hillel was a place where she belonged, since she is not Jewish. Her partner encouraged her to check it out anyway – and it set her on a course to become an ally for Jewish students.

Recently, Nybo was hired as educational outreach and content manager for StandWithUs Canada, a nonprofit dedicated to pro-Israel education and advocacy. Though still finishing her degree in sociocultural anthropology and Jewish studies, she works full-time, overseeing the Emerson Fellowship for university students in British Columbia and the Leventhal Internship for high school students in Western Canada. She’s also responsible for non-Jewish outreach and community partnerships across the province.

“I think a lot of people assume this work is just for Jewish students,” Nybo said, “but education is the pathway to peace, for everyone.”

That idea fuels her days managing fellowships, mentoring students and helping young people navigate what have become among the most emotionally and politically charged issues on campus: Israel and antisemitism. In recent years, as anti-Zionist activism – and antisemitism – have surged across Canadian universities, Jewish students have increasingly found themselves isolated and targeted. Nybo has been impacted by what she has seen.

“What really struck me,” she said, “was watching Jewish and Israeli students grow afraid to go to class, to speak openly, to walk freely with a Star of David necklace. I wanted them to know – you’re not alone. There are people who see you, who care, and who are willing to stand with you.”

Nybo’s advocacy didn’t come out of nowhere. Raised in a family that prioritized global experience over staying in one place – she moved 13 times before age 13 – she learned early how to build bridges. But it was through Hillel and a series of fellowships, including the Campus Media Fellowship, a joint initiative of Allied Voices for Israel and Honest Reporting Canada, and the Israel Leadership Network, which consisted of more than 150 of the top Israel-focused student leaders from within the Hillel movement across North America, that she gained the knowledge, tools and confidence to become a leading pro-Israel advocate at UBC.

“I used to think of antisemitism as a historic form of hatred,” she said. “But once you learn to see the invisible forms of antisemitism, you realize how present and widespread it really is. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.”

As a 2024/25 Canadian Emerson Fellow and Campus Media Fellowship alumna, Nybo staffed tables, hosted dialogues and wrote op-eds that challenged misinformation and promoted empathy. She’s continued to write ever since, crediting those programs with awakening her voice.

Now, in her leadership role, she trains others to do the same – Jewish and non-Jewish students alike.

“The Emerson Fellowship isn’t about slogans,” she said. “It’s about education. It’s about staying calm in hard conversations, being grounded in facts and speaking with authenticity – even when it’s scary.”

Nybo acknowledges she sometimes feeling “shaky” while tabling on campus. But she refuses to let fear stop her and she sees it as an important part of her role to encourage others to stand up even when it is daunting.

“Our job isn’t to scare students out of advocacy,” she said. “It’s to empower them to do it anyway.”

As tensions around Israel and antisemitism continue in Canada – on campus and beyond – Nybo is one of a small but crucial group of non-Jewish individuals who have stepped up to contest the atmosphere that is making Jews on campus uncomfortable and vulnerable.

“This isn’t just about being pro-Israel,” she said. “It’s about being anti-hate. No student – Jewish or otherwise – should walk around feeling like there’s a target on their back.”

In her new role, Nybo has already filled the BC positions open next year to Jewish and non-Jewish students seeking to broaden their knowledge and skills by participating in the programs StandWithUs Canada offers. She will oversee the students as they proceed through the range of learning and experiential projects she herself engaged in last year. These students, like Nybo, will go on to amplify the voices of Jews and allies on campus and, after graduation, take their places as leaders in the fight against antisemitism and anti-Zionism. 

Na’amat Canada marks 100

Susan Inhaber, president, Na’amat Canada (left), with Dalia Margalit-Faircloth, president, Na’amat Vancouver. (photo by Heather Freed)

Na’amat Canada and NA’AMAT USA came together last month to celebrate a milestone: 100 years of community work.

The Centennial Celebration, held in Toronto May 16-18, brought together leaders, members and supporters for a weekend filled with joy, reflection and renewed purpose. The program featured tributes, performances and presentations from Na’amat International leaders. Together, participants honoured a century of activism and achievement while charting the course for the work ahead.

Na’amat was “the first and last women’s organization for which I ever worked,” said the late Golda Meir, national secretary (president) of Na’amat in the 1930s, decades before she became Israel’s prime minister.

Founded in 1925, Na’amat Canada is a Jewish nonprofit volunteer organization dedicated to improving the lives of women, children and families in Israel and Canada through education, advocacy and social services.

“From our humble beginnings as a single organization to the growth of two vibrant organizations dedicated to empowering women and children in Israel, we can take great pride in our rich and storied history,” said event co-chairs Jan Gurvitch (NA’AMAT USA) and Susan Inhaber (Na’amat Canada). “This celebration honours not only the trailblazers who came before us but also the dedicated individuals who continue to give their time and energy to carry our mission forward.”

The weekend began with welcomes and candlelighting, continued with performances and storytelling, and culminated in a  tribute to Na’amat’s past national presidents, women who helped shape the organization’s direction for generations. Attendees also heard from Na’amat Israel leaders Hagit Pe’er and Shirli Shavit, who shared updates on urgent needs and inspiring progress on the ground.

“Today, as we honour this remarkable milestone, we celebrate not only the achievements of the past but also the enduring partnership that continues to drive our mission forward,” said Pe’er, president of Na’amat Israel and Na’amat International. “Together, we have built a legacy of resilience, compassion and progress that will inspire future generations.”

The event captured the deep sense of community that defines Na’amat: from singing and dancing, to laughter and reflection, to sharing dreams for the next 100 years.

Kanot Youth Village

After wrapping up the centennial, the occasion served as the launchpad for Na’amat Canada’s next major initiative: a fundraising campaign to equip a brand-new middle school building at Kanot Youth Village, a life-changing boarding school for at-risk youth in Israel.

“We help children cross the bridge – from being lonely to being socially connected, from failing in school to succeeding, from mistrust and alienation to belonging, connection and pride in being part of society,” said Dr. Hezi Yosef, director of Kanot, who is an expert in cognitive-behavioural psychotherapy and lectures at educational institutions and organizations in Israel and worldwide.

Founded by Na’amat in 1952, Kanot today serves 700 students, many of whom face poverty, trauma or loss. The new building – a collaborative project between Na’amat Canada, donors and Israel’s Ministry of Education – is nearly complete but, to open its doors in September 2025, it must be fully furnished and equipped.

Na’amat aims to raise $180,000 CAD to provide classroom furniture, lab tools, creative arts supplies and technology to transform the space into a vibrant learning environment.

To learn more about Na’amat’s impact or to support the Kanot campaign, visit naamat.com or call 1-888-278-0792. 

– Courtesy Na’amat Canada

Parshat Shelach Lecha

On June 21, at Ohel Yitzhak in Nahalat Shiva, Gil Zohar celebrated the 57th anniversary of his bar mitzvah. (photo Gil Zohar)

Man plans, God laughs, goes the Yiddish aphorism. For the last half year, I have been diligently learning the trope of Parshat Shelach Lecha (the Torah portion meaning Send for Yourself) to celebrate the 57th anniversary of my bar mitzvah, which I had when I was a boy in Toronto. My wife Randi and I had planned a kiddush at the historic Beit HaRav Kook synagogue near our home in downtown Jerusalem. We are members there, and enjoy the leadership of Rabbi Yitzhak Marmorstein, formerly of Vancouver’s Or Shalom. Alas, the war with Iran started. In accordance with the Home Front Command orders against large public assemblies, the shul closed. And so, we considered canceling the simchah.

While all but Jerusalem’s most essential businesses were locked down tight as a drum, the wartime defence regulations allowed synagogues near a bomb shelter to keep their doors open, with limited attendance. Hence, Ohel Yitzhak, the Sephardi synagogue in our courtyard in Nahalat Shiva, built in 1888, remained open. And so, we switched the venue from the former home and yeshivah of Abraham Isaac Kook (1865-1935) – the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of British Mandatory Palestine – to the equally historic synagogue where Ben-Zion Meir Uziel (1880-1953) – Kook’s Sephardi counterpart, who served as nascent Israel’s chief Sephardi rabbi until his death – used to pray.

The illustrious Sephardi landmark, resembling a house of worship in a mellah in Morocco, is close to the Herbert Samuel Hotel, which opened its miklat (bomb shelter) to the public as well as hotel guests. So, on June 21, undeterred by the spectre of a ballistic missile salvo, I was called up to chant Maftir and read the Haftarah. 

What’s it like when the air-raid sirens sound nightly and warplanes roar through the starry sky? Lori Nusbaum of Toronto, who came with her son, Ryan De Simone, for my second bar mitzvah, has been posting on Facebook:

“The 3rd night in Jerusalem and the 3rd siren alert went off; it was 4:35 a.m. Sleep is hard. You don’t want to be in a deep sleep and miss the [cellphone] notifications so you try to have ‘one eye open.’ There’s something strangely intimate about being in a smallish space with a bunch of strangers, some in bathrobes, carrying pillows and blankets, wearing slippers, with sleep still in their eyes. You aren’t sure if you should make eye contact or not. It’s nighttime, so conversation is not really happening. I think we all want to keep sleep in our brains, hope we can go back upstairs quickly and close our eyes for a peaceful rest of the night.”

Like many guests at the synagogue, Lori found my wartime bar mitzvah intensely emotional. “My somewhat unaffiliated son had an aliyah at one of the oldest shuls in Jerusalem,” she posted on Facebook. “Our friend, whose bar mitzvah we came to witness, literally took the tallit off his back to wrap around my son so he could go to the bimah. With tears in my eyes, so many emotions washed over me. Too many to describe adequately. This is what Israel is all about. The people who in the middle of a war come together, pray, help each other and celebrate life together. And give you the proverbial shirt off their back.”

The grim situation in which we find ourselves today parallels the Torah reading of Shelach Lecha (Numbers 13:1-15:41) and its equally pertinent Haftarah (Joshua 2:1-24).

Returning after 40 days of reconnoitring the Promised Land, the spies sent by Moses reported: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit [showing a huge cluster of grapes hanging from a stave, today the symbol of the Ministry of Tourism, proudly worn by every licensed tour guide]. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large.”

Then, Calev ben Yefune shushed the crowd declaring, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

Ten of his fellow spies (all except Joshua) disagreed – “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are” – and they spread a slanderous report about the land they had probed. Misunderstanding the many funerals they had witnessed because of the plague God had sent so that the spies would go unnoticed, they said, “The land we explored devours its inhabitants. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there [the descendants of the giant Anak]. We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

Grasshoppers? They might as well have called the Jewish people cockroaches.

In the words of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks ztz”l, this dibbat ha’aretz (slanderous report about the Land of Israel) is the language of fear and demoralization. They are big, we are small. They are strong, we are weak. They do not fear us, but we fear them. We cannot prevail.

Was this, in fact, the case? As the Haftarah makes clear, the 10 scouts could not have been more mistaken. A generation later, Joshua bin Nun too sent two spies – the same Calev, and Pinchas ben Zimri. They slept on the roof of a house belonging to Rahav the prostitute, which formed part of the walls of Jericho. Hearing about the spies, the city’s king ordered his soldiers to arrest them, but Rahav hid them and misdirected the guards. What is more interesting is what she tells the spies of the feelings of Jericho’s residents when they heard that the Israelites were on their way:

“I know that the Lord has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is in heaven above and on the earth below.”

Like contemporary Gazans and Iranians, the people of Jericho were anything but giants – they were terrified of us. The spies of Moses’s day should have known this. They had already said in the song they sang at the Red Sea: “Nations heard and trembled; terror gripped Philistia’s inhabitants / The chiefs of Edom were dismayed / Moab’s leaders were seized with trembling / The people of Canaan melted away.”

How did 10 of the spies so misinterpret the situation? They misunderstood Moses’s instructions: “Alu zeh b’Negev v’alitem et ha-har” – ascend (alu) through the south, and ascend (va’alitem) the mountain. The word “ascend” (aliyah in Hebrew) also means to overcome. (When Martin Luther King Jr. famously said, “We shall overcome,” he was citing this verse.) The spies lacked the faith that the land would be theirs, despite God’s promises, and 39 years of wandering in the desert followed.

The Jewish people, in Israel and the diaspora, experienced a crisis of confidence in 1313 BCE following the Exodus from Egypt, on the eve of entering the Promised Land. Not so today. We have no such hesitations as the Israel Defence Forces battle the regime of the latter-day Haman in Iran and its Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthi proxies. Our response is to follow Moses’s instructions: “Alu.” Ascend. Overcome. Make aliyah.

To that end, I invite you to celebrate Parshat Shelach Lecha with me at Beit Ha Rav Kook (9 Rabbi Kook St.) on June 13, 2026. Next year, in peaceful Jerusalem. 

Gil Zohar is a writer and tour guide in Jerusalem.

היהירות הישראלית עולה ביוקר

בתור אחד שגר בישראל ארבעים וחמש שנים אני מכיר מקרוב את היהירות הישראלית שרק הולכת ומתעצמת כל הזמן. הישראלים יודעים הכל, הם מבינים הכל, ישראל היא המדינה החשובה בעולם, והישראלים יכולים להסביר בקלות ללא ישראלים: מה צריך לעשות, כיצד לפעול, מה חשוב באמת ועד כמה הישראלים הם מה שבאמת חשוב

נראה לי שהניצחון הגדול במלחמת ששת הימים שהפך את ישראל למעצמה צבאית עליונה, כאשר כל מדינות העולם מכירות בהצלחתה הגדולה, היא נקודת הציון המשמעותית, כאשר מאותה עת היהירות בישראל הלכה וגדלה, הלכה והתעצמה

אנו זוכרים היטב את הכבוד הגדול לו זכרו הבכירים בצבא לאור הניצחון במלחמה שארכה רק שישה ימים. כל הדלתות נפתחו בפניהם, כולם רצו להיצמד אליהם וליהנות מחברתם. מאז גם מדד השחיתות בישראל החל לעלות וכיום הוא נוגע בשמים

תוצאות המלחמה הביאו את ישראל לשלוט בשטחים הכבושים ומאז נולדה תנועת המשיחיות שהקימה התנחלויות באזורים אלה ופגעה קשות באזרחים המקומיים הפלסטינים. גם אצל המתנחלים שמספרם הולך וגדל במשך השנים, היהירות היא תכונה בולטת אשר גורמת לנזק גדול למדינה ואזרחיה

בין הבודדים שיצא נגד חגיגות הניצחון במלחמה היה פרופ’ ישעיהו ליבוביץ’, שטען כי הניצחון ובעקבותיו אחזקת השטחים הכבושים יביאו נזק גדול לישראל בהמשך הזמן. נביא הזעם ליבוביץ’ צדק וישראל הולכת בכיוון הלא נכון, אזרחיה מפוצלים ללא אפשרות של איחוד, ממשלתה מושחתת והיא מבודדת יותר מתמיד בעולם

לאור היהירות הישראלית בעקבות תוצאות מלחמת ששת הימים, ישראל לא הייתה מוכנה וחטפה על הראש מהמצרים והסורים במלחמת יום כיפור. לממשלה, לצבא ולאזרחים בכלל היה ברור כי אף אחד לא יוכל על ישראל ואין סיכוי שהיא תופתע. המציאות הוכיחה אחרת

אחרי מלחמת יום כיפור ועדת החקירה הממלכתית, חשבנו לרגע שתהיה ירידה משמעותית במדד היהירות הישראלי אך טעינו. לא מעט ישראלים ירדו מהמדינה לאור השבר הגדול שנוצר אז, אך בחו”ל הם המשיכו לנהוג ביהירות ושחצנות לא פחותה מזו שבישראל

ואם לא הספיק המחדל הנוראי של מלחמת יום כיפור, כעבור חמישים שנה שוב היהירות והשחצנות הישראלית, הביאו את המחדל הקשה ביותר בתולדות המדינה והוא של השבעה באוקטובר. בישראל חשבו שהצבא מוכן, שהמודיעין יודע, שהגדר האלקטרונית תגן על ישראל ובעיקר יודעת הכל ממשלת נתניהו היהירה והמושחתת – וכמובן כל המערכות קרסו מול מחבלי החמאס הנוראים

אייר קנדה לא חוזרת לישראל

אייר קנדה חברת התעופה הקנדית, שהייתה אמורה לחדש את טיסותיה לישראל במהלך חודש יוני הודיעה על דחייה נוספת וצפויה לחדש טיסותיה רק בספטמבר. זאת בעקבות המצב הביטחוני והטיל ששוגר מתימן ונחת בשטח נמל התעופה בן גוריון

מנכ”לית אייר קנדה בישראל, רות בן צור, אומרת כי לאחר בדיקה מעמיקה עם גורמי הביטחון, הוחלט בחברה שלא לחדש את הטיסות לישראל. אייר קנדה מחוייבת לישראל ולהמשיך לטוס אליה, כי שהיא עושה כבר למעלה משלושים שנה. כמובן החברה מחוייבת גם ללקוחות הרבים שלה. אייר קנדה תמשיך לפעול בנחישות כאשר יתאפשר לה לחדש את הטיסות לישראל, ולספק את השירות המקצועי והאיכותי שהלקוחות רגילים אליו. אליו הערכים החשובים לאייר קנדה

כזכור אל על הפסיקה את הטיסות הישירות לקנדה במהלך חודש אוקטובר לפני כשלוש שנים. באל על הסבירו את ההחלטה על רקע חוסר כדאיות כלכלית, והמטוסים הוסטו ליעדים רווחים יותר. מדובר בהחלטה תמוהה במקצת לאור כך שבקנדה יש את אחד מהריכוזים הגדול של יהודים וישראלים בעולם

Time to vote again!

You may not know there is an election underway. Voting to elect delegates to the Canadian Zionist Federation closes Sunday, so you still have time to cast your ballot. 

Although some of us have been receiving emails urging us to vote, it’s likely that most of us don’t even know there is campaign going on. It’s not front-page news. 

Those chosen in the CZF election on Sunday will become delegates to the 39th World Zionist Congress, in Jerusalem, in October. (The legendary First Zionist Congress was convened by Theodor Herzl, in Basel, Switzerland, in 1897.)

Even if you haven’t yet heard about the elections, we think it’s worth taking a few moments to familiarize yourself with the slates, their platforms, and the role of CZF in connecting Canadian Jews to Israel. We encourage you to take this opportunity to have a small but important voice in the future of Zionism and our relationship with the Jewish homeland. Registering to vote costs $2. 

The Canadian Zionist Federation is a national affiliate of the World Zionist Organization, and is comprised of 11 national Jewish Zionist organizations. These include the religiously affiliated groups ARZA Canada, “the Zionist voice of the Canadian Reform movement,” the Conservative movement’s MERCAZ Canada, and the Orthodox Eretz HaKodesh; political groups affiliated with Israeli parties, including Likud Canada, Herut Canada and Meretz Canada; ethnically oriented groups like Shas Olami, affiliated with the Sephardi and Mizrahi Orthodox party Shas, and Mizrahi Canada; and a linguistic grouping, the Canadian Forum of Russian-Speaking Jewry, as well as the non-denominational, non-partisan youth group Young Judaea, and Ameinu Canada, “a national, multi-generational community of progressive Jews in Canada, the United States, Australia and Brazil.” The slates in this election reflect and overlap within and across these groupings.

The World Zionist Organization styles itself as “the parliament of the Jewish people,” and it convenes every five years. WZO sets priorities for the Zionist movement worldwide. It is the main global voice on policy around Israel-diaspora relations, on such topics as Jewish education funding abroad, aliyah and religious recognition. The WZO allocates hundreds of millions of dollars in funding through Zionist institutions like the Jewish Agency, Keren Hayesod (United Israel Appeal) and Jewish National Fund.

Through the Canadian Zionist Federation – and then via the World Jewish Congress – each of us is granted a say in these essential issues. If you care about Israel and its relationship with the diaspora, and you would like to have a voice in the direction of that relationship, this is one important avenue.

Take time to peruse the platforms of the various groups vying for your vote.  You may want to place particular attention on issues around the preservation of Israeli democracy, and legal protections and social equality for women and minorities in the country. Perhaps one or more of the platforms will reflect your views on how Israel can work toward peace while protecting its citizens and ensuring the long-term security of its borders.

Read the materials and see which slate best reflects your opinion on how many millions of dollars should be spent to strengthen Jewish life in Israel and worldwide. These elections – and the decisions to be taken at the Congress to which the delegates will be sent – represent the values and priorities of world Jewry. 

Israel and Jews collectively are at an unprecedented moment – and while, by definition, every moment is unprecedented, especially in Jewish history, this feels different. 

Perhaps you didn’t know you were eligible to vote. Maybe you were only vaguely aware of the Canadian Zionist Federation and what it does. You had probably heard of the First Zionist Congress but maybe didn’t know that the through-line in Zionist history continues from Basel in 1897 to Jerusalem in 2025. 

Now you know a little more. Dive deeper. And, on or before Sunday, vote at czf.ca. 

The prevalence of birds

Pelicans and cranes gather at Hula Lake in Israel. (photo from commons.wikimedia.org)

Beginning with the Book of Genesis, we read about the raven and especially about the dove: “After 40 days, Noah opened a window he had made in the ark and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. Then, he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water all over the surface of the earth; so, it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark.

“He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. When the dove returned to him in the evening, there, in its beak, was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.”

In Deuteronomy 32, we read that God Himself is compared to a bird: “Like an eagle who rouses its nestlings / Gliding down to its young / So did [God] spread wings and take them / Bear them along on pinions.”

Eagles are so important to our culture that Israel’s 1949/50 rescue of 46,000 Yemenite Jews was named Operation on the Wings of Eagles. 

Jews had lived in Yemen for millennia, experiencing both relatively good and more oppressive times. In the 20th century, especially following the United Nations Partition Plan of 1947, conditions worsened. Arab rioters in Aden – then a British protectorate on the southern tip of Yemen – killed at least 82 Jews and, in early 1948, accusations that Jews murdered two Muslim Yemeni girls led to further violence and looting of Jewish homes and businesses.

When news of the young state of Israel’s planned evacuation reached Yemeni Jews, they walked and walked, some from hundreds of miles away, to a refugee camp in Aden. Few of them had seen an airplane before and, to convince them to go aboard, someone painted an eagle with outstretched wings over the door of each craft, reflecting Isaiah’s prophesy: “They shall mount up with wings as eagles.”

Despite the attempt to keep the evacuation secret, the planes going from Yemen to Israel were routinely fired on by Egyptian forces. Pilots were warned that, if they were forced to land in enemy territory, the passengers and perhaps the crew risked being executed. Luckily, this never happened.

Di goldene pave, or the golden peacock, refers to a mythical bird that is a common symbol in Yiddish poetry. For Itzik Manger, the golden peacock symbolized Jewish resilience and optimism, and Israeli singer Chava Alberstein sings a song about the golden peacock, which you can listen to on YouTube.

There is a legend that King Solomon gave the hoopoe – Israel’s national bird – a gold crown, after the bird spreads its wings to protect the king from the sun’s rays. But then people began hunting the hoopoe for its crown. When the bird told this to the king, the king replaced the crown with a crest of feathers.

Although there are several negative comments about the raven and the ostrich in Jewish texts, there are also some positive statements made about them. For instance, the raven brought Elijah bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening. (I Kings 17:7)

In his prophecy, Micah (1:8) uses the ostrich to show what will become of the faithless. But, while the ostrich generally receives a “bum rap” in Scripture, there is no mention in any sacred Jewish writing of ostriches hiding their heads in the sand. When a threat does appear, the ostrich flattens itself on the ground. With its colouring, it is often able to camouflage itself. Furthermore, when an ostrich senses the danger is too close, it can rapidly run away. 

photo - A section of the Bird Mosaic, a large mosaic floor that was apparently part of a Byzantine villa
A section of the Bird Mosaic, a large mosaic floor that was apparently part of a Byzantine villa. (photo from commons.wikimedia.org)

Storks are mentioned in Psalms 104:16-17 and in Jeremiah 8:7 for their beauty, grace and devoted parenting: “Storks in the sky know their seasons; swallows and cranes their migration times; but my people do not know the rulings of Adonai!” 

Further, the stork appears on decorative Torah wimpels, long strips of fabric used to bind the scroll when it’s not in use. Once, they were made from the swaddling clothes of a newborn baby. (This custom began in the second half of the 16th century and lasted for a few hundred years.) After the circumcision ceremony, the fabric was cut into segments that were sewn together to form a long sash, which was embellished with painted or embroidered inscriptions and images and donated to the synagogue.

Most storks use Israel just as a stopping off point on their way to and from Europe to Africa. Sadly, according to Israeli wildlife veterinarian Dr. Rona Nadler Valency, many migrating storks are killed or injured along their journey. She blames Israeli electric and wind turbine companies, which, she claims, do not invest in measures to protect the birds.

Although the type of bird is not mentioned, it is said that birds guided the Jewish people and kept watch over their crossing during the splitting of the Reed Sea.

Psalms 84 mentions the sparrow and the swallow: “Even the sparrow has found a home / and the swallow a nest for herself / where she may have her young….”

According to Uzi Paz, author of The Birds of Israel, there are about 470 bird species in Israel today. There are three main reasons for why Israel is a haven for birds. First, for European and West Asian birds, Israel is located on a main migration route to and from Africa; these birds stay in Africa during the European winter and return to Europe when spring comes in Europe. Second, Israel provides a range of habitats. And, third, Israel stands at the crossroads of three continents and assorted climate zones.

When you visit Israel, stop near Caesarea to see the remains of a large mosaic floor that was apparently part of a Byzantine villa. It is called the Bird Mosaic because the centre part of the floor features 120 medallions, each of which contains a bird. 

Deborah Rubin Fields is an Israel-based features writer. She is also the author of Take a Peek Inside: A Child’s Guide to Radiology Exams, published in English, Hebrew and Arabic.

לאן ישראל הולכת

מלחמת הזדון של הממשלה נגד המדינה והחברה הישראלית נמשכת ללא הפוגה. התוצאות ניכרות בכל אתר. יו”ר ועדת החוקה ממשיך את מלחמתו נגד המערכת המשפטית. מצרים מאשימה את ישראל בהפרת הסכם השלום ומצמצת את שיתוף הפעולה הדיפלומטי. הולנד ונורווגיה מאיימות בהפסקת שיתוף הפעולה הצבאי והמדיני. ישראל מפליאה להכות בתימן, אבל מספיק טיל תימני אחד כדי לצמצם את מספר הטיסות לישראל מהלך שמבודד את ישראל

הצהרות מדיניות של שרים, בורים ביחב”ל מחבלות במעמדה הבינלאומי של ישראל. דירוג האשראי מצביע על סיכונים כלכליים. מתרחב הנתק בין ביבי נתניהו לדונלד טראמפ. עוד ועוד כתבות של אנשי ימין מוכיחות את הצורך המידי בהחלפת הממשלה שפשטה את הרגל גם מבחינה מדינית וגם מבחינה מוסרית

הסוציאל דמוקרטיה הישראלית מתה והחליפה אותה מין יהדות יהירה, שחצנית מבית שמאי. בעוד ההלכות כמעט כולן הן על-פי בית הילל

ומה נאמר על טראמפ: הוא שונא לוזרים. ברגע שהוא סימן את נתניהו כלוזר, כינה אותו מחסום דרכים להגיע להסדרים ואמר כי מתקפה עצימה חדשה בעזה כפי שנתניהו מתכנן היא מאמץ מבוזבז, הוא לקח אליו את המושכות והטיל את נתניהו לצד הדרך. בממשל האמריקאי גוברת תחושת המיאוס מנתניהו אחרי שטראמפ קרע את המסכה מעל פניו: הוא יודע שהוא נלחם למען הישרדותו הפוליטית בלבד, שהרי טראמפ מבין בזה דבר או שניים, כי גם הוא נרקיסיסט הפועל בעיקר למען עצמו. וברגע שטראמפ הפנים שנתניהו מהתל בו, שאין לו כוונה לסיים את המלחמה בעזה, שאין לו תכנית ליום שאחרי

טראמפ הגיע להסכמות עם החות’ים שלא כללו את ישראל, הודיע על משא ומתן ישיר עם איראן בלי לתת לנתניהו הצצה לפרטיו, ועכשיו כשהוא בסעודיה, חומד את ארמונותיה וכספה, הוא הולך להגיע כנראה להסכמים שלא כוללים נורמליזציה עם ישראל כתנאי לשיתוף פעולה עם ארצות־הברית. נותרנו מאחור, כי ראש הממשלה נתניהו הדיר עצמו – לא כי הוא חשב שהמהלכים שמקדם טראמפ הם רעים, אלא כי הם לא מתחברים לנוכלות האופפת אותו ולא מתאימים למתווה שהגה במוחו כדי להישאר בשלטון ויהי מה

טראמפ נענה לתביעותיו של נתניהו לפני כעשר שנים לצאת מהסכם הגרעין, שאמנם לא היה מושלם אבל היה טוב. היו אלו הימים שבהם נתניהו התייחס לטראמפ בהתנשאות כאל אידיוט שימושי, וניצל את חוסר הבנתו במהלכים מדיניים־ביטחוניים כדי לסובב אותו על האצבע הקטנה. הגלגל התהפך: עכשיו, טראמפ הוא זה שזוקר את אצבעו ונותן לנתניהו להסתחרר עליה. הוא עושה מה שהוא רוצה ומה שנכון בעיניו: מדבר ישירות עם חמאס כדי לשחרר חטופים. גם הוא מבין ששלום עושים עם האויב, גם כשהוא מר ואכזר. מנעד הרגשות של טראמפ מצומצם, אבל נושא החטופים נגע לליבו, והוא נרתם להביא לשחרורם מהמנהרות בעזה

טראמפ דוהר עתה למזרח התיכון כשהוא נחוש לשנות אותו מהיסוד: משימתו היא להביא לסיום המלחמה בעזה, לשחרור החטופים ולשיקום הרצועה. הוא מגייס את סעודיה ושאר מדינות המפרץ כדי להוביל מהלך גדול: גם הסכם עם איראן שנתניהו לא שותף בסודותיו, גם שיתוף מדינות ערב בתכניות היום אחרי בעזה

בימין הישראלי שמחו וצהלו על בחירתו של טראמפ וסילוקו של ביידן. הם טעו לחשוב שהוא יהיה המריונטה שלהם. טראמפ הראה להם שהוא לא סופר אותם: הוא חדור מטרה להביא למהפך של שלום באזור, שישרת אותו היטב – הוא גם יקבל מקטאר ארמון מעופף, וגם סעודיה תזרים מילארדים לארצות־הברית