Israelis build bridges

REBECA KUROPATWA

Strengthening Israeli communities abroad, welcoming Israelis into their respective Jewish communities and encouraging an ongoing dialogue with the state of Israel was the focus of the first gathering of the World Council of Israelis Abroad. Held in Toronto last month, the conference was sponsored by UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, Jewish Agency for Israel, the Israeli nonprofit organization Mishelanu and the Israeli Ministry of Diaspora Affairs.

Diaspora Israelis from around the world spoke about experiences in their respective communities, representing the voices of the nearly one million Israelis living in communities outside of Israel. One of those speakers was 40-year-old Ron East, who has called Winnipeg home since moving from Israel to the city with his family in 1982. He spoke about the organization he founded, Canada Sheli (My Canada), that works to connect the Israeli and general Jewish communities in Canada. East wants to fill what he sees as a “void in the community when it came to social and cultural events related to Israel.” For example, it was through a Canada Sheli program that Winnipeg became the first Canadian community to hold a rally in a show of support for Israel during the Second Lebanon War.

After a tough time getting his organization off the ground, East is in the midst of reinventing Canada Sheli. “I’ll be bringing something new to it, with a different format that will be even better for the community overall. We’ll definitely still continue organizing informal events, providing job, school, housing and networking information to newcomers, and being Israeli advocates.”

Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Member of Knesset Yuli-Yoel Edelstein called the conference an important event in an historic time. He talked about his support for giving Diaspora Israelis the right to vote in Israeli elections, as it would be unlikely, in his opinion, that these votes would change an election outcome, but might affect the degree of voters’ connectedness to Israel. Edelstein also suggested that the second conference be held in Jerusalem.

“People in Israel and everywhere are realizing we live in a global world, and this is just part of the 21st century,” said East. “Instead of the state of Israel alienating Israelis who move abroad and making them feel like traitors, the country is starting to welcome them back into the fold, with gestures like this World Council. Diaspora Israelis are invaluable to the state of Israel and the Jewish communities they reside in and should be treated as such.”

According to East, people leave Israel and move abroad for a number of reasons, for economic reasons, sometimes to avoid serving in the army, personal politics, safety concerns, education opportunities, family structure (if they marry someone from abroad, etc.) or wanting to change or better their lives. “My parents moved us here to recharge their batteries for a short time. But then, we saw how much less stressful life is here. Then, one year led to the next and we stayed.

“I am married with two young children. I want my kids to know about their Israeli and Jewish heritage, how to speak Hebrew ... and we’ll definitely visit Israel together regularly,” he added.

One subject discussed at the meeting was that of second- and third-generation Israelis living abroad. “We spoke about how they often lose their connection to Israel and Judaism and more often intermarry than other Jews abroad,” said East. “It’s important for us to find ways to keep them connected.”

According to him, the intention of the conference was to form the World Council, but, he said, “It ended up being more introductory and educational, just to get things going. The next step depends a lot on the degree of the desire of the participants to make this happen. It will take some work to get everyone to sit around the same table and agree on our mission. Although the meeting result wasn’t what I expected, it’s a first step in a positive direction. It takes time for something to grow when you plant a seed.”

Speaking on behalf of Toronto’s Jewish community, Ted Sokolsky, president and chief executive officer of UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, explained to conference participants that Toronto’s Federation has slowly begun to understand some of the issues with the Diaspora Israeli community. “It sounds funny ... but the Israeli Canadian has been born. We learned a lot from Israelis, probably more than they have from us. We’re an immigrant society ... [yet] for some reason, we’re insensitive to the immigration experience of Israelis to Toronto.”

Rebeca Kuropatwa is a Winnipeg freelance writer.

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