הדמוקרטיה בישראל הולכת ונחלשת וראש הממשלה הכוחני שחושב רק על טובתו מנצל את המצב, בזמן שהציבור הרחב נשאר אדיש. כך דמוקרטיות מוחלפות בדיקטטורות ותופעה מדאיגה זו הולכת וצוברת תאוצה
ראש הממשלה המושחת, בנימין נתניהו, מחזיק במושכות השלטון כבר שבעה עשרה שנים והוא לא חושב לפרוש. הוא מנהל את המדינה ביד רמה, עושה כרצונו ומחליף את אלה שמתנגדים לו בנאמנים חלשי אופי שיסורו למרותו. נתניהו התעשר על חשבון ישראל ולמרות שכיסיו נפוחים הוא לא חושב בכלל לפרוש. יש המאמינים שבבחירות המתוכנות בישראל בסוף השנה הבאה, נתניהו יובס ויעלם מהמפה. אך לא בטוח כלל שזה יקרה כאשר האופוזיציה בישראל היא כה חלשה ולא רלוונטית. מתנגדי נתניהו האמינו שהוא יעלם לאחר אירועי השבעה באוקטובר וזה לא קרה. לאחר מכן הם חשבו שעד סוף שנה שעברה, ממשלת נתניהו תיפול וגם זה לא קרה. הנוכל נתניהו עושה כל הזמן מאמצים עיליים להמשיך להחזיק במושכות השלטון, תוך שהוא מרפד את מקורביו. אצל נתניהו רשימת האחראים לכישלון הנוראי של השעבה באוקטובר היא גדולה וכוללת את ראשי הצבא ומערכת הביטחון, אך לא אותו. כרגיל כמו בכל שנות שלטונו נתניהו מעולם לא לקח אחריות על מעשיו ומחדלים הרבים. הוא זה שטיפח את החמאס בכסף גדול שהגיע קטאר, ולא מן הנמנע שגם הוא קיבל כמה מזוודות של כסף לחשבונותיו בחו”ל. בטימטומו כי רב במקום לחזק את הרשות הפלסטינית ולהחליש את החמאס נתניהו עשה את הבחירה הלא נכונה
לנתניהו יש עדת מעריצים לא קטנה שיעשו הכל כדי שימשיך להישאר על כיסא המלך. זה בכלל לא מעניין אותם שהוא מושחת, שהוא אחראי הראשי לכישלון הביטחוני הגדול ביותר בתולדות ישראל, ושהוא אחראי על פירוק ופילוג החברה בישראל ועוד ועוד. אצל תומכי נתניהו התהליכים המשפטיים נגדו אינם חוקיים והם מנוהלים על ידי גורמים המתנגדים לו. זה הרי לא חדש שעבריינים לא יקחו אחריות על מעשיהם ויאשימו את מערכת המשפט בחוסר צדק. כך גם אצל נתניהו ואנשיו
מכר מהעבר ציין בפני נתניהו ניהל את המלחמה מאז השבעה באוקטובר בהצלחה מרובה ומגיע לו ציון לשבח על כך. אני לא זוכר שבישראל מישהו ציין את הצלחתה של ראש הממשלה, גולדה מאיר, לנהל את המלחמה אחרי השישה באוקטובר בה נפתחה מלחמת יום כיפור, לאחר האחריות הגדולה שלה לכישלון ההוא, שהוא מתגמד לעומת הכישלון של נתניהו בשבעה באוקטובר. מאיר חשבה אפילו להתאבד לאחר פריצת מלחמת יום כיפור אך זה לא יקרה אצל נתניהו, כי הרי מי שלא לקח מעולם אחריות על מחדליו הרבים ישן בשקט גם לאחר השבעה באוקטובר
אותו מכר מצא גם במדויק את האשם האחראי למחדל השבעה באוקטובר. אצלו כמובן זה לא נתניהו אלה “אלוהים שהעניש אותנו”. דברי שטות הבל אלו מוכיחים עד כמה בישראל של היום לא מנסים להוריד את נתניהו, אלה דווקא מנסים לחזק אותו
כאמור הדמוקרטיה בישראל הולכת ונחלשת וזה לא טעות, אלה מעשה מכוון על ידי נתניהו ואנשיו. אך ראוי לציין כי באותו זמן מרבית הציבור הישראלי נשאר אדיש, לא יוצא לרחובות ולא עושה מספיק כדי להיפטר מנתניהו הנוכל
האופוזיציה בישראל חלשה בצורה מבישה ולא נמצאים מנהיגים רציניים שיכולים לאיים על הכוחנות של נתניהו. באם הציבור בישראל לא יתעשת במהרה ויפעל בכל דרך להחליף את נתניהו, ישראל תמשיך בשקיעתה אל מחוזות גרועים מאוד
Healing Space has treated more than 20,000 people since it began in response to the trauma caused by the Oct. 7 terror attacks and the ensuing war. (photo from Healing Space)
“It’s important to talk about it because there are still hostages who have been living Oct. 7 every day for over a year-and-a-half. It’s important to talk about it because antisemitism around the world is growing stronger, and there are people who deny or justify the horrors we went through that day. This is not a political matter – it’s a matter of humanity. It’s about human lives,” Raz Shifer, a survivor of Hamas’s horrific terror attack on the Nova music festival, told the Independent.
Shifer, who lives in Giv’atayim, Israel, will be joining Vancouver’s community Yom Hazikaron ceremony on April 29 and Yom Ha’atzmaut celebration on April 30. Another Nova survivor, Inbal Binder, from Petah Tikva, will be coming here as well, and she and Shifer will, among other activities, participate in the events, visit several local Jewish schools and address Federation’s Regional Communities Conference.
Also coming to Vancouver is Dr. Ilana Kwartin, chief executive officer of Healing Space Rishpon, where both Shifer and Binder have participated in workshops and treatments. She has some meetings lined up, but the Israel-related events are the main purpose of the visit.
“In addition, I’m happy to meet people one-on-one or book speaking engagements for groups, communities and teams, where we can share the story of our work and, through that, the story of Israel at this time,” she said.
Healing Space Rishpon was created by Dr. Lia Naor in response to the trauma caused by the Oct. 7 attacks and the ensuing war. With Ra’anan Shaked, therapists and volunteers, Naor set up a centre at Ronit Farm in Sharon that operated for just over a month. With Patrizio Paoletti and Rani Oren, a permanent base was then established in Rishpon. Since Healing Space began, more than 140 therapists have given almost 60,000 hours to treating more than 20,000 people in 16 trauma-healing modalities.
Kwartin became CEO right after Oct. 7. She and her family live in Eliav, a yishuv she helped found, which is in the northern Negev, abutting the separation barrier.
“The Black Shabbat of Oct. 7 upended my life, like it did for so many others, and as we – individuals, families, communities and a nation – mourn, work to pick up the pieces, mend what can be repaired and rebuild where it cannot, I put my personal and professional background to use as the CEO of this one-of-a-kind haven,” she told the Independent.
Dr. Ilana Kwartin, chief executive officer of Healing Space Rishpon, is coming to Vancouver with Nova music festival survivors Raz Shifer and Inbal Binder for Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut. (photo from Healing Space Rishpon)
Kwartin was born in the former Soviet Union and made aliyah in 1987, growing up in Jerusalem. “As an officer in the IDF, I served as a tatzpitanit [spotter] in Nachal Oz and later as a founding commander of the Netzarim observation post, and the tragedy of the tatzpitaniyot struck me deeply,” she said, referring to the female military unit that warned of a potential terrorist attack and whose soldiers were among the first killed and kidnapped on Oct. 7.
With BAs in law and psychology from Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Kwartin earned an MA in conflict resolution from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Her book, Imprisoned, came from her PhD dissertation on honour-based confinement, which she did at Bar-Ilan University. The stories have inspired activist initiatives across Israel and informed legislation, she said.
Kwartin lectured in law at Sapir College, where she built their legal internship placement program and founded a centre of legal activism, A House of their Own. “More recently,” she said, “I spent three years on shlichut in Los Angeles as the director of Jewish Agency operations on the West Coast. With the outbreak of war in Ukraine, I traveled to the Ukrainian border to help rescue Jewish refugees and bring them to Israel.”
Kwartin’s work at Healing Space Rishpon changes every day. “The programs are so varied and cover many groups of the Israeli population,” she said. “But the most meaningful part is the people who work here – very similar to me, they left everything they were doing and started working at Healing Space to repair the emotional damage we all see around us. They work tirelessly, in uncertain conditions, long hours, doing the hardest work imaginable. It is thanks to the team that Healing Space makes such a big difference in people’s lives.”
Binder found out about Healing Space inadvertently.
“I had heard there was a treatment centre you could go to, but I wasn’t in a mental state that allowed me to reach out for it,” she explained.
“Later on, I was looking for something that could get me out of the house in the mornings and help create a daily routine. By chance, I came across an ad for a new rehabilitative employment program at Healing Space and it sounded amazing – working with my hands, being in a warm and supportive environment, where I could focus on myself and begin a new movement in my life.”
Binder worked as a beautician before Oct. 7 and, while not currently working, she is taking courses, most recently completing one in conscious psychotherapy. She started going to Healing Space early in the war. It “was the first time I realized that another way was possible – that someone was truly listening to me,” she said.
“More than that, I got to experience treatments I never imagined I’d try, like sound healing and yoga therapy. These are treatments I still do to this day, to help maintain my emotional balance and regulate my body.”
At Healing Space, she added, “Even my mom, who was never really drawn to holistic healing, found a deep connection with one of the therapists and opened her heart to her – that really moved me.”
A group gathered outside at Healing Space Rishpon. (photo from Healing Space)
From a place of not wanting to do anything or face anything, Binder said, “I now want to grow. I want to move forward and live a good life. And none of this would have happened without the process I went through over the past six months.”
Binder’s Vancouver visit will be the first time she is telling her story publicly.
“Honestly,” she said, “it’s a little overwhelming to come and talk about my healing journey. It also means recognizing my story – and that alone is a challenge for me. I feel both excited and nervous – telling my story for the first time and receiving acknowledgment for it.
“It’s important for people to hear about the massacre because it was a Holocaust repeating itself,” she said. “The Jewish people are once again in danger, and it’s crucial to echo these stories, to make sure people know and remember.
“Beyond that, the connection between Jews in Vancouver and Jews in Israel – to build strong, deep connections across Jewish communities around the world – that connection is what has always kept us strong as a people.”
Binder attended the Nova festival with her sisters.
“It was actually the first evening that my sister’s boyfriend was introduced to our parents,” she said. “From there, the four of us drove to the party in the south.
“In the morning, when the rockets started, I called my mom to let her know and said we were heading home. We got delayed near the party because one of our friends had a panic attack, and we waited with her.
“We made it to the car, but it took time to decide what to do. At 8:30 a.m., the boyfriend took the lead, called his father, picked us up in the car, and we escaped through the fields. His father navigated him over the phone throughout the whole drive, and that’s how we managed to get out safely. Which is crazy in itself – the reality was so different for so many others. It felt like we were in a divine bubble that protected us.”
“It was the scariest day of my life,” said Shifer of Oct. 7. “I didn’t know if I would make it back home or not, and I didn’t know which of my friends would survive. It was a feeling of helplessness, complete loss of control and sheer terror.”
Unlike Binder, who is only now beginning to share her story, Shifer – who is an actor, singer and artist – has been interviewed by media around the world and has spoken at schools, universities and synagogues.
“I also found myself advocating and telling our story through music during performances,” she said. “In addition, I led tours for people who came to the Nova site and shared my personal story with them.”
Initially, Shifer refused to leave her house after Oct. 7.
“Friends told me there was a place where survivors go to heal, but I was too afraid to go outside and couldn’t bring myself to get there,” she said. “Then, one day, a volunteer came to my home and helped me take that first step – to leave the house and arrive at Healing Space. From that day on, something opened up in me, and I began coming every week.”
Healing Space has helped Shifer cope with her trauma in many ways.
“First of all, the location,” she said. “You arrive at a place full of trees and greenery – everything is peaceful and calming.
“There’s something comforting about sitting among people who have been through something similar to me,” she continued. “The therapists at the centre are kind and embracing. The shared music circles helped me find my way back to music. But, more than anything, it’s the feeling that I’m not alone. That I am seen. That there’s a place that can hold me.”
People at Healing Space Rishpon have had similar experiences. (photo from Healing Space)
The body treatments have allowed Shifer to release some stress and start letting down her defences.
“The long-term project I joined under Healing Space gave me the tools to return to a routine and become an active human being again,” she said. “Healing Space is a deeply meaningful part of my recovery process – and I honestly don’t know what I would have done without them.”
To register to attend Yom Hazikaron or buy tickets ($18) for Yom Ha’atzmaut, visit jewishvancouver.com.
Sabbath Queen is a film about the life of Amichai Lau-Lavie, part of a rabbinic dynasty going back 38 generations. (still from film)
The 36th annual Vancouver Jewish Film Festival runs April 24 to May 4, beginning with opening night film Midas Man, which “offers Beatles fans a fresh look at the pivotal role Brian Epstein played in the band’s meteoric rise.” An enormous range of dramatic and documentary films, features and shorts, fill out the festival’s run, and the Independent reviews some of them here.
Tradition!
Hester Street, based on Abraham Cahan’s 1896 Lower Eastside immigrant novel Yekl, was released in 1975, about the same time as Fiddler on the Roof. The movie approaches some of the same topics of assimilation and tradition, without the song and dance.
Yankl (now Americanized Jake, played by Steven Keats) transforms from a yeshivah bocher to a shmatte sweatshop worker. Along comes Gitl, the wife who had waited behind in Russia, and young son Yossele who, payos cut off, becomes Joey.
The 50th anniversary of the film’s release reminds us that the 1970s were a time of nostalgia and of Jewish narratives that both idealized and lamented the American dream. In Hester Street, which is in black-and-white for mood, the boarder Bernstein (Mel Howard) represents tradition and continuity, contrasting with Jake in the fight of money versus learning, of getting ahead versus getting an education. Bernstein’s presence in the home of the primary couple puts Gitl in a predictable three-cornered bind both romantic and cultural.
Hester Street, which is filmed in black-and-white for mood, confronts the themes of tradition and assimilation. (still from film)
Younger viewers might take some time to recognize Gitl (Carol Kane) as the kooky landlady from Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Meanwhile, the tough-talking landlady in Hester Street is recognizable as Doris Roberts, who contemporary viewers will recognize as the buttinsky mother-in-law from Everybody Loves Raymond.
There are subversive components of the film, including the role of divorce in perpetuating traditional values. Subversion twists again and indeed Gitl assimilates in her particular ways. As the last line in the film declares ambivalently, “We mustn’t be too quick to say this or that.”
Director Joan Micklin Silver was a pioneering woman in male-dominated 1970s Hollywood.
Kosher queen
Tradition, continuity and modern times are absolutely the themes of Sabbath Queen, a film by Sandi DuBowski about the life of Amichai Lau-Lavie.
The scion of a rabbinic dynasty going back 38 generations, Amichai is the son of politician, ambassador (“and we suspect a spy”) Naphtali Lau-Lavie and nephew of Israel Meir Lau, former chief rabbi of Israel. Filmed over 21 years, the documentary follows Amichai as he is ordained as a rabbi, via the Conservative movement’s Jewish Theological Seminary. But choosing the Conservative movement over orthodoxy is the least of Amichai’s rifts with his traditional family.
In 1993, Amichai was outed as a gay man in a news report and, it seems, he never looked back. After fleeing to New York a couple of years later and getting involved with the Radical Faeries, a queer, shamanistic spirituality group, “one vodka too many” leads to his alter ego emerging “out of my head like Athena.”
The drag queen Hadassah Gross – a Hungarian sex advisor, kabbalist, matchmaker and widow of six rabbis – was born. Amichai describes his drag persona as “something between channeling and performing” and it is all about exploring the intersections of feminine and masculine. (“What the goyim call the yingele and the yangele,” says Hadassah.)
“Artists are the new rabbis,” he declares, but eventually seems to decide that being an artist is not enough and he seeks his rabbinical smicha, in large part, it seems, to combat his brother and the larger establishment on Orthodox dogma.
He becomes the spiritual leader of a decidedly unorthodox congregation called Lab/Shul. And, when his officiating of interfaith partnerships clashes with the Conservative movement, the rabbi faces the consequences.
Amichai’s brother, father and mother have their reservations, to put it mildly, about Amichai’s activities.
“We’re pushing a lot of boundaries here,” he acknowledges. Or, as his Orthodox rabbi brother puts it, not entirely sympathetically, “He’s playing with Judaism.”
One feels invasive as the camera goes close up on Amichai at his father’s funeral and that sense of voyeurism repeats throughout the film, as does the feeling that the documentary’ssubject is something of an emotional exhibitionist.
The relationship between Amichai and his immediate family represents the larger cultural dissonance between queer and other nonconforming Jews and the orthodoxy of the tradition, though there is an astonishing, uplifting conclusion to some of these challenges by the film’s ending.
A family affair
I first saw A Real Pain on a flight home from Israel last month. Selecting a Hollywood treatment of two cousins doing a Holocaust road trip to their grandmother’s hometown in Poland, I girded myself for cringe-inducing, inappropriate or otherwise disappointing fare. My expectations were pleasantly upended. This is a profound, beautifully presented film that hits the right notes in so many ways.
I am not the only one impressed. Unbeknownst to me when I chose it, the script and the acting were already grabbing accolades worldwide. Costars Jesse Eisenberg (who won the BAFTA Award for best original screenplay) and Kieran Culkin (who won both an Oscar and a Golden Globe for best supporting actor) deliver moving and multidimensional characters.
David (Eisenberg) and Benji (Culkin) are the proverbial odd couple but what I had somehow anticipated to be slapstick comedy turned out to be deeply touching. As we find out more about Benji’s story, his erratic behaviour makes more sense.
Moments that could come off as didactic – almost documentary-like scenes at the Polin Museum and the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes, among others – somehow work even when you think they shouldn’t. The British tour guide James (Will Sharpe) is repeatedly challenged by Benji and acknowledges his own shortcomings as a non-Jewish facilitator, inviting viewers to ponder insider/outsider roles in the immediate and larger story.
If you ever wondered what corner Baby from Dirty Dancing ended up in, here she is – Jennifer Grey – playing a supporting role as one of the members of the cousins’ small tour group.
Spousal secrets
It is hard to write about Pink Lady without giving too much away. A seemingly ordinary religious Jerusalem couple with three happy kids and an involved extended family are upended when the husband is subjected to violence and blackmail.
Director Nir Bergman’s Hebrew-language feature film sees Lazer (Uri Blufarb) and Bati (Nur Fibak) pondering the most existential questions of how God challenges even his most dedicated adherents. A deeply serious film with both laugh-out-loud incongruities and eye-covering discomfiture, Pink Lady is a slice-of-life with deep theological questions.
Oct. 7 revisited
Of Dogs and Men, which deals directly with the attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, is a blend of fiction and documentary. (still from film)
At least two films in the festival deal directly with the attacks of Oct. 7, 2023.
Of Dogs and Men is a blend of fiction and documentary. Director Dani Rosenberg’s film follows 16-year-old Dar (Ori Avinoam, also cowriter) as she sneaks back into Nir Oz, her vacated kibbutz, in search of her missing dog Shula.
While the quest for the dog may be a stand-in for the larger search
Israelis have undertaken as individuals and collectively to discover the fate of missing people – Dar’s mother’s fate remains unknown – it is hard not to wonder if the choice to centre a (missing) dog in the story is not meant to invite dissonance among overseas viewers. Given the indifference and even celebration with which some people worldwide have responded to the Oct. 7 attacks, is the tragedy of a lost dog a statement on the qualitative value the world places on Jewish life?
Dar tags along with a woman who rescues animals in the abandoned and war-torn areas.
“Aren’t you afraid of dealing with those dogs?” she asks the woman.
“Look what human beings did. So, I should be afraid of dogs?” the woman responds. “There’s no creature more awful, crueler than human beings and I still live among you.”
Through the imagery of destruction and the litany of names of victims, the film breaks down distinctions between Israeli and Palestinian victims.
The documentary 6:30 provides a harrowing, minute-by-minute narrative of Oct. 7 events from different locations and perspectives. The interviews with survivors just a week after the attacks show raw emotion.
Some of the Nova festival-goers thought they were hallucinating as the hellish day unfolded. Several people, including first responders, speak of detachment, of a disconnect between what they were seeing and what they could believe. In retrospect, one survivor wonders if his liberation is real or if he died and that is what he is now experiencing. Others talk of the emotional burdens they will carry forever.
Linor Attias, a United Hatzalah volunteer who arrived at Kibbutz Be’eri in a mass casualty event vehicle, notes with pride that Arabs and Jews were united among the rescue workers trying to save the lives of victims. She loaded people into ambulances, where they released piercing shrieks of agony, having held them in for hours of silence in order to save their lives.
“That howl of pain cuts through the soul,” she says.
The most chilling thing about the film is realizing, amid all these horror stories, that these are the testimonies of the lucky ones.
Full details and tickets are available at vjff.org.
A small cluster of anti-Israel activists protested outside the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver last week, apparently assuming incorrectly that an Israeli diplomat was in the building. Regardless of the motivations, the protest was against the law. And police did not enforce the law.
In May of last year, the provincial government passed Bill 22, the Safe Access to Schools Act, which includes provisions known as “bubble zone” legislation. The law prohibits protests that could interfere with or threaten students in schools or engaged in formal school activities off school premises. In other words, if there is a class field trip, say, to the Vancouver Aquarium, it would be illegal for protesters against cetacean captivity to protest there.
Students from King David High School routinely use the gymnasium and other facilities at the JCC. They were there when the protesters were outside. And there was another formal program taking place in the building involving elementary school students. In other words, the law set out under Bill 22 was undeniably broken. (The existing legislation affects only public and private elementary and secondary schools, so the fact that there is a permanent childcare facility in the JCC does not mean protests of the premises are universally prohibited.)
This is a relatively new law, less than a year old, but, of course, police are required to be aware of legislation as it emerges or is amended. It was not, for example, the responsibility of the JCC or others in the building to notify the police that the law was being broken.
At a minimum, police should have ascertained whether there were school programs happening at the JCC and, discovering that there were, informed the protesters that they were in contravention of Bill 22 and ordered them to disperse.
One can agree or disagree with the law, based on free expression. But the law exists and the protesters were breaking it.
This incident speaks to a larger problem.
In recent years, there has been discussion about the need to address online hatred and harassment. Last year, a federal online harms proposal, known as Bill C-63, met with concerns on civil liberties grounds and underwent significant amendments, including being broken into two separate bills. Both bills died on the order paper when the federal election was called last month.
As commentators pointed out during that debate, Canada already has laws prohibiting expressions of hatred and harassment. Should it matter whether those expressions happen online or in person? And, while elected officials are busy passing new laws, existing laws that might remedy the problems they are trying to address are going unenforced.
There are problems in our legal system. Occasionally, police will defend their actions (or inaction, as the current case may be), complaining that when they recommend charges to the prosecution service, the prosecution service does not pursue them.
In turn, prosecutors sometimes contend that courts, too often, do not convict. In each case, it is an example of one level of the system blaming the one above for inaction.
While governments need to step gently and seriously around the danger of political interference in policing, prosecution and the judiciary, it is unequivocally governments – primarily provincial and federal – who have the responsibility for setting guidelines around things like hate speech and harassment. Governments need to send a message to police, prosecutors and courts that we, as a society, take these issues seriously. We do not send that message when a clear breach of the law results in no consequences whatsoever.
From the perspective of the Jewish community, what happened at the JCC last week may have been the first test of Bill 22’s efficacy. It was a failure.
Considering that clear violation of provincial law, British Columbia’s Attorney General Niki Sharma has an obligation to explain what went wrong. She would also do well to reiterate (or iterate) that the government takes seriously harassment of Jewish students. (Harassment of the broader Jewish community is also a serious concern, but there seems to be a societal consensus that young people deserve greater protections from this sort of behaviour.)
If police will not enforce the law because they do not believe prosecutors will press charges, we need to address, as a society, this problem in the system. If prosecutors will not act because they have been dissuaded by courts that won’t convict, then we need to educate the judiciary or amend the laws.
David Jablinowitz, opinion editor for the Jerusalem Post, answers a question at one of his March talks at Congregation Beth Israel. (photo by Pat Johnson)
The intensely emotional debate in Israel right now centres on whether the government and military should be negotiating with Hamas for release of the hostages, extending the war or finding some combination of approaches to the situation.
David Jablinowitz, opinion editor for the Israeli English-language newspaper and media platform Jerusalem Post, spoke in Vancouver March 20. He shared with audiences at Congregation Beth Israel the rock and the hard place Israelis – including Israeli media – are between in the current crisis. Beth Israel’s Rabbi Adam Stein introduced Jablinowitz and emceed the discussion. The journalist spoke again the next night, at Shabbat services.
The Israeli government estimates that there are 59 remaining hostages in Gaza, of which 24 are believed to be alive. Testimony from rescued and released hostages say Hamas terrorists are poised to murder the captives if Israel Defence Forces ground troops approach – and this danger is in addition to the possibility that Israeli military strikes could unintentionally kill or injure Israelis held in Gaza.
“This is why there is such an emotional dispute in Israel right now,” Jablinowitz said. “Are we going to lose these 24? Because some Hamas terrorists, of whatever level, the highest or the lowest, have orders that the moment the Israelis get close, you kill the hostages.”
At the same time, Hamas is unsurprisingly not negotiating in good faith, he said. Although the terror regime has been significantly weakened, they continue to behave as though they have the upper hand.
“Hamas is playing hardball,” he said. When an individual or a group is in a weakened position, rational behaviour would see them become more amenable to compromise. Hamas appears to respond otherwise, making counter-demands that Jablinowitz characterizes as “totally unacceptable.”
“Why are they doing that? Why does Hamas have the gall to do this?” he asks. “Because it plays into their own hands.”
Israeli intelligence officials, he said, know that Hamas has been using ceasefires as an opportunity to rebuild and prepare for fresh rounds of violence.
“They keep saying, ‘No, that proposal by Israel is not good.… That’s almost good, but do that, so I can do this,’” he said. “While negotiations are going on, weeks and weeks and weeks, what’s happening on the ground in Gaza is the rebuilding of infrastructure [and] recruiting terrorists. They are just building themselves up because, as far as they are concerned, if they have their way, there will be another Oct. 7 –because the dispute with Hamas is not a dispute over territory. Hamas does not want Israel anywhere. Their charter says so. They won’t accept a Jewish state – any non-Muslim state at all, but certainly not a Jewish state.”
Another reason why Hamas feels emboldened, he said, is because the international community, like the European Union, often treats Israel and Hamas as two legitimate actors on an equivalent moral plane.
The role of Qatar, which has been wrongly accepted by world leaders as a legitimate intervenor in the conflict, deserves a far more critical eye, argued Jablinowitz.
Qatar should be on the list of state sponsors of terrorism, he said. “They are pulling the wool over the eyes of the world.”
Qatar is pretending to be a constructive party, while funding Palestinian terror, providing a haven to terrorists, and flooding the world with jihadist propaganda on social media and through their funding of courses in North American and European universities, Jablinowitz said.
This support for propaganda, among other factors, helps explain the world’s approach to the conflict.
“I’m not saying Israel is all good, I’m not saying there aren’t innocent Palestinians,” said Jablinowitz. But he takes exception to the widespread expressions of concern around blameless Palestinian civilians.
“I have to tell you, soldiers who have served there, and among the [freed] hostages themselves [in] their testimony, have said, ‘Don’t give me the “civilian innocent” business. We were there, we saw the people. There was nobody, nobody, who came to our rescue.’”
Palestinian kids and other civilians came to see where the hostages are and, Jablinowitz said, “Nobody, nobody lifted a finger to do anything.”
Relatedly, the pass the world community seems to give the Palestinians is not extended to Israel’s military, even when it goes out of its way to minimize Palestinian casualties.
“What other countries say to a terrorist, or to their enemy, ‘At 4 o’clock Wednesday afternoon, I’m attacking you, and I’m attacking you here’? But that’s what we do in order to keep down the civilian deaths,” he said. “How does the world report it? What do European and other leaders say? ‘Oh, Israel is evicting the Palestinians.’ We are trying to save their lives and save our lives at the same time. We are better to Palestinian civilians in Gaza than Hamas is to Palestinian civilians in Gaza.”
The rebuilding of Gaza, if and when it occurs, must address not only the physical devastation but the indoctrination of kids, who have been taught that “Jews are bad people, the Jews were meant to be killed,” said Jablinowitz.
“As long as you’re going to have that education, there’s no point in doing anything,” he said.
Jablinowitz acknowledged at least two contesting attitudes toward Israel’s overseas PR battle.
One side, typified in a Jerusalem Post op-ed by Alan Baker, Israel’s former ambassador to Canada, is that Israel should ignore global criticism.
“Enough. There is no point,” Jablinowitz summarizes this approach. “We have to do what we have to do.
“An alternative opinion is that maybe it’s not the hasbara [PR approach] that’s a problem, but the government’s policies,” he said.
He thinks the answer may be simpler.
“I honestly think that our cause is not as appealing. The Palestinians are so good at it because they are the downtrodden,” said Jablinowitz.
Israel had good PR when they were seen in the world’s eyes as the David to the Arab world’s Goliath.
“We were doing great in 1967, when … [it would have been] so easy to just decimate our country,” he said. “We were popular.”
That changed after Israel won the Six Day War, which remains contested in terms of who started the conflict, since Israel attacked its neighbours as they were preparing an offensive.
“That’s why we preempted in 1967,” Jablinowitz said. “You see what happens when we don’t preempt? Oct. 7 happens when we don’t preempt.”
Commemorations of individuals murdered at the Nova festival. (photo by Pat Johnson)
Since I returned home to Vancouver from Israel a few weeks ago, it has taken me time to write about my reflections. There’s the usual getting over jetlag, catching up with work, dealing with the odds and ends that pile up after a five-week absence. I have also experienced a degree of avoidance. In some ways, there is so much to say I don’t know where to begin. In other ways, what can I possibly say that hasn’t been said before?
Unlike Israelis, I have had the luxury of putting my head in the sand, to some extent, in the days since I returned to my ridiculously quiet suburban home. My experiences – including a visit to the Gaza Envelope, Kibbutz Re’im and the Nova festival site, and conversations with scores of Israelis – have been percolating. In recent days, I have been immersed in video testimonies and other reports from survivors of the Oct. 7 attacks.
One of the reasons I have avoided writing so far, I think, is that the parallel I feel compelled to make is one that I hate to invoke. I intentionally avoid making comparisons with the Holocaust, as almost any contrast cheapens the sanctity of that event’s memory. It also is unavoidably an exaggeration – nothing can compare to the Holocaust. And so, we should not be in the business of raising false equivalencies.
But not everyone subscribes to my hesitancy. More than one Israeli I spoke to referred to Kibbutz Be’eri as “Auschwitz.”
Although I was guided around the sites of the Oct. 7 atrocities by a senior Israeli military official, we were denied entry to Be’eri, which came as a relief. I didn’t want to make the choice not to go in, but I was glad that decision was made for me.
I had to ask myself – as other people asked me – why I was compelled to visit these places in the first place? I had not, for example, taken the opportunity to watch the footage that screened in Vancouver last year of the most terrible carnage from Oct. 7. I believed that I knew enough of what happened that I did not need to be exposed to the images so graphically. (There are people, on the other hand, who I think should be forced to watch such footage.)
I could say no to the video but, in Israel, I felt an obligation to bear witness in what small way I could by visiting the Nova festival site and other locations, including Highway 232. My guide, who was among the first on the scene during the morning of Oct. 7, provided (as you can imagine) a jarring play-by-play of what he witnessed, saw, heard and smelled that day.
As I watch documentaries and continue to read about the events, and hear from eyewitnesses, including those who defended their kibbutzim, and military personnel who were among the first on the scene, it is almost impossible for the mind not to go to historical parallels.
I hear stories of people pretending to be dead for hours while murderous attackers surrounded them. Testimony recounts the nonchalant murder of the elderly, babies, anyone and everyone the terrorists could kill – as well as the collaboration of “ordinary” civilians.
The ripping apart of families. Parents shielding their children from gunshots. Families huddling as they are engulfed in flames. Survivors’ stories of screams still ringing in their ears. Jews recalling what they were sure were the last moments of their life. Acts of brutality that defy human imagination. Sadistic jubilation while perpetrating acts that make most people recoil. Residents of a village reconnoitring after the catastrophe to determine who remains alive.
The parallels are, to me at least, unavoidable.
There is, of course, a quantitative chasm between this modern horror and that of the Shoah. It is this difference that also makes comparisons so incredibly problematic. But it is the qualitative experiences, the grotesque similarities between Nazi atrocities and those of Hamas, that force the mind to go in that direction.
While visiting Jerusalem, I stumbled upon a pathway that begins at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial museum and research centre, and winds through the military cemeteries in which the casualties of Israel’s successive defensive wars and endless terror attacks are buried, as are most of the country’s prime ministers, presidents and other leading figures. The pathway ends at the tomb of Theodor Herzl, the man most credited with making real the dream of a Jewish state, and adjacent to the museum that tells his life story.
The message here is that, from the moral abyss of the Holocaust to the sustaining of national self-determination as envisioned by Herzl, the path has had an unimaginable human cost.
The promise of the state of Israel, in Herzl’s mind, was that a people who were no longer stateless would not be subject to the predations of their brutalizing neighbours. Like so much else Herzl envisioned – he imagined that Jews would be welcomed for the positive contributions they bring to the region – a state has not ushered in the lasting peace for which he had hoped.
An empty Shabbat table set for missing loved ones at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv. (photo by Pat Johnson)
We have known this since the moment Israel’s independence was declared and the new country was immediately invaded by the massed armies of its neighbouring countries. The Arab states unanimously rejected coexistence and soon Jews from across the Middle East and North Africa were expelled or otherwise forced to flee, most finding a home in the new Jewish state. The Arabs who were not within Israel’s border at the time of the 1949 ceasefire – and their generations of descendants – have been held as stateless people ever since in one of history’s most cynical acts.
What is still able to shock, even in a world where we have become inured to inhumanity, is that there are people who experience joy at Jewish death and thrill at the opportunity to torture, terrorize and kill Jews. A state has not removed that possibility from the world.
If there was one single objective for the existence of a Jewish state, this was it: the basic security of the Jewish person. On Oct. 7, that promise was broken.
While many Israelis told me that Oct. 7 demonstrated that coexistence with Palestinians is impossible, other people told me that it merely made them redouble their commitment to building a future of peace and coexistence. If I went back to those who said Oct. 7 taught us to work harder for peace with Palestinians, would they see a cognitive dissonance in my position as I do with theirs?
If the existence of a Jewish state cannot prevent the most basic thing it was created to realize, is the entire enterprise a failure?
A Jewish state does not guarantee, obviously, that Jews will not still and again experience the atrocities that have befallen them historically. It is, nevertheless, the best defence, however imperfect.
The Israelis who told me they must work harder for peace believe that, when our ideal falls short, rather than give up, we have to do more to attain it. For them, that means doubling down on peace activism. I admire their idealism.
For me, any realistic plan for peace is worthy of consideration. But I will also double down and say that the answer to a Jewish state that fails to live up to its core mission of keeping Jewish people from reliving the horrors of the past is also not to give up – but to continue building a Jewish state that is impermeable, unparalleled in strength and impervious to the genocidal assaults of its neighbours.
Reflecting on the thousands I saw buried along the pathway between Yad Vashem and Herzl’s tomb, I believe that, until Israel’s neighbours are incapable of the sorts of atrocities we have seen, Israelis must work for peace, on the one hand, while assuming their neighbours won’t change, on the other.
It’s almost Israel’s 77th birthday! And a birthday is a good opportunity to reflect on things.
When my kids attended Chabad preschool, they celebrated their birthdays at school. The teachers encouraged them to think about a mitzvah (commandment) to take on to mark the occasion. Listening to preschoolers discuss what they’ve chosen and why is such a celebration of Jewish life! I’d invite you to try this out at the next available opportunity. You can ask any Jewish person what mitzvah they’d take on, it’s amazing to hear. Israel isn’t a person and can’t take on a mitzvah, but maybe we can help with that to celebrate its birthday.
One thread in our tradition follows certain steps: we improve the world and our behaviour, and that brings about the Messiah, or the Messianic Age, the next world and a better place. Ideas differ on how we do that and why, and even on what the Messianic Age will be like. We don’t agree on the specifics – and that’s fine. However, a recent page of Talmud that I studied in the tractate Sanhedrin, on page 98, really highlighted this concept. It’s a story, of course.
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi asks Elijah the Prophet when the Messiah will come. Elijah says, “Go and ask him.” Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi says, “Well, where is he?”
Elijah describes him as sitting at the entrance of Rome, far away from where they are in the Galilee, at Mount Meron. The rabbi asks how he’ll recognize the Messiah. Elijah explains that the Messiah is sitting with all the other poor, sick people, but that the Messiah doesn’t untie all his bandages at once to replace them. Instead, he unties and reties them one at a time, so he’ll always be ready to bring about the redemption.
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi goes all the way to Rome, identifies the Messiah, and asks him “When will the Master come?”The Messiah says, “Today.”
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi travels all the way back to the Galilee to see Elijah. Elijah asks him what the Messiah said and the rabbi tells him, “Well, he lied. He said the Messiah was coming today, and it didn’t happen.” Elijah says no, this is what he really said: he said he will come “today, if you listen to his voice.” (Psalms 95:7)
Sue Parker Gerson, who wrote the introductory essay for this page of Talmud on My Jewish Learning, points out several things. First, that the traditional commentators inferred that we must do more mitzvot to bring about the Messiah. Additionally, she steps in with something that is a bit deeper: Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi visits all these sick people with bandages, talks to one person, and then leaves. He didn’t stay to help any of the people. Perhaps, Gerson suggests, we need to put the “do the mitzvah” message into practice, to help people in need and fix wrongs we see in the world. Elijah saw that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi failed the test, so to speak, not helping when he should have.
Then, I read a Jewish advice column online. A parent is organizing a bat mitzvah and asks, “Should I invite relatives with whom I disagree politically? They also won’t like the liberal way we practise Judaism, but, if I invite them, they’ll likely come.”
The columnist suggests that, since COVID, it has been OK to make smaller guest lists and exclude people. Also, if the kid doesn’t want to invite these relatives, you don’t have to invite them. The columnist says briefly at the end, well, families usually invite everyone, and that’s what families do, but if you don’t want your happy occasion to include these people, that’s OK, too.
My gut reaction was that this answer failed the test. The columnist fails to behave Jewishly and recommend including everyone in a lifecycle celebration. The choice to exclude could cause bad feelings for years.
But, instead of a “failure” lesson, I have been considering what I might embrace about taking on mitzvot instead. I think a lot about turning negatives into positives lately. I’m the mom-chauffeur of junior high-age twins. I hear lots of negativity from the backseat!
To begin: be the energy you want to see. If Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi wanted the Messiah to come today, he had to do more to fix the world, including caring for the sick. Visiting the sick is a positive commandment. We should take care of one another, and it’s often not enough to just visit.
Also, don’t leave people out. If we want our lives, including our Jewish lives, to be inclusive, we can’t just ditch people. Even if a Jewish person, aka a family member, has different viewpoints, votes or behaves differently, within reason, we should invite them in, rather than leave them out. Offering unity and a “big tent” approach is the kind thing to do.
I just read Amir Tibon’s The Gates of Gaza, and its anecdotes echoed this. When Tibon’s family was trapped in their safe room in Kibbutz Nahal Oz on Oct. 7, 2023, his parents raced south with only a pistol to save them. His father, a retired, secular Israeli general, spent a harrowing day attempting to save Israelis, both soldiers and civilians, on the way to Nahal Oz. After exchanging deadly fire with the enemy, he ends up with a soldier’s weapon and his helmet, but he still wore civilian clothing, which confused soldiers under pressure. A religious soldier nearby helped. The soldier took off his army issue tallit katan (an undershirt with tzitzit, ritual fringes, on it) and handed it to him. Tibon, clothed in borrowed tzitzit and a helmet, weapon in hand, was ready for battle. The soldier’s inclusivity and flexibility saved lives. Saving a life, a huge mitzvah in Jewish tradition, outweighs everything else.
Helping each other and skipping negativity contribute to our people’s unity. We may disagree with one another and vote differently. Just this week, I’ve signed two petitions and written several letters to voice disagreement; in Israel, protests are part of life. Also, this week, a cousin of ours was inducted into the Israel Defence Forces. When it counts, we’re there for one another. Regarding issues of life and death, we protect one another.
Finally, sometimes restraint is the better part of valour. Occasionally, the first word out of our mouths is no, or a defensive or harsh response. Holding back, listening and considering the situation may help us make thoughtful choices that better reflect the people we wish to be. Israel’s birthday is a chance for all of us to celebrate, listen and include. Like everyone and every nation, Israel has flaws, but embracing positive steps may change lives, or even save them, in the years to come.
Joanne Seiffhas written regularly for the Winnipeg Free Press 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.
People of a certain age will have seen the iconic 1980 comedy 9 to 5, starring Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin and Dabney Coleman. Even more will know the eminently singable title song of the movie, written by Parton, which remains popular today, 45 years later. Those of us who enjoyed the story and like (love!) the song will be happy to know that Royal City Musical Theatre (RCMT) is presenting 9 to 5 The Musical – the score of which Parton wrote – April 25 to May 11 at New Westminster’s Massey Theatre.
“Set in 1979, 9 to 5 The Musical follows three co-workers – Violet, Doralee and Judy – as they endure their mundane and demoralizing office jobs at Consolidated Industries, under the thumb of their sexist and egotistical boss, Franklin Hart Jr.,” reads the press release for the production, which is co-directed by Valerie Easton and Chris Adams. “When the women are suddenly given the chance to turn their wildest revenge fantasies into reality, they hatch a plan to kidnap their nasty boss and step into their full potential – ultimately taking control of the company.”
Keri Smith is in Royal City Musical Theatre’s 9 to 5 The Musical, which runs April 25-May 11 at Massey Theatre. (photo from Royal City Musical Theatre)
The RCMT production stars Irene Karas Loeper as Violet, Maia Beresford as Doralee, Madeleine Suddaby as Judy and Dustin Freeland as Franklin Hart Jr. Jewish community member Keri Smith plays Margaret, a secretary in Hart’s office, who drinks a bit, and she is the understudy for Violet.
RCMT’s 9 to 5 The Musical marks a return to the stage for Smith – who trained at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City – after a long hiatus, during which time she has taught grades 1-7 at Vancouver Talmud Torah.
The Jewish Independent interviewed Smith in advance of the musical’s opening.
JI: Can you tell me a bit about your general background, how you got into education and theatre, when and why you came to Vancouver? Or did you just study in New York?
KS: After completing my studies at theatre school and spending several years working in New York, my visa expired, prompting my return to Vancouver. Upon arriving, I quickly recognized the challenges of pursuing a full-time acting career in the city. As a result, I sought a position that would allow me to continue engaging with theatre while securing a steady income. I found a role as an early childhood educator at Vancouver Talmud Torah, the elementary school I had attended as a child.
Two years into my position, when an opening for a drama instructor became available, I approached the principal and shared my theatrical background … [and] she entrusted me with the role. I quickly developed a deep passion for teaching anddecided to pursue a teaching certification to further my commitment to education.
Over the past 19 years at Vancouver Talmud Torah, I’ve had the privilege of helping to establish a vibrant musical theatre program for students aged 10 to 13. I am immensely grateful to be in a position where I can combine my love for theatre with the joy of teaching every day.
JI: What role, if any, does Judaism and/or Jewish community play in your life?
KS: Judaism and the Jewish community hold a deeply cherished place in my life, shaping both my personal journey and my work as an actor and educator. In my daily life, Jewish values of compassion, justice and the importance of education are guiding principles.
In my role as an educator, I am reminded every day of the power of knowledge and the responsibility we bear in passing on these values to future generations. Judaism has a long tradition of asking questions, seeking understanding and fostering growth through learning, which resonates deeply in my approach to teaching.
As an actor, I find that storytelling in the Jewish tradition has influenced my perspective, as narratives in Judaism often revolve around struggles, resilience and the pursuit of justice – ideas that transcend time and place. Whether in a classroom or on stage, I strive to embody the deep sense of connection and responsibility that Judaism fosters, with gratitude for the wisdom that has been passed down through generations.
The Jewish community, with its strength, support and shared commitment to growth, reminds me that we are all part of something much larger than ourselves and that, together, we can bring light into the world.
JI: What attracts you to acting?
KS: What I love most about acting is the profound escape it offers – an opportunity to leave behind my own world and immerse myself fully in someone else’s reality. The process of stepping into a character’s shoes, seeing the world through their eyes, and experiencing their emotions and struggles is not just thrilling; it’s transformative. It’s an addicting experience because each new role is a journey of discovery – of understanding, empathy and expression that goes beyond my own personal experiences.
JI: What’s your favourite part of teaching?
KS: What truly deepens my love for acting is the opportunity to teach it. Teaching drama allows me to share that same transformative experience with others, especially young people. Watching students experience the same magic of stepping into a character’s shoes for the first time is incredibly rewarding. There’s something truly special about guiding them through the process of self-expression, helping them find their voice and watching them take risks on stage. Drama gives students a unique platform to explore their own identities and develop their confidence, creativity and empathy – all essential skills not just for acting, but for life.
JI: What motivated you to audition for 9 to 5 The Musical? What was that process?
KS: I felt it was the perfect time to step out of my comfort zone and challenge myself, so when I saw the opportunity, I didn’t hesitate to audition. The process was incredibly enjoyable! I was given a song and a scene to prepare, and I went in with the goal of giving it my all. Afterward, I felt confident and proud of my performance.
JI: How often do you perform, and approximately for how long have you been a performer?
KS: I first discovered my passion for performing as a Grade 7 student at VTT, where I played Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof. That role was my introduction to acting, and I’ve been hooked ever since. While I “perform” daily in my role as a teacher, engaging with my students, I haven’t had the chance to take the stage in over 10 years. This production marks my return to acting, and it feels incredible to be back!
The Jewish Museum & Archives of British Columbia (JMABC) is releasing the 41st edition of The Scribe – which has a summer camps theme – on April 24, 6 p.m., at the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture.
The JMABC’s flagship publication celebrates the lives and traditions of British Columbia’s Jewish residents by focusing on one sector each edition. This year’s journal features personal memories from seven Jewish summer camps in the Pacific Northwest, highlighting the lasting impact that camp experiences have had on the development of lifelong connections to Jewish culture and community.
First published in 1989, The Scribe’s mandate is to link the Jewish community’s past with the present to inspire future generations. The publication has documented all aspects of the Jewish experience in British Columbia. Past issues have focused on prominent medical pioneers who have improved the lives of Canadians; top restaurateurs who cultivated Vancouver’s social scene; and ready-to-wear icons who helped British Columbia become an international fashion centre.
“The Scribe: Summer Camps Issue is by far one of the most endearing and nostalgic issues in [the journal’s] 41-year history,” said Daniella Givon, president of the JMABC. “Jewish summer camps have long represented a unique form of organic community-building and Jewish connection. Through the iconic summer camp experience, generations of Jewish youth have developed a sense of resilience and belonging that has strengthened their own connections to Jewish community, personal identity and cultural continuity.”
“The impact and success of Jewish communities in Canada have been significantly enhanced by the collective experiences of summer camp attendees,” said Elana Wenner, JMABC director of programming and development. “We look forward to taking a walk down memory lane with Jewish communities throughout BC with this new issue!”
The launch at the Peretz Centre will be an immersive evening of nostalgia, song and stories, as the summer camp communities of the Pacific Northwest are brought together under one roof.
Tickets are $54 each, and include dinner, a program and a keepsake T-shirt. All proceeds are in support of the JMABC. Copies of The Scribe: Summer Camps Issue will be available for purchase at the event for $20 each. (JMABC members in good standing will receive one free copy per family.) For tickets, visit tinyurl.com/ANightAtCamp.
– Courtesy Jewish Museum & Archives of British Columbia
“When Mrs. Frederick C. Little’s second son arrived, everybody noticed that he was not much bigger than a mouse. The truth of the matter was, the baby looked very much like a mouse in every way. He was only about two inches high; and he had a mouse’s sharp nose, a mouse’s tail, a mouse’s whiskers, and the pleasant, shy manner of a mouse. Before he was many days old, he was not only looking like a mouse but acting like one, too – wearing a grey hat and carrying a small cane. Mr. and Mrs. Little named him Stuart, and Mr. Little made him a tiny bed out of four clothespins and a cigarette box.”
So begins EB White’s classic children’s story Stuart Little, which was published 75 years ago. To celebrate the anniversary, Carousel Theatre for Young People is presenting the play Stuart Little, which was adapted from White’s book by Joseph Robinette. Jewish community members Advah Soudack and Stephen Aberle are part of the production, directed by Carousel Theatre artistic and managing director Jennica Grienke, at Waterfront Theatre April 23-May 11.
Soudack and Aberle take on multiple roles, including as Stuart’s parents. Castmates Melanie Yeats and Megan Zong also play several parts, while Katrina Teitz plays the title role.
Advah Soudack in a table read of Stuart Little, which will be presented by Carousel Theatre for Young People at Waterfront Theatre April 23-May 11. (photo by Kezi Jacob)
“I was so excited when Jennica called me to offer me the role of Mrs. Little,” Soudack told the Independent. “I knew being part of Stuart Little would be wonderful and the fact that music was being added to the story made me even more jazzed! I love being part of theatre for young audiences, as I think it is so important for children to get the chance to witness and experience live theatre. I have very fond memories from the theatre productions I saw as a child and I know they were part of what inspired me to be an actor myself.”
“I loved the book when I read it as a child, and the approach taken by this production sounded like fun,” said Aberle of why he wanted to be a part of it. “I have a long history with Carousel, going back to the ’80s and including many years both touring to schools throughout BC and performing at the Waterfront, so it’ll be fulfilling to come back and perform here with the company again. I’ve also had the pleasure of working with director Jennica Grienke in the past, and I’m looking forward to renewing that connection. Finally: it’s work! And I love to work.”
Aberle has performed in Carousel’s Scrooge, Macbeth, Dream Castles, The Taming of the Shrew and other productions over the years. Soudack was in The House at Pooh Corner, directed by Kim Selody, in 2020. “Unfortunately, COVID shut us down, so we didn’t get the chance to finish our run with Carousel, nor did we get to remount with Presentation House,” she said.
In preparation for the play, Soudack re-read Stuart Little, a book she read as a child – “and I remember loving it and putting all this effort into a very detailed title page for a book report I wrote … putting a lot of effort into drawing Stuart Little and trying to get him just right.”
Not only did Aberle read the book – “and Charlotte’s Web, another favourite by the same author” – but he read it “a number of times and loved it.”
“It’s interesting,” he said, “to re-read it now with grown-up eyes and see things I’d forgotten: Stuart’s pluck, and his enduring quest to reconnect with his bird-friend Margalo, for example.”
Stephen Aberle in a table read of Stuart Little. (photo by Kezi Jacob)
For Aberle, the enduring messages include: “Don’t give up on your dreams – and don’t pout and sulk when things don’t quite go the way you’d planned! Don’t be a pushover, and don’t be a jerk either. It’s OK to be different. It’s OK to love who you love. Everyone – including animals, both human and non-human – matters, deserves respect and has their part to play.”
“I feel that the relevance of the story in today’s world is to not fear differences in one another and to not judge each other by our appearance or stature,” said Soudack.
“The part of the story that I particularly like is how everyone accepts Stuart without judgment or fear,” she said. “His parents love him for who he is and everyone he encounters takes him at face value, shows him respect and treats him like an equal.”
Aberle’s favourite part is Stuart driving off into the north, searching for his love, Margalo.
Rehearsals hadn’t started when the Independent spoke with Aberle and Soudack, so they couldn’t say exactly what playing more than one part would be like, but they explained their process.
“I usually approach playing different roles by working with different character bodies and vocal placement. I like to work off of a first hit that I get from reading the script and various characters and build from there. Some of the roles we get to play are animals, so that will be fun!” said Soudack.
Aberle said “one of the most interesting things about playing several characters is finding the characteristics that distinguish them so that one can step quickly and surely into their shoes – or, in some cases, paws. Vocal qualities, gestures, mannerisms, all that kind of thing.”
Neither actor approaches a performance for younger audiences differently than they do other shows, though both pointed to some differences.
“Children’s theatre is usually quite playful and energetic and requires a different way of storytelling,” said Soudack, “so I keep that all in mind when I start my prep and enter the rehearsal hall.”
“Younger audiences can sometimes be more upfront in their responses, which can teach everyone – actors, directors, playwrights, everyone – a lot,” said Aberle. “Back in the day, when shoemakers moved from laces to Velcro for young people’s footwear, we used to talk about discovering the ‘Velcro moments’ – when the youngest audience members, sitting cross-legged in the front row on the school gym floor, would start to play with the Velcro on their shoes, peeling and re-fastening it, and the sound would fill the air. Usually, these were ‘author’s message’ moments – when the script stopped being the story of the interplay between the characters and started becoming a moral. Young audiences can smell a moral approaching from a mile away, and they have little patience for it. (That’s probably true for older audiences as well, but they’ve grown better at hiding it.)”
