Benny Stanislawski is communications director for Congressman Ritchie Torres. (photo from Benny Stanislawski)
While many of the young, progressive Democratic lawmakers in Washington, DC, form a cadre of anti-Israel voices on Capitol Hill, Ritchie Torres, a congressman from the Bronx, in New York City, has been a frequent and welcome voice for Israel since being elected in 2020 – and even more so in recent months, as Israel has been heavily criticized on the international stage.
The 36-year-old, gay, Afro-Latino politician – who was the youngest elected official in the city when he became a New York city councilor at age 25 – has been in the news frequently supporting Israel’s right to defend itself.
Torres’ pro-Israel positions stem from a visit to that country early in his city council career, when he was taken there by the Jewish Community Relations Council. While Torres is known to Jewish voters as a tireless ally, to hometown voters, he is an energetic young pol with a dramatic backstory. Raised in public housing in the Bronx – his mother still lives in the same place – he dropped out of New York University during a struggle with depression, during which he considered suicide, a crisis he has spoken about openly. He is a strong voice for the working poor and Americans experiencing mental health challenges. It is his unapologetic support for Israel, though, that has Jewish and Israel-allied people sharing memes of the young congressman’s quotes and clips of his videos.
And the congressional staff member who manages Torres’ media schedule has a Vancouver connection.
Benny Stanislawski, a 26-year-old who already has a litany of behind-the-scenes political successes under his belt, is the congressman’s communications director. Stanislawski graduated from the University of British Columbia with a bachelor’s in political science and a minor in Jewish studies, in 2021. While at UBC, he was president of the Jewish fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi, and a familiar face around the campus Hillel House.
A dual Canadian-American citizen, Stanislawski grew up in Chevy Chase, Md, a suburb of Washington. His father is from Montreal and Stanislawski wanted to live in Canada for a time.
After graduating from high school, he spent a gap year in Israel with Habonim Dror, the labour Zionist youth movement at whose Camp Moshava, in Maryland, he had spent 10 years as a camper and counselor. After returning from Israel, he was off to study at UBC and take advantage of his Canadian citizenship and the beauty of Vancouver’s natural surroundings.
After graduation, which followed a pandemic-enforced period of remote learning, he took a job at the Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA), which defines itself as “the voice of Jewish Democrats and socially progressive, pro-Israel values.”
At the same time, he completed a master’s of professional studies in legislative affairs at George Washington University.
After two-and-a-half years with the JDCA, he moved to a Senate primary campaign in his home state and, when that candidate dropped out of the race, he joined the Torres congressional office.
Amid all this, Stanislawski traveled to organize on the ground for some of the most watched political campaigns in the country, including nail-biters in the 2022 Arizona midterm elections and the Georgia runoff for Senator Raphael Warnock.
Less than six months into his role in Torres’ office, Stanislawski is expansive in his admiration for his employer.
“In my short few months working for him so far, he’s been extremely kind and gracious and a very, very great boss to have,” said Stanislawski. “He says what he believes at a time when things are perilous for the world and for our community. I appreciate his advocacy.”
Rabbi Carey Brown of Temple Sholom (photo from templesholom.ca)
Rabbi Carey Brown of Temple Sholom will be part of the next cohort of Shalom Hartman Institute’s Rabbinic Leadership Initiative (RLI).
The intensive three-year fellowship program immerses North American rabbis of all denominations in the highest levels of Jewish learning, equipping them to meet contemporary challenges with ever-increasing intellectual and moral sophistication. It is one of the few structured frameworks for ongoing rabbinic study, enrichment and intellectual leadership training. In addition to rigorous study, the program fosters a deep sense of community for diverse rabbis in an environment of open dialogue, collaboration, peer-learning and personal support. The next cohort begins next month.
Participants in the Human Library event at the Isaac Waldman Jewish Public Library on April 7. (photo from Waldman Library)
Jewish Independent publisher Cynthia Ramsay (inset, middle) was one of the “books.” (photo from Waldman Library)
The Human Library event at the Isaac Waldman Jewish Public Library on April 7 drew a diversity of “human books” (volunteers who shared some of their life experiences) and readers (people who came out to learn about those experiences). Titles included Police Officer; Coping with Dementia: A Mother/Son Story; More than just MS; Brain Cancer Survivor; Your Jewish Community Newspaper; and Partners in Care. Books and readers gathered at the library, had snacks and shmoozed, before participating in three separate reading sessions over the course of the afternoon. The purpose of the event is to connect one-on-one or few-on-one with individuals from different cultural backgrounds and lifestyles, celebrating our differences and fostering understanding.
גם יוצאי איראנים בוונקובר תומכים בקריאה לחמאס לשחרר את בני הערובה (רוני רחמני)
המועצה של מוסלמים נגד אנטישמיות ארגנה במרכז טורונטו כנס מיוחד לאור העליה בגל האנטישמיות נגד יהודים. באירוע של הארגון הבינלאומי שמושבו בטורונטו השתתפו למעלה מארבע מאות איש. הארגון מחויב להיאבק בטרור בקיצוניות, כולל אנטישמיות נגד יהודים
המשתתפים הביעו את תמיכתם ביהודים במלחמה נגד תופעת האנטישמיות שהולכת ומתגברת בעת הזו, לאור המלחמה של צה”ל בעזה מול ארגון הטרור של החמאס. באירוע דנו בדרכים השונות להילחם באנטישמיות בתוך הקהילות השונות. בין המשתתפים היו חברת הפרלמנט מטעם המפלגה השמרנית של קנדה, מליסה לנצמן, הפרשן בנושאים הפוליטיים זוהדי ג’אסר, הסופר רהיל ראזה, חבר מועצת עיריית טורונטו גולדי ג’מארי ומנכ”לית המועצה של המוסלמים שריל סאפריה. מרבית הפעילים במועצה של המוסלמים נגד אנטישמיות הם יוצאי איראן שעזבו את המדינה עם עלייתו לשלטון של חומייני
חברי המועצה והאורחים בכינוס ציינו שיש לבצע תוכנית פעולה מהותית הכוללת שישה חלקים. ובהם: דרישה מהחמאס לשחרר את כל בני הערובה שהוא מחזיק בעזה מאז השבעה באוקטובר, להסיר את המימון של ממשלת קנדה לסוכנות הסעד של האו”ם – אונר”א. וכן להכריז על חייל משמרות המהפכה האסלאמית האיראנית כישות טרור. עוד הוזכר בכינוס כי יש להרים את הקול ולבקר את אלה המשבחים את האנטישמיות, הג’נוסייד של החאמס והזוועות המיניות שביצע ארגון הטרור בשבעה באוקטובר בישראל. אורחי הכנס הזכירו כי על המוסדות השונים ברחבי העולם ובהם האו”ם לנקוט עמדה חד משמעית נגד האלימות המינית הבלתי ניתנת לערעור שנעשתה לנשים, ילדים וגברים על ידי מחבלי החמאס – בשבעה באוקטובר. זו בעייה חמורה בחברה האנושית שלנו שיש הרואים בפעולות אלו של החאמס כהתנגדות לכיבוש. עוד הוזכר כי האשמה לאירועי השבעה באוקטובר מוטלת בעיקר על שלטון האייתולות באיראן ועל קהילות מוסלמיות במדינות שונות שמעודדות אנטישמיות ללא הפסק
ארגון מועצת המוסלמים נגד אנטישמיות מציין כי האנטישמיות היא תופעה ייחודית נפוצה, שינאה מתמשכת וקטלנית שנכנסה למסגרות תרבותיות, דתיות ופוליטיות שונות ומרובות בכל רחבי העולם. לפי סקרים אחרונים, רעיונות ותחושות אנטישמיות מאומצים כיום בדרגות שונות על ידי כרבע מאוכלוסיית העולם
ארגון מועצת המוסלמים מכיר באיום המיוחד הנשקף מן העליה המטאורית של האנטישמיות העולמית במאה העשרים ואחת. לעתים קרובות רצח או חיסול בכוונה תחילה או בביטוי, הוא מייצג שילוב חסר תקדים של הזנים המוכרים יותר של אנטישמיות המקודמים באידיאולוגיות ימין קיצוני, שמאל איסלאמיסטיות. האנטישמיות נחשבת על ידי מומחים לרעילה הרבה יותר מסך חלקיה, התפשטות האנטישמיות העכשווית הואצה על ידי הגלובליזציה והופעת הטכנולוגיות של המאה העשרים ואחת
ארגון מועצת המוסלמים תומך בהגדרה הבינלאומית לזכר השואה של האנטישמיות. הגדרה זו היא המקובלת ביותר בעולם לאנטישמיות והיא אומצה ואושרה על ידי ארבעים ושלוש מדינות כולל קנדה
מועצת המוסלמים מחויבת לפעול עם קבוצות דומות כדי לאתגר את האנטישמיות בכל מקום שבו היא עלולה להופיע. הארגון ימשיך ביוזמות חינוכיות, חקיקתיות, ומדיניות להשיג את המטרות שלו. כמוסלמים מכל הקשת המוסלמית והפוליטית, הארגון יהווה, יגייס ויזרז קול מוסלמי מובהק להתמודד עם האנטישמיות, שהשתרשה עמוקות ונותרה אתגר קשה בעולם המוסלמי הרחב. הארגון יתמוך במאמצים של ארגונים מוסלמים במדינות בעלות רוב מוסלמי ובמקהלה הולכות וגוברת של מנהיגים, סופרים ותיאולוגים מוסלמים אשר נטלו על עצמם יוזמות להתעמת עם האנטישמיות, שהורשתה לחגוג בקהילות. אנו כמוסלמים נתעמת עם התופעה וקידום המערכתי של האנטישמיות על ידי קיצונים איסלאמיסטים מכל הסוגים, שעבורם הדמוניזציה ושנאת היהודים הם עמוד מרכזי באמונתם
Shai DeLuca and Alexandra Smith flew in Sunday from Toronto to address Vancouver’s weekly vigil for Israeli hostages on the six-month anniversary of the atrocities committed on Oct. 7. (photo by Pat Johnson)
Unity, defiance and determination were the overriding messages at the community rally Sunday, April 7, marking six months since the atrocities of Oct. 7.
“Our hearts are heavy with the weight of loss and sorrow,” said Michael Sachs, regional director of the Jewish National Fund of Canada. As Israelis were called up for service at the start of that war, another battle began in the diaspora, he said.
“Jews worldwide were drafted for a different, yet related, war,” said Sachs. “In the wake of Oct. 7, we witnessed a disturbing and radical rise in antisemitism and Jew-hatred right here in Canada.”
Canada today does not resemble the Canada of Oct. 6, he said, as anti-Jewish ideas and actions have “emerged from the alley and are now openly displayed on our streets and threatening the very fabric of our society.
“We should always draw strength from the resilience and courage of the survivors,” Sachs said. The souls of those murdered that day, he said, live on “in our commitment to build a world with compassion, justice, that will triumph over the cruelty and ignorance that we are seeing.
“The brave soldiers, of all faiths, who have made the ultimate sacrifice in defence of Israel – we mourn you and we will never forget you,” said Sachs.
The Jewish response to evil is goodness, he said.
“In the face of their darkness, let us shine our light on them by rejecting forces of division, and continue to embrace the power of the unity of our community and our amazing allies,” he said. “Let us stand together, hand in hand, to be the hope and strength to the families of those held hostage. Let us show the world that our Zionism – not the Zionism that they have created – our Zionism, our love of Israel, is stronger than any hate they can throw at us.”
Aron Csaplaros, BC regional manager of B’nai Brith Canada, recalled his own family’s history.
“For hundreds of years, we have overcome expulsions, pogroms, massacres,” he said. “During the Holocaust, my grandmother spent months hidden in a dark basement, constantly hearing the footsteps of Nazi officers walking above her head, knowing that she could be found and murdered at any minute. But she, like Jews have done throughout our history, survived. She is here today standing in the crowd and we, the Jewish people, are still here, stronger and more united in our resolve than ever.”
He reiterated the demand of the weekly events, that the hostages be released, and added that Hamas should accept its defeat and unconditionally surrender to facilitate a new era of peace between the Palestinian and Israeli people.
“We will never stop fighting those who wish to destroy us,” Csaplaros said. “And we will not stop fighting to defend our indigenous homeland, the land of Israel.”
Until the hostages are released, he said, “We will not stop rallying. We will not stop marching. We will not stop advocating and we will not stop calling on our elected leaders in government to act until every single one of our brothers and sisters held hostage is safely returned.”
Calls for the return of the hostages being held by Hamas rang through the streets of Vancouver Sunday. (photo by Pat Johnson)
Shai DeLuca, an interior designer who lives in Toronto and Israel, is a familiar face to audiences of Toronto’s CityTV and Global television. During the Hamas war in 2014, he pivoted to being a voice for Israel and has led battles against anti-Zionist campaigns in Toronto. He said he was nonchalant when he awoke to alerts on Oct. 7. But, as he and his husband took refuge in a shelter, he realized this was not routine.
“I have lived through enough attacks, hundreds upon hundreds of Hamas rocket attacks throughout my life, to know that this felt different,” said DeLuca.
Soon, Israeli phones were lighting up with push notifications, videos and images showing murder, rape and other atrocities.
“It was from numbers we did not recognize,” he said. “Only later did we find out that these were targeted push notifications from Hamas.”
Last week, DeLuca was back in Israel and visited the site of the Nova music festival, where hundreds were murdered. The site is about 15 minutes from his family home.
He spoke with Rotem, a young woman who had been a vocal advocate for reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians. She had spent 30 hours in a safe room with her children before the terrorists gave up and sought out easier prey.
That day, Rotem told DeLuca, was “the day that I realized they really don’t care who we are.”
“A Jew is a Jew,” she told him. “They want us all dead.”
Many of Israel’s most avid peace activists lived on the kibbutzim that were attacked.
“The belief that one day we would have peace with our neighbours wasn’t something she could foresee anymore and that was heartbreaking to see,” said DeLuca. “She had strived to work toward a better tomorrow for all and was met with the worst massacre of the Jewish people since the Holocaust, on her community specifically…. A community that employed Gaza workers and worked daily to build bridges. That bridge no longer exists, she said, they torched it.”
Now, in the diaspora, Jews are faced with what DeLuca equates to the antisemitic marches of the 1930s and ’40s.
“We have never been able to depend on others,” he said. “Our history has proven that.… The difference today, unlike times past, is that we have our home to go to. While the hate marches we seerepeatedly across cities and across countries call to deny the existence of the only indigenous home the Jewish people have ever known, they continue to prove why its existence is so very important.”
Alexandra Smith, director of End Jew Hatred Canada, came with DeLuca from Toronto on a delayed flight, arriving just in time for the event.
“Today, we are called upon not only to demand the immediate and unconditional release of those unjustly held, but to reaffirm our commitment to each other as members of a shared community, a shared nation, a shared destiny and, indeed, a shared humanity,” said Smith.
“Starting on Oct. 8, for many in the Jewish community, the open, brazen, unashamed Jew-hatred exhibited on college campuses and on our streets came as a terrible shock and a deep sense of betrayal,” she said. “But, for those of us who have been working in this space for a length of time, it came as no surprise. Antisemitism has always been there, only hidden under wraps. It took a war in the Middle East for it to rear its ugly head. It’s not an exaggeration to call this a profound crisis. In moments of crisis, however, the strength of a community is seen not only in its leaders but in the spirit of its people. Unity is our beacon of hope. Shoulder to shoulder, regardless of backgrounds, beliefs and life experiences, we embody the resilience that has helped communities throughout history overcome adversity.”
Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt of Congregation Schara Tzedeck chanted El Moleh Rachamim, invoking the name of Elad Katzir, a hostage whose body was recovered by Israeli soldiers the day before the rally. Rabbi Susie Tendler of Beth Tikvah in Richmond said the prayer for the hostages.
Members of the Clore & Roll Ensemble will perform in Vancouver on May 13. (photo from Clore Centre)
Every year, it is sobering to experience the transition from Yom Hazikaron, the day of remembrance for Israel’s fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism, into Yom Ha’atzmaut, the celebration of Israel’s Independence Day. This year, it will be even more so. And it will be especially poignant, given that the musical group headlining the local community gathering on May 13 is an ensemble from Kfar Blum, a kibbutz in the Galilee Panhandle, in northern Israel, where some 60,000 people have been evacuated because of the threats posed by Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The Clore & Roll Ensemble is an initiative of the music school of the Clore Centre for the Performing Arts, which also has a dance and theatre school. The centre was established in 1996 and approximately 1,000 students (which include adults) study there. They come from kibbutzim and moshavim in the area, as well as Druze and Arab towns.
“I’m glad to say that the conflict doesn’t get inside the centre,” Telem Chorin, chief executive officer of the Clore Centre and director of the ensemble, told the Independent. “Music is an international language and also an emotional language that connects people,” he said.
While the Clore Centre’s offerings remain afterschool programs, the centre has played a more important role in students’ lives since the Oct. 7 terror attacks that led to the current war.
“For some kids, the Clore is like a second home,” said Chorin. “Because, for some students, it is a more stable place than the hotel they were evacuated to, or the school that is currently closed or working partially.”
Despite being displaced, ensemble members have been coming together weekly to practise for the show in Vancouver. Rehearsals are at the centre.
“Last week, we had matriculation exams in dance and, during April and May, we will have matriculation exams in music playing,” said Chorin. “It is interesting to see how committed the students are to performing arts subjects even in such a period, and how much effort they have to invest – time, long journeys, sometimes even risking [their safety] and coming to Kfar Blum, even though it is relatively more dangerous here than in their homes or the hotels they have moved to. This shows how important it is to them and how much they don’t give up on it despite everything, and maybe even this is what keeps them ‘sane’ amidst all the chaos currently prevailing in the north.”
Some members of the ensemble have been playing together for more than five years in different capacities, but the group that is coming to Vancouver has only been playing together for the past three months, said Chorin. Due to the war and the evacuations, the group had to rebuild. “We’ve added additional musicians to the band so that you will have an amazing show!” he said.
Coming to Vancouver are Menachem Ofri (17, singer), Yaron Shir (18, singer), Kachtan Aviv (17, flute), Maman Moria (17, alto saxophone), Moyal Ido (17, tenor saxophone), Shem Tov Ido (19, trombone), Kovesh Gil (24, drums), Primor Adi (17, electric guitar), Fitzer Tal (16, piano) and Deutscher Goni (16, bass guitar). Also coming are Ziv Greenberg (music director), Ferry Stefan (dance teacher and dancer), Malki Smadar (administrative manager) and Kashri Noam (technical manager).
“Ofri, Ido Shem-Tov, Aviv and Noam were evacuated from their homes, and they are coming from all over the country to the rehearsals at the centre – sometimes, under rocket attacks!” said Chorin, who will join the band in the performance, on clarinet.
“Some of the students have already appeared in Edmonton and Calgary,” he said. “I have performed in Edmonton, Calgary, Windsor and Hamilton, but this is my first time in Vancouver and I am very excited! Some of the students were in Vancouver on student exchanges with their schools in Israel.”
Of what it means for the Clore & Roll ensemble to play a Yom Ha’atzmaut concert in the diaspora, Chorin said, “It is a great pride and honour to represent the state of Israel in general, and the Upper Galilee in particular, in such a show, on the eve of Independence Day, in a challenging time like now.”
The ensemble will present a wide-ranging repertoire.
“We are going to play modern Israeli songs (Idan Raichel, Mizrachit [Israeli pop]), classic Israeli songs and also some songs in English,” said Chorin. “A very diverse and happy program.”
“Bringing the Clore ensemble serves as a reminder of the unbreakable bond we share across borders,” said Dafna Silberstein, associate director of Israel connections and partnerships at the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver. “It is also an amazing opportunity for the ensemble of teens and young adults to take a break from what they have been through for the past six months. And, for us, it feels like it is exactly what we need this year: coming together as a community united for and with our brothers and sisters in Israel.”
Jewish Federation has supported the Clore Centre as part of the Coast-to-Coast Federations’ Collective and independently, “as the centre is in our partnership region of Kiryat Shmona and the Galilee Panhandle,” explained Silberstein.
“We have wanted to bring the Clore ensemble for awhile now, to showcase the impact our support has had on its students and have been waiting for the right opportunity,” she said, noting that it is “with mixed emotions” that Oct. 7 created that opportunity.
“This year, the commemoration of Israel’s 76th Independence Day holds an even deeper meaning and significance,” said Silberstein. “It is an opportunity to stand together in solidarity and celebrate our shared values. Considering the spike in antisemitism, the need for community unity has become more important than ever.”
For tickets ($18) to the May 13, 7:30 p.m., concert at Congregation Beth Israel, as well as information about other Israel@76 activities, visit jewishvancouver.com/israelhere.
A “Toronto for Palestine” protest Oct. 28, 2023. In the last six months, across Canada, such protests have often featured calls for violence against or the death of Jews. (photo by Sikander Iqbal)
In the past six months, protesters have targeted Jewish community buildings and synagogues in Montreal and the Toronto area. Jewish student group Hillel has also been a prime target for anti-Israel and anti-Jewish sentiment at Canadian universities, including in Vancouver. Similar protests caused the Art Gallery of Ontario to cancel an event with the Canadian and Italian prime ministers over security concerns. A man in Vancouver was charged with hate-related crimes over the defacing of Israeli hostage posters.
These are just a few examples of organized anti-Israel protests, often with calls for violence against or the death of Jews, on the streets and campuses across the country. Much of this activity is met with silence or borderline anti-Jewish remarks from many elected officials and leaders.
Trans and queer rights are also under attack in Canada with the premier of Alberta’s recent announcement of sweeping new anti-trans policies and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe’s use last year of the notwithstanding clause in the Charter to push through a law requiring parental consent for children under 16 who want to change their names or pronouns at school.
The confluence of these events and the ongoing need to carefully navigate the intersectionality of their identities has left many queer Jews feeling isolated, tired and disappointed.
Queer communities in Canada have long trended toward a pro-Palestinian point of view, often reflected in clashes over whether certain Jewish groups should be allowed to march in pride parades, Aviva Rathbone, board chair of JQT, a Vancouver-based Jewish queer and trans organization, told the Independent.
“Right now, what it means is that many of the Jews in the queer community, especially Israelis, but also Jews who would maybe call themselves Zionists or who feel complex about the situation in Israel and Gaza, are not welcome in queer communities,” she said.
“I did not know there was such thing as an anti-Zionist Jew until I moved to Canada,” said Ari Fremder, a 33-year-old who works in Vancouver’s animation industry. Fremder is originally from Zimbabwe.
As a trans person who is also autistic and introverted, Fremder said, they don’t leave their house very often anymore because of the anti-Jewish protests, posters and stickers – that frequently incite violence against Jews – in their neighbourhood.
They used to go to local queer events but said they don’t feel safe anymore, as many groups are pro-Palestinian and openly state Zionists are not welcome.
“I feel a lot safer being queer in the Jewish community than I feel safe being Jewish in the queer community,” said Jessie, a 21-year-old student and environmental activist in Ontario, who asked not to use their real name.
As one of few Jewish queer people in Halifax, Schuyler H. Smith said they are facing “more hate” than they’ve ever faced in that city.
The 33-year-old diversity consultant agreed that it’s more comfortable to be part of a Jewish than a queer community right now. They will, often with trepidation, reach out privately when they see antisemitic comments and remarks from queer community members, to try to dispel myths about Jews as white colonialists or as non-indigenous to Israel, for example.
Smith hopes one-on-ones can make people think twice before posting negative comments or memes about Jews.
Anti-trans policies in Alberta and Saskatchewan, attacks and protests at drag queen story times and other “parental rights”actions across the country are also taking a toll on members of the LGBTQ2S+ community.
“I’m scared, honestly, for young trans people who need this care and are being interfered with by politicians,” said Cas Allen, a 21-year-old university student in Victoria who says access to hormone blockers changed his life when he was 15.
Ezra, a 39-year-old trans teacher in Calgary, who prefers not to use his real name, said the government is pushing a lot of misinformation, but he’s heartened by the pushback from the queer community.
He’s committed to being a visible queer influence in his school, which has a high number of new Canadian immigrants.
“If there were any queer kids in the class, they could see themselves reflected,” he said, “and [I can give] them a safe adult to confide in [while] they decided who they are.”
Allen, who grew up in a religious Jewish family in Alberta, said since he transitioned, he has “recreated” his queer Jewish identity “from the ground up” but he’s once again finding it “complicated and messy” to reconcile both those parts of himself.
He said he feels isolated and unable to talk about his feelings regarding Israel and his Jewishness to the LGBTQ2S+ people he knows. He said the only person he can really confide in is his twin sister.
Queer spaces on university campuses tend to be very pro-Palestinian and are forcing students to choose between their Jewishness and being queer, said Rabbi Seth Goren, executive director of Jewish student group Hillel Ontario, which has a presence at nine universities in the province.
“I think that’s a choice that queer Jewish students shouldn’t have to make,” he said.
Many Jewish students feel like there is no place where the conflict isn’t swirling around them, added Rabbi Kylynn Cohen of Hillel BC. She said she’s had to help students who, after Oct. 7, couldn’t go to classes because of the anti-Jewish rhetoric, both from student groups and in classrooms.
Cohen said she sees more Jewish students hanging out in the Hillel building on the University of British Columbia campus, seeing it as a safe space. Many queer students have told her they go to straight bars to unwind now rather than congregating in gay spaces.
From Vancouver to Halifax, many queer Jews are feeling unsafe and isolated because of the increase in anti-Jewish and anti-trans sentiment since the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel and the ensuing Israel-Hamas war. (photo by Maximilian Ruther / Pexels)
Many student-run groups and education-related unions have come out with strong anti-Israel statements. Six Canadian universities are facing class action lawsuits over anti-Jewish hate speech, threats against Jewish students on campus, and the silencing of Jewish voices.
There are also dozens of reports of Jewish students being shouted at, punched and spat on by anti-Israel protesters at universities across the country. Ontario student Jessie said, even though they’re at a university with a large Jewish population, there is constantly an “uncomfortableness” between their two intersecting identities.
Like many LGBTQ2S+ Jews, their stance on Israel is multi-faceted but they said they’re frustrated and have lost friends in the queer community who aren’t open to the nuances of how different Jewish people are feeling or to seeing the Jewish community as anything other than homogenous “white settler colonialist[s].”
Jessie wears a Star of David necklace but said they now often hide or remove it, including during their local drag king performances at which other performers have made pro-Palestinian tributes. They say they’d be “canceled” if they shared their support for the hostages or Israeli citizens during a show.
“There’s no space even for me to mourn or to acknowledge my feelings and what’s happening,” said Jessie.
There are, however, some Jewish queers for whom the past few months have been a time of solidarity and community building.
Non-binary Toronto artist Sadie Epstein-Fine said they are Jewish but were raised as an anti-Zionist. They’re a member of a group called Jews Say No to Genocide, whose membership is almost all queer Jews. Since Oct. 7, they say they’ve been “entirely surrounded by queer Jews” in a busy, activist environment.
They admit to looking white and acknowledge the privilege that brings, also recognizing that antisemitism is on the rise but saying they’ve been fortunate not to have felt it personally.
“We’re more concerned about Palestinian safety than we are about our safety,” Epstein-Fine said of their group members.
Beyond campuses, the past six months have seen bomb threats and attacks against Jewish schools and businesses, as well antisemitic graffiti and a rising number of other hate crimes aimed at Jews across the country. Police forces in some cities have enlarged their hate crimes units and set up hate-crime reporting centres in Jewish areas.
Darren Sukonick, 53, a Toronto businessman who has been involved with Jewish charities and community groups for decades, said he was surprised and disappointed at how widespread and swift anti-Jewish sentiment was across Canada after Oct. 7. He said he never thought he’d ever experience levels of hate like he’s seeing now.
“It was like being on a hike, turning over a log and seeing all this vermin crawling out from under it. That’s what it felt like,” he said.
On the other hand, Sukonick said many non-Jewish friends have reached out and shown support.
Calgary teacher Ezra said he frequently hears racist and hate speech about Jews, but not aimed at him, from his Grade 7 students. When he hears it, he addresses it with the kids in an effort to get them to see different points of view.
Sometimes, it’s easier to get out of bed and deal with all the negativity being hurled at both the trans and Jewish communities, said Ezra. Other days, he said, it takes a greater toll on his mental health.
Gail J. Cohenis an award-winning Toronto-based writer, editor and communicator.
Twenty years in the making, Egypt’s Grand Egyptian Museum is in a soft-opening period, with a section of the 81,000-square-metre site open for limited guided tours. (photo from Grand Egyptian Museum)
In biblical times, the Patriarch Jacob led his family to Egypt, the granary of the ancient Near East, to escape famine in Canaan. By the Roman era, the Nile River Valley and Delta – enriched by the Nile’s annual flooding with alluvial mud – had become the breadbasket of Rome. King Herod built an artificial harbour at Caesarea to facilitate the crucial maritime shipment of wheat to the imperial capital. Today, the once fabulously wealthy country is an economic basket case.
President Gen. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and his military-industrial kleptocracy blame the country’s high birth rate for the inability to feed Egypt’s burgeoning population of 110 million people. Taking a page from Keynesian economic theory, the regime – which toppled Islamist leader Mohamed Morsi in a 2013 coup d’état – has triggered a free fall of hyperinflation and devaluations while building mega-projects to stimulate the country’s broken finances.
The country’s annual rate of inflation soared to 36% in February, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) said on March 31. The Egyptian pound, called the guinea, traded at 20 to the American dollar as recently as 2020. Now, one needs 52 to buy a greenback in the flourishing parallel market. In the past 24 months, a crippling shortage of foreign currency has caused prices of goods and commodities to more than triple, forcing low- and middle-income Egyptians to further tighten their belts.
The result? Strained services, a bloated bureaucracy, a huge government budget and a staggering deficit.
Compounding the economic misery, Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the resulting Israel-Hamas war in Gaza have driven away tourists from the land of Pharaonic wonders and spectacular coral reefs. Houthi rockets targeting shipping in the Red Sea have shrunk revenue from the Suez Canal, which is down 40% this year versus the same period in 2023. And Russia’s invasion of Ukraine two years ago has driven up wheat prices and made subsidized bread – a staple for most Egyptians – more costly.
Notwithstanding Egypt’s inability to repay its current foreign debt of about $165 billion, el-Sisi’s immediate financial problems were eased in recent weeks thanks to a bailout, more than $23 billion provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the European Union.
At the same time, the United Arab Emirates launched a rescue plan to prop up its ally through the Ras el-Hekma deal announced last month. The vast real estate project envisions a new city on the barren shores of the Mediterranean Sea near the site of the pivotal Second World War battle of El Alamein. It was concluded in exchange for $24 billion in cash liquidity and $11 billion in UAE deposits with the Central Bank of Egypt, which will be converted into Egyptian pounds and used to implement the project, reported Reuters.
Where then has Egypt invested, or perhaps squandered, its largesse?
One expensive pet project has been to expand the quasi-governmental Egyptian Railway Authority’s network of standard-gauge train tracks. The system, the oldest in the Middle East, dating back to the 1854 line between Alexandria and Kafr el-Zayyat on the Rosetta branch of the Nile, now extends across 10,500 kilometres. A further 5,500 kilometres are currently in construction, including high-speed lines from Alexandria west to Mersa Matruh, Cairo south to Aswan, and Luxor east to Safaga via Hurghada.
Equally ambitious are plans to expand the country’s clogged highways. Transportation Minister Kamel al-Wazir, who took over the accident-plagued portfolio from Hisham Arafat following the 2019 Ramses Station train disaster, in which 25 Cairenes were killed and 40 injured, plans to complete 1,000 bridges, tunnels and flyovers this year.
Key to the plan to clear Cairo’s traffic woes is to complete an ambitious, shimmering new capital 50 kilometres east of the megalopolis, whose population is estimated to be more than 22 million people. The so-far-unnamed New Administrative Capital, under construction for nearly a decade, is located just east of the Second Greater Cairo Ring Road. It includes more than 30 skyscrapers, the most striking of which is the 77-floor Iconic Tower – the tallest building in Africa. Equally noteworthy are the 93,000-seat soccer stadium, the Fattah el-Aleem Mosque, accommodating 107,000 worshippers, and the Nativity of Christ Cathedral, which has room for 8,000 Copts.
To date, 14 ministries and government entities have relocated to the New Administrative Capital, but the city remains a largely lifeless white elephant with few residents.
Apart from these vast infrastructure projects, Egypt has been burnishing its cultural heritage. In 2022, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquity launched the Holy Family Trail, stringing together some 25 stops along the celebrated route that Jesus, Mary and Joseph took to escape King Herod’s wrath. Last year, the government restored the medieval Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fostat (Old Cairo), the home of the Cairo Geniza. The long-delayed Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza near the Pyramids is scheduled to officially open this summer – though no date has been announced.
The top part of the Merneptah Stele, inscribed by the New Kingdom pharaoh, dated around 1208 BCE. Line 28 reads: “Israel is laid waste – its seed is no more.” (photo from Grand Egyptian Museum)
Twenty years in the making, the GEM is currently in a soft-opening period, with a section of the 81,000-square-metre site open for limited guided tours.
Touted as the largest archeological museum complex in the world, the GEM will house more than 100,000 artifacts. It will showcase the treasures discovered in the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922. Other highlights will include a restoration centre, an interactive gallery for children and the Khufu Boat Museum.
King Tut’s funerary possessions had been on display at downtown Cairo’s Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square, a hopelessly inadequate leftover from Britain’s colonial rule. There, a decade ago, I wandered in sensory overload gawping at the Aladdin’s Cave of Wonders. As if guided by divine providence, or perhaps Ra or Isis, I stumbled upon the Merneptah Stele – a three-metre-high piece of black granite inscribed by the New Kingdom pharaoh, dated around 1208 BCE, which was discovered in Thebes in 1896 by archeologist Flinders Petrie. Line 28 reads: “Israel is laid waste – its seed is no more.”
For me, it symbolizes the cold peace Israel and Egypt have enjoyed since 1979. Though few Israelis would wish to repudiate that historic agreement, many share the sentiment of Eitan Haber, the confidant of former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, who said: “The Egyptians don’t like us and – why deny it? – we don’t like them.”
School girls, Lord Strathcona School, 1915. The JMABC Walking Tours take participants on a journey through the girls’ Strathcona neighbourhood, as well as to the Mountain View Jewish Cemetery, where many of the community’s pioneers are buried. (JMABC L.00172)
This summer, the Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia is once again offering opportunities for time travel. JMABC Walking Tours are back, taking guests on an immersive journey into Vancouver’s Jewish past. All you need to bring for the journey is your curiosity – and a hat and water!
The Jewish presence in British Columbia goes back 166 years, to the days before Vancouver was established as a city. Early Jewish immigrants arrived in the region during the 1850s Klondike Gold Rush, along with masses of other hopefuls seeking fortune in the wilderness of the BC Interior. Unlike their contemporaries, early Jewish gold-seekers did not head to the mines. Instead, they opted to sell supplies to those seeking gold. In the mines, there was no guarantee that gold would be found; in the shops, even unsuccessful miners needed provisions, thus guaranteeing an income for the shopkeepers.
The earliest Jewish community in the province was based in Victoria. It was primarily made up of businessmen and their families, who had profited during the gold boom. As the rush petered out, Jewish-owned outfitter shops transformed into general stores or niche market suppliers that specialized in items such as stoves, fabric, dry goods and other essentials, updating their stock as necessary to meet the changing needs of the times. When Vancouver was officially established in 1867, Jewish storefronts in Gastown were among some of the earliest establishments along the main thoroughfare of Water Street.
Eventually, attention in the region turned away from mercantile pursuits and towards the burgeoning real estate market. With the completion of the CPR and the dedication of Vancouver as its terminus station, the railway company began selling off large packages of land that had been taken from Indigenous communities. Real estate investors jumped at the opportunity, and Jewish businessmen were among some of the first investors in what would later become the residential and commercial neighbourhoods of Downtown Vancouver. As the city expanded, surveyor groups purchased large swaths of the forested area to the south, which now comprises the bulk of the City of Vancouver. During this time of growth, Jewish real estate moguls were instrumental in securing space for a Jewish section within the then-newly established Mountain View Cemetery.
Around this time, the whispers of two core Jewish neighbourhoods sprang up: the West End, where those with more resources and status would settle; and the East Side, where immigrants and other lower-income families would congregate. The latter neighbourhood, Strathcona, was the closest residential area to the hub of the city. While the Jewish community eventually moved towards Fairview Slopes and Oak Street in the 1950s, the Strathcona neighbourhood continues to stand as a testament to the historic challenges and achievements of British Columbia’s early immigrants.
The JMABC walking tours seek to engage audiences in the remarkable structures and values that have contributed to Jewish life here over its history. Each tour introduces participants to the iconic characters, stories and cultural phenomena that formed the Jewish community’s foundations, and it is hoped that participants emerge from each experience with greater insight and new perspectives, inspired to continue building the legacy of the community in Vancouver.
Jewish Strathcona: The Architecture of Community-Building (JMABC Walking Tours July 7, July 21 and Aug. 18, at 11 a.m.)
Since the city’s early beginnings, Vancouver’s East Side neighbourhhood of Strathcona has been home to multiple waves of immigrant communities. From the 1880s through the mid-20th century, Jewish immigrants were among the ethnic minorities that claimed these streets as home. As early as the 1850s, these Jewish pioneers were establishing essential services and buildings to accommodate the vision of a thriving Jewish community.
The JMABC tour of Strathcona highlights the themes of social welfare, family and tradition as cornerstones of Jewish communal development. The tour follows the journey of early immigrants to this area and the paths they took to found and build communal structures and social groups. Through the magic of storytelling, participants are transported back in time and immersed in the experiences of those who laid the groundwork for the expansive Metro Vancouver Jewish community we have today.
Mountain View Jewish Cemetery: Exploring Common Grounds (JMABC Walking Tours July 14 and Aug. 4, 3 p.m.)
Despite its context and location, this tour is all about life! Like its sister tour in Strathcona, this experience transports audiences back in time to get to know the once-lively personalities of the people buried in the Mountain View Jewish Cemetery. Tour participants are encouraged to engage with the space and explore the unique aspects of the surroundings, looking beyond the façades of stone and dirt to understand the deeper nuances of this historic site. Using an audience-guided model, this tour can be repeated multiple times, with variable content and direction, stemming from three focal themes: the people, the stones and the stories. Each area of focus gives its audience new perspectives on the significance and role of a cemetery as a foundational pillar of Jewish community.
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To join a tour or to book a private one, contact the JMABC office at 604-257-5199 or [email protected].
– Courtesy Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia
Left to right: Ken Levitt, Tamara Frankel, Tammi Belfer and Marie Doduck. (photo by Marchant Photograophy)
A Night at the Catskills emcee Michael Geller. (photo by Marchant Photograophy)
The Jewish Seniors Alliance commemorated their 20th anniversary with a gala titled A Night in the Catskills, which showcased Jewish humour from past to present.
On March 17, Schara Tzedek Synagogue was filled with more than 230 supporters and guests who reveled in an evening of good food and timeless humour. I was co-chair of the event with Michael Geller, who masterfully emceed the proceedings.
More than 230 people attended the Jewish Seniors Alliance gala, which took place at Schara Tzedek Synagogue on March 17. (photo by Marchant Photograophy)
The night commenced with a warm welcome from JSA president Tammi Belfer and a tribute to the late Serge Haber, whose foresight laid the foundation for the seniors alliance two decades ago. The JSA is dedicated to supporting the welfare of all seniors, irrespective of race, religion or sexual orientation, through advocacy, peer support, education and outreach.
MLA Michael Lee makes one of the night’s 50-50 draws, as Tim Bissett and Marilyn Berger await the result. (photo by Marchant Photograophy)
The entertainment lineup featured archival footage of renowned Jewish comedians, whose jokes still elicit laughter, alongside contemporary comedians like Kyle Berger and David Granirer, founder of Stand Up for Mental Health, and magician Stephen R. Kaplan, also known as “The Maestro,” all of whom enchanted the audience with their humour. I capped off the night with my “bucket list” stand-up sit-down comedy act, leaving the crowd in high spirits. (I delivered my routine from my wheelchair, if you’re wondering about the sit-down part of my stand-up.)
Gala attendee Gary Averbach waits as magician Stephen R. Kaplan forms his prediction. (photo by Marchant Photograophy)
Guests enjoyed deli offerings from Omnitsky Kosher and desserts and service by Nava Creative Kosher Cuisine. Tim Bissett provided concierge service, working in tandem with JSA volunteers, who merit special recognition for their efforts in facilitating every aspect of the event, from its inception to festive conclusion. A special acknowledgment is also due to JSA staff members Miguel Méndez, Rita Propp and Jenn Propp for their dedication and extra hours spent supporting the volunteers.
Heartfelt gratitude is extended to all who generously contributed to the success of JSA’s 20th-anniversary celebration.
Marilyn Berger is a past president and a life governor of Jewish Seniors Alliance. She was a co-host of and performer in JSA’s gala, A Night in the Catskills.
