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January 16, 2004
Lazarus to rise in Asia
Bulletin editor plans to spend six months travelling.
PAT JOHNSON SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
If there is chicken soup and tzimmes to be found in Asia, Baila
Lazarus intends to track it down. Lazarus, who has worked at the
Jewish Western Bulletin since 1996 and served as the paper's
editor for more than five years, will spend the next six months
exploring East Asia.
Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, mainland China and Hong
Kong, Korea and Japan are on Lazarus's tentative itinerary. Though
the trip is primarily recreational, Lazarus said she plans to keep
an eye out for stories of interest to Bulletin readers. She
will also continue her passions of photography and visual arts.
Her Web site, www.orchiddesigns.net,
displays her artistic work and writings.
"I hope to explore Jewish communities when I travel,"
said Lazarus, who has received some contact names in the region
from Vancouver's Lubavitcher Rabbi Yitzchak Wineberg. The international
Lubavitch movement has outreach organizations in places where one
least expects a Jewish presence. In addition, Lazarus hopes to visit
representatives of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee,
which has a project in Yangon, Myanmar (formerly Rangoon, Burma),
where a synagogue and Jewish cemetery are still maintained. She
also aims to export her journalism expertise.
"I hope to help a group of people in Hong Kong who are trying
to start a Jewish newspaper," said Lazarus, before flying out
of Vancouver International Airport Tuesday.
Lazarus, who has degrees in architecture, political science and
history from McGill University, and a graduate degree in journalism
from Concordia University, grew up in Montreal. She has overseen
the Bulletin's coverage of world events over some of the
most tumultuous years for Israel and Canadian Jewry. During the
past three years of the latest intifada, Lazarus acknowledged, the
international situation has altered the paper's coverage.
While Israel seemed on the road to peaceful coexistence with its
neighbors throughout the mid-1990s, the Bulletin's coverage
of the Middle East emphasized internal Israeli factors, such as
the battles between secular and religious and the definition of
"who is a Jew." When violence exploded again, the paper
– and its readers – have often been forced into a role
of defending Israel in what sometimes seems a wildly unbalanced
discussion.
"When Israel's detractors are louder, you end up being much
more supportive of Israel," she said. "You end up feeling
like you're really put in a corner."
Criticisms of Israel, which are common in the Israeli press, are
far less welcome in the Diaspora, where Jewish Canadians, among
others, feel marginalized and threatened by the pitch of criticism
against Israel. Lazarus blames poor communications by Israel for
part of the international ill-will toward the Jewish state.
Striking a balance between reporting the news and demonstrating
and encouraging support for a beleaguered Israel requires walking
a fine line, she said.
Closer to home, Lazarus is proud of the increased emphasis the paper
has put on geographic diversity under her stewardship and on profiling
creative members of the community.
"We've tried to bring in the stories of people in places like
Burquest and Whistler, for instance," she said. There has also
been an added emphasis, she noted, on fine arts, performing arts
and local young people in theatre and television. The Bulletin
has also tried to introduce more community organizations to readers
and to facilitate interaction between agencies.
"Definitely since I've been here, there have been a lot more
organizations who have seen themselves in the paper," she said.
The experience of editing a Jewish newspaper is not without its
challenges, she acknowledged. The importance of a community newspaper
is reflected in the sense of ownership readers take in the contents,
a commitment that sometimes makes an editor feel her every decision
is being second-guessed.
But whatever barbs have been sent her way, Lazarus said, were soothed
by the amicable atmosphere in the paper's offices.
"We definitely have a good time," she said. "The
way we love kidding each other and playing practical jokes."
Cynthia Ramsay, the Bulletin's publisher, will be taking
over Lazarus's editorial duties for the immediate future. Ramsay,
who has shared an office with Lazarus and worked more closely with
her than anyone else, said that Lazarus will be greatly missed in
the office, adding "Oy, watch out Asia...."
Pat Johnson is a native Vancouverite, a journalist and
commentator.
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