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Nov. 25, 2005
World Jewry gather at GA
Annual conference draws international speakers to Toronto.
DAVE GORDON
Ben Stein remembers what it was like to be called a kike in elementary
school. He experienced “Jew quotas” in school and got
into fistfights because of the anti-Semitic slurs fired at him.
“It is the template for the Jewish experience in North America,”
the actor and talk-show host said at the United Jewish Communities’
(UJC) 74th annual general assembly in Toronto last week.
Stein’s father, a Russian immigrant, fought for the United
States during the Second World War, and came back to an America
that discriminated against him for being a Jew. The only job he
could get was as a dishwasher, which he used to pay for his education
at Yale University – a school that he felt lucky to attend.
Despite it all, Stein said his father was, “deeply grateful
to be American. America was pure bliss, compared to Europe. Be grateful
for growing up in a free society, compared to the whining, bitching
and moaning that we do so often. Gratitude rules my life.”
Stein suggested that Jews joined the civil rights movement because
they knew how it felt to be discriminated against, adding that today,
Jews feel alienated yet again by the rest of the world, but for
the support of America. “I am fortunate to live in a country
with a president whose Christian duty is to protect Israel,”
he said.
The host of TV’s Win Ben Stein’s Money spoke to the 4,000
delegates at the conference about the importance of gratitude and
valuing parents.
“If I could be a good son, that would be my number one goal
for the rest of my life,” he said. “I have made too many
stupid mistakes, and my parents overlooked them, and I owe them
a great debt of gratitude.”
Justice Minister Irwin Cotler also spoke about the importance of
inculcating our children with good values. “Justice shall you
pursue,” he said. “I am happy to credit my parents, who
imparted those values to me.”
On that theme, he put forth that the Hebrew month Cheshvan, which
falls in November, should be merited as a “social action month.”
“We can not only dream of building a just society, but we can
help build it,” said Cotler.
Cotler also lauded the Canadian government for approving Yom Ha
Shoah as an official day to commemorate the Holocaust.
Ten speakers out of 150 at the GA were Israel-based, and just over
a dozen were Canadian, in the first GA to take place in Toronto
in 21 years. The three-day conference takes place in a different
city each year.
Seminar discussions took place on a wide range of Jewish topics,
including: Top Ten Things You Didn’t Know About Israel, Top
Ten Ways You Can Repair the World and Energizing Your E-Philanthropy.
This year, there was a focus on small-community building. Past conferences
tended to be thematic, addressing such topics as the “Who is
a Jew?” issue, the intermarriage crisis and Israel advocacy.
Gil Troy, a history professor at McGill University, spoke about
the Ten Commandments for Zionist Activism. Among them are: don’t
be obsessed with Israel’s grave image problems, remember those
who have been murdered and start a media monitoring group.
“I will never box myself into thinking that Israel is a perfect
country,” said Troy, “but neither is Canada nor America.”
Among Troy’s other suggestions were ways to be proactive in
Israel advocacy.
“Do not use the word ‘apartheid’ when responding
to that charge,” he said. “It legitimizes it as a debating
point. Do not be afraid of using the ‘Z’ word: Zionism.
Do not use ‘intifada,’ but use ‘Arafat’s war.’
Do not play by their rules, by using their terminology.
The Jewish community has a tendency to snap to attention when Israel
is in crisis, Troy said. He beseeched the group to avoid what he
called, “crisis Zionism” and turn it instead into “identity
Zionism.”
“Zionism isn’t about defending, it’s about affirming,”
said Troy, who is also the author of Why I Am A Zionist: Israel,
Jewish Identity and the Challenges of Today. “Don’t just
make your Zionism a reaction to the attacks – not for pathetic,
poor, attacked Israel. I don’t want Israel to be the central
headache of the Jewish people.”
He appealed to the group to be the new Zionist thinkers. All previous
ones, he said, are dead, or existed prior to Israel’s founding,
such as Buber, Herzl, Ha’am, Jabotinsky and A.D. Gordon.
“We are the only people whose nationalism is rejected,”
said Troy. “No other country has to justify itself. Pakistan
is an artificial construct, and was not a nation until relatively
recently. No one calls anyone an anti-Pakistanist. But somehow there
are anti-Zionists.
Troy urged his audience to “be a part of our 4,000-year conversation
of values. Our roots are in something deeper.”
Prime Minister Paul Martin also addressed the assembly on the subjects
of Israel, anti-Semitism and the peace process. “Jewish communities
around the world can count on Canada,” he promised. “We
stand unified against anti-Semitism. Israel’s values are Canada’s
values.”
Speaking of Israel’s place among the nations, Martin pledged
that, “Canada will not allow the politicalization of anti-Israel
resolutions at the UN.”
Dave Gordon is a freelance writer whose work has appeared
in the Baltimore Sun, Toronto Star and others.
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