Skip to content

  • Home
  • Subscribe / donate
  • Events calendar
  • News
    • Local
    • National
    • Israel
    • World
    • עניין בחדשות
      A roundup of news in Canada and further afield, in Hebrew.
  • Opinion
    • From the JI
    • Op-Ed
  • Arts & Culture
    • Performing Arts
    • Music
    • Books
    • Visual Arts
    • TV & Film
  • Life
    • Celebrating the Holidays
    • Travel
    • The Daily Snooze
      Cartoons by Jacob Samuel
    • Mystery Photo
      Help the JI and JMABC fill in the gaps in our archives.
  • Community Links
    • Organizations, Etc.
    • Other News Sources & Blogs
    • Business Directory
  • FAQ
  • JI Chai Celebration
  • JI@88! video
Scribe Quarterly arrives - big box

Search

Follow @JewishIndie

Recent Posts

  • חוזרים בחזרה לישראל
  • Jews support Filipinos
  • Chim’s photos at the Zack
  • Get involved to change
  • Shattering city’s rosy views
  • Jewish MPs headed to Parliament
  • A childhood spent on the run
  • Honouring Israel’s fallen
  • Deep belief in Courage
  • Emergency medicine at work
  • Join Jewish culture festival
  • A funny look at death
  • OrSh open house
  • Theatre from a Jewish lens
  • Ancient as modern
  • Finding hope through science
  • Mastering menopause
  • Don’t miss Jewish film fest
  • A wordless language
  • It’s important to vote
  • Flying camels still don’t exist
  • Productive collaboration
  • Candidates share views
  • Art Vancouver underway
  • Guns & Moses to thrill at VJFF 
  • Spark honours Siegels
  • An almost great movie 
  • 20 years on Willow Street
  • Students are resilient
  • Reinvigorating Peretz
  • Different kind of seder
  • Beckman gets his third FU
  • הדמוקרטיה בישראל נחלשת בזמן שהציבור אדיש
  • Healing from trauma of Oct. 7
  • Film Fest starts soon
  • Test of Bill 22 a failure

Archives

Tag: antisemitism

Adaptability important

Canada’s westernmost Reform rabbis, Dan Moskovitz of Vancouver’s Temple Sholom, and Lynn Greenhough of Victoria’s Kolot Mayim, sat down for a discussion (and celebration) of the resilience of the Jewish people during a Zoom webinar on Feb. 2.

Greenhough, who posed questions to Moskovitz for an event that was part of Kolot Mayim Reform Temple’s 2024/25 Kvell at the Well series, described him in her introduction as a “one-man advertisement for Jewish resilience.”

photo - Rabbi Dan Moskovitz of Temple Sholom was the most recent speaker in Kolot Mayim Reform Temple’s Kvell at the Well Zoom series
Rabbi Dan Moskovitz of Temple Sholom was the most recent speaker in Kolot Mayim Reform Temple’s Kvell at the Well Zoom series. (photo from rabbidanmoskovitz.com)

Moskovitz began by bringing historical context to the topic, noting that the sages would often say that new questions and problems are the reframing of events that have happened in the past. 

“Sadly, we have a history that can take us back to times of trial and challenge just as easily as it could to triumph,” said Moskovitz. “So, part of it is that we’ve seen this before and we’re still here. That is, I think, a key to our resilience.”

Another element to resiliency is adaptability, he said. Here, the senior rabbi at Temple Sholom cited a section of the Talmud that debates whether it is better to be a cedar tree or a reed. 

“The rabbis conclude it’s better to be a reed than a cedar. While we can stand firm at some point, a strong enough wind from just the right angle will topple us over [if we are a cedar],” Moskovitz said. “But the reed can adjust. And that’s how we dealt with the destruction of the First and the Second Temple.”

Judaism, he continued, has maintained a fluidity that allows it to be open to new ways to grapple with present-day issues like identity, the role of women and modern concepts of morality, discarding past practices that might be distasteful today.

“I think that important to our resilience has been our ability to change,” he said. “When groups or religions don’t change, their survival becomes precarious.”

Judaism’s resilience, too, can be attributed to its portability; namely, texts were printed and studied. Further, discussions, such as those occurring in the Talmud – which Moskovitz described as the “original Wikipedia” – could be had not just in one place in time but across time, to create an “ongoing dialogue.”

“I think about Pesach and the printed Haggadah, but also the technology, if we can call it that, of the socialization of the story, that coming together every year to retell our story, as opposed to telling it and forgetting it,” he said. “What Pesach does is remind us of the story of redemption, remind us of our role, Moses’s role, God’s role, the role of miracles, and to reinterpret that through the lens of our modern experience, to see the pharaohs of our time.”

A recent illustration of Judaism’s ability to adapt, he said, occurred during the pandemic, as events and services shifted to Zoom. Most of Temple Sholom’s minyan services are still held online, as they have proved a valuable means for congregants to connect in a meaningful way.

Change and innovation, Moskovitz argued, are always going to happen, and it has been to Judaism’s advantage to move forward, to progress, and not shelter itself from the outside world. One such step practised by Reform Judaism, for example, is to use transliteration and English translations of the Hebrew text in prayer books, making the prayers and other material accessible to a wider range of people.

Later in his talk, Moskovitz referenced how times of crises and discrimination have empowered Jews to create their own institutions. 

“I think that we have to have a deep appreciation for the resourcefulness of the generations that came before us,” he said. “Most of the institutions that we have been raised in were built by a generation of Jews who were excluded from general society.”

To the question of the post-Oct. 7 world in which university campuses and other spaces have become hotbeds of vitriol against Jews, Moskovitz stressed that flexibility and adaptability do not mean capitulation. 

“If there are places that we have been and rightfully should still be and want to be, then we do have to stand our ground there,” he said. “We do have to insist and we do have to call out the hypocrisy of certain things or the blatant discrimination.”

Crucial in this pursuit, said Moskovitz, is to find allies. He told the Zoom audience that Jews will not defeat antisemitism, but non-Jews will. 

“We can’t separate ourselves from the community,” he said. “While we could use our money to pull out of places like Harvard, we should absolutely stay at the boardroom table as long as they will have us. If not, then go to whatever audience will receive our message of why we were kicked out of that place, and stay in for the argument and the fight.

“I think that we shouldn’t abandon these institutions and say, I’m not going to send my kid there anymore because it’s antisemitic. It will only become more antisemitic if we stop sending our kids.”

Jonathan Bergwerk, author of the Audacious Jewish Lives books, is the next speaker in the Kolot Mayim Kvell at the Well series. On March 2, at 11 a.m., he will discuss Jewish innovators who have changed the world. Visit kolotmayimreformtemple.com to register. 

Sam Margolis has written for the Globe and Mail, the National Post, UPI and MSNBC.

Posted on February 28, 2025February 27, 2025Author Sam MargolisCategories LocalTags antisemitism, Dan Moskovitz, Judaism, Kolot Mayim, resilience
Spread of extremism

Spread of extremism

Terry Glavin, right, in conversation with Rabbi Dan Moskovitz Jan. 30, traces the evolution of anti-Israel extremism in Canada. (photo by Pat Johnson)

At times, the world seems to be going off the rails, with Canadian activists overtly cheering on terrorists and   celebrating the atrocities of Oct. 7. But Terry Glavin, a BC writer and thinker with a lifetime of experience on the ground as a journalist in the Middle East, thinks a reckoning is coming.

Speaking with Rabbi Dan Moskovitz at Temple Sholom Synagogue Jan. 30, Glavin, who says he comes from the political left, sees “a very, very disturbing and destructive phenomenon in all of the places where the left used to be.”

Part of that is a consequence of a change in global dynamics.

“Where there was once a fairly robust sort of proletariat internationalism on the left, there was something that was emerging by the ’60s and ’70s that was kind of a Third Worldist, anti-Western substitution for a genuinely progressive working-class internationalism,” he said. “That has had enormous implications in the trajectory of human history – very disturbing implications.”

The socialist or communist ideal never took hold in the West and that sent proponents seeking a spark that could catch fire.

“The working class simply didn’t take up the offer of overthrowing the state and seizing the means of production,” said Glavin, “so a lot of people on the European left went looking for a new proletariat and found it in Third World revolutionaries. Sometimes that was actually a legitimate thing to do. But, in the context of the so-called Arab world, what has often as not occurred is that bonds of solidarity would be forged with some of the most reactionary, anti-liberal, anti-progressive, theocratic, fascistic movements.”

Lacking a coherent political ideology, the movement coalesced around “anti-imperialism,” whose unifying principle was simply sharing the same enemies.

“All you have to basically do is say ‘I’m against the Americans, I’m anti-imperialist,’ and you’re in,” Glavin said.

The collapse of the Soviet Union was disorienting to the left, which then discovered the politics of anti-globalization. This created more strange bedfellows, Glavin said, because denouncing the International Monetary Fund and the World Economic Forum had once been the purview of the right.

Then, after the 9/11 terror attacks, anti-globalism took a backseat to what its adherents called an “antiwar” movement. Glavin takes exception to the term, because he said it was not an antiwar movement so much as a movement that sided with the West’s enemies in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“That’s a fairly serious charge to levy,” he said, “but organizationally and institutionally, that is actually a fact, in Canada particularly.”

A series of annual conferences in Cairo during the first decade of this century brought together global organizations including Canadian groups like Toronto Stop the War Coalition, the Canadian Peace Alliance, the Vancouver Coalition to Stop the War and others. In Cairo, they were joined by representatives of terror groups including Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. These ostensible antiwar groups, and these decidedly violent groups, developed a program that opposed “imperialism.” And, vilified above every evil was the perceived imperialism of Zionism.

“At its very birthing, at its very centre, was anti-Zionism,” Glavin said.

While most of these Canadian activists probably self-identified as leftists, they had made common cause with the descendants of history’s most extreme right.

“We sort of imagine that there was this horrible phenomenon of Nazism that consumed millions and millions and millions of people in a world war and then we won and then it was over,” he said. “People forget that the same philosophy, the same ideology, the same antisemitic hatreds, were spreading throughout the so-called Arab world, throughout the Maghreb and the Levant, and Iran as well, in the 1920s and 1930s. It persisted.”

Glavin explained the direct line from the Nazi collaborationist Arab leaders of the 1940s and successive decades of forces in the region that translate and promulgate Mein Kampf and keep the flame of fascism alive.

Despite this seeming ideological incongruity, Canadian activists returning from Cairo found some receptive audiences for particularly Canadian reasons. Canada is a decentralized, multicultural constitutional monarchy, post-nationalistic and less driven by a cohesive patriotic impulse than some other states, according to Glavin. These fluidities caused Canadians to search for an identity.

“We needed to find a way to figure out our place in the world,” he said.

Canadians were very engaged with the creation of the United Nations, including its Declaration of Human Rights. “So, the United Nations and its protocols have always significantly informed Canadian foreign policy,” he said. “If you vest your foreign-policy principles in an institution that, without anybody noticing for some reason, became largely a function of the police-state bloc and the Organization for the Islamic Conference, you’re going to find yourself in a bit of a spot.”

This may have created fertile soil for the sorts of ideas that these activists brought back from Cairo, he said. It may also explain why “Israel Apartheid Week,” a global anti-Israel phenomenon, began at the University of Toronto and why an anti-Israel boycott movement began in Canada three years before the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement was originated by Palestinians.

Meanwhile, as activists claimed to be advocating for peace in places like Afghanistan and Iraq, Glavin said they were instead often working at direct cross-purposes with those peoples’ self-defined interests. Such was the case, he argued, with those who opposed Canada’s engagement in Afghanistan.

“The Afghan left, the Afghan women’s movement, the Afghan student movement, Afghan intellectuals, poets, Afghan socialists, liberals, were all ‘troops in,’” he said. “All these white people in North America and Europe were all ‘troops out.’ Right away, that should tell you something. Something has been broken in the traditions of left-wing solidarity among and between working people around the world.”

Journalists Glavin knew in Afghanistan were baffled by Canadian activists.

“They would see another protest in Toronto,” he said, and they would ask: “Why would they do that to us?”

The left has to be held to account, Glavin said, naming the New Democratic Party specifically.

“Where the hell were you when this was happening? What were you saying when trade union leaders were meeting with Hezbollah, were meeting in Damascus with these blood-soaked tyrants? Where were you?” he asked. “The women of Afghanistan were begging – begging you – to stay with them, just hang on for a couple more years. [They were saying] ‘We’ve got an entire generation of young people coming up now, they’re graduating and they are going to be taking over, and you walk away from us? How could you do this?’”

All of these threads of ideological extremism came together with a particular fervour after Oct. 7, 2023, Glavin argued.

“Immediately, across this country, people were pouring into the streets celebrating the bloodiest pogrom since the time of the death camps,” he said. 

This was new, Glavin noted. A couple of decades earlier, at the height of the antiwar movement, activists were not overtly championing the terrorists.

“You didn’t have hundreds and hundreds of people in the streets saying, ‘We are Al Qaeda, we support Al Qaeda, yay Al Qaeda,’” he said. “You have that now – people who are openly, enthusiastically, deliriously, hysterically praising Hamas. That’s different. Something big has changed. Something very big has happened.”

This has affected Canadian Jews severely.

“On Oct. 8, Canadian Jews just didn’t wake up to find that the fabric of the country had been kind of torn by this, but rather that something had been woven into the very fabric of the country itself,” he said.

As things have deteriorated to the point where clusters of Canadians are literally celebrating the mass murder of Jews, Glavin sees a ray of hope. By showing their true colours, these activists have made it more difficult for aware Canadians to ignore the extremism that has consumed parts of our society, including the anti-Israel left. He foresees a reckoning.

“I am optimistic,” he said, “because I do think that most normal people, on any number of fronts, have simply had enough.” 

Format ImagePosted on February 14, 2025February 13, 2025Author Pat JohnsonCategories LocalTags antisemitism, extremisim, Oct. 7, politics, Terry Glavin

Taxes, tariffs for Jewish life

In December, our federal government offered a hastily assembled tax break that lasted until mid-February. The most memorable part of it was that the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) chose to exempt “Hanukkah trees or bushes” from taxes. Your reaction might be like my twins’ outcry when I picked them up from junior high. We discussed it on the way home.

“Did they talk to an actual Jewish person?” they wondered. “Couldn’t they have exempted Hanukkah menorahs and candles? Judaica?

“Don’t they realize,” my kids added, “that anybody who is buying a tree is not doing a Jewish thing?”

I had similar thoughts. There are Jews who, for various reasons, decorate with Christmas items, but it’s not a Jewish thing.

I often write about how Jewish traditions, laws and texts apply to us, as Canadian Jews. This time, I reflected on how Canadian law applies to us, instead. The Hanukkah bush incident on its own wouldn’t have resulted in more than momentary annoyance or a wry chuckle if it had been a one-off mistake.

I thought of this while considering the recent US hoopla around eradicating DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) policies. Canadians consider diversity part of our strength. Of course, there are efforts to uphold our strength in diversity amid the new US presidential activity. Historically, I’ve been a fan of DEI. It uplifts minorities who deserve a fair chance in a world that touts itself as a meritocracy but, in truth, privileges some far above others. 

After Oct. 7, 2023, it became clear that Canadian DEI does nothing to support Jewish people, although we’re a minority in Canada. More than once, my husband, a professor, was forced to point out surveys, embraced by his university, that left no way to identify as Jewish. In one human resources gaffe, the survey told Jews to identify as “white European.” My husband, whose father was born in a displaced persons camp in Germany in 1946, had no intention of pretending his murdered and displaced ancestors were considered equal or “white” citizens in Europe.

There are more anecdotes that one could share. Jews are a minority in Canada. The current DEI narrative doesn’t match who we are.

All this came up when reading the newly released tariff proposal compiled by the Canadian government. You could get bogged down in the definitions of “offal,” “margarine” and other details. I skimmed quickly, wondering how this would affect our Passover grocery shopping. Then I got stuck on the following entries in the backgrounder that was proposed to go into effect Feb. 4 and then was quickly postponed for 30 days.

Specifically, I got lost in item numbers 6117.10.10, 6117.90.10, 6214.10.10, 6214.20.10 and 6214.30.10. All these objects, associated with shawls, stoles, scarves and mantillas, and parts thereof, specifically list “prayer shawls.” These numbers relate to whether the garment is made, in whole or in part, of wool, silk or synthetics, and knitted or crocheted.

In recent years, it’s true that some older Christian women, usually in church groups, have knit shawls while praying. They gift these “prayer shawls” to those they pray for in their community. There isn’t much cross-border trade in these items. These works of prayer are gifts and are rarely for sale.

It’s easier to jump to the other definition. Tallits, tallesim, tallis, tallitot – however you call it, Jewish garments with tzitzit, made of wool, silk or synthetics, are called prayer shawls in English. Having recently searched for these for my twins’ b’nai mitzvah, many of the biggest Judaica shops that sell these are in the United States. Of course, one can also buy beautiful tallits from Israel. Due to the exchange rate, slow postage times and difficulty of shopping online, we bought our kids’ tallits locally at the synagogue gift shop, but some of those items came from US suppliers.

I wove my tallit for my bat mitzvah. I’m capable of weaving others, but because my kids haven’t grown to their adult sizes, our family decided not to invest too much time and money into their current tallits. What fits now at age 13 won’t work for them as adults. However, the new tariffs indicate that, although Jews are only 1% of the Canadian population, our ritual prayer items apparently deserve “special mention” and tariff fees. Note that, if you can locate a cotton tallit, it might not fit in the tariff schedule yet, but this list and its timeline are open to revision.

Where does this leave us? I’m wondering who compiled the two-month tax break and the tariff list. Someone on these task forces feels the need to single out and “include” Jews without consulting any Jews. The effort towards “inclusion” feels downright uncomfortable. It leaves Jewish Canadians feeling othered. We’re the small minority specifically allowed to purchase “Hanukkah bushes” without tax. Our tallits are mentioned five times in the cross-border tariff battles.

While we dangle in this awkward space, it brings up other issues. How many “Hanukkah bushes” or tallits do the CRA and tariff writers think we buy each year? As a small minority, even if we all bought these items every year (which we don’t), it would amount to nothing much. Something smacks of bias. The notion that we have outsized purchasing power or large numbers is part of a greater set of antisemitic tropes.

Earlier this week, I attended an online panel on antisemitism that included MP Ben Carr, Manitoba MLA Mike Moroz, Belle Jarniewski, executive director of the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada, and Avrom Charach, a longtime Winnipeg Jewish leader and activist who has been cleaning up antisemitic graffiti. Everyone on the panel concluded that education and outreach to non-Jewish Canadians helps, because eradicating ignorant hate takes education and allies. The panel also suggested that appropriate federal and provincial legislation could help bring change.

Mentioning these strange tax cuts and tariff proposals could help educate Canadian government officials. Their efforts to single out the Jewish community have backfired. Let’s hope that future legislation doesn’t create other fake Jewish rituals or charge special tariffs on Jewish ritual items. Such actions aren’t supportive of Canadian diversity. Canada can do better. 

Joanne Seiff has 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.

Posted on February 14, 2025February 13, 2025Author Joanne SeiffCategories Op-EdTags antisemitism, Hanukkah bushes, history, Liberal party, prayer shawls, tallit, tariffs, taxes, trade policy
Action and prevention 

Action and prevention 

Rabbi Susan Tendler, left, Lonnie Belfer and Lynne Fader were panelists at a dialogue on antisemitism in Richmond Jan. 26. (photo by Pat Johnson)

Communities need to be more proactive and less reactive toward antisemitism – to focus less on what to do after an anti-Jewish hate crime occurs and to prevent them from happening in the first place. 

That was one of the recommendations at a meeting on antisemitism convened by Richmond Multicultural Community Services Jan. 26. Panelists were Rabbi Susan Tendler of Beth Tikvah Congregation, Lynne Fader, co-executive director of the Kehila Society of Richmond, and Lonnie Belfer, a program manager in skills training for employment programs, experience and disability support services.

Panelists and participants noted that expressions of concern by officials in the community are not always backed up by actions.

“In the days in particular after Oct. 7, it meant a lot to many of us that the RCMP was there,” said Tendler. However, during one instance when police were called, the response time proved not as immediate as the police had assured the congregation it would be.

Likewise, legislation and other steps “look really great on paper,” she said. The City of Richmond adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Working Definition of Antisemitism and the provincial government is making Holocaust education mandatory in secondary schools across the province. But these are not silver bullets to the problem, she said. 

“In the four-and-a-half years that I’ve lived here, I’ve noticed a change that’s scary to see,” said Tendler. 

She tells clergy from other religions that Jewish congregations pay for private security and they acknowledge that such an expenditure would gut some of their budgets.

“The province has tried to offer some more grants and make them accessible to ensure that we all do feel safe but, again, it’s a shame that that’s the situation in which we all live,” she said.

Fader’s father was a cab driver in East Vancouver and taught his kids to “never roll over and never stay quiet,” she said.

She recalled minor and more significant incidents of antisemitism across her career and was critical of elected officials who are visible for PR opportunities but absent when substantive action is needed.

“I do hold our politicians accountable because in my opinion they’ve done nothing and they’ve allowed hatred in all our communities to grow because they are more worried about photo opportunities,” she said.

Fader endorses restorative justice, which was the approach taken when some young people were caught after spray-painting swastikas on Beth Tikvah’s building. The perpetrators were brought to meet a family in the congregation and to hear the family’s Holocaust survival experiences.

“There are huge systemic issues, not just in Richmond, not just in BC, not just in Canada, but globally, on antisemitism, racism and all the rest,” Belfer said. “That needs to be addressed.”

However, he is hopeful. 

“There are issues, but there are wonderful people in this community who are doing wonderful things,” he said. “It’s unfortunate when I look around the room that I see so few non-Jewish people in the room because we know the problem. We face the antisemitism.” 

Breakout groups developed tangible steps the community could take to address antisemitism and enhance multicultural well-being. These included having the City of Richmond hold a multicultural day at which cultural communities provide food and entertainment, and taking the show on the road, bringing cultural communities out of their own congregations and community centres and meeting in less familiar territory.

Community-building grants are available from the city, said one participant, “but there are too many hoops to jump through to get them.”

Doors Open Richmond is an annual program where religious and cultural groups welcome non-members to their facilities, but participants said Jewish institutions are challenged both by the fact that the event takes place on Saturdays as well as Sundays, and because security concerns largely preclude Jewish participation.

One participant stressed that approaches to antisemitism are generally reactive.

“You’ve had hate speech thrown at you, what do you do?” he asked. “The question isn’t what do you do after, it’s how do you prevent it from happening? There needs to be more forward motion in how to stop it from occurring versus what you do after you’ve been beaten up on the street.”

Alan Hill, inclusion coordinator at Richmond Multicultural Community Services, facilitated the event, which took place at City Centre Community Centre. He explained that the panel was part of a larger series funded by Heritage Canada to build bridges and connections. Other events have focused on Indigenous leaders, Ukrainian refugee groups, youth groups, the Filipino community, Islamophobia, gender perspectives, the experiences of women, and a Black History Month event. A symposium on anti-Asian hate is coming up. In March, all groups will come together to review experiences and consider next steps. 

Format ImagePosted on February 14, 2025February 13, 2025Author Pat JohnsonCategories LocalTags antisemitism, Beth Tikvah, Kehila Society, Lonnie Belfer, Lynne Fader, Richmond, Richmond Multicultural Community Services, Susan Tendler

מדינה במשבר

אירוע השבעה באוקטובר הנורא גרם לטראומה קשה מאוד אצל ישראלים רבים. ישראל מעולם לא חוותה אירוע כל כך קשה שגרם נזק נפשי גדול לתושבי המדינה שנמצאת במשבר שהולך ומתעצם

חלק מהישראלים מנסה לחזור לשגרת היום יום ויש אחרים המתסכלים החוצה אל מה שקורה בעולם. יש שרוצים לעזוב את ישראל ועל פי נתונים רשמיים כבר למעלה משמונים אלף עבור לגור בחו”ל. בפועל המספר צפוי להיות גדול יותר. אחרים רוצים לתפוס קצת מנוחה בחו”ל למספר ימים וכידוע נסיעה לחו”ל היא אחד התחביבים הידועים של הישראלים. המשבר הנוכחי יצר אף תופעה חדשה של ישראלים המלכלכים על העולם שלא עצר מלכת, או שמחפשים נקודות תורפה במדינות שנות – כדי לטעון שהחיים ישראל טובים יותר. ישראלים אלו שותפים לרגשי התעמולה הלאומנית שתפחו לאור השבעה באוקטובר. לא מפתיע כי בעת שראש ממשלת ישראל מפעיל מכונת רעל כנגד כל מי שמתנגד לו, יש אזרחים שמפעילים מכונת רעל כנגד כל דבר שהוא לא ישראלי בהן  מדינות בעולם. כידוע הנשק הטוב ביותר לפתור בעיות מבית הוא להתקיף את האחרים הזרים

לאחרונה מספר ישראלים שלחו לי לינקים על קנדה ונקודות התורפה שלה. כמו הומלסים, מהגרים, פשע ואנטישמיות. אכן האנטישמיות מרימה ראש במדינות רבות בעולם כולל קנדה וזו תופעה חמורה ביותר. אך לא פחות חמור הוא שישראלים ויהודים בעולם מתעלמים לחלוטין מהסיבה לאנטישמיות בגל הנוכחי. הם מציינים כי העלייה באנטישמיות הנוכחית החלה לאור השבעה באוקטובר. אך “שוכחים” את מעובדה לא פשוטה שעדיף להתעלם ממנה, במסגרת מסע הלאומניות השוטף את ישראל ויהודי העולם. והיא: שההרג של עשרות אלפים אזרחים חפים מפשע בעזה, הוא זה שהביא לאנטישמיות הקשה שאנו חווים כיום. אין שום הצדקה לאנטישמיות נגד עם שאיבד כמחציתו בשואה, אך עם שאיבד את מחציתו בשואה, לא יכול לאפשר הרג של אזרחים ברצועת עזה, כולל נשים וילדים רבים

על מנת להסביר עוד יותר עד כמה כיום הישראלים הם לאומניים אזכיר כיצד הם מתייחסים “ודואגים” לילדי עזה המסכנים שאף אחד לא יכול להאשימם במעשי השנאה הבלתי אנושית של החמאס ושאר ארגוני הטרור. סיפרתי לידידה ישראלית שגרה שנים בארה”ב על מופע של זמרת אמריקאית ידועה שהופיעה בחודש שעבר בוונקובר. אמרתי לשמאוד נהנינו בהופעה. ומה היא אמר בתגובה: אני שמחה שנהניתם בהופעה אך אני פחות שמחה שהוצאת כסף על כך, והזמרת תתרום חלק מההכנסות לילדי עזה. נדהמתי מהתגובה הזו והחלטתי שלא להגיב. זאת, למרות שכמעט עניתי לידידתי כי צה”ל ידאג לכך שעוד מעט לא ישארו ילדים חיים בעזה כך שאלה לא יזדקקו עוד לתרומות

מספר ישראלים שלחו לי דברי ביקורת קשים על ראש הממשלה “הנורא” של קנדה, ג’סטין טרודו, שגרם לנזק גדול למדינה. הופתעתי שפתאום הישראלים הפכו למומחים בנושאי קנדה. מכל מקום טרודו סוף סוף הודיע בימים האחרונים על התפטרותו וחבל שלא עשה זאת קודם. לגבי הישראלים: הם האחרונים שיכולים לבקר ראשי הממשלות של מדינות אחרות. ומדוע? כי במשך כשבעה עשרה שנה עומד בראש ממשלת ישראל, בנימין נתניהו הנוכל. הוא הרס כל חלקה טובה במדינה אותה הפך לבובת הסמרטוטים שלו. נתניהו הוא אחראי הראשי והראשון למחדלי השבעה באוקטובר ולרבים רבים מתחלואות מדינת ישראל בעשורים האחרונים. מי שלא הצליח להחליפו שלא יחפש ללכלך על מדינות אחרות בעולם ועל המנהיגים שלהן. הלאומניות הישראלית לא תוביל את הישראל להצלחה

Posted on February 5, 2025January 14, 2025Author Roni RachmaniCategories עניין בחדשותTags antisemitism, Canada, Gaza, Israel, nationalism, Netanyahu, Oct. 7, Trudeau, אנטישמיות, בנימין נתניהו, ג'סטין טרודו, הלאומניות, ישראל, עזה, קנדה, שבעה אוקטובר
Sachs heads new office

Sachs heads new office

Michael Sachs is the first director of Western Canada for the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre. (photo from FSWC)

The role is new, but the face is familiar. On Sept. 15 last year, Michael Sachs took the helm as the first director of Western Canada for the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre. No stranger to Vancouver’s Jews, Sachs has been at the forefront of community engagement for a long time – first as a volunteer and, more recently, as a communal professional.

Jews are in a changed world since Oct. 7, 2023, Sachs contended in a recent interview with the Independent. He had already made a major career change years ago, moving from diamond wholesaling to Jewish community service. When the Hamas terror attacks happened and antisemitism skyrocketed, he found himself just where he felt he could have the greatest impact.

For more than three years, Sachs was executive director of Jewish National Fund of Canada’s Vancouver branch. 

“I felt blessed and privileged to be in a role at JNF at a time when Israel faced some of its darkest times, to be able to support Israel and to be able to support the people,” he said. “Over that year, we saw and felt a change, or a progression, in what it feels like to be a Jew outside of Israel.”

The world situation hastened the opening of FSWC’s Vancouver office.

“There always was a plan to open in Vancouver,” said Sachs, “but because of the speed at which the hate rose to such a level, the need caught up to that.”

Sachs had already accepted his new role by the time JNF lost its charitable status in a conflict with Canada Revenue Agency, a legal and administrative battle that is ongoing. Sachs said JNF was “blindsided” by the federal agency’s rescinding of the crucial charity imprimatur but that it was announced after his acceptance of the FSWC job and had no impact on his decision.

Among the highlights of his time with JNF was going into the schools and sharing stories of Israeli resilience and marking holidays like Yom Ha’atzmaut and Tu b’Shevat. 

“We had a lot of great events,” Sachs said, despite the limitations of the pandemic. “We did really creative and out-of-the-box thinking on how we approached fundraising.”

For example, JNF transformed the Negev Dinner, which had been a relatively exclusive annual gala, into a “Negev Event,” with far more accessible ticket prices that allowed larger audiences to see and hear Israeli actor, author and activist Noa Tishby in 2023.

Strengthening partnerships with other organizations was also central to his mission at JNF, he said. That cooperation will continue, he promises, as FSWC takes its place amid the constellation of community organizations on the West Coast.

Sachs’s priority for his new office is to maximize FSWC’s antisemitism training and workshops, which they have been delivering to businesses, law enforcement, educational institutions and others. 

“Our training is the gold standard for antisemitism training in Canada,” said Sachs. 

Also top of his mission is continuing to build connections with existing agencies.

“We’ve worked closely with CIJA [the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs], we work closely with Federation, we work closely with Hillel, to assist and provide that support,” he said. 

His office may be in Vancouver, but Sachs is responsible for the organization’s programs across the four Western provinces, and he foresees much more work with non-Jewish organizations across the West, as well as supporting isolated Jewish individuals and groups.

Michael Levitt, national president and chief executive officer of FSWC, heralded the opening of the branch office and Sachs’s hiring as a sign of positive things in difficult times.

“The focus of our work in terms of building a more inclusive and respectful society by educating Canadians about the lessons of the Holocaust and advocating for human rights, standing up against antisemitism and racism in all of its forms, could not be more pertinent and critical in today’s society,” Levitt told the Independent. “One of the things that makes us unique is we have a focus and a presence both in education spaces, which is certainly a core pillar of what we’re doing, but also in advocacy spaces.”

Strengthening, rather than competing with other organizations, is the goal, Levitt said.

“To be inclusive, to not have our elbows up, to look for opportunities to add expertise, but do it in a way that is collaborative and cooperative and empowers any of the partners that we work with – that’s very much what we’ve been doing in Toronto and across the east and central Canada,” said Levitt. “We want to be working hand-in-hand with as many of these organizations as possible.”

Sachs is the ideal person for the new role, according to Levitt.

“His door is always open,” Levitt said. “From the moment I met Mike Sachs, I just knew that he was a future face for our organization on the West Coast. His experience, his commitment, his passion for the Jewish community, particularly out in Western Canada, the important work he had done with another organization we worked closely with over the years, JNF. He had the relationships, he had the drive and he had the attitude that just fit so well into our core beliefs as a team.

“I can’t think of a better individual than Mike Sachs to fly the Wiesenthal flag out in Vancouver,” Levitt said.

Flying the flag on the West Coast is also due to the support of Gordon and Leslie Diamond, and Jill Diamond and the Diamond Foundation, Levitt added.

“Gordon is a long-time board member of FSWC and the family have been very active,” said Levitt.

Ezra Shanken, chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, has worked with Sachs in many capacities over the years and welcomed him to the newish role.

“Mike’s energy and passion for our community and for Israel are truly inspiring, and he is a dedicated partner in combating antisemitism,” Shanken told the Independent. “He is the definition of a community leader – always going above and beyond for the benefit of others. Beyond being a trusted partner in so many initiatives, he’s also a great friend. I know he’ll continue to have an incredible impact in this new role.”

While in the private sector, Sachs was also engaged in the community, variously as president of the Bayit synagogue, in Richmond, as a board member at Jewish Family Services and Vancouver Hebrew Academy. In 2017, he received Federation’s Young Leadership Award and was one of the Jewish Independent’s 18 Under 36. Sachs is married to Shira and they are raising Izzy, 11, and Desi, 9.

Born in Stamford, Conn., Sachs moved to Vancouver with his mom Sally and stepfather Marshall Cramer in 1993, when the late business leader and philanthropist Joe Segal hired Sachs’s stepfather to run the clothing retailer Mr. Jax. 

“It was only supposed to be for a couple of years, but we fell in love with the city and the community,” said Sachs.

The family purchased and ran Kaplan’s Deli. Vancouver Jews might hang out among their own shul crowd, attend different summer camps or go to different schools, but smoked meat is the ultimate equalizer. 

“A lot of people know me from being behind the counter at Kaplan’s,” said Sachs. “That’s where I got my real dive into the diversity of our community.”

It was during COVID that Sachs decided to make a major life change.

“Like everybody else, we furloughed for a period of time. I said to my wife, I want to go back and do something I love,” he said.

He loved the people he worked with in the diamond sector, he stressed, but his launch of a challah delivery service during the early weeks of the pandemic reminded him of the joy of engaging with people for a good cause.

“There were times that we delivered hundreds of challahs every week. It kind of opened my eyes that this is what I want to do,” Sachs said, defying the assumption that people don’t enter the nonprofit sector for the bread.  

Format ImagePosted on January 17, 2025January 15, 2025Author Pat JohnsonCategories LocalTags advocacy, antisemitism, education, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre, Holocaust, human rights, Michael Levitt, Michael Sachs
Robinson kicks off book fest

Robinson kicks off book fest

The JCC Jewish Book Festival opens Feb. 22 with Selina Robinson talking about her memoir, Truth Be Told. (photo from JCC Jewish Book Festival)

This year’s JCC Jewish Book Festival opens Feb. 22 with Selina Robinson talking about her recently published memoir, Truth Be Told.

Most Jewish Independent readers will be familiar with the events that propelled Robinson to write this book. The first chapter, called “Four Fateful Words,” starts at what some people may think is the beginning – when, during a Jan. 30, 2024, webinar, Robinson said the state of Israel was reestablished on a “crappy piece of land.” But she believes she had been targeted for months.

“It was sloppy language, nothing more, but it provided the Gotcha! for anti-Israel extremists to build a case that I was racist, Islamophobic, intolerant and an evil monster that needed to be canceled,” she writes.

“In an ideal world, it would have been the extremists who were dismissed, not me. In an ideal world, we would be blessed with leaders who can differentiate between right and wrong.”

Truth Be Told covers the fallout from her comments. Premier David Eby initially seemed prepared to stand by Robinson, but the political pressure – including from a group of Muslim clergy who threatened the NDP’s access to Muslim voters unless Robinson was dismissed – soon led to him firing her from cabinet, though he never used the word.

“I told the premier that if he wanted my resignation, I would give it to him, but he needed to ask for it,” writes Robinson.

“In the end, he didn’t fire me and I didn’t resign, although the undeniable conclusion of the call was that I was no longer in cabinet.”

After taking some time to absorb the situation, Robinson rallied. 

“As part of my t’shuvah [repentance], the premier asked that I make a series of calls to Muslim community leaders,” she shares. “I began to think: What if I could engage with these groups and bring the Jewish community and the Arab and Muslim communities together in some way? These two heartbroken communities, both fearful for their families overseas and feeling powerless to effect change, could find commonality in that shared experience, at the very least. Action is always an antidote to hopelessness and helplessness. I could do this as part of my role as an MLA and the government could take credit for doing something meaningful that makes a positive difference for both these aching communities. For me, this would be a profound form of redemption, of t’shuvah, and also of tikkun olam [repair of the world].”

But this ray of light was soon extinguished, the idea being deemed “too political.”

“I knew in that moment that this was no longer my place, no longer my government, no longer my political party,” writes Robinson. “A place and a party where I belonged would recognize the opportunity for someone who was seen to have transgressed to do some good. My place, my party, would recognize the value of bringing people together. A place where I belonged would not be afraid to try something unique and potentially powerful.”

Robinson quit the NDP and finished her term as an MLA as an independent. She was going to retire anyway, but this was not how she wanted her political career to end.

And it was quite a career. With a master’s degree in counseling psychology, Robinson spent most of her working life as a family counselor and in senior roles in various social service agencies.

“I never planned to enter politics,” she writes. “The first real engagement I had was speaking to Coquitlam City Council, my hands shaking, in support of an emergency cold weather refuge for homeless people proposed by a church in my neighbourhood.”

image - Truth Be Told book coverOne of the councilors suggested she run for council, and she did. She was elected to Coquitlam City Council in 2008 and reelected in 2011. Truth Be Told gives readers a glimpse of what that experience was like, what Robinson accomplished as a councilor, and more. We find out how and why she made the leap to provincial politics in 2013 – a decision in which the late John Horgan played a pivotal role. The memoir is dedicated to Horgan, for whom Robinson had great respect and a close relationship. As premier, Horgan was the one who appointed Robinson minister of finance after the 2020 election that gave the NDP a majority government. She held that position through COVID, the government managing to file budget surpluses despite the challenges the pandemic brought.

“What saddens me right now is that people are losing faith in government,” writes Robinson. “That is especially distressing because if anything should have renewed people’s faith in government, it was the collective response to the pandemic.”

When Horgan stepped down as premier in 2022 because of the toll his cancer treatments were taking on him, Robinson began to more seriously reflect on her own future. She had been in public service for so long, she wanted to spend more time with her family. In Truth Be Told, we learn more of her own fight against cancer – a fight that started in 2006, a fight she seems to have won, finding out on Oct. 6, 2023, that her cancer had disappeared. The celebration was short-lived. That evening, news started coming in of Hamas’s terror attacks on Israel.

Robinson’s ambivalence about running for reelection was one of the reasons she didn’t pursue the party leadership vacancy Horgan’s departure opened. Other candidates bowed out, and Eby was anointed the new leader of the BC NDP and became premier in November 2022.

Robinson calls herself an “eternal optimist,” and that attitude has served her well. Despite being effectively demoted by Eby after he became premier, Robinson threw herself into the position of post-secondary education and future skills minister. It is interesting to read about some of the issues in that sector, and of the other portfolios Robinson held, as well as get some insider knowledge of how politics works and about the personalities of the people who represent us.

The crux of Truth Be Told is Robinson’s “four fateful words,” the reactions to them, and what was said and done – or, more importantly, what was not said and what was not done. Many of her colleagues were “quiet allies,” not willing to speak out.

“There are lessons from my experience that transcend my personal story,” she writes. “There are lessons for our democracy about the necessity to stand up to coercion from interest groups and harassment from mobs. There are lessons for leaders about how to act (and how not to act) when presented with choices between what is easy but wrong and difficult but right. There are lessons about speaking up rather than remaining silent.”

Truth Be Told is about a person doing what they passionately believe in, a person living their values – some of which were instilled at Camp Miriam, where Robinson was a counselor in her youth – and trying to make what they feel are positive contributions to the world. 

Given what happened to her, Robinson could be forgiven for giving up and going quietly into obscure retirement. But that’s not who she is. She asks Canadians to have the courage to speak up, while recognizing that we should not “kid ourselves that a millennia-old problem will be resolved in a day.” She ends her book with calls to action, suggestions of what we each can do to counter antisemitism, as Jews (for example, don’t hide, “engage respectfully or not at all” and don’t give up) and non-Jews (speak up and engage with Jews, among other things), and as a society (for instance, protect students and nurture real inclusion). She includes some resources for readers wanting to explore various topics more.

In the “Final Reflections” chapter, Robinson writes, “We will never be perfect. The world will never be faultless. But repairing the world must always be our guiding star. Our reach must always exceed our grasp.”

Profits from the sale of Truth Be Told will be donated to the Parents Circle-Families Forum (theparentscircle.org/en) and Upstanders Canada (upstanderscanada.com). 

The JCC Jewish Book Festival runs Feb. 22-27. For the full list of events and participating authors, visit jccgv.com/jewish-book-festival.

Format ImagePosted on January 17, 2025January 15, 2025Author Cynthia RamsayCategories BooksTags antisemitism, JCC Jewish Book Festival, memoir, politics, Selina Robinson, Truth Be Told
Where Jewish pride grows

Where Jewish pride grows

Camp Solomon Schechter builds identity and combats antisemitism. (photo from Camp Solomon Schechter)

During Tisha b’Av, a day of mourning and reflection, the entire camp community of Camp Solomon Schechter in Tumwater, Wash. – 300 campers, ranging from 3rd to 10th graders – gathered in silence at the amphitheatre. A staff member stepped forward, the flicker of torches casting shadows. They asked a question: “Please stand if you have ever encountered antisemitism.” 

Slowly, hesitantly at first, campers began to rise – one by one, then in clusters. Younger campers glanced around, their faces etched with uncertainty, before joining their peers. Staff members, too, stood. Eventually, every camper and every staff member were on their feet. 

The sight was both powerful and heartwrenching. The realization that every single member of our community, even our youngest, had faced antisemitism was a sobering reminder of the challenges our children navigate. It underscored the importance of camp being a safe haven and Camp Solomon Schechter’s mission to empower campers with pride, resilience and an unshakable connection to their Jewish identity. 

“Living as a minority, especially in times when hate seems to be ever growing, camp becomes an oasis of belonging, safety and joy,” said Rabbi Eve Posen of Congregation Neveh Shalom in Portland, Ore. “The opportunity for children to be immersed in joyful Judaism at camp is a powerful antidote to the antisemitism present in our world today.” 

Antisemitism is not a relic of the past – it is a persistent reality that manifests in subtle and overt ways, from exclusionary rhetoric to acts of violence. As Jewish communities grapple with these challenges, there is a question that arises time and again: how do we equip the next generation to respond to and rise above these threats? One answer lies in Jewish summer camp. 

Camp Solomon Schechter believes camp is more than a summer getaway – it’s a transformative space where Jewish identity is not only celebrated but deeply ingrained. It’s where children and teens connect with their Judaism, form forever friendships and discover the joy of being part of community. These experiences serve as a critical counterweight to the forces of antisemitism by fostering pride, resilience and a sense of belonging.

Proud Jewish identities

Antisemitism seeks to diminish Jewish identity, often targeting individuals and communities by attacking their sense of self-worth and belonging. Schechter counters this by fostering environments where Jewish life is celebrated unapologetically. Imagine a Shabbat at camp: the entire community dressed in white, walking hand in hand to a service that looks out on Lake Stampfer. The melodies of prayers mingle with the natural beauty of the outdoors, creating a sacred space where campers feel deeply connected to their heritage and one another. These moments instil a sense of pride that stays with them long after camp ends.

Whether it’s singing Birkat Hamazon after meals or morning prayers, core tenets like Shabbat, kashrut and tefillah – and the intentionality (kavana) brought to these traditions – the camp cultivates shared values and rituals that form the foundation for lasting friendships and a rich Jewish life. Examples include Maccabiah (team-building through friendly competition), the Oded program (Jewish leadership development) and Havdalah, where the entire community gathers to mark the end of Shabbat with song and light.

The integration of Jewish practice into every activity reinforces the idea that being Jewish is not just about rituals – it’s about community, identity and how we live our daily lives. At Schechter, Jewishness is woven into everything, from discussions about values to hands-on activities like planting Camas bulbs as part of an environmental stewardship program. Playing basketball becomes a Jewish experience because it’s played alongside Jewish friends. Swimming in Lake Stampfer is Jewish because it’s filled with laughter and camaraderie among a community united by shared traditions. Climbing the ropes course is Jewish because it’s about trust, teamwork and overcoming challenges together. Even sitting down for lunch is Jewish because it’s a moment of connection, blessings are recited. 

Through stories, songs and discussions, campers gain a nuanced understanding of Israel beyond the headlines. Hebrew is spoken throughout the day. Programs like the Israeli Scout delegation and daily flag-raising ceremonies, where Hatikvah is sung, help campers develop a connection to Israel while instilling a sense of responsibility to something greater than themselves. 

Cultivating resilience

Camp teaches resilience in ways both subtle and profound. The challenges of a ropes course or the learning a new skill remind campers of their own strength and capability. These lessons are essential when confronting antisemitism, which often tests the emotional and psychological fortitude of young Jews. 

More importantly, camp creates a safe space to address difficult conversations. When global events – like the war in Israel – impact our community, camp becomes a haven where campers and staff can process their feelings and find support. 

Staff bring their own Jewish journeys to Schechter, and campers are surrounded by Jewish role models who inspire them through teaching, leadership and mentorship.

Community bonds 

Antisemitism isolates individuals and communities, attempting to weaken the collective strength of the Jewish people. At Schechter, the opposite happens: connections are built that transcend geography and last a lifetime. Campers come from across the Pacific Northwest, spanning a range of backgrounds and experiences. At camp, these differences dissolve as the kids unite around shared traditions, values and goals. Whether it’s competing in a friendly staff versus camper football game or singing camp parodies around the closing bonfire, the bonds formed at camp are rooted in joy, trust and mutual respect.

These connections don’t just benefit the individuals involved. Camp alumni go on to become leaders in synagogues, schools and other Jewish organizations, bringing the lessons of connection and collaboration they learned at camp into their adult lives. 

At Schechter, we see it every summer: campers and staff return home inspired and proud to be Jewish. Campers leave not only with stronger Jewish identities but with a sense of hope for the future. That hope is our greatest weapon against hate, and it’s what ensures the continuity and vibrancy of our people for generations to come. To support our work, visit campschechter.org/give. 

– Courtesy Camp Solomon Schechter

Format ImagePosted on January 17, 2025January 15, 2025Author Camp Solomon SchechterCategories LocalTags antisemitism, Camp Solomon Schechter, education, identity, Jewish summer camp

אין סוף לאנטישמיות

לבעיית האנטישמיות כנגד יהודים וישראלים בעולם. אין ספק שמדינות המערב נכשלו בטיפול שורש בבעייה חמורה זו ואני חושש למראות קשים יותר בעתיד

גל האנטישמיות הנוכחי החל צובר תאוצה לאור הריגתם בעזה של עשרות ואלפי אזרחים בהם נשים וילדים רבים. יש מקום להעביר ביקורת על ישראל ולהפגין כנגדה בכל מקום בעולם. אך אסור בשום פנים ואופן לנקוט באלימות נגד תושבי ישראל והיהודים ברחבי העולם ולקרוא להשמדת המדינה. שנאה שכזו לא תביא לשום תוצאות חיוביות וכאמור על מדינות המערב להתחיל ולפעול בחריצות כנגדה

ישראלים רבים רואים את תמונת המצב בשני צבעים בלבד: שחור ולבן. מבינתם לאחר אירועי השבעה באוקטובר משנה שעברה עם ההתקפה הנוראית של הטרוריסטים מהחמאס וארגונים נוספים, מותר לישראל לעשות כרצונה – בדרך לחסל את הטרור בעזה, גם אם מדובר בהריגת עשרות אזרחים. אצל הישראלים – לאחר השבעה באוקטובר – אין שום מקום להעביר ביקורת על ישראל. וכל ביקורת היא אנטישמיות לשמה. הישראלים אומרים במפורש כי מה שלארה”ב ומדינות נוספות היה מותר לעשות באפגניסטן, עיראק, ויאטנם ומדינות נוספות, מותר גם לישראל לעשות. עמדה זו לא מקובלת עלי ואני טוען כי אין לישראל לגיטימציה לעשות את מה שמדינות אחרות עשו כיוון שמדובר בדברים חמורים מאוד. וכן אסור לשכוח לרגע שרצועת עזה נמצאת לפיתחה של ישראל והתוצאות האיומות של הרג אזרחים והריסת כשבעים אחוז מהבניינים לא יעלמו פתאום

לאור מחדלי ואירועי השבעה באוקטובר חלק מהישראלים מתקשים לעכל זאת, והפתרון נמצא בדת. אלוהים העניש את ישראל והנקמה (המוצדקת אגב) מתבצעת בשמו. בכך הם מורידים אחריות מהמדינה לגודל המחדלים שקדמו לשבעה באוקטובר, והופכים את החיים בישראל לקלים יותר

אני לא מזלזל באמונה של אלה שמאמינים באלוהים דעתי ידועה היא כי כל אחד יחיה באמונתו. אך אין מקום להכניס אמונות לנושאים אקטואליים ומעשיים כמו השבעה באוקטובר. האמונות מסוות למשל את חומרת המחדלים של ישראל בכל הרמות. האמונות כביכול נותנות מענה למצוקה הקשה והאישית עקב הדבר הנורא הזה שקרה לישראל אך אין בהם להביא לשום פתרון מעשי. אומר שוב: השבעה באוקטובר שהוא האירוע החמור ביותר לעם היהודי מאז ימי השואה, קרה בגלל שורת מחדלים קשה ביותר של ראש ממשלת ישראל, ממשלתו, הצבא וגורמי הביטחון. שום אמונה לא תשנה עובדה זו

יש לזכור שבישראל עצמה לאור שנים מתנהלת אנטישמיות נגד מתנגדי ראש הממשלה, בנימין נתניהו, וזה עובר יחסית בשתיקה. אין מספיק תגובות נגד הביביסטים שמתקיפים באלימות את משפחות החטופים. הביביסטים קוראים ליוצאי אירופה כמוני “אתם חזרו לאירופה כדי שהיטלר יחסל אתכם”. האם זו לא אנטישמיות שפלה ביותר? הגדילה לעשות שרת התחבורה, מירי רגב, שאמרה בצורה מבישה “הקפלניסטים הגיעו לבית של ביבי לסיים מה שחיזבאללה לא הצליח”. האם זו לא אנטישמיות

קודם כל צריך תסתכל טוב טוב במה שקורה בתוך ישראל לפני שמעבירים ביקורת על העולם. אני בטוח שיותר קל לדבר על זרים מאשר על חלק לא מבוטל ממדינת ישראל

לסיכום העניין יש לציין כי מצבה של ישראל והיהודים ברחבי העולם הוא מסובך ביותר. ישראל הפכה לאחת המדינות השנואות בעולם כיום והישראלים והיהודים בעולם נמצאים בסכנה מוחשית של אלימות ממשית. לאף אחד לא ברור עוד כמה זמן תימשך לחימת ישראל בעזה ורבים מתושבי המדינה היה רוצים כבר לראות את הסוף ושחררור החטופים שרובם כבר לא בחיים

Posted on December 25, 2024December 17, 2024Author Roni RachmaniCategories עניין בחדשותTags Amsterdam, antisemitism, Bibiists, Gaza, hostages, Israel, Oct. 7, אמסטרדם, אנטישמיות, ביביסטים, חטופים, ישראל, עזה
A Dickens of a musical

A Dickens of a musical

Anthony Santiago, at front, plays Fagin in Gateway Theatre’s production of Oliver!, which runs until Jan. 4. (photo by David Cooper)

Charles Dickens wrote Oliver Twist in 1837. His eponymous main character, an 11-year-old orphan, has the audacity to ask for more when the workhouse daily gruel is handed out, leading to a series of events that change his life forever. And local audiences will be asking for more, more, more of Gateway Theatre’s offering of Oliver!, the musical “freely adapted” from Dickens’ novel by Lionel Bart, which plays until Jan. 4.

A beloved classic, the 1968 screen adaptation of Oliver! won the Academy Award for best picture of the year. A revival of Bart’s work is currently playing in London’s West End to widespread acclaim. I predict the same for this production. 

The story revolves around Oliver’s journey through the gritty underworld streets of Victorian London, from being an impoverished orphan sold to apprentice a cruel undertaker, to his secondment to a gang of street urchins under the tutelage of Fagin “the Jew” and, finally, a reunion with his well-to-do family. 

Community member Josh Epstein ably directs his 24-person cast, a superb mix of professional and amateur actors (including 11 children), as they enthusiastically sing, dance and cavort their way across Ryan Cormack’s handsome set. 

On the dark side of the original story is Dickens’ portrayal of Fagin as a venal, sinister, petty criminal who runs a den of adolescent thieves, teaching them to pick the pockets of London’s elite. Dickens refers to Fagin as a Jew more than 250 times, mostly in a negative way. He defended his choice by stating that he was just reflecting the reality of the time – that London underworld criminals were almost invariably Jewish. Some say he based the character on Ikey Solomon, a notorious Jewish fence. Over the years, consistently called out by Jewish community members for antisemitism, Dickens eventually apologized and edited out the negative references. Bart, who is Jewish, downplayed any stereotypes of Fagin in his rewrite.

In Gateway’s production, you would not even know that Fagin, played by Anthony Santiago, is Jewish, although, in his one solo, “Reviewing the Situation,” the klezmer-inspired clarinet accompaniment hints at a connection. Even as Fagin salivates over his cache of jewels, overall, he comes across as a lovable rogue, not the sleaze Dickens originally described. On opening night, I asked Epstein about this characterization. “I did not want to make a Jewish caricature of him,” said Epstein. “I wanted the show to be something entertaining and deep without that aspect.”

While this is truly an ensemble production, a number of actors stand out. Many of the veterans take on multiple roles, gliding effortlessly from one to the other.

Miranda MacDougall, who can really belt out a song, does double duty as Nancy, one of Fagin’s accomplices, a kind-hearted strumpet, and Mrs. Sowerberry, the undertaker’s wife. She also carries off a pretty good Cockney accent.

Tanner Zerr plays Nancy’s churlish beau Bill Sykes, whose cruelty leads to murder and his ultimate demise. One wonders what Nancy sees in this violent partner and why she stays with him. The answer comes in her poignant rendition of “As Long As He Needs Me,” which brought tears to my eyes. Zerr also doubles as Mr. Sowerberry in a very funny funeral scene and chorus line dance, including a spry corpse – Kate Malcic.

Santiago is simply fantastic as Fagin. Lucas Gregory as the Artful Dodger, the leader of Fagin’s gang, has a very physical role, as he slides down poles and climbs up and down ladders. I hope he can make it through the three-week run without an injury.

Then, of course, there is Rickie Wang as Oliver. Wang gives a sublime performance and showed his singing talent with “Where is Love?”

More minor characters, Victor Hunter, as Mr. Bumble, the beadle, and Cecilly Day, as Widow Corney, delight in a raunchy two-hander that had the audience in stitches. Daniel Curalli plays Mr. Brownlow, who turns out to be Oliver’s uncle, with the appropriate gravitas, and Suani Rincon does a nice job as Bet, 

Nancy’s friend. All the gang kids, from the tallest to the smallest, are great and perform with gusto. 

A musical of this scope is nothing without the behind-the-scenes work of the creative team. In this production, they really deliver.

Cormack’s industrial two-storey wrought-iron set constantly revolves, morphing from a workhouse to Fagin’s hideout to a posh London salon to London Bridge. Frenetic activity accompanies each revolution with various cast members running to and fro.

Lighting designer Sophie Tang’s rich colours infuse the various sets, providing the mood for each scene.

The costumes of Donnie Tejani authentically reflect the Victorian era – the rustling petticoats of the ladies, the tattered frocks and knickers of the children’s gang, Fagin’s patchwork overcoat, and fancy waistcoats and trousers for the gentlemen. 

Against the backdrop of all of these designs, choreographer Nicol Spinola gets her young charges hoofing away to musical director Sean Bayntun’s impressive six-piece orchestra. With iconic songs like “Food, Glorious Food,” “Consider Yourself One of the Family” and “Oom Pa Pa,” what’s not to like?

My only complaint is that the hidden orchestra often overpowers the actors (although they are all wearing microphones) so that many of the lyrics are lost. Hopefully, over the course of the run, this will be corrected.

In program notes Epstein remarks: “Directing Oliver! has been an incredible opportunity to reimagine a story that has resonated for generations. While it’s a tale of resilience and hope, it also confronts the harsh realities of poverty, abandonment, and the search for belonging. For this production, we’ve worked to see the story through Oliver’s eyes, capturing the vivid and fantastical way children remember moments.

“This isn’t a softened version of Oliver!, it’s raw, unflinching, and a true dark fairy tale. It’s a story about finding light in the darkest places and holding onto hope when it feels out of reach.”

I highly recommend this delightful musical, suitable for ages 10 and up. Tickets can be purchased at boxoffice@gatewaytheatre.com or by calling 604-270-1812. Special performances include VocalEye audio description for guests with visual impairments (Dec. 28) and a relaxed performance (Dec. 21). 

Tova Kornfeld is a Vancouver freelance writer and lawyer.

Format ImagePosted on December 20, 2024December 19, 2024Author Tova KornfeldCategories Performing ArtsTags antisemitism, Charles Dickens, Gateway Theatre, history, Josh Epstein, Lionel Bart, musical theatre, Oliver!

Posts pagination

Previous page Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 … Page 38 Next page
Proudly powered by WordPress