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bulletin april 21, 2008

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volume 72, no. 13

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Living under constant rocket siege:

Sderot residents visit Ottawa

By Michael Regenstreif “They will shoot, but we will build! Building is the only answer to terrorism.”

That was the forceful declaration made by Sderot resident Eeki (Itshak) Elner to a thunderous round of applause from a crosssection of Ottawa’s Jewish community – from youth to seniors, secular to religious – gathered at the Soloway Jewish Community Centre (SJCC) for a quickly arranged solidarity rally on March 31 in support of Sderot. The Negev city has been under a constant barrage of Kassam rockets fired from Gaza by Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists.

Elner and two other Sderot residents, George Adjedj and Tal Pichovich, were in Ottawa to meet with Canadian officials, including Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime

Bernier, as well as the media and the Ottawa Jewish community.

Elner is somewhat of an anomaly among Sderot residents. While thousands have fled Sderot in the eight years since the rocket attacks began, Elner, a sabra whose parents were Holocaust survivors, moved to Sderot from Tel Aviv two years ago in a show of solidarity.

In Sderot, Elner directs the Center for Leadership, an organization that trains young adults to assume leadership roles in Israeli society.

Talking with the Bulletin before the rally, Elner said that, as the son of refugees, he understands the plight of Palestinian refugees and supports the principle of land for peace.

“But Sderot is not in disputed territory,” he said. “The rocket attacks on Sderot are an attack on the very existence of Israel.”

(Left to right) Jack Silverstone, MC of the event, and Donna Dolansky, Jewish Federation of Ottawa vice chair, with Sderot residents Tal Pichovich, Eeki Elner and George Adjedj at the Ottawa Jewish community rally in support of besieged Israeli city.

(Photo: Peter Waiser)

Addressing the community gathering, Elner said the rocket strikes in Sderot often begin at 6 am.

“Families have between seven and 15 seconds to gather up their

children and get to the safer room in the house when the alarm sounds, signalling incoming rockets.”

Two hours later, there’s often another round of rocket fire.

“The terrorists know that at 8 o’clock the kids go to school,” he said. “After the rockets land, the parents have to call the school to see if their kids are still alive.”

(Continued on page 2)

Experts debate accuracy of Jewish numbers in census

By Ron Csillag (JTA) – A new Canadian census that appears to show a significant decline in the number of Jews in Canada has experts divided over the significance of the figures.

Statistics culled from Canada’s 2006 census figures released this month show that 315,000 Canadians identified themselves as Jewish by ethnic origin. This constitutes a 9 per cent drop from 2001, when they numbered 348,000.

Canada’s largest Jewish populations are

Toronto’s 141,685 Jews, Montreal’s 71,380 and Vancouver’s 21,465, according to the census. [According to the 2006 census, the Ottawa-Gatineau Jewish population numbers 12,495, a drop of about three per cent from the 2001 number of 12,890. – OJB] As with past censuses, experts are divided over the significance of the numbers, with some saying the results are incomplete and skewed, and others arguing they are accurate.

Jim Torczyner, a professor of social work at Montreal’s McGill University and a long-

time interpreter of census results, says the latest figures are unreliable because they do not reflect what he says is a more significant marker of self-identification: religious affiliation.

“It’s not ethnicity alone that creates Jewish identity,” Torczyner told JTA. “You can’t extrapolate [a decline] from a census that asks only about ethnicity when it comes to Jews.”

Canadian headcounts, held every decade in years ending in 1, inquire about subjects’ religion and ethnic origins. Shorter mid-

decade censuses, conducted in years ending in 6, ask about ethnic background only. They permit respondents to list up to four ethnic origins, including “Canadian.”

Jews are the only group to fall into both categories, which has led to decades of communal debate over who and what constitutes a Jew. The 2001 census found 330,000 Canadians who said they were Jewish by religion, an increase of 3.7 per cent over 1991. Some (Continued on page 2)

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Page 2 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 21, 2008

Around the Jewish world Mosque wears Israeli colours (JTA) – Residents of an Israeli Arab village have painted their mosque blue and white in honour of Israel’s 60th anniversary.

Breaking with many Israeli Arabs who have declared they will boycott next month’s celebrations, residents of A-Taibe in the Gilboa region have painted the dome of their mosque in the national colours.

“We are citizens of the State of Israel,” village elder Hisham Zouabi, explained to the daily newspaper Ma’ariv. “For us, religion encourages us to bring nations together.

The goal is simple: coexistence. A Jew who comes here should not feel that the place is hostile but like home.”

A-Taibe has approximately 2,000 residents and reports excellent relations with nearby Jewish communities.

Israeli cult rabbi flees to Canada (JTA) – A radical rabbi alleged to have counselled followers to commit horrific acts of child abuse has fled Israel for Canada.

Officials in Israel have issued an interna-

tional arrest warrant for Rabbi Elior Chen, who is alleged to have counselled his followers to severely beat and burn children in order to rid them of the devil. Other children were allegedly forced to drink alcohol and turpentine until they vomited. Some of the abuses have resulted in serious and lifethreatening injuries. One child remains in a vegetative state.

Israeli authorities plan to ask Canada to extradite him.

“He left Ben Gurion Airport. He flew to Canada. We know that he’s in Canada at the

moment,” said Israel police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld on April 7.

Chen was once linked to a plot to fire a missile at Jerusalem’s Temple Mount.

The Canadian Jewish Congress has called on Rabbi Chen, if he is indeed hiding in Canada, to turn himself in.

“Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) is willing to assist in facilitating his surrender to Canadian authorities,” said Rabbi Reuven Bulka, co-president of CJC. “If Rabbi Chen so desires, we encourage him to contact our offices.”

People of Sderot still dream of living in peace (Continued from page 1)

Elner explained that, a decade ago, Sderot used to be a thriving cultural centre and was home to some of Israel’s most creative artists and musicians.

“But they left. How much could they endure when they know the alarm can come at any time?”

More than 6,000 rockets have fallen on Sderot resulting in a number of deaths, many casualties and devastating psychological effects on much of the city’s popu-

lation, particularly the children.

Elner knows from personal experience about the psychological effects of the ceaseless attacks.

“On May 29, a rocket hit my house. I was shaking all day long,” he said.

Elner warned that allowing the Gaza-based terrorists to destroy Sderot would mean the end of the Zionist dream.

“If we leave Sderot, Ashkelon, Ashdod and Tel Aviv will be next.”

Pichovich is a Sderot resident who worked in Gaza before the evacuation and now owns a bar in Sderot.

The day her bar was scheduled to open in February 2007, the front door was hit by a Kassam rocket.

“I had a whisky and, an hour later, I opened the bar,” she said.

“Why open that night?” she asked rhetorically.

“Because I’m Jewish and we are a proud nation.”

Like Elner, Pichovich refuses to surrender Sderot

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or give up the dream of living in peace with the Palestinians.

“I won’t give up,” she declared. “Someday there will be peace. I still hope for peace.”

The Algerian-born Adjedj spoke to the audience in French and elaborated on the psychological toll on the people of Sderot from the barrages of terrorist rockets. It will take, he said, 10 to 15 years for psy-

chologists and psychiatrists to fully understand the effects. The attacks weigh heavily on everyone, from the young children to someone like himself, a veteran of the Six Day and Yom Kippur Wars.

The rally was organized by the Jewish Federation of Ottawa, the SJCC and the Embassy of Israel.

In his opening remarks, Israeli Ambassador Alan Baker told the assembly he’s

been particularly disturbed by the way the Canadian media has portrayed the situation in Sderot seeming to set aside the nature of the attacks by Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

“That’s why the embassy decided to bring people from Sderot to Ottawa,” he said. “To meet the foreign minister, other members of Parliament and the media to explain to them what living in Sderot means.”

Experts: differing conclusions (Continued from page 1)

348,000 listed their ethnic origin as Jewish, either alone or in combination with one or more other ethnicities, which was down one per cent from 1996.

Community officials combine the figures, excluding only those who say their ethnic roots are Jewish but also list another religion.

There are about 50,000 in this category.

The community’s final official tally as of 2001 was 370,520 Jews in Canada.

In 2001, Jews ranked 17th overall among groups in Canada defined by ethnic origin, but in the 2006 census they ranked 25th.

Robert Brym, a sociology professor at the University of Toronto, said the latest numbers reveal a deeper issue, reflected in those who listed just one ethnic origin, Jewish, versus those who listed more than one, including Polish, Russian, Israeli and Canadian.

In 2006, he said, the number of people who identified with multiple ethnicities – on average, younger and more assimilated Jews – grew by a healthy 11.7 per cent. But the number of single-ethnicity identifiers, who tend to be older and less-assimilated Jews, fell precipitously, by 27.6 per cent.

Brym says the data show the older generation of less-assimilated Jews dying off more quickly than the younger, more assimilated generation of Jews who can replace them.

He attributes this to low Jewish birthrates, the fact that Jews tend to be older than nonJewish Canadians and the virtual end to Jewish immigration to Canada from places like

Russia and South Africa.

Torczyner interprets the data differently.

“When you give people a choice – when you can ask: ‘Are you Jewish by religion or ethnicity?’ – those who identify as Jewish by religion will then say they’re ethnically something else.”

Therefore, he said, “When you compare just the ethnicity numbers, you get a very confusing picture because you just don’t know whether some Jews are not responding at all.”

Brym says the latest census figures signal a decline in the overall number of Jews in Canada. He notes that, in every census year for which data is collected on ethnicity and religion, the number of Jews by religion is lower than those by ethnicity because some “ethnic” Jews are irreligious or have converted.

He said he wouldn’t be surprised if the number of Jews by religion declines by 5 per cent in the next census.

“In 1989, I published an article predicting the demographic decline of the Canadian Jewish community due to aging and low inmigration,” he said. “Two decades later, the census data are bearing out my forecast.”

Torczyner argues the opposite, saying the 2011 census will show a growing Jewish community in Canada.

“People are living longer,” he said. “There is intermarriage, but that still doesn’t affect one’s identification.”

Torczyner added that Canada continues to attract Jewish immigrants.

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 21, 2008 – Page 3

Page 4 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 21, 2008

Beth Shalom celebrates 50 years, June 18

Beth Shalom adapts in the 1980s as the community moves west

By Paula Smith for Beth Shalom Congregation By the 1980s, it was clear that the Ottawa Jewish community was moving further away from the downtown area.

The Jewish Community Campus was starting to come together with the move

by Hillel Academy and Talmud Torah from Chapel Street to Broadview Avenue in 1983. The Jewish Community Centre Day Camp also moved from Chapel Street to the campus as soon as a new pool was completed there in 1985.

With Hebrew education consolidated in the west end, Beth Shalom West, with the help and nurturing of the downtown shul, continued to grow and gather momentum. A building campaign was started. By 1984, it was suc-

cessful enough that construction began on the first stage of the building on Craig Henry Drive on a site donated by Jack and Irving Aaron. Beth Shalom West was able to hold its services in the new building by Rosh Hashanah 1985.

The downtown shul continued to remain active throughout the 1980s with regular Friday night dinners, Chanukah dances and study groups.

The girls’ consecration classes and the Sunday morning boys group marked 25 years of successful programs. The scholarly Rabbi Basil Herring, who had replaced Rabbi Saul Aranov, encouraged the broadening of both Talmudic and family programming.

In 1982, the shul began offering free one-year memberships and a pair of seats to all couples who were married

at Beth Shalom and all children of members who were married in another synagogue.

The magnificent Tree of Life, which is mounted on the south wall in the foyer of Beth Shalom, was donated by Joe and Inez Zelikovitz, giving members the opportunity to honour their loved ones with their names on a leaf of the tree.

Rabbi Aranov, who had left Beth Shalom in 1979, returned in 1987 to serve as spiritual leader for another six years.

He was assisted by Rabbi Gershon Sonnenshine, who acted as both assistant rabbi downtown and as the principle rabbi at Beth Shalom West. This pairing served well the needs of the growing numbers of Beth Shalom members.

Audrey and Irwin Kreisman wed at Beth Shalom on June 22, 1986.

CHW launches new national annual campaign

By Debbie Baylin CHW Ottawa Centre campaign chair Canadian HadassahWIZO (CHW) is launching a new national annual campaign this month to raise funds for CHW’s programs and projects, in support of children, healthcare and women in Israel.

Linda Israel, CHW director of Growth and Development, met with

CHW Ottawa members on March 16 to discuss the annual campaign’s goals.

She stressed the urgent needs that CHW is trying to meet. With more than 30 per cent of Israeli children living in poverty, Israel has the highest rate of child poverty amongst developed countries.

Sandy Martin, CHW National President, stated, “The responsibility that we,

as an organization, must assume is greater than ever, as Israel’s financial resources are prioritized.”

CHW supports six daycare centres, including the Anne Eisenstadt Day Care Centre in Acco for which CHW Ottawa is responsible.

CHW also supports three community schools for children in Grades 7 through 12. Two of the schools have residential programs for children who can no longer live at home.

CHW’s Healthcare commitment this year goes towards the new 14-story medical tower being built on the Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem campus.

CHW continues to provide funding for crisis hotlines and women’s shelters.

Women in need receive counselling and courses in

(From left to right) Linda Israel, CHW director of Growth and Development; Betty Altman, CHW Ottawa Centre president; Terry Schwarzfeld, CHW national vice-president; and Debbie Baylin, CHW Ottawa Centre campaign chair.

assertiveness training.

This annual campaign is replacing both the Youth Aliyah/Youth Services campaign and the Healthcare Services campaign, both of which have been associated with Canadian HadassahWIZO.

To contribute or to learn more, log on to chw.ca. To make a donation by phone,

call Katherine Solomon at the CHW Ottawa office at 613-798-7644.

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 21, 2008 – Page 5

A bus will be available to take people from the Soloway JCC to the Yom Hashoah Commemoration on Parliament Hill.

It will leave the Soloway JCC at 2 pm and will return at approximately 5 pm.

To reserve a spot, please contact Francie Greenspoon at 613-798-4696, ext. 255.

Page 6 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 21, 2008

Passover and what it means for us today Passover is full of childhood memories for me. Going with my father to Rabbi Eckstein to sell the chametz (and getting gum in return), my mother cleaning the house (the rabbis have now ruled that dust is not chametz and that we don’t need to clean until we collapse in complete exhaustion).

The highlight, of course, is the seder.

It was on the second seder night in 1970 that my parents told us that next year we’d be in Jerusalem because we were moving to Israel.

The Haggadah itself is full of many stories and Jewish morals. It commands us to tell our children the lessons learned, and the more, the better. I feel that the main command is to bind our children into the morals and history of our heritage and make it relevant to them.

A Passover tradition is that we ask anyone who does not have a place to go to join us for the meal.

What a wonderful message. At the time we are most comfortable, we must think of others and invite them into our homes and lives.

Federation Report Jonathan Freedman Chair We then move on to the four questions, asked by the youngest in the family. I can remember my mother reading them with her grandchildren to her father when he was 92. She still was his baby.

This reflects our Jewish obsession with learning and seeking knowledge.

We are struggling at the Federation to both ever increase the quality of our schools and to find the dollars necessary to keep them running.

Then we reach the four children. Of course, there is the one bad apple, the wicked child. The rabbis say his fault is that when he asked the question, he asked it in the third person and excluded himself from the group. I think there are two lessons we learn here.

The first is that, if we don’t teach our

children correctly, they will not feel connected to our heritage. If this is all some mystic irrelevant ancient history, our next generation will disconnect. We, in every generation, need to make our heritage personal and relevant, to talk to our children about the exodus our previous generations had to make from Europe or the Arab countries. They were forced out by circumstance and came to Canada, for the most part, penniless.

... as a people, we share a destiny.

When one Jew is in trouble, we should all feel the pain.

Look how far we have come as a community and individually. We are

blessed. What can we do to give back?

Talk to them about your memories of the seders of your youth. For sure, one thing has changed. With the NHL expansion beyond the original six teams, the rabbis got their wish and the Stanley Cup finals are no longer being played during the seder, thus allowing little boys (of all ages) to stay at the table and not have to run to watch a TV left on in the basement.

The other lesson we learn is that, as a people, we share a destiny. When one Jew is in trouble, we should all feel the pain.

Three weeks ago, we were visited by a group of Sderot residents. Theirs is an amazing story: to be under constant fire for so many years and continue to persevere.

How does that compare with our comfort here at home?

Passover is a time we should all talk about Israel, its importance to our ability, as Jews, to live freely in Canada, the challenges it faces as it tries to find its ultimate road to peace, and, specifically, what we can do to help those in Sderot.

Respect for the diversity of religious observance Here’s a passage from the Mishnah’s opening teaching on the laws of Shabbat: [Forbidden acts of] transporting [from one domain to another] are two which are four for one [who is inside], and two which are four for one [who is outside]. How so? [If on Shabbat] a poor person stands outside and the householder inside, and the poor person extended his hand inside and placed [a beggar’s bowl] into the hand of the householder, or if he took [something] from inside and brought it out, the poor person is liable, but the householder is exempt.

Got it?

Actually, if we examine this passage carefully – and if we were to read the rest of the teaching – we would probably not find the logic of the argumentation difficult. Indeed, if one studies Mishnah, one can relatively quickly learn to decipher its rhetorical style.

Criticism of religious practice often reveals the critic’s own insecurity over observance and commitment.

What I would like to focus on, however, is the unusual example the Mishnah provides: that of a poor person and a householder. Why would the rabbis choose this example to illustrate the laws of carrying on Shabbat? I

From the pulpit Rabbi Charles Popky Agudath Israel believe they chose this example to subtly convey certain religious perspectives.

Some people reading this passage may immediately respond: “Carrying on Shabbat?

Who cares about the details of Shabbat laws?

It’s more important to give tzedakah.”

This response usually comes from a perspective that can only place traditional observance in the background. Moreover, it sets up a false dichotomy. It assumes that purposeful observance is purposeful ignorance of others and their feelings, that ritual always trumps ethics. Perhaps it reflects someone’s unconscious need to justify his or her own nonobservance: ‘Even though I don’t follow X or Y practice, I am really just as good a Jew because I care about people’s feelings.’

Let me give an example.

One of my friends in university – let’s call her Irene – became more observant. Because Irene would no longer travel on Shabbat and holidays, it required a bit more planning for family events.

Her mother felt that “family is more important” than a picayune detail of Shabbat law and that Irene’s observance was a rejection.

Actually, Irene’s observance was likely due to the very Jewish education and experi-

ences that her mother had provided for her.

Irene was more than willing to do what was necessary to be with her family – without compromising her commitment.

There are many other examples where another person’s observance is felt to interfere with plans, or to cause unnecessary inconvenience. Unfortunately, there are many Jews who are far more understanding of someone’s weight loss diet than another Jew’s observance of kashrut. Indeed, criticism of religious practice often reveals the critic’s own insecurity over observance and commitment.

Our Mishnah presents the opposite perspective. It is addressed to people who take

both Shabbat and tzedakah seriously, and who do not see a conflict between the two.

Our tradition does identify two categories of mitzvoth: those between a human being and God; and those between human beings. However, a look at the laws of the Torah, the discussions of the Talmud, and the statements of our codes demonstrate that these two categories are inextricably linked. Each of us may have a different understanding of the mitzvoth, how to define them and their observance.

Whatever our understanding, may we observe them with commitment and passion – and respect for those whose commitment is expressed differently.

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Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 21, 2008 – Page 7

Rabin and Peres: bitter rivals who shared a dream On April 10, I was at the Soloway Jewish Community Centre’s screening of Rabin-Peres: Everything is Personal, a fascinating documentary film that examines the lifelong, often bitter, rivalry between two great Israeli leaders: Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated while prime minister in 1995, and Shimon Peres, also a former prime minister, who is now Israel’s president.

Rabin, born in 1922, was a sabra. He grew up in Tel Aviv, attended the Kadoori Agricultural High School and joined the Palmach in 1941. By 1947, Rabin was chief operations officer. He was in charge of army operations in Jerusalem in the 1948 War of Independence.

By 1964, Rabin was chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It was under his command that Israel achieved what was probably its greatest military victory by swiftly winning the Six Day War in 1967.

In 1968, Rabin began his post-IDF career as Israel’s ambassador to the United States. He was first elected to the Knesset in 1973 and became minister of labour. In 1974, became leader of the Alignment Party and succeeded Golda Meir as prime minister.

Peres was born in Poland in 1923 as Szymon Perski. His family immigrated to

Acting Editor Michael Regenstreif Palestine when he was nine. A kibbutz leader, Peres joined the Haganah in 1947 and was given the responsibility, by David Ben-Gurion, for arms purchases and personnel. By 1953, he was director general of the Ministry of Defense.

Peres was first elected to the Knesset in 1959 and held a number of cabinet positions. Eventually, Peres became leader of Alignment after Rabin stepped down in the wake of a currency scandal in 1977.

Peres lost the 1977 election to Menachem Begin and Likud.

Rabin, the military hero, was Israel’s native-born fair-haired boy. In comparison, Peres, the bureaucrat, was an outsider, a newcomer with a Polish accent.

And even though Peres performed vital functions in Israel’s defence, he was never seen as the war hero Rabin was.

Rabin and Peres were rivals in the Alignment and Labor parties. Both served when the other was prime minister and

they were in the cabinet, and they faced off against each other in several leadership campaigns marked by personal bitterness toward the other.

Only in a robust democracy would you see such a personal rivalry within the same political party among competing personalities with similar goals for their country. Watching the film, I was reminded of some other bitter intraparty rivalries, some of which also lasted for years.

Perhaps the most obvious example from recent Canadian politics was the long rivalry between former Liberal prime ministers Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin.

South of the border, we’re currently witnessing what has turned into a very bitter battle for the Democratic Party presidential nomination between Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, two politicians whose platforms and points of view on almost all issues – including their support for Israel – are remarkably similar.

Like the long rivalries between Rabin and Peres, and Chrétien and Martin, the Clinton-Obama fight is mostly about differing personalities and personal egos rather than differing visions for their society.

Despite their personal enmity, Rabin and Peres were on the same side and

shared the vision of Israel at peace with the Palestinians. When Rabin was assassinated – not by an Arab terrorist, but by Yigal Amir, a right wing, religious Jew out to destroy the peace process they had worked so hard to further – you could see in the film that Peres, too, was figuratively shattered by Amir’s bullet.

Rabin, one of Israel’s greatest warriors, did not lose his life on the battlefield fighting an enemy. He was murdered by one of his own people, one of our own people, who did not share the dream of peace that we all should be reminded of every time we say, or hear, the word shalom.

Hopefully, that dream, shared by Rabin and Peres, by the residents of Sderot who visited us in Ottawa recently, and by so many others, will sooner than later become a reality. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** The May 5 issue of the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin will be published just before Yom Ha’Atzmaut when Israel and its supporters will celebrate 60 years of modern statehood. In honour of the occasion, the Bulletin is preparing a special Israel @ 60 supplement that you’ll receive along with the regular newspaper. Watch for it in two weeks.

Winds of change blow through Quebec politics So what’s going on in the province next door?

A little more than a year ago, Jean Charest’s Quebec Liberals limped out of a provincial election with a narrow minority government, the first in that province since the 19th century.

In the same vote, the Parti Québécois (PQ) also dropped in support to become the third party in Quebec’s National Assembly, and the conservative ADQ, led

by Mario Dumont, won more seats than ever before – almost winning the election – to become Quebec’s official Opposition.

For a while at least, it looked as if Charest’s minority government wouldn’t last long. By September of last year, it had dropped to 24 per cent in the polls, in third place behind the ADQ and the PQ. But, late last month, a front-page headline in La Presse read “Charest Revit” – literally, “Charest Lives Again” – as that newspaper’s latest polling had the Quebec Liberal Party back on top of the heap at 34 per cent voting intention, compared to the PQ’s 30 per cent and the ADQ’s 22 per cent.

Even more encouraging for the Quebec premier, the poll showed that 61 per cent of Quebec residents were satisfied with his government, the highest level of satisfaction for any government in the province in two decades, and almost double its rat-

Alan Echenberg ing of six months ago.

Quebec has a history of producing popular, charismatic politicians: think Trudeau, Lévesque and Bouchard. But Charest has seldom been thought of in that league.

His more remote personality, his previous career in federal politics – he came within 187 votes of becoming prime minister of Canada at the 1993 Progressive Conservative convention, narrowly losing to Kim Campbell – and, yes, the fact his mother was an anglophone, all contributed to the wariness with which francophone Quebec voters approached Charest since his entry into provincial politics one decade ago this month.

So what accounts for his party’s amazing political turnaround in such a short period of time?

Some of it certainly stems from the failure of Dumont to appear as a credible premier-in-waiting over the past year.

Also, the PQ has been going through its

own leadership issues, replacing André Boisclair with Pauline Marois, not to mention its struggles to redefine itself in a Quebec that seems to have grown weary of the sovereignty debate.

Some commentators suggest that Charest has taken some lessons from one of his predecessors, the late Robert Bourassa, and become, in the words of Martin Patriquin of Maclean’s magazine, “a button-down premier who appeals to Quebec’s sense of order, if not its heartstrings.”

Others say that after 10 years in provincial politics, almost half of them as premier, and after the near-death experience in last year’s election, Charest is finally getting the hang of appearing to defend Quebec’s interests to the rest of Canada, as opposed to representing the rest of Canada to Quebec.

Despite this, the Liberal Party of Quebec is seen by some French-speaking Quebecers as the party of anglophone, federalist and ethnic interests and continues to trail the PQ in support among francophones. And its recent success in the polls is not impressive enough to suggest a majority government is within reach.

Also, the Premier’s recent success comes at a time when politics in Quebec seems to be in flux. Although it would be premature – as it always has proven to be

– to declare the separatist option dead in Quebec, there are signs the independence debate has fallen to the margins lately.

Most dramatically, the PQ recently abandoned its longstanding policy of promising a referendum on sovereignty as soon as possible after an election victory.

And on the federal side, the decline in popularity of the Bloc Québécois, and the growing credibility among Quebec voters of the Conservatives, had prominent Quebec journalist Chantal Hébert writing in the Toronto Star about a “full-fledged federalist revival” in the province.

What does that mean for the rest of Canada?

Well, according to Hébert, it certainly doesn’t mean the question of Quebec will cease to be central to politics in this country. Speaking to an English-Canadian audience last fall, in a speech that was recently broadcast on CBC Radio: “Keeping Quebec in the federation has been the dominating challenge of the second half of the 20th century in Canadian politics. But I would predict that living productively with a Quebec that’s not going anywhere may be one of the more transforming experiences of the first decades of the 21st century. And you may find it sometimes just as hard.”

Alan Echenberg is TVOntario’s Parliamentary bureau chief.

Page 8 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 21, 2008

Tikkun Olam: Helping rebuild New Orleans, part 2

By Kathryn Ages Editor’s note: Kathryn Ages is a Toronto-based psychologist who grew up in Ottawa. In January, she was part of a group of young Jewish adults who spent five days helping to rebuild New Orleans from the devastation it suffered from Hurricane Katrina. Here are her two concluding diary entries about the trip and the work she and her colleagues performed. The first three entries were published in the April 7 edition of the Bulletin.

Saturday, January 26 On Saturday morning, some friends and I explored areas of New Orleans that were not flooded by Hurricane Katrina. While every inch of the city experienced the impact of Katrina, the downtown core and French Quarter were left largely unscarred. I was completely charmed by the historic buildings with their dramatic verandas, ornate wrought iron balconies and heavy

white pillars. They looked like something out of a storybook. Afterwards we reconvened at our hotel for various educational and leadership seminars conducted by Hillel Toronto and Seymour Epstein, who heads the Centre for Enhancement of Jewish Education (Mercaz).

The rest of the day was spent experiencing the sights and sounds of Mardi Gras.

The colourful and jubilant parades came by our hotel and continued along Saint Charles Street throughout the afternoon and evening. I marveled at the infectious enthusiasm and dedication of the locals and tourists alike who planted themselves behind the barricades to cheer on all of the high school marching bands and dance squads which were interspersed among the vibrant, multicoloured floats. I recalled our guide, Gail Chalew, earlier in the week noting that New Orleans high school students involved in a marching band were given elite status, even greater than football or bas-

Kathryn Ages helps to restore a house devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

ketball players. So, I paid additional attention to the melodies that marched by me and was struck by their impressive talent.

As I marched on the spot to the beat of the tubas, trumpets and drums, I eagerly tried to catch the beaded necklaces thrown from the

floats passing by. As the number of colourful necklaces around my neck increased, the spirit of the crowd around me got louder and more involved in the celebration. Even if it was for just a few hours, I noticed that the devastation of Katrina was absent from the faces along the streets and those participating in the parade. It was merely a time to rejoice.

To top off the day, we enjoyed some local cuisine and music, reveling in the sights, sounds and tastes we had experienced.

Sunday, January 27 During our final morning in New Orleans, our group discussed our rebuilding experiences and ways in

which we could continue to contribute to the New Orleans recovery process once we returned to Toronto.

All of us from Impact Toronto and Hillel agreed that our job of helping to rebuild New Orleans did not stop once we crossed the border, that it was incumbent on all of us to share our stories about the city and encourage people to come here. I hope to return someday soon to volunteer again with Rebuilding Together, and encourage others to sign up with one of the many extraordinary organizations working on rebuilding the city.

We then headed over to the Jewish Community Center where Mark Schleifstein, an environmental reporter for the New Orleans Times-

Picayune, spoke with us. He discussed the contentious state of the levees that were supposed to protect the city preceding Katrina and the horrible aftermath when they broke. Chuckling, Mark said that his wife often remarked, “We had two feet of water in our house – on the second floor.”

In my head I imagined this image and was struck once again by the vast destruction of the floods.

Nevertheless, I was comforted by Mark’s ability to still be able to laugh despite the damage to his home and personal belongings. His spirit was not broken.

After hearing Mark’s presentation and viewing his gripping slide show showing the despair on victims’ faces during the rescue efforts and aftermath of Katrina, we boarded the bus one last time for the trip to the airport.

As we drove through the neighbourhoods of New Orleans, I reflected on all of the people we’d met, the sites we saw and the volunteer work we did. I now understood, first-hand, the nightmare that was inflicted on the people of New Orleans.

Now, two-and-a-half years later, New Orleans is on the mend. However, the city’s recovery is torturously slow.

Even so, I believe the optimism of the local residents, in combination with the support of countless volunteers, is the essential foundation for rebuilding a stronger and better New Orleans.

What’s happening at

Congregation Beth Shalom Wednesday, April 23 Thursday, May 1 Friday, May 2 Wednesday, May 21 Thursday, June 5 Friday, June 6

Pesach Dinner Night Kibitz Club Luncheon Shabbat Dinner Beth Shalom Book Club Kibitz Club Luncheon Shabbat Dinner

Watch for more upcoming events including our Beer Tasting event and Chinese Buffet!

Everyone is Welcome!

For more information, please contact the synagogue at 613-789-3501 or info@bethshalom.ca www.bethshalom.ca

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 21, 2008 – Page 9

Local and national commemorations to mark Yom HaShoah in Ottawa

Advertorial

JEWISH NATIONAL FUND More than trees 613.798.2411

John Greenberg, president

Brian Pearl assumes JNF Ottawa Board presidency When I agreed to assume the presidency of JNF Ottawa in June 2007, it was with the understanding that I would serve as interim president until a suitable replacement could be found. I am pleased to announce Brian Pearl is that replacement. I hand over the reins to Brian confident that he will give his full attention and commitBrian Pearl ment to the task at hand.

Brian’s involvement with JNF began three years ago when he and his wife, Rochelle, participated in the 2005 JNF Mission to Israel. Brian was so impressed with the organization he ‘signed up’ as soon as he got home, becoming a member of both the JNF Ottawa Board and the JNF National Board. Last year, he chaired the highly successful Ottawa book launch and photo exhibit of the JNF-sponsored book “The 4000 Year Journey in Search of Peace,” which was held at the Soloway JCC. A native of Toronto, Brian moved to Ottawa more than three decades ago to join the public service. He met and married a local girl, Rochelle Viner, Today, they are the parents of three children: Lorne, Zena and Joel. Brian will be retiring shortly after almost 35 years with the public service. Most of those years were spent working in the policy area at Health Canada on a wide range of health and social issues.

A long-time, active member of Congregation Agudath Israel, Brian served as the congregation’s president in 2000-2001. He is looking forward to working with the energetic Board of JNF Ottawa and its capable staff to build on their successes and contribute to the excellent projects and programs of the JNF in Israel.

Bar/Bat Mitzvah Inscriptions Shira Solika Benlolo by her parents Daniel and Muriel Benlolo and her siblings Jonathan, Eve and Michael; and to Miranda Chelsea Weiner by her parent Evan and Marilyn Weiner.

Experience Israel the JNF Way from North to South including an excursion to Petra, Jordan October 28-November 10 Call the JNF office for details 613-798-2411 On a daily basis you can plant trees for all occasions. An attractive card is sent to the recipient. To order, call the JNF office (613.798.2411).

It has been 63 years since the Holocaust, when six million Jews – twothirds of Europe’s Jewish population or one-third of all the Jews in the world – were slaughtered. Countless families were entirely decimated.

For those who survived, the Holocaust remains real and ever-present.

Each year, Jewish communities around the world mark Yom HaShoah a day to remember (zachor) those who suffered, those who fought, those who died and those who survived.

This year, in addition to the Nation-

al Yom HaShoah Commemoration, which takes place in Ottawa on Parliament Hill on Thursday, May 1 at 3 pm, the Shoah (Holocaust) Committee of Ottawa is holding a local commemoration to pay homage to three generations of survivors: survivors of the Holocaust themselves, their children and their grandchildren.

The local Yom HaShoah Commemoration, a program of the Shoah (Holocaust) Committee of Ottawa, will be held at the Joseph and Rose Ages Family Building at 21 Nadolny

Sachs Private on Wednesday, April 30 at 7:45 pm. The evening will include students reading brief biographies of six survivors, as each survivor lights a candle.

For those interested in attending the National Yom HaShoah Commemoration on May 1, a bus will be taking people to Parliament Hill from the Soloway JCC. It will leave the SJCC at 2 pm and return at approximately 5 pm. To reserve a seat on the bus, contact Francie Greenspoon at 613-7984696, ext. 255.

Mailbag Agrees with Daniel Pipes on need to defeat Palestinians Yasher Koach to Daniel Pipes for breaching political correctness in telling it like it really is.

As Bradley Burston said in his recent Ha’aretz blog titled, “The jihad against the Jews,” there are statements from Hamas-associated officials which demonstrate they hate Jews.

Burston references an April 1 article in the New York Times by Steven Erlanger, which details the tides of Jew-hate washing over Gaza, with the Hamas seal of approval.

“This dovetails nicely,” says Burston, “with programming decisions taken by Hezbollah’s Al Manar Television, which recently broadcast a Syrian-produced series showing a Jew killing a Christian child to obtain blood for baking matzah …

Quite clearly, there are those for whom the existence of the Jews is intolerable.”

In that vein, Pipes’ thesis, that the Palestinians must be soundly defeated before Israel can finally live in peace, is a welcome antidote to the policy agenda of the Olmert government, which holds that removing roadblocks and easing other

restrictions that protect Jews will somehow help bring peace.

It won’t. In that part of the world, such measures are interpreted as signs of weakness, and will only bring more violence and insecurity than exists today.

Bob Dale

Letters welcome Letters to the Editor are welcome if they are brief, signed, timely and of interest to our readership.

The Ottawa Jewish Bulletin reserves the right to refuse, edit or condense letters.

The Mailbag column will be published as space permits.

Send your letters to Michael Regenstreif, acting editor, 21 Nadolny Sachs Private, Ottawa, Ontario K2A 1R9; or by e-mail to: mregenstreif@ottawajewishbulletin.com.

Page 10 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 21, 2008

Soloway JCC celebrates 10 years with major events

By Pamela Rosenberg for Soloway JCC The Soloway Jewish Community Centre (JCC) is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a stellar line-up of exciting events leading up to a gala celebration September 14.

The Soloway JCC Supporting Wall is a new initiative giving people an opportunity to be a permanent part of the centre’s foundation while at the same time helping to support the Soloway JCC’s Special Needs Aquatics Program and the Metulla Community Centre’s Clubhouse for Children at Risk in Israel.

“It is important that we are celebrating and doing a mitzvah at the same time,” says Soloway JCC marketing director Gustavo Rymberg.

“We aren’t doing this only for ourselves; we are helping others as is the Jewish tradition.”

The wall, located just outside the Soloway JCC’s TD Bank Fitness Centre, has been initiated as part of the

Centre’s 10th anniversary, but will still be there long after the celebrations are over. Three categories of tiles are available and they can be used to mark a special occasion, honour a loved one or to congratulate the Soloway JCC on this significant milestone.

“The Jewish community should be very proud of all that has been accomplished in this centre over the past 10 years,” says Soloway JCC chief operating officer Anita Bloom. “We are devoted to enriching the lives of our Jewish community by providing a venue where people are free to pursue their cultural, spiritual and social interests and we look forward to continuing that tradition for many more years.”

Also on the roster of events for the 10th anniversary is the launch of Live from New York’s 92nd Street Y, a satellite program giving people in Ottawa the opportunity to experience many of the thought-provoking,

The GISHUR CENTER Rabbi Ely M. Braun, M.S. Psychotherapist, Mediator, Coach Churchill Professional Building 725 Churchill Avenue N Suite 200 Ottawa, Ontario K1Z 5G7

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(Left to right) Gustavo Rymberg, SJCC marketing director; Anita Bloom, chief operating officer; and David Spring, executive committe chair, at the Soloway JCC Supporting Wall.

diverse speakers live as they appear in New York.

The 92nd Street Y is a major cultural institution in New York City and its satellite program is exclusive to Jewish community centres in North America. Among the speakers who have been featured are such famous faces as the Clintons, Ellie Wiesel and Madeleine Albright.

“This exciting new program gives people in Ottawa the rare opportunity to be a part of the audience and hear amazing speakers,” says Rymberg. “It’s the next best thing to having these famous

Paul Dewar, MP/Député Ottawa Centre Working for you! / Au travail pour vous!

I am pleased to: • provide assistance with federal agencies • arrange letters of greetings for special occasions • answer questions about federal legislation • listen to your feedback

Je suis heureux de: • vous aider à traiter avec les organismes fédéraux • vous écrire des lettres de félicitations pour des occasions spéciales • répondre à vos questions sur les lois fédérales • vous écouter

304-1306 rue Wellington St. 613.946.8682 / dewarp@parl.gc.ca www.pauldewar.ca

people right here in person.”

The satellite image is projected in high definition onto a large screen in the Soloway JCC social hall. At the beginning of each session the moderator, in New York, welcomes the remote audience.

Audience members will have the opportunity to write down questions, which will be e-mailed during the presentation. The moderator in New York will then read the questions along with the person’s name and location.

The first to appear live via satellite at the Soloway JCC was A.J. Jacobs, bestselling author of The Year of Living Biblically, on April 1. Up next from the 92nd Street Y, on April 28, is Norman Lear, creator and producer of such classic TV shows as All In the Family, The Jeffersons and Maude.

Meanwhile, live at the Soloway JCC, health and nutrition guru and motivational speaker Deanna Latson

will be making her Canadian debut on May 15.

Latson’s discussion, Eat Right. Feel Good. Work Great! focuses on nutritionally sound, research-based information about food, how it affects our bodies and how to achieve better performance in the workplace and life. Her lecture covers foods that help you stay fit, meals for stressful times, the poisons we eat every day, how to avoid feeling lethargic, top 10 foods that sabotage weight loss efforts and how to avoid getting sick.

The California-based speaker is a clinically certified nutritionist, has a master’s degree in health communications and is completing her doctorate in naturopathic medicine. She has spoken to more than 100,000 people, in every age range, worldwide.

In addition to the Soloway JCC’s 10th anniversary, the 15th day of the month of Av brings another reason for cel-

ebration: Tu B’Av, the Jewish festival of love. Although Tu B’Av is a minor holiday on the Jewish calendar, the Soloway JCC will celebrate in a major way with a party August 17 around the outdoor pool featuring cocktails, sushi, dancing and live entertainment.

The celebrations will climax with the Soloway JCC 10th Anniversary Gala Celebration on September 14.

Party-goers will be treated to a special evening of music, mingling, cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. Members who have been part of the Soloway JCC for the past 10 years will be honoured and Celebrating Our First 10 Years, a book featuring quotes and stories from members, pictures and memories of the Soloway JCC will be presented.

Visit jccottawa.com for more information about the Soloway JCC 10th anniversary celebrations or contact Gustavo Rymberg at 613-798-9818, ext. 271 or grymberg@jccottawa.com.

Chuppah for Rent Have you been searching for a nice Chuppah at a reasonable cost?

Well look no further!!

This is a one-of-a-kind, hand-crafted Chuppah.

Price includes delivery, setup, take-away and a white canopy.

NOTE: The flowers and tulle shown in the picture are not included.

$350 www.randrarchcreations.ca email: reidb@storm.ca phone: 613-445-0838

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 21, 2008 – Page 11

Flowers on Gravesites It is time once again to make arrangements for the purchase and planting of flowers at the cemeteries which must be made through the Ottawa Jewish Cemetery Committee. This ensures a uniform price structure and guarantees maintenance of the flowerbeds. Below you will find details for the present price structure. You may also wish to make an additional tax deductible donation to the Zicharon Fund for which we would be very grateful.

Approximately 25% of all proceeds from the sale of flowers are deposited into the Zicharon Fund, which is managed by the Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation. The Fund was created in 1995 and the annual interest earned has been used for the general maintenance of the cemeteries. Such maintenance includes lawn care and repairs to gravesites (excluding damage to monuments).

A Single Plot A Double Plot Across Two Adjoining Plots

$118 $236 $177*

* A tax deductible receipt from Jewish Memorial Gardens will be issued for $30 (single), $60 (double), $45 (across) respectively.

Please forward your requests for planting along with your payment to: Flowers Jewish Memorial Gardens 21 Nadolny Sachs Private, Ottawa, Ontario K2A 1R9 or by fax 613-798-4695 Clip here ...

✄ PLEASE RETURN THIS PORTION WITH YOUR CHEQUE. WE ALSO ACCEPT VISA, MASTERCARD OR AMEX.

Name:

Address:

Telephone:

Province, Postal Code:

Credit card number:

Plot Name

Expiration date:

Cemetery

Section

I wish to make an additional tax deductible donation to the Zicharon Fund in the amount of

Row/Plot

Amount

.

For additional information, please call Jean Myers at 613-798-4696, ext. 242 Deadline for all planting is June 20, 2008

Page 12 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 21, 2008

OTC unveils new Talmudic study program

By Rabbi Yisroel Simon Ottawa Torah Centre Yeshiva boys typically crack their first Talmudic passage at a young age. The dense Aramaic text, the endless back and forth of argument and counter-argument, are daunting, and starting them young gives them a lifelong skill: mastery over a daf, or page, of Gemara.

Adults who didn’t pick up those skills at a young age often feel like they’ve missed the opportunity.

Not anymore.

This spring, a new program began to make the tomes of the Talmud accessible to interested adults.

The Rohr Jewish Learning Institute (JLI) of Chabad-Lubavitch is offering a Talmud study program that is

teaching adults to navigate text they thought was beyond their grasp.

JLI has invited dedicated students in 15 cities to participate in MyShiur: Advanced Learning Initiative Talmud courses. The introduction of MyShiur into the JLI menu of classes represents an important expansion in adult education.

The new courses are geared to

B’nai Brith releases audit of anti-Semitic incidents

By Michael Regenstreif This month, the League for Human Rights (LHR), an arm of B’nai Brith Canada, released its 2007 audit of anti-Semitic incidents that were reported to it over the course of the year.

Nationally, LHR reported 1,042 anti-Semitic incidents in 2007, an increase of 11.4 per cent over 2006 when there were 935 incidents. These included 699 cases of harassment, 315 cases of vandalism and 28 cases of violence.

The greatest numbers of increases were in Quebec where Montreal recorded 249 incidents,

an increase of 15.8 per cent over the previous year, with the rest of Quebec registering 42 incidents, an increase of 281.8 per cent.

Much of the blame for the increased number of incidents in Quebec was attributed to the effect of the so-called ‘reasonable accommodation’ hearings of the Bouchard-Taylor Commission in Quebec which, according to the LHR audit, “provided a lightening rod for public expression of open bigotry and petty grievances against the province’s minorities, including the Jewish community.”

More than half of the reported anti-Semitic incidents across

Canada, a total of 582, took place in Ontario. Of those, 427 were in the Greater Toronto area (GTA), although that number represented a decline 4.0 per cent from 2006.

In Ottawa, there were 60 reported incidents, a decline of 16.7 per cent from the year before.

They were almost evenly divided between 31 cases of harassment and 29 of vandalism. There were no reports of anti-Semitic violence in Ottawa in the 2007 audit.

While the number of incidents was down in the GTA and Ottawa areas, the rest of Ontario registered 95 incidents, an increase of 82.7 per cent over 2007.

determined adults who wish to devote time and effort to Jewish study. Students who have attended previous courses and are looking for something more challenging as well as individuals with a background in Talmud study can both benefit.

These Talmud courses are offered locally by Ottawa Torah Center Chabad (OTC) and are taught by Rabbi Yisroel Simon. One of the goals of the program is for students to acquire the skills necessary for self-study. The text-based course is extremely involving and very engaging. The classes introduce traditional Jewish knowledge in a way never before presented, and will help people comprehend the intricate and difficult aspects of the Gemara.

Through this intensive program, students learn basic vocabulary, develop a Talmudic mindset and identify how the sages derived actual law from the sometimes esoteric Torah teachings.

To facilitate the process, the Gemara is translated linearly and punctuated. The idea is to help students become comfortable with regular Talmud study and incorporate it into their daily routines. Ultimately, MyShiur plans to run classes 30

weeks per year.

The current course offering examines the last chapter of Ketubot. The curriculum’s author, Rabbi Moshe Leiberman, has been teaching the material at the advanced high school level for many years. Focusing on a number of issues, including the influence of Torah on the family, he has developed a sophisticated presentation of the material and we expect the powerful lessons will outlast the 10week course and inspire students to continue personal study.

MyShiur is different from the usual Talmudic offerings. Rabbi Blum, director of Ottawa Torah Center, explains that instead of a cursory view, the in-depth approach guarantees solid understanding. He terms it, “vertically integrated learning.” Each lesson incorporates a detailed look at how the codifiers developed precepts from the Chumash and Gemara through a discussion of each text and analysis of the commentators.

The classes are held at OTC, 3023 Cedarview Road, and will continue, after Pesach, every Monday until June 2. For more information call Rabbi Simon at 613-8430497.

W ONDERFULLY D IFFERENT !

O P E N I N G M AY 2 0 0 8

From the stunning location on Porter's Island to the panoramic vistas throughout the

building, The Rockcliffe offers generously sized apartments in a variety of configurations.

Choose between one bedroom, one bedroom plus den, and two bedroom suites, all with kitchenettes. There is as well a full continuum of care in a dedicated area. The Signature Service package is first rate and the amenities are unsurpassed.

Reservations are now being accepted. You are invited to call the Executive Director, Mary Albota RN., at 613-562-3555 for details, or visit her on site at 100 Island Lodge Road. She would be delighted to see you.

Resumes are welcome for the following positions. D.O.C., sous chef, concierge, activity director, maintenance, driver. Please email to: maryalbota@sympatico.ca or fax: 613-562-7891.

O P E N I N G M AY 2 0 0 8

•

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Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 21, 2008 – Page 13

(From left to right) Na’amat Ottawa president Marian Lederman and event organizer Elana Aptowizer with Master Warrant Officer Timothy Power and Master Corporal Alanna Gilmore at Na’amat Ottawa’s International Women’s Day program paying tribute to the role of Canadian women soldiers in Afghanistan.

Na’amat Ottawa celebrates Canadian women’s contributions in Afghanistan

By Sarah Beutel for Na’amat Ottawa Canada’s theme for International Women’s Day this year was “Strong Women, Strong World,” a fitting backdrop for Na’amat Ottawa’s program, Women Helping Women: Changing Lives in Afghanistan,” which took place at Ben Franklin Place on International Women’s Day. Three representatives from the Canadian Forces spoke passionately about their experiences in Afghanistan and about the dangers faced daily by the men and women serving our country there. They told the captivated audience about their belief that women empowering women around the world is a medium for positive social change.

Master Warrant Officer Timothy Power introduced two female soldiers and spoke about the necessity and vitality of women in the Forces. He explained that, until the 1970s, women were not full participants in the Canadian military; that only recently have women been granted the right to fully participate in all aspects of the Canadian Forces. According to Power, the contribution of women to the Canadian Forces has been substantial. In Afghanistan, female soldiers participate in a variety of activities, including taking an active role in the frontlines of battle.

Master Corporal Alanna Gilmore recently returned from a tour of duty in Afghanistan. She shared photos from her experiences as a medic attached to a group of soldiers stationed in a remote part of the country. Gilmore provided emergency firstaid to critically injured soldiers in the war zone and endured frequent deadly attacks

by the Taliban. She also had the opportunity to meet local people and to provide them with medical care that was much needed in those remote parts of the country.

Sergeant Roxanne Clowe, a military photographer, spoke about her experiences capturing the war on camera, and gathering intelligence. Talking about the transformation she has seen in Afghanistan during several tours of duty there, Clowe said she believes that Canadians in Afghanistan are doing very important work, and that the Canadian presence there is definitely contributing to the bettering and rebuilding of Afghani lives.

The two female soldiers, and many others like them, are an inspiration to women of all ages and all cultures in Canada. They are living proof that, with courage and determination and by using the various skills and talents we all have, everyone can play a significant part in helping to make this world a better place.

Founded in 1925, Na’amat, which means “movement of working women and volunteers,” is a registered Canadian charity and part of a worldwide progressive Jewish women’s organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for women, children and families.

In Ottawa, there are five Na’amat chapters comprising more than 100 members across the city. Ottawa members are involved in a number of projects including School Supplies for Kids, a program that equips children who are being cared for in Ottawa domestic violence shelters with school supplies.

For more information on Na’amat, call the Na’amat Ottawa office at 613-722-2932 or e-mail naamat-ottawa@sympatico.ca.

Page 14 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 21, 2008

In support of the Bess and Moe Greenberg Family Hillel Lodge In the Joseph and Inez Zelikovitz Long Term Care Centre Card Donations Card donations go a long way to improving the quality of life for our residents. Thank you for considering their needs and contributing to their well-being.

On behalf of the residents and their families, we extend sincere appreciation to the following individuals and families who made card donations to the Hillel Lodge Long-Term Care Foundation between March 19 amd April 2, 2008 inclusive.

HONOUR FUNDS Unlike a bequest or gift of life insurance, which are realized some time in the future, a named Honour Fund (i.e., endowment fund) is established during your lifetime.

By making a contribution of $1,000 or more, you can create a permanent remembrance for a loved one, honour a family member, declare what the Lodge has meant to you and/or support a cause that you believe in.

A Hillel Lodge Honour Fund is a permanent pool of capital that earns interest or income each year. This income then supports the priorities designated by you, the donor.

Bill and Leona Adler Memorial Fund In Memory of: Sheila Blackstien by Marilyn Adler and Neil Blancher Mikhla Foorsov by Marilyn Adler Fred and Esther Ballon Family Fund In Honour of: Rabbi Dr. Reuven Bulka With sincere appreciation for all your help by Esther and Fred Ballon Rabbi Arnold Fine With sincere appreciation for all your help by Esther and Fred Ballon Jack and Betty Ballon Family Fund In Memory of: Sheila Blackstien by Dorothy and Maurie Karp Jenny and Murray Citron Endowment Fund In Honour of: Murray Citron Wishing you a very happy special birthday by Sarah, Michel, Jared and Darren Lipski; and Ingrid and Gerry Levitz Friedberg and Dale Families Fund In Memory of: Rosa Samel by Elaine Friedberg and Bob Dale In Honour of: Annie and David Garmaise Mazal Tov on the

birth of your first granddaughter by Elaine Friedberg, Bob and Jonathan Dale Evelyn and Irving Greenberg Fund In Memory of: Gregory Nudell by Evelyn Greenberg Harry Oxorn by Evelyn Greenberg Morris and Lillian Kimmel Family Fund R’fuah Shlema: Marty Saslove by the Kimmel, Kaiman and Levine families Bill and Phyllis Leith Family Endowment Fund In Memory of: Gerta Fink by Lisa, David, Sydney and Zachary Leith; Arlene and Seymour Isenberg; and Jeff Isenberg Jay Lieber by Arlene and Seymour Isenberg Levenson-Polowin Feeding Fund In Honour of: Sharron Appotive Mazal Tov on your special birthday by Heidi and Steve Polowin Sharon and Gary Steinberg Mazal Tov on the upcoming marriage of your daughter, Jory by Heidi and Steve Polowin Elliot and Helen Marshall Family Endowment Fund In Memory of: Rose Litwack by Helen and Elliot Marshall R’fuah Shlema: Leah Gencher by Helen and Elliot Marshall Schachter-Ingber Family Fund In Memory of: Gregory Nudell by Fania Ingber, and Rachel, Howard, Davida and Josh Schachter Stephen and Debra Schneiderman Family Fund In Memory of: Sylvia Schneiderman by Marlene Boyaner and Rob Hulem and family; and Shirley and Hymie Schildkraut Label and Leona Silver Family Fund In Memory of: Rose Litwack by Stephen Silver In Honour of: Elizabeth and Steven Rubin Mazal Tov on the birth of your grandson by Leona and Label Silver R’fuah Shlema: Elizabeth Rubin by Leona and Label Silver

Roslyn and Myles Taller Family Endowment Fund In Memory of: Rose Litwack by Rosyln and Myles Taller In Honour of: Howie Gossack Mazal Tov on your engagement to Mara by Roz and Myles Taller and Family Shirley Ann Gossack Mazal Tov on Howie’s engagement to Mara. We are so excited by Roz and Myles Taller and family Carol Spiro Mazal Tov on Mark’s engagement to Deena Granot. We are very happy and excited for you, Stanley and Jennifer, and of course for the engaged couple. Have lots of nachas and joy. It is good to hear nice news for a change by Roslyn and Myles Taller Myles Taller Wishing continued good health to both you and Roz by Shirley and Gordon Viner R’fuah Shlema: Marty Saslove by Roz and Myles Taller Myles Taller by Gloria and Barry Trainoff; and Mildred and Warren Kronick

Sam Zunder; and Brenda and Jerry Rip Ruth Chochinov by Laurie and Bill Chochinov Louis (Lazar) Farovitch by Rae and Jack Freedman Mikhla Foorsov by the Residents, Board and Staff of Hillel Lodge Corinne Langdon by the Residents, Board and Staff of Hillel Lodge Rose Litwack by Ingrid and Gerry Levitz; Ruth and Irving Aaron; George Lesh; Sandra and Sam Zunder; and Babe Dubinsky Gregory Nudell by Ingrid and Gerry Levitz Harry Oxorn by Lillian Kahan and Sally Sylvia Schneiderman by Sandra and Sam Zunder Harry Shiff by Malcolm and Cindy Rose and Family; and Lillian Kahan and Sally Morris Silbert by Lillian Kahan and Sally Louis Solomon by Rose and Kevin Kardash; and Cindy and David Lalonde Madeline Wylie by Laurie and Bill Chochinov

Diane and Louis Tannenbaum Family Fund In Memory of: Lily Lewis by Diane and Louis Tannenbaum

Carole and Andre Brantz Mazal Tov on becoming grandparents by Ingrid and Gerry Levitz; and the Residents, Board and Staff of Hillel Lodge Rabbi Ely and Mrs. Sheli Braun Mazal Tov on becoming grandparents by Ingrid and Gerry Levitz; and the Residents, Board and Staff of Hillel Lodge Murray Citron Best wishes on your special birthday by the Residents, Board and Staff of Hillel Lodge Malca Feig Best wishes on your special birthday and many more happy years to celebrate by Cila Farber Carol Greenberg Mazal Tov on the birth of your granddaughter by Ruth and Irving Aaron Elayne Schacter Thank you for volunteering to do the Bingo by Joel Diener Mark Spergel Thank you for volunteering to do the Bingo by Joel Diener Rabbi and Mrs. Teitlebaum In appreciation by Tanya and Marty Abrams Carol Tolchinsky Happy Birthday and best wishes for a wonderful year by Laurie and Bill Chochinov Mark Tolchinsky Happy Birthday and best wishes for a wonderful year by Laurie and Bill Chochinov Maxine Zabenskie Congratulations on the birth of your new grandson, Jacob Andrew by Laurie and Bill Chochinov

IN HONOUR OF:

Edith Teitelbaum and Eddie Zinman Memorial Fund In Memory of: Beloved friend of Tova Clark by Fuzzy and Max Teitelbaum Arnold Goldberg by Fuzzy and Max Teitelbaum Rose Litwack by Fuzzy and Max Teitelbaum Morris Miller by Fuzzy and Max Teitelbaum Simon Reisman by Fuzzy and Max Teitelbaum Hy Stoller by Fuzzy and Max Teitelbaum Neville Wiseman by Fuzzy (Zinman) Teitelbaum Milton and Mary (Terry) Viner Family Fund In Memory of: Rose Litwack by Millie Schaenfield and family R’fuah Shlema: Sol Kaiman by Millie Schaenfield and family Carole and Norman Zagerman Family Fund In Memory of: Arnold Goldberg by Carole and Norman Zagerman Rose Litwack by Carole and Norman Zagerman In Honour of: Linda and Kenneth Mirsky Mazal Tov on the Bar Mitzvah of your grandson, Jonah by Carole and Norman Zagerman R’fuah Shlema: Marty Saslove by Carole and Norman Zagerman

R’FUAH SHLEMA:

IN MEMORY OF:

Moe Cardash by Ruth and Irving Aaron; and Ellen, Marty and Sharon Cardash Beverley Gershkovitch We wish you a complete and speedy recovery by Lil and Norm Levitin Nicola Hamer by Ruth and Irving Aaron Harvey Joseph by Ruth and Irving Aaron Marty Saslove by Debi and David Shore

Sarah Aaron by Ruth and Irving Aaron, Carol, Stan, Jeff and Leslie Beloved mother of Mrs. B. Pernisi by Rose and Kevin Kardash; and Cindy and David Lalonde Sheila Blackstien by the Residents, Board and Staff of Hillel Lodge; Helen Rosenthal; Sandra and

The Foundation would like to thank Sarah and Michel Lipski for establishing the “Jenny and Murray Citron Endowment Fund” in honour of the special birthday of their father and father-in-law, Murray Citron

********************

THE LODGE EXPRESSES ITS SINCERE APPRECIATION FOR YOUR KIND SUPPORT AND APOLOGIZES FOR ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS. DUE TO SPACE LIMITATIONS, THE WORDING APPEARING IN THE BULLETIN IS NOT NECESSARILY THE WORDING WHICH APPEARED ON THE CARD. GIVING IS RECEIVING – ATTRACTIVE CARDS AVAILABLE FOR ALL OCCASIONS Here’s a good opportunity to recognize an event or convey the appropriate sentiment to someone important to you and at the same time support the Lodge. Card orders may be given to Debra or Rhonda at 613-728-3900, extension 111, 9:30 am to 3:30 pm Monday to Thursday; 9:00 am to 2:00 pm Friday. You may also e-mail your orders to donations@hillel-ltc.om. E-mail orders must include name, address, postal code, and any message to person receiving the card; and, amount of donation, name, address and postal code of the person making the donation. Cards may be paid for by Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Cheque or Cash. Contributions are tax deductible.

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 21, 2008 – Page 15

Tamir revises Shabbat Guide

By Richard Zuker for Tamir Cantor Daniel Benlolo and Leah Smith, who lead Tamir’s Judaic Outreach Program, have developed a series of Judaic resource materials including a Shabbat Guide, a Passover Haggadah and a Yizkor memorial booklet to help people with developmental disabilities participate in Jewish life.

A few years ago, Tamir began to pursue the idea of modifying these books to make them more appealing to the Jewish community at large and to market them to raise funds for the Judaic Outreach Program.

The intent in revising the Shabbat Guide – a valuable resource that embraces all levels of observance – is to make it useful and engaging for everyone.

The Shabbat prayers in the guide are written in Hebrew text, transliterated text (a glossary of sounds is included) and English translation which allows everyone, including those who do not read Hebrew, to participate.

This guide has step by

CAREER OPPORTUNITY

Executive Director, Hillel Jewish Campus Life, Ottawa You are an aspiring or experienced Jewish leader with a great interest in student advocacy, social action, engagement with Jewish traditions, and sustaining a vibrant Jewish community on campus. Your strong organizational and communication skills allow you to implement Hillel’s mission to uphold a meaningful and pluralistic Jewish campus life. A motivated self-starter, you have a proven track record in volunteer and leadership development, informal Jewish and Zionist education and Israel advocacy, and have a strong knowledge of the issues facing Canadian Jewish university students.

You work well with a range of stakeholders. In this position you work closely with the Campus Advisory Board, students, lay leaders, the administration and staff at post-secondary institutions, and the local Jewish community. You promote Hillel as a body that is distinctively Jewish and universally human through setting strategic vision, leadership, and managerial oversight for the Ottawa Hillel activities that are the focal point for Jewish student life on campus. Specifically, you bring an energy and commitment to programming, Jewish learning opportunities, fiscal responsibility, organizing facilities for programs, and direction of volunteers, staff and administrators.

An advanced degree and demonstrated community leadership are desirable. Salary commensurate with experience. A job description is posted on the Jewish Federation of Ottawa website www.jewishottawa.com: (see “About Us” then “Careers”).

Page 30 of the revised Tamir Shabbat Guide

Candidates should submit by Thursday, May 22, 2008 a brief statement outlining your interests, and the skills, knowledge and experience which you bring to this position.

The Federation thanks all who express interest in this position and advises that only those selected for interviews will be contacted. For more information or to apply please contact Audrey Kaplan akaplan@jewishottawa.com or tel 613-798-4696 ext 297.

(Designed by Sandy Lynch)

step instructions on how to conduct the Shabbat rituals and prayers with songs and stories added to enhance the celebration. Picture symbols have been included in order to serve individuals with a wide range of communication needs.

The guide is beautifully illustrated with artwork, including drawings by Tamir participants, and photographs and is fully laminated for long term use. An accompanying CD with the full text narrated by Cantor Benlolo and Smith and music

showcasing the talents of the Tamir Choir is also available.

In addition to marketing the Shabbat Guide to organizations serving people with developmental disabilities, the guide is ideal for Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, seniors in nursing homes, families, schools and youth groups.

Tamir needs your help to reprint this valuable resource. To make a tax deductible contribution, or to order the Shabbat Guide and CD, each priced at $18, contact Anita Almstedt at 613725-3519, ext. 111.

IT DOES A WORLD OF GOOD

BSD

THIS YEAR DON’T PASS US OVER Members of the Jewish Community (singles, students, couples and families)

are cordially invited to attend the

Passover Seders Saturday, April 19, 2008 and Sunday, April 20, 2008

Jacquelin Holzman to address AJA 50+ “What is Ottawa doing for the 50-plus population?” will be the topic on the agenda when Jacquelin Holzman, the former mayor of Ottawa, will be the guest speaker at the AJA 50+ Spring/Summer Program Day on Wednesday, May 7 at the Soloway Jewish Community Centre.

Holzman was a member of the original task force that examined what is available locally for the 50-plus population.

Registration for AJA 50+ spring and summer programs will be open from 11:00 am until 2:00 pm. Holzman will speak at 1:00 pm..

Live Generously.®

at the home of Dr. Joseph and Devora Caytak 185 Switzer Avenue

No charge

To reserve call: 613-729-7712

A project of the Jewish Youth Library of Ottawa, Chaya Mushka Building Graciously sponsored by PARKWAY PHARMACY 613-749-2324 • Free Delivery Jacquelin Holzman

Page 16 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 21, 2008

Gala evening at NAC to highlight Israel @ 60 celebrations

By Jane and Martin Gordon for Israel at 60 Committee The music will sound, the champagne will flow and a culinary delight of gourmet food will excite every palate as Israel at 60 is celebrated with a special gala evening at the National Arts Centre (NAC) on Tuesday, May 20.

Working in partnership with the Embassy of Israel and the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, the Israel at 60 Committee, has put together a wonderful evening that will begin with a gala dinner at 5:30 pm in the NAC’s Panorama Room.

Guests will have the opportunity to meet the honorary patron, Herb Gray, former deputy prime minister of Canada, Israeli Ambassador Alan Baker and Dalia Baker, and hear guest speaker Evelyn Greenberg.

The kosher dinner promises to be

fabulous. Black tie will be welcome.

The culinary feast will be followed by a feast of music by Jewish composers from various countries – including Canada – at 8:00 pm.

Celebrating Israel at 60 through a deep-rooted passion for arts and culture that transcends physical boundaries is inspiring. Throughout history, Jewish artists, arts and culture have been a cornerstone of many societies around the globe.

Among the pieces to be performed by the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, under conductor David Currie, will be Srul Irving Glick’s, “The Hour has Come,” with the University of Ottawa Choir and the Ottawa Regional Youth Choir; Leonard Bernstein’s “Halil,” with Robert Cram on flute; and Bernstein’s “Symphony No.2 (The Age

David Currie will conduct the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra in a gala concert May 20 at the NAC celebrating Israel @ 60.

of Anxiety),” with Stéphane Lemelin at the piano.

The evening will end back in the Panorama Room with a dessert reception at 10:00 pm. Guests will have the opportunity to mingle and meet with Currie and other

invited dignitaries.

Tickets for the dinner, concert and dessert reception are available on-line at ottawasymphony.com, via e-mail at osoticket@on. aibn.com or by phone at 613-2312561. Tickets for the dinner, con-

cert and dessert reception are $250.

Tickets for the dinner and concert are $200.

Tickets for the concert alone are available at Ticketmaster locations, on-line at ticketmaster.ca or by telephone at 613 755-1111.

Los Badasikas to bring Sephardic music to the NAC Fourth Stage

By Carol Hodgson Los Badasikas is back, bringing exuberant interpretations of Sephardic music to the National Arts Centre’s Fourth Stage on May 6. The Sephardic songs the group performs celebrate the rich diversity of Sephardic Jewry.

The Ottawa-based ensemble draws its music from across the Sephardic world with songs from Greece, Morocco, Turkey and, of course, Spain. They tell of love, won and lost, of weddings and joys, of passion and sorrow. They speak of everyday life and events or tell wild stories of heroes and kings beset by jealousy and intrigue.

Los Badasikas first performed at the Fourth Stage a year ago, to a packed and enthusiastic audience.

They have since performed at the Festival Séfarad de Montréal and recorded a CD, A Night in S’farad.

The group includes Barbara

Los Badasikas, (from left to right) David Fuchs, Signi Damus, Karl Comete, Barbara Kagedan and Adrian Cho, will perform May 6 at the NAC Fourth Stage.

Kagedan on vocals, David Fuchs on guitar oud and vocals, Signi Damus on flute, Karl Comete on doumbek and guitar and Adrian Cho on bass.

With diverse musical backgrounds, from classical music to jazz to rock and Latin, the combination is a

unique blend of energy and enthusiasm.

“We love getting together to make music, and that is something people tell us they can feel during our concerts,” says Kagedan. “It makes for a really warm evening –

which is so right for this music, which grew from the home and community. This is not formal or stiff music. It is music that came out of people’s lives and surroundings, with all the beauty and sorrow and humour that goes with living.”

“Sephardic music manages to combine elements of incredible, heartbreaking beauty with earthy, sensual ones,” adds Damus. “There are some beautiful ballads and love songs – some with melodies that I can’t get out of my head – and there are also some quite unusual pieces.

One is a tale of woe by a young wife trying to cope with a very interfering mother-in-law. There are also drinking songs and an entire song, with a really catchy melody, of recipes for eggplant dishes. We like to eat in this group, so that song was a natural for us.”

Fuchs, the group’s main guitarist, also plays the oud.

“The oud is a very old, very beautiful stringed instrument similar in appearance to a Renaissance lute, but with a haunting Middle Eastern sound,” he says. “It’s a traditional instrument for Sephardic music and allows us to bring out the music’s unique textures and atmosphere.”

Comete, the group’s drummer, enthuses about the rhythms of the music.

“You can feel the history and heat in the songs,” he says. “You have rhythms from Morocco, Turkey and Greece – there’s an exciting pulse that’s subtly different for each place.”

Los Badasikas will perform at the National Arts Centre Fourth Stage on Tuesday, May 6, 2008, 7:30 pm. Tickets are $20, available at the National Arts Centre Box Office, or through Ticketmaster at 613-755-1111.

Comedy night features a great line-up plus wine and cheese

By Estelle Melzer Put three nice Jewish boys, who are also top-rated comics, together in a room and what have you got?An evening of side-splitting belly laughs you won’t be embarrassed to bring your family to.

Add a delicious wine and cheese nosh and a chance to schmooze at the end of the show and you have a great evening of entertainment, Jewish-style.

That’s the idea behind Chuckles & Cheese, a comedy night fundraiser for

Steve Brinder

AJA 50+, on Wednesday, May 21, at 7:30 pm, at Library and Archives Cana-

da, 395 Wellington.

“Everyone likes a good laugh, but a lot of the comedy in clubs today is just too raw for many people’s taste,” comments AJA 50+ pastpresident Joyce Bellman.

“We’ve been extremely fortunate to get three very wellknown comedy stars who can really deliver the laughs without relying on swearing and shock value.”

Performing at the event will be headliner Steve Brinder, featured comic Lou Eisen and MC Simon Rakoff.

Brinder, who has also been a school teacher, TV host, reporter and actor, gets his material from the common lifecycle experiences we all share and uses his acting skills in routines to create characters that come alive.

Eisen, who played boxing trainer Ray Arcel opposite Russell Crowe’s James J. Braddock in Cinderella Man, began his career at Toronto’s Second City. His one-man show, The Angina Monologues, chronicles how his positive use of humour thera-

py expedited his recovery from a near fatal heart attack in February 2005.

Rakoff has one of the quickest wits in the business.

“As an MC, the most important job is relaxing the audience and assuring them that they’re going to have a good time,” he explains. His material is thought-provoking and often based on current events and religion.

Active Jewish Adults (AJA) 50+ is a volunteer-run social, recreational and advocacy group for older adults

offering a wide variety of programs to its more-than 500 members.

“Fundraising in essential to our continuing operation,” explains Bellman. “But, in the spirit of our mandate, we want to make our fundraisers fun events everyone will want to come to.”

Tickets to Chuckles & Cheese are $30.00, including the wine and cheese reception following the show. To purchase, contact Arlene Glube at 613-820-1784 or arleneglube@hotmail.com.

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 21, 2008 – Page 17

Hillel Academy vice-principal Wendy Waxman (far left) and science teacher Brian Lamb (far right) with Hillel students whose projects were finalists in the Ottawa Regional Science Fair.

(From left to right) Hillel Academy students Shelby Levine, Jordana Leader and Jordan Brandt. Leader’s project in the Ottawa Regional Science Fair won the Bronze award in the Junior-Health Sciences section. Levine and Brandt’s collaboration earned an honourable mention.

(OJB photos: Michael Regenstreif)

Hillel Academy students score at science fair

By Michael Regenstreif Hillel Academy’s participation in the Ottawa Regional Science Fair earlier this month was a long time coming. But the results did the school proud as Grade 7 student Jordana Leader won the bronze award, placing third in the JuniorHealth Sciences division for her project on the Stroop Effect.

Leader’s project used the Stroop Effect, named for psychologist J.

Ridley Stroop, to show how colour coding affects the speed of how people process certain words and information.

In addition to the bronze award, Leader’s project also garnered a special Sigma Xi award from the Scientific Research Society’s Ottawa chapter in recognition of its scientific contribution and originality.

Leader wasn’t the only Hillel student to garner attention in the

Junior-Health Sciences division as Grade 8 students Jordan Brandt and Shelby Levine received an honourable mention for their collaborative project on the effectiveness of antacids.

As Wendy Waxman, Hillel’s vice-principal for general studies, explained to the Bulletin, the school did not participate previously in the science fair because the judging, in past years, had taken place on Sat-

urdays.

This year, though, Hillel received a special accommodation that allowed the students to set up their projects on Friday morning and be judged in the afternoon well before the start of Shabbat.

Working under the direction of science teacher Brian Lamb, the entire school was involved in creating projects for the fair.

Other Hillel students who

advanced to the finals included Jordy Rosenbloom and Rebecca Levy, who collaborated on a project that examined how eating habits affect childhood obesity; Sandy Bencze, who examined the effect of different beverages on PH levels in urine; Aaron Naor and Raphaël Sandler, who built a Rube Goldberg machine; and Remi Pearl and Julie Segal, whose project also studied the Stroop Effect.

YRHS wins four awards at Jewish model UN

By Simcha Walfish For the fifth time in as many years, Yitzhak Rabin High School (YRHS) students attended the Jewish Canadian Youth Model United Nations (UN).

This year’s conference, which took place in Montreal from March 16 to 18, drew more than 150 delegates from across Canada and the United States, including 10 from YRHS. Well in advance of the conference, each delegate was assigned a country that sits on a UN committee.

The committees represented this year were the Security Council; the World Health Organization; the Office of Drugs and Crime; the

Social, Cultural, and Humanitarian Committee; the Disarmament and International Security Committee; as well as the African Union.

Yitzhak Rabin represented Mexico, Sweden, Guatemala, Malawi and the United States of America and had delegates represented on all five UN committees and the African Union.

The delegates researched the views of their respective countries with regard to the issues of the committee and then argued on their behalf in the mock United Nations. The biggest challenge the model UN poses to students is to leave

their own personal values and beliefs behind and effectively argue the views of the country they represent, no matter how contradictory the views are to their own.

Awards were given to the three best delegates in each committee based on how accurately they represented their country and how well they argued the issues.

Yitzhak Rabin students fared well receiving four awards, including best delegate in one committee. Delegates and teachers from larger schools were very impressed with the calibre of the contributions made

by YRHS students on every UN committee.

Yitzhak Rabin High School students in Montreal for the Jewish Canadian Youth Model United Nations.

Page 18 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 21, 2008

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 21, 2008 – Page 19

Steve O pitches in Miami Irv Osterer SJCC summer!

JB says summer is just around the corner! Soloway JCC summer camps offer something for all kids in July and August: day camps, a travelling sports camp, and 10 oneweek specialty camps. Visit jccottawa.com for more info or contact athletic director Jon Braun at 613-798-9818, ext.

267 or jbraun@jccottawa.com.

Jewish Men’s Softball League The 2008 Jewish Men’s Softball League season begins in May. Games take place Sunday, Monday or Wednesday evenings.

It is a great way to make new friends in the community and enjoy the summer months playing recreational ball! Contact Jon Braun for more info.

Right-handed pitcher Stephen Osterer saw action against Florida Atlantic and Long Island College in the Papa John’s Classic pre-season tournament played recently in Miami, Florida.

A junior at Cornell, the hometown boy pitched six innings, striking out five and giving up a few runs as the “Big Red” went 4-4.

Stephen Osterer Cornell catcher Adam Jacobs and outfielder Brian Kaufman are also members of the tribe.

Shore coaching all star baseball

Sadinsky in Right

Ian Sadinsky

entry in the 2009 Maccabiah in Israel.

Parents are advised that the tryouts are highly competitive and that elite summer OBA or Little League baseball experience is a definite advantage.

Preliminary tryouts for eastern Canada will take place in Montreal in May, with subsequent summer, fall and winter National team workouts in Toronto.

For further Maccabi baseball information, e-mail m.osterer@rogers.com. There will be more information about Maccabiah tryouts in other sports in the next OZONE in May.

Ian Sadinsky will be returning to play another season at third base for the Green Machine in the Jewish Men’s Softball League.

Sadinsky emailed to say how much he likes to read the O-Zone.

Sadinsky in Right was the first sports spot to appear in the Bulletin and was an inspiration to this column.

Millertime!

Readers looking to add to a few great rookies to their baseball card collection should drop by Harvey Miller’s booth at the monthly sports card shows at the Nepean Sportsplex.

Miller has a terrific inventory of baseball merchandise and is a great kibbitzer to boot.

He’s a lifelong Braves fan and is usually sporting an Atlanta baseball cap.

He is a very Harvey Miller knowledgeable baseball man and was a regular at Ottawa Lynx games and admits to lamenting their loss.

Miller will be out supporting the Ottawa Rapid, the city’s new Independent League franchise.

Jody Shore

Jody Shore will be coaching the Kanata Knights U14 select baseball team this summer.

The competitive team will take part in weekend tournaments in Ontario, Quebec and the United States.

Shore, a JMSL veteran, and a good outfielder in his day, has been involved with Kanata Little League as a coach and parent volunteer for many years.

Jewish Major Leaguers And ... for the Pinecrest Patriots Pinecrest Little League has announced that Murray Osterer will be coaching the Patriot’s Major A summer competitive team. Osterer won a silver medal playing for the Canadian softball team at the 1989 Maccabiah Games in Israel.

Stern shines for Nats London, Ontario’s Adam Stern is still in the Baltimore Orioles system and will start the 2008 season with AAA Norfolk.

Stern recently competed for Team Canada and scored a big run in the dramatic 4-3 win over Korea in the final Olympic qualifier that guaranteed this country a baseball team in Beijing!

Several Jews are starting the 2008 campaign in the Big Leagues.

Brad Ausmus – Houston Astros, catcher Ryan Braun – Milwaukee Brewers, infielder Craig Breslow - Cleveland Indians, pitcher Scott Feldman – Texas Rangers, pitcher John Grabow – Pittsburgh Pirates, pitcher Gabe Kapler – Milwaukee Brewers, outfielder Ian Kinsler – Texas Rangers, infielder Jason Marquis – Chicago Cubs, pitcher Kevin Youkilis- Boston Red Sox, infielder Towering Colorado Rockies right-hander Jason Hirsh has pitched sparingly this spring because of shoulder soreness and will start the year on the disabled list.

Outfielder Sam Fuld was the final cut of the Chicago Cubs after they picked up Jays castoff Reed Johnson.

Shawn gone

Adam Stern

Baseball tryouts for the 2009 Maccabiah Games in Israel Boys playing competitive baseball that were born in 1991, ‘92 or ‘93 are eligible to tryout for Canada’s baseball

Former Blue Jay favourite Shawn Green has retired.

The left-handed outfielder was a career .283 hitter, totalling 328 home runs and driving in 1,070 runs in stints with the Blue Jays, Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Mets.

Shawn Green

Page 20 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 21, 2008

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 21, 2008 – Page 21

Page 22 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 21, 2008

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 21, 2008 – Page 23

Page 24 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 21, 2008

VOLUNTEER CORNER Volunteer Corner is courtesy of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa. All beneficiary agencies are invited to list their volunteer opportunities.

Volunteer Opportunities JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES Can YOU make the difference?

If so, Lisa Bogdonov, Volunteer Coordinator of the Thelma Steinman Seniors Support Services unit, would love to hear from you: 613.722.2225, ext. 327 or Lbogdonov@jfsottawa.com.

• URGENT: A disabled woman about to undergo surgery needs help de-cluttering her home to make room for a hospital bed.

• We’ve recently lost 2 key drivers for KMOW. Routes available: Hunt Club/Riverside and West End, on Fridays until end of April.

• An elderly lady who likes to sew would love to meet someone with similar interests to spend some time together.

• An elderly gentleman who enjoys long walks and Torah study could use an occasional companion. Campus area.

• Transportation: Drivers are always needed to transport seniors to and from medical appointments, special events, social opportunities, grocery shopping and the like.

• Kosher Meals on Wheels: Drivers who can deliver on short notice are always at a premium, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

• Friendly visiting: Out-of-town family members constantly request a visitor for a shut-in senior. Weekly, bi-weekly or ad-hoc opportunities for someone with a little time and a lot of heart. Chat over coffee, take in a show, go bowling, cook together ...

• TeleShalom: Currently seeking volunteers to place weekday morning reassurance calls to isolated seniors. Each call takes approximately 2 to 3 minutes and can be done from your home, office or cell phone.

• Presenters: JFS hosts several monthly seniors’ luncheon programs throughout the city and is always on the lookout for specialists, artists, musicians and others who can present for about 45 minutes in exchange for a delicious, hot lunch in great company.

• Share your expertise: From time to time, we receive requests for things like filling out tax or insurance forms, putting up a Sukkah, changing dishes for Passover, dog sitting and the like. If you have an expertise to share with someone in need, please let us know.

• Making connections - Gutten Tog Program: Many Jewish seniors live in non-Jewish long-term care facilities, with no connections to the community. Help them know they are not forgotten with a visit once a week, every other week, once a month, or for a Jewish holiday.

• Miriam’s Well: This monthly distribution program needs people to help with packaging and handing out fresh fruits and vegetables on the first Monday of every month, afternoons and evenings.

THE BESS AND MOE GREENBERG FAMILY HILLEL LODGE Volunteers needed for ...

• Thirsty? Serve drinks to residents every day at 11:30 am. A half hour gets you lots of smiles!

• Free on Fridays? Oneg Shabbat every week at 10:30 am and bingo at 2:00 pm – come join us!

• Cashiers needed to help in the café at lunch (11:45 am to 1:30 pm Monday to Friday) • Student Special: Your gain is our gain: Do your community hours helping our residents! Daily or weekly, at a time that suits you!

University Students welcome (please note: children under the age of 14 require adult accompaniment).

• Culture maven? Accompany our residents to museums, concerts and plays! (Wednesday and Thursday afternoons) • Tuesday Special: Enjoy our special events every week at 2:15 pm!

• Shopping experts? Have Fun!Accompany residents to shopping at a mall (Monday mornings)!

• Special mitzvah anyone? Bring a resident to Shabbos services (Saturdays at 9:15 am) and enjoy the fantastic Oneg with friends! Great cholent!

To inquire further, please call 613-728-3900 ext. 191 or email judithw@hillel-ltc.com Students welcome (please note: children under the age of 14 require adult accompaniment)

Sorel’s cartoons and an ancient Jewish manuscript Just When You Thought Things Couldn’t Get Worse: The Cartoons and Comic Strips of Edward Sorel

By Edward Sorel Fantagraphic Books/Raincoast Books Softcover, 2007 172 pages This is one book you’ll want on your coffee table to enjoy for its artwork as well as its commentary.

Edward Sorel was inspired by Jules Feiffer, who was a contributor to the Village Voice at the same time he was, and he wanted to spend his life doing caricatures or, as he refers to them himself, “decorative illustrations,” like David Levine did for Esquire magazine. He did pictorial essays for Atlantic Monthly, GQ and Penthouse; covers for Time; and cartoons for the Nation. Then, in 1992, after more than 40 years as a cartoonist, Sorel was ‘discovered’ by the New Yorker. Since then, he’s contributed 45 covers to that venerable magazine as well as gag cartoons and story illustrations. This latest book is a juicy collection of his best work from the past 30 years including comics, illustrated essays, single-panel cartoons and gags.

With his distinctive pen-and-ink style, Sorel comments on all that is absurd and hypocritical in politics, religion and life. These three topics are also sections in Just When You Thought Things Couldn’t Get Worse. So, too, are “business” and “writers, actors, editors, artists, shrinks, lawyers and other public malignities.”

Every subject Sorel tackles is done with his own acerbic, ironic wit. Some of the commentaries are better than others.

Sorel is especially good when showing up hypocrisy. “Fascists & Liberals (How to Tell Them Apart” is a good example. So are his cartoons on religious double standards.

You can’t argue with his art, however. His strong, detailed scratchings are skilful. While they look effortless and spontaneous, Sorel says they are difficult to execute.

He claims to do many preliminary sketches before arriving at a final copy.

Sorel has won numerous awards and accolades for his work including the George Polk Award for satirical drawing in 1980, the Karikaturpreis der Deutschen Anwaltschaft in 2002 and election to the Art Directors Club of New York’s Hall of Fame in 2001.

However, he can be apologetic for his art. In the forward to this book, he apologizes for the calibre of his earlier work, claiming to have improved over the years. He also claims to like German Expressionism and to have “plagiarized” Great Masters like Rembrandt, Daumier and Doré.

Sorel also studied 19th century cartooning for its skilful rendering.

Book Beat Kinneret Globerman Sorel claims that illustrative, well-drawn cartoooning is a dying art. Certainly, the stuff you see in papers today is far less detailed than the drawings and full-colour watercolour renderings you’ll see in this book.

People of the Book

By Geraldine Brooks Viking/Penguin Hardcover, 2008 384 pages Following the critical success of her book, March, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2006, Geraldine Brooks’ latest offering will be of interest to historians, bibliophiles, mystery-lovers and fiction junkies alike.

People of the Book centres on the finding of a rare Haggadah, the Sarajevo Haggadah – a real book written in 14th century Spain and sold to the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo in 1894 – and on the history of the book as fictionalized by Brooks.

A former Bosnian correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, Brooks uses her reporting skills in this well-researched account of a real find. Readers will learn about the art of illumination: what tools were used, how they were bound, what dyes and gemstones were favoured in colouring their pages.

As well, readers will learn about the forensic art of determining the history of trace artifacts within the parchments pages of a book; in the case of the Haggadah, a wine stain, the wing of an insect, a hair and salt crystals.

People of the Book is well crafted. It moves from the present, following rare book expert Hanna Heath on her travels to examine the book, and then to various places in the world in order to uncover the mysteries of the tiny artifacts she finds within the Haggadah’s ancient pages, and to various times and places in the past: Sarajevo in 1940, Vienna in 1894, Venice in 1609, Tarragona in 1492 and Seville in 1480. Each period in history introduces the character who leaves his or her mark on the book: a young Jewish girl trying to escape the Nazis, a rabbi, an inquisitor, a Jewish doctor, and a Muslim girl living in a harem.

It’s a good read, and the character Hanna is a likable loner.

Editor’s note: This issue marks Kinneret Globerman’s final Book Beat column in the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin. We thank Kinneret for her years of dedication to the column and for her advocacy of Jewish literature.

We plan to continue to cover books, authors and the world of Jewish literature in future issues of the Bulletin by drawing on a wide roster of book reviewers and commentators.

– Michael Regenstreif

At the Greenberg Families Library The Music Appreciation series begins Wednesday, April 30, 1:30 pm, with “From the Troubadour to Enlightenment,” the first of four lectures by music critic Jean-Jacques Van Vlasselaer. Cost for SJCC and Library members is $36 for the series or $12 per lecture, $48 and $15 respectively for non-members.

For information, call the library at 613-798-9818, ext. 245.

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 21, 2008 – Page 25

Preparing and celebrating Passover: then and now So here I am, preparing for Passover, and I’m imagining the reasons behind all this cleaning.

OK, OK, I know about getting rid of the chametz, but I think we can go overboard. This is really an excuse for spring cleaning. My uncle told me that, when he was young, they used to clean out the mattresses. In his day, that meant they took out the old straw and put in the new.

When I was a boy, my mother organized cleaning squads. Squad members included her, my brother and me and, occasionally, even my father, although he was often sent off because he wasn’t doing a good enough job. It felt like he was going to the penalty box.

We had to do the house from top to bottom: the floors, the walls, the ceilings, the light fixtures, every nook and cranny in the place. The whole house smelled of turpentine and ammonia. This is an aroma I seldom smell nowadays.

In those days, we knew how to CLEAN! Some years, just for extra amusement, we repainted the place. Then, both my father and I both got sent to the penalty box because neither of us was particularly good with a paint brush or a roller.

As if preparing for Passover wasn’t hard enough, I had to grate the horse radish, which had the effect of giving me watery eyes and exposing little slices on my knuckles.

Humour me, please Rubin Friedman

And, as my mother got older, I also got to turn the handle on the meat grinder while my mother pushed the meat into the top. During the rest of the year, we always put in a bit of bread at the end to push the last bit of meat through, but not for Passover.

And then there was the big night, the seder.

What a production! So many dishes! There were so many courses – what with the dipping and the tasting and the passing around. My brother, my cousin and I were sitting on shpilkes. Inevitably it would be the Stanley Cup playoffs; usually the finals or semi-finals, and who else but the Leafs or the Habs would be playing?

In those days, my parents, uncle and aunt did most of the reading of the Haggadah and we were just trotted out

Hijacking the Holocaust for Palestinian propaganda We are all aware of the struggle against Holocaust deniers such as David Irving and Ernst Zundel. Traditional Holocaust deniers like them have been repudiated in the courts and in the mainstream of public opinion.

But, recently, the term “Palestinian Holocaust” has become part of the currency of anti-Israel propaganda. A vicious smear campaign promotes the idea of moral equivalency between Israel’s defensive measures and the central element of Nazism, the extermination of the Jews. The Holocaust has been hijacked.

A recent example is “Gaza’s Holocaust,” by Elias Akleh, a prolific Palestinian who has also written such gems as “Israel’s Terrorist Educational System” and the 2006 classic, “War on Iran: Unleashing Armageddon in the Middle East.” Akleh promotes the idea that the reason the evidence of the Palestinian Holocaust is not more widely recognized is Israeli (Jewish) guile.

“Fearing the angry reactions of huge Arab and Islamic populations and indignation of international community Israel is perpetrating a graduated Palestinian holocaust, where murdering Palestinians had become a daily occurrence in an attempt to desensitize world opinion. Yet this Palestinian holocaust has all the ugly features of European Jewish holocaust.” [sic] A bigger fish in Palestinian politics, Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, was recently reported by Al Jazeera to have condemned Israel Defense Forces actions in Gaza as “more than a Holocaust.”

Moral equivalency as strategic ploy In “Hitler: A Study in Tyranny,” Oxford historian Alan Bullock pinpointed this strategic propaganda ploy.

“One of Hitler’s most habitual devices was to place himself on the defensive, to accuse those who opposed him of aggression and malice, and to pass rapidly from a tone of outraged innocence to the full thunders of moral indignation.” His opponents’ “‘intolerable’ behaviour forced him to take drastic action in self-defence.”

This version of the big lie delegitimizes the targeted victim and can make even the most vicious acts of terrorism and murder seem justified as acts of defence or retribution.

Its insidious effectiveness in current use was shown a few weeks ago, when Richard Falk was appointed by the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council to monitor Israeli treatment of Palestinians.

Falk is a professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University who has used the scholarly cover of his reputation to promote the canard of a Palestinian holocaust.

In “Slouching toward a Palestinian Holocaust,” Falk stresses that he is Jewish. “It is especially painful for me, as an American Jew, to feel compelled to portray the ongoing and intensifying abuse of the Palestinian people by Israel through a reliance on such an inflammatory metaphor as ‘holocaust.’”

Nevertheless, he was not sufficiently pained to resist the temptation to add his fuel to the fire.

It would be silly to compare Falk to Hitler. But we can, and should, compare him to Neville Chamberlain, the British prime minister of the late 1930s: a man of infinite goodwill, and a will for peace, who, almost to the last moment, strove to be fair to Hitler. Ready dupes, even learned ones, are always available to ease the path of dangerous scoundrels.

Canada took a firm stand against Falk’s appointment. In voting against it, Marius Grinius, Canada’s representative on the UN Human Rights Council, stated, “Canada has serious concerns about whether the high standards established by the council … will be able to be met by this individual.”

Our government has not been taken in by the Palestinian holocaust ruse.

Websites “Gaza’s Holocaust” by Elias Akleh: tinyurl.com/3bmqwy “Hitler: A Study in Tyranny” by Alan Bullock: tinyurl.com/2qj3wd

for selected parts like the four questions. I went to a religious afternoon school and, when I asked the questions, I did it trilingually: Hebrew, English and Yiddish, in that order. Afterward, I would receive compliments and feel warm in the face. Is it any wonder Jews have an affinity for performing?

Then, as we know, Pharaoh let the people go and we hunkered down in expectation of our own liberation, which came soon enough as we rushed out to watch hockey on TV. Apparently, this was not part of Halacha everywhere, but it became part of the custom in many households in Canada.

Now, I have a completely different way of preparing for Passover. My wife and I close up the house, pack our bags and move to Toronto for a week where we get to tell tall tales to our children and grandchildren about how we did it when we were young.

Each of us tries to relate to the liberation in our own way. My grandson wants to know particularly how the Jews cleaned up all the dirt in the desert when they were preparing for the Passover meal.

“They used to have giant vacuum cleaners,” I say, realizing that I, too, am contributing to the development of Haggadah.

Global Shtetl The Jewish Internet Saul Silverman Article on Mahmoud Abbas’s PhD dissertation: tinyurl.com/2l9vq6 Ha’aretz interview with Abbas, May 2003: tinyurl.com/2stgxk Al Jazeera report on Abbas’s comment: tinyurl.com/34db62 “Slouching Toward a Palestinian Holocaust”

by Richard Falk: tinyurl.com/yp9fau Canada opposes Falk’s appointment: tinyurl.com/28dc9j

Mazal Tov Getting married, celebrating a special birthday or anniversary, just had a Bar or Bat Mitzvah?

Send us your good news (photo too)! $50 + gst Mail to: Ottawa Jewish Bulletin 21 Nadolny Sachs Private Ottawa, Ontario K2A 2R9 Fax: 613-798-4730 Email: rsaslovemiller@ottawajewishbulletin.com For more information call Rhoda Saslove-Miller 613-798-4696, ext. 256

Page 26 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 21, 2008

FOUNDATION DONATIONS

Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation Grants to Organizations ✡ December 31, 2007 ORGANIZATION

2007 Dollars

Ottawa Jewish Community Agencies Agudath Israel Synagogue Akiva High School Beth Shalom Congregation Beth Shalom Congregation-Sisterhood Beth Shalom West Congregation Camp B’nai Brith Camp Gesher Canada -Israel Cultural Foundation Canadian Friends of Torah Academy Cheder Rambam School Gilbert Greenberg Education Fund George Joseph Cooper Scholarship Award Hillel Academy Hillel Academy Agency Fund Hillel Lodge Hillel Lodge Ladies Auxiliary Jewish Community Campus of Ottawa Inc. Jewish Community Cemetery-Holocaust Memorial Jewish Community of Ottawa Development Foundation* Jewish Education through Torah Jewish Family Services Jewish Federation of Ottawa Jewish Federation of Ottawa Annual Campaign Jewish Memorial Gardens Jewish National Fund Jewish Students Association Jewish Youth Library Kollel of Ottawa Kosher Food Bank c/o Agudath Israel Synagogue Machon Sarah High School Machzikei Hadas Congregation Na’Amat Ottawa Ottawa Chevra Kadisha Ottawa Hadassah-Wizo Ottawa Hebrew Free Loan Ottawa Jewish Archives Ottawa Jewish Cemeteries Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation (PACE) Ottawa Jewish Historical Society Ottawa Modern Jewish School Ottawa Post Jewish War Veterans of Canada Ottawa Torah Centre Chabad Ottawa Torah Institute Ottawa Vaad Hakashrut Shoah (Holocaust) Committee of Ottawa Soloway Jewish Community Centre Soloway Jewish Community Centre (AJA 50+) Star of David Hebrew School Talmud Torah Afternoon School Tamir Foundation Temple Israel Congregation Temple Israel Religious School Torah Academy of Ottawa Vered Israel Cultural Centre Yitzhak Rabin High School

Total

795 683 8,989 129 193 7,385 178 433 4,259 14,556 129,600 15,704 85,234 1,212 89,032 260 9,683 365 132,313 1,335 91,805 54,541 284,583 5,220 1,155 2,521 2,994 210 8,329 4,731 4,431 446 677 2,069 174 4,401 16,051 2,043 14,470 8,213 1,963 526 681 2,352 370 1,486 94,162 1,941 1,178 10,232 67,581 1,602 1,893 9,072 5,091 14,448

1,225,980

Jewish Agencies North America Associated Hebrew School Baycrest Centre Foundation Campaign for Care Emunah Women of Canada - (Hamilton) Emunah Women of Canada – (Rachel Kizell Chapter) Imre Noam Congregation Jews for Judaism Jewish Alcoholics and Chemically Dependent Others Kollel Avreichim of Toronto London Community Hebrew Day School Machon Tzvi Hersh Mazon Canada MIT Boston Hillel on Campus Mount Sinai Hospital Foundation - Montreal Mount Sinai Hospital Foundation of Toronto Nishma Societal Endeavour in Understanding Torah Oir Hachaim D’Tash Bois Briand ORT Canada Ruchama Fraidel Relief Organization She’arim Hebrew Day School Society for the Education of Russian Jews – SERJ Yeshivat Or Chaim Zareinu

Total

350 419 79 776 806 5 198 108 108 799 50 108 67 264 43 520 772 198 399 246 498 210

7,023

Jewish Agencies in Israel, Ottawa and North America Malkhut Fund – Grants and Allocation (anonymous) Tzedek Fund - Grants and Allocations (anonymous)

Total

898,325 10,000

908,325

Israeli Institutions Beit Halochem Canada/Aid to Disabled Veterans of Israel (Canada) 728 Canadian Associates of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev 1,867 Canadian Foundation for Masorti Judaism re: Kehilat Netzach Yisrael in Ashkelon for needy children 426 Canadian Friends of Alyn 81 Canadian Friends of Bar Ilan University 3,108 Canadian Friends of Haifa University 526 Canadian Friends of Hebrew University 4,798 Canadian Friends of Jerusalem Blind Institute 480 Canadian Friends of Laniado Hospital 939 Canadian Friends of Ramat Shapira Israel 410 Canadian Friends of Shaare Tzedek Hospital Foundation 732 Canadian Friends of Simon Weisenthal Foundation 152 Canadian Friends of Technion University 2,938 Canadian Friends of Weizmann Institute of Science 3,431 Canadian Magen David Adom in Israel 2,464 Israel Cancer Research Fund 881 Mizrachi Organization of Canada for Yeshiva Haye Olam 588 United Israel Appeal Federations Canada 14,318

Total

Total Allocated but not distributed

334 105 142 3,822 100 2,772 275 563 413 262 386 250 520 45 520 181 521 124 60 64 379 292 3,615 359 686 15 450 6,231 520 2,288 105 61 384 747 521 528 836 526 1,614 154

34,580 2,920

Total to Jewish Causes 2,180,195 To Non-Sectarian Organizations

Total Grants to Organizations

34,580

2,217,695

38,867

General Non-Sectarion Organizations Alzheimer Society Ottawa-Carleton Andrew Fleck Integration Service Arthritis Society Black Canadian Scholarship Fund Canadian Association for HIV Research Canadian Cancer Society Canadian Diabetes Association Canadian Liver Foundation Canadian National Institute for the Blind

Canadian Red Cross Society - Ottawa-Carleton Branch Canadian Tribute to Human Rights Cancer Research Society Carleton University Children at Risk Ottawa Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Children’s Wish Foundation Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada The Foundation Fighting Blindness Girls & Boys Club of Ottawa-Carleton Heart and Stroke Foundation Hillcrest High School Hip Hip Horray Humane Society of Ottawa-Carleton Kemptville District Hospital Kiwanis Club of Ottawa Medical Foundation Lisgar Alumni Association MIT Boston Alumni Multiple Sclerosis Society Nepean High School North York General HospitalSheila Cohen Fund for Women’s Health Ottawa Deaf Centre Ottawa Hospital Foundation Ottawa Regional Cancer Centre Foundation Ottawa Rotary Home Foundation Parkinson’s Support and Research Society Parkway House Pinchas Zukerman Music Education Fund Queen’s University Queensway- Carleton Hospital Foundation REACH Reena Foundation Royal Ottawa Hospital Foundation SCO Health Services The Salvation Army United Way of Ottawa-Carleton University of Ottawa University of Ottawa Heart Institute University of Ottawa Heart Institute Foundation Water-Can

186 230 221 410 14 977 186 36 550

*Grants from the Jewish Community of Ottawa Development Foundation were allocated as follows: Jewish Family Services Vered Israel Cultural Centre Hillel Lodge Hillel Academy Soloway JCC Jewish Federation of Ottawa

Total

7,460 9,242 59,609 27,271 27,271 1,460

132,313

Thank you to our donors.

With your support, we were able to distribute more than $2.2 million to worthy charitable organizations.

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 21, 2008 – Page 27

FOUNDATION DONATIONS A gift forever

Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation Donations To make a donation and/or send a tribute card, call Bev Glube (613-798-4696 ext. 274) e-mail: bglube@jewishottawa.com • website: www.OJCF.ca

Join us in building our community by supporting these local agencies GREENBERG FAMILIES LIBRARY ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Sidney Cwinn by Cindy Feingold and Roger Greenberg.

HILLEL ACADEMY ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Burt Segal by Mark and Stacey Cantor.

SOLOWAY JEWISH COMMUNITY SUMMER CAMP SCHOLARSHIP FUND In memory of: David Kachuck by Mark and Cindi Resnick and family.

AKIVA EVENING HIGH SCHOOL ENDOWMENT FUND SHIRLEY AND SHIER BERMAN FUND FOR OTTAWA JEWISH ARCHIVES

The Board of Directors of the Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation acknowledges with thanks contributions to the following funds as of April 1, 2008.

Mary Kessel by Barbara and Joel Diener and family.

Best of luck to: Elayne and Wes Schacter in their new home by Barbara, Joel, Jessie, Josh and Michael Diener.

MARJORIE AND BEN ACHBAR COMMUNITY ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Alec Rossman by Marjorie and Ben Achbar.

Donald Caplan by Marjorie and Ben Achbar.

JEFFREY AND LOIS EISEN FAMILY FUND Mazal Tov to: Lois and Jeff Eisen on the engagement of their son Allan by Sherri and Jack Torjman.

HILDA AGES MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Eric Bahar’s sister, Seema by Yvonne and Harvey Lithwick and family.

IRVING AND BETTY ALTMAN ENDOWMENT FUND Mazal Tov to: Mr. and Mrs. Saul Newman on being new grandparents by Betty Altman and family.

Speedy recovery to: Myles Taller by Betty Altman and family.

In observance of the Yahrzeit of: Irving Altman, a beloved husband by Betty Altman and family.

APPOTIVE FAMILY ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Rose Litwack by Edith and David Appotive.

HILLEL LODGE LEGACY FUND MENDEL AND VALERIE GOOD HOLOCAUST CONTINUING EDUCATION FUND HY HOCHBERG MEMORIAL LECTURE FUND JEWISH COMMUNITY CEMETERY HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FUND JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES ENDOWMENT FUND JEWISH STUDENTS ASSOCIATION - HILLEL JEWISH YOUTH LIBRARY OF OTTAWA ENDOWMENT FUND DAVID “THE BEAR” KARDASH CAMP B’NAI BRITH MEMORIAL FUND ADINA BEN PORAT MACHON SARAH TORAH EDUCATION FUND OTTAWA JEWISH CEMETERIES ZICHARON FUND OTTAWA JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY FUND OTTAWA MODERN JEWISH SCHOOL FUND OTTAWA POST JEWISH WAR VETERANS FUND DORIS BRONSTEIN TALMUD TORAH AFTERNOON SCHOOL FUND OTTAWA TORAH INSTITUTE TORAH EDUCATION FUND MARTIN GLATT PARLIAMENT LODGE B’NAI BRITH PAST PRESIDENTS’ FUND RAMBAM MAIMONIDES JEWISH CONTINUITY FUND GABY SASSOON FOR VICTIMS OF TERROR IN ISRAEL MEMORIAL FUND SOLOWAY JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTRE EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION FUND JEWISH MEN’S SOFTBALL LEAGUE FUND SARA AND ZEEV VERED ISRAEL CULTURAL PROGRAM FUND SOLOWAY JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTRE ENDOWMENT FUND SOLOWAY JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTRE YOUTH SERVICES FUND TORAH ACADEMY OF OTTAWA TORAH EDUCATION FUND YITZHAK RABIN HIGH SCHOOL FUND IN MEMORY OF EVA WINTHROP

JACK AND BETTY BALLON ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Sheila Blackstein by Carol and Harvey Goodman and family.

ABRAHAM AND RACHEL BAROOK MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Rose Litwack by Max and Cynthia Weinstein.

RONALD BODNOFF MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Sidney Dain by Rhonda Bodnoff and family.

ELLEN AND RAHAMIM FATHI ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Rose Litwack by Ellen and Ray Fathi and family.

SHMUEL AND MALKA FEIG ENDOWMENT FUND Birthday wishes to: Malka Feig on her special birthday by Jean Morin.

LILLIAN (HITZIG) FEIN MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Nettie Joseph by Gerald and Barbara Thaw.

SHARON AND PAUL FINN ENDOWMENT FUND Speedy recovery to: Nicola Hamer by Sharon and Paul Finn.

FLORENCE FAMILY MEMORIAL FUND In observance of the Yahrzeit of: Frank Florence, a beloved uncle by A.L. Anne and Leanne Smith.

ALAN FREED FAMILY FUND Congratulations to: Alan Freed on the birth of his granddaughter by Rhoda, Jeff, Howard and Sara Miller.

ABE AND SYLVIA FREEMAN FAMILY FUND Birthday wishes to: Sylvia Freeman on her 85th birthday by Mildred Freeman.

Continued on page 28

TILLIE AND HARRY CHERM MEMORIAL FUND Continued good health to: Sol Kaiman by Beth Roodman.

HOWARD, JEFFREY, ANDREW, MICHAEL, GREGORY AND ZACHARY COGAN FUND Mazal Tov to: Stephen and Gail Victor on the birth of their grandchild by Fred and Lisa Cogan and family.

Arnell Goldberg and Judy Ross on their engagement

by Fred and Lisa Cogan.

Anne and Dave Cohen on their granddaughter Miriam’s wedding by Fred and Lisa Cogan and family.

JACK AND SARAH COGAN FAMILY FUND In loving memory of: Sarah Cogan, mother, mother-in-law and grandmother by Fred and Lisa Cogan and family.

SANDI AND EDDY COOK ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Irving Kirstein by Sandi and Eddy Cook and family.

Kaleen Fogel’s father by Sandi and Eddy Cook and family.

Renee Rapoport and Barry Rapoport by Sandi and Eddy Cook and family.

Ruth Schmidt by Sandi and Eddy Cook and family.

Congratulations to: Sylviane Borenstein on being honoured by Temple Emanu-El by Sandi and Eddy Cook and family.

Ron and Avalee Prehogan on the engagement of their son Harris by Sandi and Eddy Cook and family.

NATHAN AND REBA DIENER ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Rose Litwack by Reba Diener.

Wishing you and your family a happy and healthy Passover.

May you enjoy a warm Seder with all its traditions

Happy Pesach Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation

Page 28 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 21, 2008

FOUNDATION DONATIONS FRAN AND SID GERSHBERG FAMILY FUND Birthday wishes to: Phil Seal on his 80th birthday by Fran and Sid Gershberg.

ANNE AND BEN GLOBERMAN ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Morley Globerman by Anne, Sandra, David, Danny, Jordana and Benjamin Globerman.

STAN AND LIBBY GLUBE FAMILY FUND In memory of: Esther Rabinovitch by Bev and Bryan Glube and family.

Joss, Lee, Jessica and Emma Greenberg.

RHEA AND JEFF HOCHSTADTER FAMILY FUND Best of luck to: Elayne and Wesley Schacter in their new home by Rhea, Jeff, Elana and Lorne Hochstadter.

COLIN HUGHES MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Colin Hughes by Joan Schwarzfeld and Mike Robern and family.

ANN GLUZMAN MEMORIAL FUND Mazal Tov to: Arlene and Gary Bonn on the birth of their grandchild by the Levitz family.

DOROTHY AND HY HYMES ENDOWMENT FUND R’fuah Sh’lemah to: Marty Saslove by Dorothy and Hy Hymes.

Jack Pleet by Dorothy and Hy Hymes.

In memory of: Simon Reisman by Dorothy and Hy Hymes.

Sheila Blackstein by Dorothy and Hy Hymes.

HOWARD HERZL GOLDBERG SCHOLARSHIP FUND In memory of: Rose Litwack by Shawn and Helene Goldberg, Chaim and Aaron.

MAX AND DORA KARP KAPINSKY MEMORIAL FUND Anniversary wishes to: Dorothy and Maurie Karp on their 50th wedding anniversary by Carol and Harvey Goodman and family.

EVA, DIANE AND JACK GOLDFIELD MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Harry Oxorn by Anita and Ed Landis.

PINNEY AND LIBBY KARDASH ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Bess Weiner by Yvonne and Harvey Lithwick and family.

PAULINE GOTTHEIL MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Ruth Schmidt by Ellen, Art and Jordana Leader.

MICHAEL GREENBERG MEMORIAL FUND Birthday wishes to: Irving Adessky on his special birthday by Steve,

SAMUEL AND TILLIE KARDISH MEMORIAL FUND Congratulations to: Steve and Heidi Polowin on the engagement of their daughter Jordana to Ari Lesser by Joy and David Kardish.

Reconnecting to the Jewish Community through the establishment of a fund When Sandra Czarny opened a fund with the Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation (OJCF), it solidified her connection to the Jewish community.

After practising law for a short time, Sandra “retired” from law to return to her first love: fundraising. As the co-founder of Cardiac Kids, a volunteer group for children with heart disease at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Sandra missed the nonprofit world. When Sandra was presented with an opportunity to work with the Jewish Federation of Ottawa and the OJCF, Sandra didn’t hesitate to jump on board.

“When I moved to Ottawa, I was relatively void of a Jewish connection. My Jewish life remained in Thornhill with my family.

Working in the Jewish community was a way for me to connect with my roots.”

Having gone to a Jewish school in Brussels Belgium, Sandra knows the importance of preserving Jewish culture and heritage.

Sandra explains, “Having experienced antiSemitism in Europe only strengthens my need to protect Jewish values. Having to go through metal gates and security guards with Uzi guns at school just because you are Jewish leaves a lasting impression on a child.”

Today, Sandra has just finished her work with the OJCF as Director of Planned Giving where she worked to meet the ever grow-

ARTHUR AND SARAH KIMMEL MEMORIAL FUND R’fuah Sh’lemah to: Moe Cardash by Isabel and Norman Lesh.

PHILLIP AND ETTIE KIMMEL MEMORIAL FUND Mazal Tov to: Carol Spiro and Stanley Kimmel on the engagement of Mark Spiro by Milton and Joyce Kimmel.

SHARON KOFFMAN ATHLETIC SCHOLARSHIP FUND In memory of: Doris Koffman by Carole and Norman Zagerman, Andrea and Laurie.

KOVOD ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Sidney Cwinn by Mitchell Bellman and Nicola Hamer.

SUSAN AND DAVID KRIGER ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Rose Litwack by Susan and David Kriger.

ANNICE AND SYDNEY KRONICK FAMILY FUND Happy Passover to: Seryl and Charlie Kushner by Richard Kronick and Alice Brodie.

ISSIE AND EDITH LANDAU ENDOWMENT FUND Mazal Tov to: Mr. and Mrs. Jerrold Landau on their daughter Rachel Meira’s Bat Mitzvah by Ethel and David Malek.

Edie Landau on her granddaughter Rachel Meira’s Bat Mitzvah by Ethel and David Malek.

In memory of: Arnold Goldberg by Yvonne and Harvey Lithwick.

HARRY AND ZENA LEIKIN ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Rose Litwack by Libby and Stan Katz.

Birthday wishes to: Ethel Kesle by Libby and Stan Katz.

BERNIE AND IDA LESH ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Rose Litwack by Ida Lesh.

NORMAN AND ISABEL LESH ENDOWMENT FUND R’fuah Sh’lemah to: Marty Saslove by Isabel and Norman Lesh.

SANDRA AND JACIE LEVINSON ENDOWMENT FUND Speedy recovery to: Jacie Levinson by Emily Aaron; and by Carole and Norman Zagerman, Andrea and Laurie.

Best of health to: Jacie Levinson by Dorothy and Ben Greenberg.

RUTH AND RON LEVITAN ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Rose Litwack by Ron and Ruth Levitan.

Sandra Czarny

ing needs of the community. Even with her departure, she will continue her lifelong connection to the Ottawa Jewish community through her fund.

“It doesn’t matter where I am or what I am doing, I will know that my gift will continue to support something I believe in for generations to come.”

To discuss how you can solidify your Jewish roots to your community forever call Francine Paulin today at 613.798.4696 ext.

252. www.OJCF.ca

JOSEPH AND EVELYN LIEFF ENDOWMENT FUND Congratulations to: Avalee and Ron Prehogan on the engagement of their son Harris by Norman Lieff and Francie Greenspoon.

MOE AND ROSE LITWACK COMMUNITY ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Rose Litwack by Ruth and Arthur Kizell.

ARNOLD AND ROSE LITHWICK FAMILY COMMUNITY ENDOWMENT FUND Mazal Tov to: Aviva and Chuck Freedman on the arrival of Beth and Barry Freedman’s baby son, Aharon Amichai by

Yvonne and Harvey Lithwick and family.

Rabbi and Mrs. Arnold Fine on the arrival of Ilana’s baby girl, Yael Sarit by Yvonne and Harvey Lithwick and family.

In memory of: Marguerite Alvo by Yvonne and Harvey Lithwick and family.

Esther Guiot-Zuckerbrodt’s mother, Pepi by Yvonne and Harvey Lithwick and Carolyn and Alex Lithwick and family.

ETHEL AND DAVID MALEK ENDOWMENT FUND Mazal Tov to: Ethel and David Malek on the birth of their greatgrandson, Aiden by Edie Landau.

ANNE (BLAIR) AND HYMAN MAYBERGER ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Sheila Blackstein by Shelley and Morris Schachnow.

MORTY MAYBERGER UNITED JEWISH APPEAL GOLF TOURNAMENT FUND Mazal Tov to: Brenda and Stephen Saslove on the marriage of their daughter by Shelley and Morris Schachnow.

BONNIE AND CHUCK MEROVITZ FAMILY FUND In memory of: Rosa Samel by Bonnie and Chuck Merovitz.

GERI MIGICOVSKY CICF FOUNDATION FOR THE PINCHAS ZUKERMAN MUSIC EDUCATION FUND Congratulations to: Ann and Stan Goldberg on the birth of their new grandson, Colby Dillon by Geri Migicovsky.

Norm Barwin on receiving the Bio-Medical Science Ambassador Award by Geri Migicovsky.

DOROTHY AND HERBERT NADOLNY FOUNDATION Continued good health to: Dorothy Nadolny by Carole and Norman Zagerman, Andrea and Laurie.

PERCY AND SHELLEY OSTROFF FAMILY FUND In memory of: Liz Whyne by Percy, Shelley, Rachael and Rebecca Ostroff.

HARRY AND BERTHA PLEET MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Rose Litwack by Barbara and Pinchas Pleet.

NANCY AND LARRY PLEET ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Susan Strug’s father by Janice Pleet.

Kenneth Kantorowitz’s father by Janice and Jonah Pleet.

NORMAN AND EVELYN POTECHIN ENDOWMENT FUND Birthday wishes to: Evelyn Potechin and a happy anniversary to Evelyn and Norman Potechin by Judy Wolfe.

PREHOGAN FAMILY FUND IN MEMORY OF AARON HARRY COHEN Mazal Tov to: Avalee and Ron Prehogan on the engagement of their son Harris by Mark and Cindi Resnick and family.

GERALD AND MARY-BELLE PULVERMACHER FAMILY ENDOWMENT FUND Birthday wishes to: Michael Sands by Mary-Belle and Gerry Pulvermacher.

Continued on page 29

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 21, 2008 – Page 29

FOUNDATION DONATIONS MOE AND SARAH RESNICK ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Rose Litwack by Sam and Roberta Goldmaker.

ROSSIE AND ISSIE ROSE ENDOWMENT FUND Birthday wishes to: Issie Rose on his special birthday by Greg, Lee, Jason and Meaghan Curry.

HELENA AND MICHAEL ROSENBAUM (ROBERN) SCHOLARSHIP FUND In memory of: Harold Dermer by Joan Schwarzfeld and Mike Robern and family.

With thanks to: The Moscoe family by Joan Schwarzfeld and Mike Robern and family.

FLORENCE AND GDALYAH ROSENFELD ENDOWMENT FUND Best wishes to: Dave and Norma Maitin on their move by Florence and Gdalyah Rosenfeld.

SHELLEY AND SID ROTHMAN FAMILY FUND Mazal Tov to: Heidi and Steve Polowin on the engagement of their daughter Jordana to Ari Lesser by Shelley Rothman and family.

HAROLD AND IRMA SACHS COMMUNITY ENDOWMENT FUND Speedy recovery to: Louise Glatt by Harold and Irma Sachs.

Best wishes to: Charles and Susannah Dalfen by Harold and Irma Sachs.

Jane and Uwe Schemel on the birth of their daughter, Alina Joy by Sol and Anne Shmelzer.

In memory of: Simon Reisman by Sol and Anne Shmelzer.

Dr. Roy Martin Shmelzer by Sol and Anne Shmelzer.

Frances Ena Sandford Cook by Sol and Anne Shmelzer.

Bulk packages of Tribute Cards available at the OJCF!

ZIPES KARANOFSKY FAMILY ENDOWMENT FUND Mazal Tov to: Elizabeth and Steven Rubin on the birth of their grandson by Rick and Helen Zipes, Erin, Michael and Kyle.

Sheila and Steve Senman on the birth of their granddaughter by Rick and Helen Zipes, Erin, Michael and Kyle.

Bulk packages of 18 cards or more can be purchased for a donation of $15 per card.

This is a $3 savings per card!!

Ordering in bulk makes donating to your fund, to your family fund or to your favourite agency’s fund easy and cost effective

DR. ROBERT NORMAN SHOIHET MEMORIAL FUND Birthday wishes to: David Shoihet on his special birthday by Lillian Shoihet.

Shirley Shoihet by Lillian Shoihet.

Call today to purchase your cards in support of your Jewish community.

HERB GRAY AND SHARON SHOLZBERG-GRAY FAMILY FUND In memory of: Simon Reisman by Sharon and Herb Gray.

Morris Miller by Sharon and Herb Gray.

LOUIS AND STELLA SLACK MEMORIAL FUND Mazal Tov to: Leslie and Vera Klein on the birth of their granddaughter by Myra and Lester Aronson.

MOE AND CHARLOTTE SLACK MEMORIAL FUND In observance of the Yahrzeit of: Moe Slack by Marlene Levine and Andrew Siman;

by Sandra Palef and Nissim Avraham; and by Enid Slack and Ron Kanter and family.

Charlotte Slack by Marlene Levine and Andrew Siman; by Sandra Palef and Nissim Avraham; and by Enid Slack and Ron Kanter and family.

MAX AND PHYLLIS STERNTHAL FAMILY FUND In memory of: Rose Butler by Phyllis and Max Sternthal.

HAROLD SHAFFER MEMORIAL FUND In observance of the Yahrzeit of: Irving Shaffer, a dear brother by Sheldon and Sonia Shaffer.

JAY B. TALLER MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Rose Litwack by Morton and Sally Taller.

SYLVIA AND HARRY SHERMAN MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Rose Litwack by Julie and Jack Sherman and Louis Sherman and Krystyna.

STEPHEN AND GAIL VICTOR ENDOWMENT FUND Birthday wishes to: Gail Victor on her special birthday by Sol and Zelaine Shinder.

SHMELZER-HOROVITCH ENDOWMENT FUND Mazal Tov to: Mr. and Mrs. Murray and Baila Kane on the engagement of their son Philip to Shelley Roitman by Sol and Anne Shmelzer.

Mr. and Mrs. Gabriel and Lisa Lowenberg on the birth of their son, Jacob Richard by Sol and Anne Shmelzer.

MIRIAM AND LOUIS WEINER ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Rose Litwack by Miriam and Lou Weiner.

613.798.4696. extension 274 www.OJCF.ca

The unveiling

THE SAUL AND EDNA GOLDFARB B’NAI MITZVAH PROGRAM

of a monument in memory of

AIDAN ROBERN B’NAI MITZVAH FUND In memory of: Dino by Aidan, Elana, Gil, Mike and Joan.

Dr. Nathan Schecter z.l.

ALAYNA AND BRYAN THAW MITZVAH FUND In memory of: Rose Litwack by Gerald and Barbara Thaw.

will take place IYH at 2:30 pm

on Sunday, May 18th, 2008

Contributions may be made online at or by phoning Bev Glube at 613-798-4696 extension 274, Monday to Friday. We have voice mail. Our e-mail address is Attractive cards are sent to convey the appropriate sentiments. All donations are acknowledged with an official receipt for income tax purposes. We accept Visa, MasterCard and Amex.

at the Ottawa Jewish Cemetery Bank Street, Section 8 Relatives and members of the community are invited to attend

In Appreciation I wish to thank my family and friends for their kind expressions of sympathy on the recent passing of Hy Stoler.

Rita Hornstein

SAM AND HELENE ZARET MEMORIAL FUND Anniversary wishes to: Debi and Neil Zaret on their 30th wedding anniversary by Donna, Howie, Josh and Emily Nadolny.

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Two Tours Celebrating Israel’s 60th Anniversary!

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Page 30 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 21, 2008

Surprising uses for potatoes One of the first things about Roger that I fell in love with was the way he answered the telephone. I just thought it was so cute the way he’d say, “Halooooo.”

Then, one day, I called his sister and she answered the phone exactly the same way, with a big “Halooooo.”

I remember commenting to my sister Jody how odd it was. We just figured it was an Ottawa accent.

A few months later, Roger and I were out for dinner and I just about fell off my chair when he ordered a baked “badayda” with his liver and onions.

PARTY

I asked him to repeat what he said and he pronounced “badayda” exactly same way.

“You mean potato,” I said.

“Yes,” he said. “That’s what I said, ‘badayda.’”

The next day, Jody and I had another hysterical discussion about the peculiar accent Ottawans have (not to mention the fact that he actually ordered liver and onions).

It wasn’t until I moved here that I realized this was not a strange Ottawa accent. I had just married into one strange Ottawa family. However, I now love them dearly and con-

Potato, Arugula and Goat Cheese Quesadillas 2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1/2 teaspoon chili powder (or more if you like it really spicy) 1 1/3 cups jarred salsa 2/3 cup coarsely chopped arugula 1 1/3 cups (packed) coarsely grated Monterey Jack cheese (5 to 6 ounces) 4 8-inch-diameter flour tortillas 4 cups coarsely chopped arugula 3 ounces chilled fresh goat cheese, coarsely crumbled Olive oil

C H I C alyce baker personal & corporate event planning

229-9840 partychic@rogers.com www.partychic.ca

Place baking sheet in oven and preheat to 275°F. Steam potatoes until tender, about 8 minutes. Place in large bowl; sprinkle with salt, pepper and chili powder. Toss to coat. Cool potatoes 15 minutes.

While potatoes are cooling, blend salsa and 2/3 cup arugula in food processor, until arugula is finely chopped.

Mix Monterey Jack cheese into cooled potatoes.

Arrange tortillas on work surface. On the bottom half of each tortilla arrange 1/4 of the chopped arugula, 1/4 of the potato mixture, 1/4 of the crumbled goat cheese and 2 tablespoons salsa-arugula mixture. Fold plain tortilla half over the filling, pressing to compact. Brush lightly with olive oil.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Place 2 quesadillas, oiled side down, in skillet. Brush tops with oil.

Cook until quesadillas are brown, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to baking sheet in oven to keep warm while cooking the remaining 2 quesadillas.

Cut each quesadilla into 3 wedges and serve with remaining salsa-arugula mixture.

1 recipe potato dough (see right) 1 cup prepared marinara sauce 8 small waxy potatoes, very thinly sliced (1/16 inch thick) 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 cup grated Asiago cheese 1 cup small chunks fresh mozzarella 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. On two 11 x 17 inch greased baking sheets, stretch out dough, using your fingers to form ovals that almost fills pans.

Top each base with half the marinara sauce and half the sliced potatoes. Brush the potatoes with olive oil. Sprinkle with fresh rosemary and freshly ground black pepper. Bake pizzas for about 15 minutes.

Sprinkle half the Asiago on top of each pizza, then place mozzarella chunks over pizzas.

Continue baking for another 10 minutes, or until dough is nicely browned on bottom and potatoes are cooked. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

The Ottawa Jewish Bulletin Publishing Co. Ltd. collects and uses your personal information primarily for the purpose of providing you with the products and services you have requested from us.

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If you have a stand mixer, the dough can be made in there, using the dough hook. If not, it’s easy enough to do by hand.

1 medium Russet potato, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks 1/4 cup unsalted butter 1 egg 1 teaspoon salt 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 8-gram package instant yeast 1/4 cup granulated sugar 2 tablespoons skim milk powder Cook potato in boiling water until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain, reserving 3/4 cup of cooking water.

Mash together potato, reserved water, butter, egg and salt.

In a large bowl, stir together 1 cup flour, yeast, sugar and milk powder. Beat in potato mixture. Add remaining flour and knead for 6 minutes.

If dough feels really sticky, add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time until dough no longer sticks to your hands.

Turn dough out onto counter and knead for an additional 2 minutes. Dough should be smooth and elastic.

Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean tea towel. Place in a warm draft-free spot and let rise for 1 hour.

A perfect spot for the dough to rise is a closed, unheated oven with the light on.

To enable us to more efficiently provide the products and services you have requested from us, the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin may share your personal information with the Jewish Federation of Ottawa, the Ottawa

Jewish Community Foundation and the Soloway Jewish Community Centre.

If you would like more information, or to speak to the Privacy Officer, please call 613-798-4696 ext.

256.

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T: 613-230-6434 F: 613-230-0551

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Potato Dough

This recipe comes from the April 2008 issue of Wish magazine. It calls for prepared marinara sauce. I like Olivieri, found in the refrigerator section, near the fresh pasta, at the supermarket. The best potatoes for the pizza topping are the mini fingerling or new potatoes.

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sider them my own. If you call me, don’t be surprised if I answer the phone with “Haloooo.”

Here are two surprising ways to use “badaydas.”

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Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 21, 2008 – Page 31

Holocaust novels: Doing the right thing in extreme situations All novels about the Holocaust address the question of doing or not doing the right thing under the most extreme situations.

During the Nazi years, lots of good people did do the right thing and did succeed in rescuing Jews and other intended victims. Other good people acted and died. Some Jews, recognizing the approaching danger, fled or hid. Others refused to even listen to offers of help. They would be all right. The options for any individual, Jew or gentile, were mindboggling.

The following Holocaust novels offer insight into some of those opportunities for doing the right thing as their characters are repeatedly called upon to meet the challenge of extreme situations in Nazi-occupied Europe.

Kanada

By Eva Wiseman Tundra Books 248 pages. Age 12 and up Powerful, compassionate, tender, poignant, and frighteningly evocative, this amazing novel covers the full scope of historical events that might well have been experienced by a young Hungarian Jew, her family and friends during the last year of the Second World War and its immediate aftermath from February 1944 to August 1946. Events tumble together at breakneck speed, each more horrific than the one before, and continue after the war is over and the camps have been liberated.

Who to trust? How to survive? Why have I survived? These questions are asked at each stage of the story’s development.

Some of the answers are surprising. Others raise even more questions. And some questions have no answers. But always there is determination and hope.

As for Canada and Kanada, they have two intertwined meanings. First, Canada, the home of Papa’s cousin, is the sanctuary 14-year-old Jutka dreams of during her hellish days in Hungary, in the death camps, in cattle cars and on forced marches. Second, Kanada was the ironic name given to several warehouses in Auschwitz where the prisoner’s belongings were searched for valuables. Working in Kanada was a sanctuary of sorts, but one Jutka refuses.

For Jutka, staying alive means staying with her friends.

When she is bereft of Sari, Eva and Agi, Jutka finds a new friend, Sandor. Trust, love and dilemmas continue in the dis-

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Kid Lit Deanna Silverman placed persons camp as Jutka must choose between going with Sandor, Miri and Natan to Eretz Israel or realizing her dream of immigrating to Canada and being with family, albeit someone she has never seen.

Winner of the 2007 Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People and shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award, Wiseman’s Kanada is a tour de force of Holocaust writing.

Hitler’s Canary

By Sandi Toksvig Roaring Brook Press 192 pages. Age 8 and up Based on stories told to the author by her father, Hitler’s Canary is set in Denmark, a country that rescued most of its Jews in September 1943 even though it had been under Nazi occupation since April 1940.

The book is written from the perspective of a man, Bamse, who remembers what happened to him, his family and friends when he was a boy during the Second World War. The story focuses on his theatrical family and their somewhat idiosyncratic, but always patriotic, way of looking at the world.

Emphasizing theatricality, the novel is written and structured as though it were a three-act dramatic comedy with each act consisting of several scenes. Act 1 sets the stage. Every character and concept in it recurs in later acts in a wide variety of ways. Its basic concept, however, is constant: “Do whatever you do well … it might just save your life.”

Character, relationships, action and humour are the key ingredients. Time and again, we are forced to look beyond the obvious nature of the players to discern their essence. That holds as true for Mama, the famous actress, Marie Skovlund, and Papa, set designer, painter and political cartoonist, Peter Skovlund, as it does for 10-year-old Bamse, his older brother,

By Eva Wiseman Orlando, older sister, Masha, anti-Semitic Uncle Johann, Mama’s dresser and friend, Thomas, and the Beilin family who live upstairs.

Hitler’s Canary consciously poses big questions about the obligations of a country and a people under Nazi occupation: about knowing what to do and when to do it, even if you are afraid; and how to tell the difference between the good people and the bad, be they Danes, Germans or homosexuals.

In the tradition of the 1997 Italian film, Life Is Beautiful, remembering to laugh when things are bad is a rare but fantastic way to tell a Holocaust story. Hitler’s Canary continues that tradition.

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Page 32 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 21, 2008

WHAT’S GOING ON April 21 to May 4, 2008 WEEKLY EVENTS

CANDLELIGHTING SECOND SEDER ✡ AFTER Apr 20 8:43 pm Apr 25

✡ BEFORE 7:44 pm

EVE OF EIGHTH DAY OF PASSOVER ✡ AFTER Apr 26 8:52 pm May 2

✡ BEFORE 7:53 pm

TUESDAYS Stitch un Kvell, a seniors’ craft group, sponsored by Jewish Family Services, 2255 Carling Avenue, Suite 301, 10:00 am. Info: 613-7222225, ext. 325.

Israeli Folkdancing, no experience or partner necessary, Hillel Academy, 31 Nadolny Sachs Private, 6:30 pm. Info: 613-729-2090.

WEDNESDAYS Music Appreciation Series with music critic Jean-Jacques Van Vlasselaer, sponsored by the Soloway JCC, 1:30 pm. Info: 613798-9818, ext. 245.

THURSDAY, APRIL 24 Sixth Annual Passover Lunch, sponsored by Canadian Friends of Hebrew University, with Michael Ross on “My Life as a Spy,” Agudath Israel Congregation, 1400 Coldrey Avenue, 12:00 pm. Info: 613-829-3150.

MONDAY, APRIL 28 Live from New York’s 92nd Street, via satellite, with Norman Lear, creator and producer of “All in the Family,” “Maude,” and other hit television series, discussing the challenges and joys of leading a Jewish life, sponsored by the Soloway JCC, 8:00 pm. Info: 613798-9818, ext. 271.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30 Community Yom HaShoah Commemoration, sponsored by the Shoah Survivors Group of Ottawa and the Jewish Federation of Ottawa, 7:45 pm. Info: 613-7984696, ext. 255.

THURSDAY, MAY 1 National Yom HaShoah Commemoration, sponsored by Yad Vashem, Prime Minister Stephen Harper will make a presentation, Parliament Hill, 3:00 pm. Transportation from the Soloway JCC departs at 2:00 pm. Info: 613-7984696, ext. 255.

For a detailed listing visit www.jewishottawa.org

COMING SOON Monday, May 5 The Kibbutz Club, luncheon and entertainment for seniors, sponsored by Jewish Family Services and Congregation Beth Shalom.

Topic: Sharecare – Moving and Downsizing, Congregation Beth Shalom, 151 Chapel 12:00 pm.

Info: 613-789-3501, ext. 223.

Wednesday, May 7 “What is Ottawa doing for the 50-plus population?” Former Ottawa mayor Jacquelin Holzman will speak at AJA 50+ Spring/Summer Program Day, 1:00 pm.

Israel: The First Flowering of our Redemption.

Info: 613-723-1800.

Wednesday, May 14 Seniors Trip to Montreal to visit the Biodome and Olympic Tower, sponsored by Jewish Family Services.

Info: 613-722-2225, ext. 325.

Thursday, May 15 Eat Right, Feel Good, Work Great, part of SJCC’s 10th anniversary celebrations, presentation by Deanna Latson, MA, CCN, 7:30 pm. Info: 613-798-9818, ext. 271

Thursday, May 8 A Capital Celebration of Yom Ha’Atzmaut 60th, sponsored by the Soloway JCC, Ottawa Civic Centre, 5:00 pm.

Info: 613-798-9818, ext. 225.

Tuesday, May 20 Gala evening celebrating Israel @ 60. Dinner, concert with the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra and dessert reception at the National Arts Centre.

Tickets: 613-231-2561,

Friday - Saturday, May 9 - 10 4th Annual Yom Ha’Atzmaut Shabbaton, sponsored by Beth Shalom West, Scholar-in-Residence Rabbi Eric Levy on Medinat

Sunday, June 22 Trip to Montreal to see the Yiddish play, “The Wise Men of Chelm,” sponsored by Jewish Family Services. Info: 613-722-2225, ext. 325.

Unless otherwise noted, activities take place at The Joseph and Rose Ages Family Building, 21 Nadolny Sachs Private.

This information is taken from the community calendar maintained by the Jewish Community Campus of Ottawa Inc. Organizations which would like their events to be listed, no matter where they are to be held, should make sure they are recorded by Benita Siemiatycki, calendar coordinator at 613-798-4696 ext. 227. We have voice mail. Accurate details must be provided and all events must be open to the Jewish public. You may fax to 798-4695 or email to bsiemiatycki@ewishottawa.com.

Would you like to advertise in the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin?

Contact Rhoda Saslove-Miller • 613-798-4696, ext. 256 Email: rsaslovemiller@ottawajewishbulletin.com

Condolences Condolences are extended to the families of: Freda Lobel Rose Flesher Archie Manne, Toronto (father of Tony) Rosa Samel, Toronto (mother of Morris)

May their memory be a blessing always.

The CONDOLENCE COLUMN is offered as a public service to the community.

There is no charge.

For a listing in this column, please call Bev Glube, 613-798-4696, ext. 274.

Voice mail is available.

BULLETIN

DEADLINES

APRIL 30 FOR MAY 19 MAY 28 FOR JUNE 16 JULY 2 FOR JULY 21 AUGUST 6 FOR AUGUST 25 AUGUST 20 FOR SEPTEMBER 15 * SEPTEMBER 10 FOR SEPTEMBER 29 SEPTEMBER 24 FOR OCTOBER 13 OCTOBER 3 FOR OCTOBER 27 OCTOBER 22 FOR NOVEMBER 10 NOVEMBER 5 FOR NOVEMBER 24 NOVERMBER 26 FOR DECEMBER 15 * Community-wide Issue (all dates subject to change)