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To Remember • To Congratulate • To Honour • To Say “I Care” •
L’hitraot to the Bakers
page 4
www.ottawajewishbulletin.com Ottawa Jewish Bulletin Publishing Co. Ltd.
bulletin volume 72, no. 16
june 16, 2008
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21 Nadolny Sachs Private, Ottawa, Ontario K2A 1R9
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Publisher: Mitchell Bellman
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sivan 13, 5768
Acting Editor: Michael Regenstreif $2.00
March of the Living: an inspiring journey By Rhoda Levitan On April 28, nine Ottawa high school students left on a journey. With them were David Shentow, a Holocaust survivor, his wife Rose, and myself. We were the Ottawa contingent of the 2008 March of the Living and were on our way to meet the rest of the coast-to-coast contingent. With participants from Halifax to Victoria Island, it was a wonderful group of young people and chaperones. Three buses full, we were off to explore, learn and, yes, have some fun, in Poland and Israel. Throughout Poland, we learned about and saw the places where Jewish life was vibrant and rich with culture and tradition before the Holocaust. We saw the death camps with their extensive infrastructure designed for horror, torture and destruction. We also got a taste of how life has continued after the Holocaust and of how a country
and its citizens express remorse and rebuild. We cried, we sat in silence and wonder, and we questioned the abilities of human beings. We learned about intolerance, human rights and human dignity. We learned how to treat others, no matter what their origin. We learned from what we saw: bad and good. We learned the huge value of small acts of kindness and of doing the right thing by protecting the innocent. We were witness to a mass grave of 5,000 Jews from shtetls near Lublin. Our Polish guide had learned of the site and stopped at local gas stations to find it. On a fluke, an elderly man was walking by. In Polish, he explained to our guide that he had witnessed these killings as a 17-year-old who lived next door to the empty lot in the woods. He told us the story of how, over three days, 5,000 Jews were (Continued on page 2)
Ottawa students in Israel following the March of the Living (from left to right): Hailey Abramsky (Kingston), Josh Levitan, Hannah Gennis, Tamara Bubis, Keila Paul, Mat Levinson, Harrison Freeman, (Photo: Rhoda Levitan) Brody Appotive and Hilary Hendin. Absent from photo: Tal-or Ben-Choreen.
Days of sadness and joy as Israelis mark 60th anniversary By Liana Shlien Editor’s note: Bulletin freelancer Liana Shlien was in Israel for Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha’Atzmaut and sent this exclusive report. Past and future, memory and hope marked the 60th anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel last month. Like tens of thousands of others from around the world, I made the journey last month to stand in solidarity with Israelis on Yom Ha’Atzmaut – and to experience the
celebrations there. As a country whose independence came at a high price, and where nearly everyone seems to know, or know of, a victim of war or terror, Israel tempered its joy with sadness as it recalled the memory of its fallen soldiers and civilians. Silent streets and closed shops and restaurants reflected how seriously Israelis observe Yom Hazikaron (Memorial Day). The sombre mood of the country on Yom Hazikaron was in sharp contrast to the Independence Day festivities
that followed. As dusk fell on Erev Yom Hazikaron in the working-class city of Ramla, population 65,000, located between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, new immigrant children with origins as diverse as Ethiopia, Colombia and India crowded onto an outdoor basketball court. There they stood at attention, alongside their parents, while young soldiers in uniform read out the names of local residents who fell in Israel’s wars. At 8 pm, the first of two sirens to
honour those who died defending Israel since 1948 brought evening traffic to a standstill. Even those speeding along the highway stopped and stood outside their vehicles for a moment of silence. The second came the next morning at 11. But the following evening, on Erev Yom Ha’Atzmaut, the country’s mood transformed from solemn remembrance to a joyful celebration of national pride. At sunset, thousands of revellers of all ages and nationalities crowded into Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square to sing
along to traditional folk songs while waiting for the evening’s highlight: a spectacular fireworks and laser show. This year’s theme was children and, indeed, many were seen taking part in the peculiar Israeli traditions of spraying people with shaving cream and bopping each other with inflatable blue-andwhite plastic hammers. While several massive daytime outdoor concerts were organized to mark the milestone anniversary, many Israelis reserved the day for (Continued on page 2)
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