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www.ottawajewishbulletin.com Ottawa Jewish Bulletin Publishing Co. Ltd.

bulletin volume 72, no. 18

august 25, 2008

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A Mighty Heart:

Mariane Pearl to speak at campaign kickoff

Israel’s agriculture minister visits Ottawa Canadian Environment Minister John Baird (left) discusses water resource issues with Israeli Agriculture Minister Shalom Simhon (centre) and Israeli Ambassador Alan Baker at a meeting on Parliament Hill on August 11. While in Ottawa, Simhon also met with Canadian Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. Simhon and Ritz signed a letter of intent to have the two countries work together in finding solutions to the deleterious effects of global warming on world food supplies.

(OJB photo: Liana Shlien)

Israel’s new U.N. ambassador: Political outsider, renowned legal mind

By Dina Kraft TEL AVIV (JTA) – An exceptional intellect paired with an unflappable exterior are traits Gabriela Shalev’s high-powered colleagues and friends say will serve her well when she leaves for New York to become Israel’s next ambassador to the United Nations (UN).

Shalev, an internationally renowned law professor, will be

the first woman to serve in the post. She was appointed to replace Dan Gillerman.

“She has a strong will and she knows what she is talking about,” said Meir Shamgar, a former chief justice of Israel’s Supreme Court.

Shamgar first encountered Shalev when she was a student in a course he taught at Hebrew University. A few years later, Shalev

joined Shamgar as a colleague on the university’s law faculty, where she worked until 2002.

More recently, the two served together on a panel outlining ethics guidelines for cabinet ministers.

Shalev, 67, is an expert in contract law and a political outsider not associated with any party who has been serving as the rector of (Continued on page 2)

By Michael Regenstreif Mariane Pearl was thrust into the international spotlight in 2002 when her husband, Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, was kidnapped and brutally beheaded by terrorists in Pakistan. It was one of the most notorious terrorist episodes of modern times.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, allegedly the number three man in al-Qaeda and one of the masterminds of the 9/11 attacks, confessed to the heinous act, which was captured on videotape and posted to the Internet.

Mariane Pearl, a journalist herself, was pregnant with the couple’s first child when her husband was murdered. She experienced a kind of tragedy no one should ever have to live through. But she has refused to be defeated by the ordeal. She gave birth to their now six-year-old son, Adam Daniel Pearl, three months after the murder, and she has written two books including A Mighty Heart: The Brave Life and Death of My Husband, Danny Pearl.

In A Mighty Heart, Pearl writes movingly about her relationship with Daniel, about how they went to Pakistan so that he could write first-hand about the war on terror and about Daniel’s abduction and

Mariane Pearl

the efforts to rescue him from the terrorist cell that held him captive for five weeks and, ultimately, executed him, seemingly for the crime of being Jewish.

Mariane Pearl will be the featured speaker for the 2009 kickoff of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa’s Annual Campaign on September 9. She spoke recently with the Bulletin from her home in France.

(Continued on page 2)

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Page 2 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008

Shalev ‘an inspired choice’ for UN ambassador (Continued from page 1)

Ono Academic College near Tel Aviv.

In appointing Shalev, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni indicated that she was determined to put a highly qualified woman in the role.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reportedly had favoured Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli consul general in New York and a Labor Party member, for the position.

Some Israeli commentators criticized Livni for picking a political outsider, but Jerusalem Post columnist Calev Ben-David said Livni’s choice may work well for the audience that perhaps matters most: international public opinion.

“Livni was justified in wanting a woman for the post for reasons beyond gender advancement: Polls show that given Israel’s militaristic image abroad, women make the best general impression as our advocates in the international media,” Ben-David wrote.

Despite some grumbling from the diplomatic corps that one of their own was again passed over for the important position in New York – Gillerman also had been a political outsider until his selection – Shalev’s supporters say she is a quick study who will compensate for any foreign

Gabriela Shalev, Israel’s incoming U.N. ambassador, earns praise for her skills as an orator and a team player.

(Photo: Ono Academic College)

policy inexperience with her talents as an orator and a team player.

Shalev declined a request by JTA to be interviewed for this story. Her office said she will not be giving interviews until she assumes her post in New York ahead of the UN General Assembly, which begins in September.

The daughter of German Jewish refugees in what was then British Mandate Palestine, Shalev grew up with a strong work ethic.

She helped support her family while a student at Jerusalem’s Hebrew Uni-

versity, where she earned a bachelor’s degree and a doctorate in law.

She also did post-doctorate work at Harvard after her husband, an Israeli army officer, was killed in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Shalev raised two young children alone.

“The experiences of Israel are part of her, and she’s also paid a price,” said Orna Lin, a former student of Shalev’s and a good friend.

Lin described Shalev as a relentless worker who also knows how to find time for students and friends, and who can talk as easily about her passions for opera, classical music and art as she can about legal disputes.

This was not the first attempt to draw Shalev into government work.

Shalev previously declined several high-profile posts, including judgeships and the office of attorney gener-

al. Nevertheless, she is no stranger to public positions.

Shalev has been a member of the Jewish Agency board of governors and was

chair of the Israel Broadcasting Authority.

Shalev has spent time in the United States as a visiting professor at such schools as Tulane and Temple Universities and Boston College.

Alan Hoffman, the director-general of the Jewish Agency’s education department, called Shalev’s selection “an inspired choice.”

“She has all of the tools to be able to interpret Israel to the nations of the world,” Hoffman said. “I think she is unusual in the academic world in that she has not only been a professor but very active publicly.”

Lin says Shalev is always calm and in control.

“She can deal with any situation and never seems to be baffled by anything,” Lin said. “I think her intelligence will help prevent her from falling into the landmines that await her in a place like the UN.”

Her predecessor, Gillerman, was a former businessman who, upon leaving his post this summer, was lauded as a seasoned diplomat with excellent rhetorical skills.

Observers said Gillerman succeeded in raising Israel’s profile at the United Nations and in bolstering its image around the world.

At a farewell party last month for Gillerman, UN Secretary-General Ban Kimoon offered deep praise for the Israeli envoy’s tenure at the world body, noting the “special challenges” of representing Israel.

Shalev will have plenty of challenges waiting for her in New York. Most notably, she must navigate the notoriously anti-Israel atmosphere at the United Nations and help push for diplomatic support for Israel’s efforts to halt Iran’s suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Pearl searches the world for hope (Continued from page 1)

Asked how someone can cope with such a tragedy as befell her with the murder of her husband, Pearl said hers was “not the kind of trauma or experience where you can just learn how to live again or survive. You have to find a deep meaning to what you do, what you understand and what you’re going to do with it.

“My way of coping was to engage in the kind of values that are the extreme opposite of what I was hit with,” she said.

Among the ways Pearl accomplished that was by writing A Mighty Heart – subsequently adapted into a major motion picture starring Dan Futterman as Daniel and Angelina Jolie as Mariane – and In Search of Hope: The Global Diaries of Mariane Pearl, for which she travelled to 18 countries interviewing inspiring women working in their communities, often under trying circumstances and extreme hardships, to make their part of the world a better place.

“The women I interviewed,” she said, “are potential role models for humanity.”

Looking at the state of the contemporary world, Pearl said it was important to combat the fear sewn by the kind of terrorists who murdered her husband.

“I think the most important thing is to find an antidote to that fear so that the balance can change,” she said.

When she comes to Ottawa, Pearl said she’ll be speaking about her life and offering her personal perspective on the hope she travelled the world seeking. Hers, she said, is the humble approach of one person who has tried to embrace the opposite of what the terrorists pursue.

Mariane Pearl is the featured speaker at the 2009 Campaign Kickoff, Tuesday, September 9, 7:30 pm, at Centrepointe Theatre.

Tickets are $18.00. For tickets or more information, contact Patrice Berdowski at 613-798-4696, ext. 241 or pberdowski@jewishottawa.com.

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008 – Page 3

Page 4 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008

New corporation created to administer Jewish cemeteries

By Michael Regenstreif Representatives of six Ottawa congregations, and the community-at-large, met July 8 in the Tamir boardroom to officially create a new corporation, to be known as The Jewish Memorial Gardens, which will administer Ottawa’s two Jewish cemeteries on Bank Street and in Osgoode and facilitate funeral arrangements.

Previously, the various congregations owned varying amounts of land within the cemeteries. Although they will retain religious control over burial and other services, the congregations have relinquished land ownership to the new corporation, which will be

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administered by a paid director and is now governed by a board of directors. The board is currently seeking applicants for the director’s job and expects to have him or her in place this fall.

The board includes three community representatives appointed by the Jewish Federation of Ottawa and one representative each from Agudath Israel, Beit Tikvah, Machzikei Hadas, Temple Israel and Young Israel. Beth Shalom will be represented by three members on the board for the first five years, by two members for the next five years and then by one member in following years.

The changes were “many years in the making,” said Mayer Alvo, the longtime chair of the previous cemetery committee, who was elected to be the first chair of the board of directors of the new corporation.

“It is the first time that the community-at-large is represented in the adminis-

Representatives gathered July 8 in the Tamir boardroom to sign documents creating The Jewish Memorial Gardens. Pictured (left to right): Ian Kagedan, Beit Tikvah; Ralph Paroli, Beth Shalom; Hymie Reichstein, Machzikei Hadas; Roger Greenberg; David Kardish, Beth Shalom; Ian Sherman, Beth Shalom; Martin Freeman, Temple Israel; Butch Zinman, community representative; Morris Kimmel, Young Israel; Eric Weisbloom, Beit Tikvah; Eric Wilner, Machzikei Hadas; Ron Fainstein, Agudath Israel; Margo Silverman, Agudath Israel; Mayer Alvo, Ottawa Jewish (Photo: Issie Scarowsky) Cemeteries committee chair.

tration of the cemeteries,” said Alvo.

Negotiations leading to the July 8 agreement were

conducted over a three-year period by Roger Greenberg.

Alvo points to a number of advantages that will be realized with the creation and staffing of the new organization.

It will be easier for bereaved families to arrange funerals as they’ll deal directly with the director to make all of the necessary arrangements.

The cemeteries will not rely financially on the synagogues and heritage funds can be created to provide continuity for future generations.

The new model will also allow the board to make decisions and move forward without achieving the unanimity of all synagogues required in the past.

“It’s been our dream to come together and create one unit to run the cemeteries,” said Alvo. “We’re too small a community to have two sets of governance.

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Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008 – Page 5

Page 6 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008

Campaign’s goals: raising funds and engaging people Editor’s note: JFO Chair Jonathan Freedman has arranged to share his column, on occasion, with the chairs or presidents of the community’s major beneficiary agencies or committees so they can provide some insight into their operations.

One of us is homegrown, having been born and raised in Ottawa; the other a transplant, having moved here from Toronto. One of us has young children at home, and one of us has children who have grown up and moved away. Notwithstanding the differences in our geographical roots and demographic placement, when it comes to what it means to be Jewish in Ottawa, we are firmly planted in the same place.

We both strongly believe that fostering a strong Jewish identity and instilling a sense of belonging are essential ingredients to the health and well-being of this community.

Ottawa’s Jewish community of approximately 14,000 is very diverse. We come from many different places, have varied philosophical, religious and cultural perspectives, belong to different synagogues, send our children to a variety of schools, connect with the community through various channels, and practice Judaism in myriad ways.

As diversity amongst us increases, so too does the task of engaging the different ele-

Federation Report Jason Shinder, 2009 Campaign Chair and Dorothy Stern, 2009 Women’s Campaign Chair ments of our community by providing the programming and services required to meet our evolving needs.

Examples of this diversity are numerous.

We have a growing immigrant population in need of ESL (English as a second language) training and jobs, a steady influx of university students looking to connect with Ottawa’s Jewish community, and a vulnerable population requiring financial assistance and special services to meet their needs. These are just a few of the significant areas requiring attention.

One of our main goals for this year’s campaign is to raise the significant funds ($5.2 million) needed to support our 29 hardworking beneficiary agencies and ensure they can continue to offer quality services to our community. An equally important goal is to engage more people, regardless of their

levels of giving or Jewish observance. We want to create a sense of urgency within the community to provide support through the changes which are both current and inevitable in Ottawa’s future.

To many, the exceptional work done by our numerous beneficiary agencies for the benefit of the community may go unnoticed.

For instance, Tamir, the award-winning agency that assists the developmentally disabled within our community, continues to grow as it provides services to 100 individuals through 11 programs.

Our community’s day schools are in the process of making major changes to enhance their programming, staffing and facilities, in order to attract young families and maintain the continuity of Jewish education so important to the growth of our community.

There is no better way to connect with

Israel than through our community. Through programs such as Taglit-Birthright Israel and March of the Living we provide life-altering experiences for Jewish youth. We continue to assist Israel’s vulnerable communities in the Galilee through the Partnership 2000 program and the Federation’s Missions to Israel provide the opportunity to see firsthand how our dollars and programs make a difference to Israeli lives.

As we launch this year’s Annual Campaign, the message we want to convey to canvassers, donors and the broader community is that, while there may be a lot to improve, there is also a lot to celebrate in this great community of ours. It is time to start feeling good about what we have and to take a vested interest in making it better, stronger and even more viable.

So whether you are a homegrown or transplanted Ottawan, if you have been sitting on the fence about getting involved, we welcome your ideas, thoughts and participation on any level. To donate to the 2009 Campaign, or to find out more about getting involved, call 613-798-46962, ext. 232 or visit www.jewishottawa.com.

We look forward to hearing from you soon and wish all in the community a healthy and prosperous New Year.

From sadness to hope and joy – My experience in Treblinka The month of August, which usually coincides with the Hebrew month of Av, is usually a combination of sadness and joy. Av begins with the nine days designated as a time of mourning over the destruction of the Holy Temple and the resultant physical exile and spiritual displacement in which we still find ourselves. From there, we move to the festive day of Tu B’Av (15th day of Av) described by our sages as “No days were as festive for Israel as the 15th of Av.” And then we move to a period of hope and renewal as we start preparing for the upcoming High Holidays and the New Year. This transition, which happens every year in our calendar, has taken place throughout the history of the Jewish people.

The most basic feature of our calendar is that it is primarily a lunar calendar – a calendar whose months are set in accordance with the phases of the moon. The Zohar explains that the people of Israel mark time with the moon because we are the moon of the world.

Like the moon, we rise and fall through the nights of history knowing times of growth and diminution, our moments of luminous fullness alternating with moments of obscurity and darkness. And like the moon, our every regression and defeat is but a prelude to yet another rebirth, yet another renewal.

This type of transition is something I personally experienced this year while visiting Treblinka with my fellow Canadians who participated in the March of Living.

Treblinka was a death camp located 100 km from Warsaw where 800,000 Jews were exterminated in less than a year during the

From the pulpit Rabbi Menachem M. Blum OTC-Chabad Holocaust. Although the entire camp of Treblinka was destroyed, my visit to this site, where 7,000 people were murdered every day, was a most powerful experience. While thousands of participants in the March of the Living were expected there that day, we were the first group to arrive. Here we were at the entrance of the camp, looking at symbolic concrete blocks that marked the path of the former railway line, where people arrived by train, where they were stripped, shaved and then pushed through the gas chambers. From there, the dead bodies were taken to a massive grave and burned en masse.

There is a memorial built on the site with hundreds of stones, each representing a Jewish town or city whose population was exterminated at the camp. As I stood in silence amongst the hundreds of stones in this huge open field surrounded by tall trees, I stopped to reflect and to experience. Here I was, standing in the biggest cemetery in the world with 800,000 souls looking at me. What should I tell them? It almost felt strange to be standing there in a physical body.

The experience was heart wrenching. As I stood for a few minutes and meditated about these innocent and holy Jews, many of them

children, who were killed, I felt the pain and the sorrow of our people. But I refocus: What can I tell them? I pledged to them to do what I can to ensure that Hitler’s evil plan to erase the Jewish people from the earth is not realized. I vow to them to do my part in ensuring that Am Yisrael Chai, that Jews are alive today, not only physically, but spiritually, too. I vow to them to do what I can to inspire anyone I meet to live Jewishly and to make sure that our connection to our Jewishness, our heritage and tradition, is strong and bright.

As I look up at the noise that was coming

behind me, I see hundreds of kids in blue jackets walking through the stones. They are the thousands of Jewish teenagers, from all over the world, who participated in the March of the Living. The sea of blue amongst the grey stones transforms this quiet site of death and sadness into a noisy place of hope and joy. Amongst these souls of the past is our next generation. The Jews of the future are here in physical bodies. My promise, to do what I can to ensure that they are proud of their Jewishness, and that they actively participate in Judaism, is intensified as I leave Treblinka.

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Tel: (613) 798-4696. Fax: (613) 798-4730. Email: bulletin@ottawajewishbulletin.com. Published 19 times a year. © copyright august 25, 2008 PUBLISHER: The Ottawa Jewish Bulletin Publishing Co. Ltd. EDITOR EMERITUS: Barry Fishman ACTING EDITOR: Michael Regenstreif PRODUCTION MANAGER: Brenda Van Vliet BUSINESS MANAGER: Rhoda Saslove-Miller STAFF REPORTER: Liana Shlien ADVISORY COMMITTEE: Seymour Diener, chair; Anna Bilsky; Stephen Bindman; Mark Buckshon; Jack Cramer; Diane Koven; Louise Rachlis; Michael Wollock.

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Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008 – Page 7

One of the worst hate-sites on the Internet is Jewish Much has been made in recent years about efforts to stop the spread of hatred on the Internet. We’ve had articles in the Bulletin, for example, about Richard Warman, an Ottawa-based lawyer and activist who has been successful in having a number of antiSemitic hate-sites on the World Wide Web shut down.

One of the vilest hate-filled sites I’ve come across recently is actually a Jewish site located at masada2000.org. The site, which refers to all Arabs as “a cancer” who should be removed from Israel and from the territories – which it considers to be part of Israel – is run by followers of the late Meir Kahane, the Brooklyn rabbi who founded the extremist Jewish Defense League in New York in 1968 before moving to Israel where he formed the Kach political party.

Kahane ran for election to the Knesset as leader of Kach in 1976 and 1980, but failed to win enough votes for even one seat. In the 1984 election, Kach finally garnered enough votes for that single seat and Kahane became an MK. Over the next four years, Kahane’s racist rhetoric so offended most Israelis that he was banned from running in the 1988 election and Kach was outlawed. Kahane, who was jailed several times in both the United States and Israel for his activities, met his end in 1990 when he was murdered in New York City following a speech.

Although Kahane was killed, his movement has survived on the fringes of Israeli and Diaspora societies. Baruch Goldstein, the American-born doctor who massacred Mus-

Acting Editor Michael Regenstreif lims praying at a mosque in Hebron in 1994, was a follower of Kahane. So, too, was Yigal Amir, the Israeli assassin of Yitzhak Rabin.

Both Goldstein and Amir are regarded as heroes by Kahane’s followers. Since the mid1990s, both Kach and its offshoot, Kahane Chai, have been designated by both Israel and the United States as terrorist organizations.

One of the most despicable sections of masada2000 is something called the Self-Hating and/or Israel-Threatening List. You can figure out the acronym the site likes to use for itself from the capitalized letters in its name.

The list, more than 7,000 names in length, is McCarthyesque in the way it designates “self-hating” Jews. Virtually every leftist you’ve ever heard of is on the list. Names you’d expect like Norman G. Finkelstein and Noam Chomsky.

But one need not be anti-Zionist like Finkelstein or Chomsky to be on the list. It overflows with the names of prominent Zionist Jews, including many North American rabbis and Israeli politicians, who are listed because they have advocated peacemaking with the Arabs. Shimon Peres, the president of Israel and a former prime minister is on the list. So is Ehud Olmert, the current prime

minister. Dalia Rabin-Pelosoff, a former deputy minister of defence and the daughter of Yitzhak Rabin, is there. So is Yuval Rabin, her brother.

Thomas L. Friedman, the astute New York Times op-ed columnist is on the list along with several Canadians including Rabbi Dow Marmur, rabbi emeritus of Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto, and Victor Goldbloom, the first Jewish cabinet minister in Quebec, a former federal commissioner of official languages and the current Quebec regional president of Canadian Jewish Congress.

And if it weren’t enough to be slandered as a self-hating Jew just by having one’s name on the list, many of the entries are annotated with disgustingly racist and/or homophobic commentaries.

The whole masada2000 site is shameful.

What it truly exposes is the Kahanists themselves. They are Jews with a philosophy as ugly as the Ku Klux Klan’s. ****** I’m very excited about Mira Sucharov’s new column – Values, Ethics, Community – making its debut in this issue of the Bulletin.

Mira, an associate professor of political science at Carleton University, has lately been one of our book reviewers and was assigned to review a collection of essays for this issue called Righteous Indignation: A Jewish Call for Justice. Her review – which is on page 28 – gives us much to think about as a community, as segments of the community, and as individuals. I invited Mira to use the review

as a starting point for a new Bulletin column.

She accepted and her initial column appears opposite the review.

There is no one way to respond to most, if not all, of the issues, questions and concerns that Mira raises, and will raise, in this and future editions of the Bulletin. While we’re always open to letters about anything that appears in our pages, we’re particularly interested in your response to the issues Mira will be raising. E-mail is the best way to send your letters. My address is mregenstreif@ ottawajewishbulletin.com. They can also be dropped off or mailed to the Bulletin office.

Another new feature we’re beginning in this issue of the Bulletin is a series of community volunteer profiles being written by Benita Siemiatycki of the Jewish Ottawa InfoCentre. Organizations and agencies who’d like to suggest volunteers to be profiled in the Bulletin can reach Benita at 613-798-4644 or bsiemiatycki@jewishottawa.com. Contact Benita, too, if you’re someone who is looking to be a volunteer. There are lots of volunteering opportunities in the community and she can help you find one that fits you.

Finally, this edition of the Bulletin marks the final appearance of Saul Silverman’s Global Shtetl column. For the past eight years Saul’s column has explored the often-fascinating Jewish Internet. On behalf of everyone at the Bulletin, I’d like to express our deep appreciation to Saul for his columns and insights as we continue to learn our way around the global shtetl the Internet has turned our world into.

Back to school or an Ode to Summer I’m handing this column in a day late.

That’s because my chosen topic is ‘going back to school.’ When you read this, backto-school will be on everyone’s mind as September fast approaches, but as I’m writing, summer is barely half-over.

I chose the topic some time ago, but every time I sat down to write and to contemplate my subject matter, the muscle in my back next to my left shoulder blade would start to tighten – it has already made itself into a nice little ball – and I’d go weed my garden instead.

Of course, it didn’t occur to me to change the topic. I just sailed down the river of denial until I suddenly realized that my deadline had come and gone. So now I’m writing on back-to-school and the muscle in my back is growing ever tighter.

I love summer. I love my garden, and the warmth (relative as it has been this summer), and s’mores, and no homework, school lunches, notes to teachers or homework. Did I mention the homework?

I hate the reminding, nagging and helping that goes along with homework. I hate when something goes wrong and my kid

Nicola Hamer wails about how the teacher is going to yell at him or her. I hate my homework – sending in field trip money or toilet paper tubes or family photographs. And I hate realizing halfway through the day that I’ve forgotten it again; and then hoping my son isn’t the only one whose mom forgot. (This only happens with my son because my daughter is organized and reminds me of all these things. But my son is a disorganized disaster like his mom. Between the two of us, it is hopeless.)

I love relaxing the rules in summer.

Bedtimes are more casual, piano practice is optional and reading is for fun.

Maybe, instead of back-to-school, this column should be an ‘Ode to Summer.’

There, that’s better.

We start every summer with a trip my in-laws’ cottage in the Laurentians. We refer to it as going ‘up north.’ For the past two years, we’ve brought two of my nephews up as well. Good friends have the cottage across the road, so this summer we had a gang of six children between the ages of nine and 12, and three six-year-olds on top of that.

The children play at the beach, climb in the tree house, organize large games of poker, stay up late and fill in Mad Libs games with swear words, laughing hysterically over their wit.

I love this time because it’s when their childhoods most closely resemble how I remember mine (with the exception of the poker games) – relatively free of parental oversight.

That period of relative freedom of parental oversight quickly moves into almost total anarchy for the next phase of summer: sleep-away camp. This was my son’s first year and he arrived back home grungy, tanned and full of happy stories. I was worried that the youngest would drive me crazy without her siblings to amuse her, but she reveled in it, repeating, “I

LOVE being an only child,” several times a day.

In another week, the eldest will be back and we’ll enter the final stage of summer, one I like to call “Camp Mom,” where I take the kids to museums and the water parks. And then there’s the ever-fun school supply shopping. I like to save this for the end of summer because after a couple of weeks of solid togetherness, with Dad only riding to the rescue in the evenings, school starts to look more appealing, both for the children – “I’m booooorrrred” – and for me.

So I guess I love summer not only because I can let my children forage for their own lunches, and stay up late watching old movies with me, but because by the end of it, I’ve managed to develop an appreciation for school again. I’ll never like the homework or making school lunches no one eats. But at least it takes my kids away every day and gives them something to do while I get some peace and quiet.

Perhaps I should have called this an ‘Ode to My Laziness.’ Whatever. At least my back doesn’t hurt so much now.

Page 8 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008

The CITs of Camp B’nai Brith of Ottawa put on a Hawaiian carnival for the residents of Hillel Lodge.

CBB CITs bring Hawaiian carnival to Hillel Lodge

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS FOR THE

PLANNING & ALLOCATIONS COMMITTEE OF THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF OTTAWA BOARD

The Planning and Allocations Committee (PAC) is one of the five committees of the Board for the Jewish Federation of Ottawa.

PAC is responsible for making recommendations to the Board on the expenditure of Ottawa’s Annual Campaign dollars in support of Jewish community programs.

The committee is seeking volunteers who would like to contribute to the Jewish community through active membership in the PAC for a 2-year term. This call is open to any interested individuals.

To be eligible, individuals must be members in good standing with the Federation Annual Campaign. Individuals should not hold executive positions on other Boards or Agencies.

Interested individuals should prepare a brief statement outlining your interests in the committee and the skills, knowledge and experience which you can contribute. For more information or to apply, please contact Lisa Krug at lkrug@jewishottawa.com or phone 613-7984696 ext 253.

Details of the mandate and the work of the PAC and the Jewish Federation of Ottawa can be viewed at www.jewishottawa.com.

By Jessica Diener CIT Co-ordinator, Camp B’nai Brith of Ottawa Early this past camping season, the Counsellors-inTraining (CIT) of Camp B’nai Brith of Ottawa (CBB) shared the spirit and excitement of CBB with the residents of the Bess and Moe Greenberg Family Hillel Lodge by bringing them a Hawaiian carnival.

The festive event included a variety of traditional camp activities with a tropical twist. The most popular games of the afternoon-long event included mini-pool fishing and coconut bowling.

The residents were warmly greeted by the CITs, then adorned with leis, a Hawaiian symbol of affection and friendship. Friendships did, in fact, grow as

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the residents were escorted through the activities by the 16-year-old CITs who engaged them in more than just carnival games.

Alex Goldfarb, one of the 25 CITs who participated in the event, stated, “It was really interesting to hear what they had to say.

They have done so many amazing things in their lives, things that we could never imagine. It was really great to hear such incredible stories.”

One multilingual CIT even went out of his way to find the residents who did not speak English and to have conversations in Russian and Yiddish with them.

The CITs also led a singalong, performing both popular and Jewish songs that concluded with “Hava Nagila” and many dancing a round of the hora. A couple

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of residents chose their favourite male CITs and pulled them into the middle of the circle to dance. It was incredible to see the energy and excitement that the CITs brought out in the residents.

It was equally incredible for the CITs who had completed a week of leadership training at CBB. The leadership week was centred on learning the skills necessary to be an outstanding staff member including effective conflict resolution and counselling strategies. Their time was also devoted to learning how to be positive role models within the camp community. The importance of tzedakah both inside and outside camp was encouraged and definitely demonstrated at the Lodge.

As CIT co-ordinator at CBB, I could not have been happier with the events of the afternoon. The CITs got just as much, if not more, out of going to the Lodge as the residents. So many of them told me how great it felt to get involved and be responsible for such a mitzvah.

The CITs then moved on to their unit and specialty placements at camp, but remained eager to return to the city and perform their next act of tzedakah.

The CITs of Camp B’nai Brith contributed to this article.

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008 – Page 9

Alana Kayfetz is appointed new director of Hillel Ottawa

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Dan has been involved in the Ottawa Jewish community for many years with Jewish Family Services (JFS) and in Jewish Education through Torah (JET).

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The 2008 Negev Dinner will be held on Monday evening, November 24, 2008. The venue and an exiting guest speaker will be announced soon. This year’s Dinner is also being held to mark the occasion the 60th anniversary of Israel’s independence.

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By Liana Shlien Meet Alana Kayfetz, the new executive director of Hillel Ottawa, the new name for the city’s Jewish postsecondary student association.

The Toronto native is very enthusiastic about her recent move to Ottawa.

“I’ve always loved Ottawa, growing up. It’s a classic but distinct community. It’s very diverse and extremely welcoming.”

A recent graduate of McMaster University, Kayfetz has spent the last two years at the University of Western Ontario as a Jewish Campus Service Corps (JCSC) fellow responsible for outreach and engagement, a position she felt was a perfect fit for her energetic, bubbly personality.

There, she staffed four TaglitBirthright Israel trips and led an alternative spring break to rebuild houses in New Orleans.

Her strong convictions, she says, make her new position at Hillel Ottawa personally rewarding. “I’m a true believer in creating a meaningful Jewish experience for students.”

According to Kayfetz, the name change from the Jewish Students Association-Hillel (JSA-Hillel) to Hillel Ottawa signifies a transition for a growing organization. The internationally recognized Hillel banner unifies campus groups across North America while allowing each branch to stay grassroots and student-driven.

Succeeding Dov ben-Reuven, who was JSA-Hillel director for the past

Alana Kayfetz is excited to kick off the new school year and meet new students.

(OJB photo: Liana Shlien)

five years, Kayfetz is taking over an association that has grown a lot in a short time. “I was told it was definitely active and the students take pride in what they do.”

Kayfetz intends to develop Hillel Ottawa’s infrastructure by expanding executive positions to make room for more student leaders. Her goal is to create “a branded Hillel Ottawa,” resulting in “something students will take time out of their busy five-course schedules for and really want to be a part of.”

“I’d like to build a bridge between what’s happening on campus and the wider Jewish community.” She says

this could include matching out-oftown students with a synagogue to attend on the High Holidays or with homes to go to for Shabbat dinners.

Hillel Ottawa will be kicking off the upcoming academic year with a Shabbat dinner on September 12.

Also, coming September 21, is the ever-popular opening barbecue or ‘JewBQ,’ which last year introduced more than 200 university students to the new Hillel House.

The Hillel House, located on Laurier Avenue East, is home to six students and serves as a convenient drop-in space for Jewish students between classes and as a venue for various programs.

While successful social events such as last year’s Chanukah Ball will return, Hillel Ottawa will also offer an expanded range of diversified programs. Kayfetz foresees a stronger emphasis on tzedek work (charity fundraising) and in presenting more speakers. As well, she plans to raise Hillel’s profile on campus with promotional tables at Algonquin College, Carleton University and the University of Ottawa.

Kayfetz is already impressed with the preparations her new executive has been making over the course of the summer for the new school year.

Student apathy is the biggest obstacle to overcome, Kayfetz says, but, for the most part, students “just need to be identified; they’re just looking to be engaged.”

Page 10 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008

Canadian police find both inspiration and cautionary tales in Israel

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By Gabriella Goliger How do police in Israel manage to perform their duties in the face of the enormous security challenges their country faces and what lessons could Canadian police forces draw from their Israeli counterparts?

This was the question that four Canadian police representatives – including two members of the Ottawa Police Service – recently studied during a two-week tour of Israel from April 27 to May 9.

The delegation was one of five groups – the others went to Europe, Australia and the U.S. – under the auspices of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police’s Institute for Strategic International Studies. The mission’s focus was on “building police capacity;” that is, how to make the most of limited resources. It was the first time the institute sent a delegation to Israel.

The four Canadians were in Israel during the 60th anniversary celebrations and memorial events. They witnessed Israeli crowd control and security operations first-hand, met with Israeli lawyers, judges, academics and police officials, and toured Jerusalem with one of Israel’s most popular police commanders.

Four Canadian police representatives in Tel Aviv with Joel Levy, former president of the Israeli Bar Association (left to right): Captain Fred Gaudreau, Sûreté du Québec; Director David Pepper, Ottawa Police Service; Joel Levy; Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Bell, Canadian Armed Forces Military Police; and Inspector John Copeland, Ottawa Police Service.

They also paid a visit to Ramallah to learn about the challenges faced by the Palestinian Authority’s fledgling police force.

The four representatives came back greatly impressed

by Israel’s ability to maintain an open, vibrant society despite constant terrorism threats. They were also moved by the hunger for peace and normalcy expressed by people they encountered in both Israeli and Palestinian societies.

On the question of how Israeli police manage, they found a number of answers.

Israel relies on its conscript army and a wellstaffed Border Guard to deal with most security issues.

Some 50,000 volunteers beef up the national police force. The Israeli public is far more vigilant about security threats than populations elsewhere. A potential bomb or suspicious character is quickly reported. Security measures such as handbag checks are routine and quietly accepted.

Though Israel’s police do well in crises, thanks in part to the above factors, they fall short when it comes to the usual policing fare – investigating thefts, domestic rows and street crime, and in enforcing traffic violations.

Israelis appreciate the fast, professional police response when a suicide bomber

strikes. They have confidence in the police bomb disposal squad, which handles about 100 calls a day. But they don’t feel they can count on the police to find a stolen car or charge a drunk driver.

“People told us that the security agenda has hijacked the social agenda,” says David Pepper, director of community relations and corporate communications with the Ottawa Police Service.

The country faces rising poverty and religious and ethnic tensions which feed crime rates, and police are illequipped to cope, Pepper

says. The lack of public confidence in the police exacerbates the problem. It leads, among other things, to an under-reporting of crime.

Because Israelis have such low expectations of their police, they often rely on private security companies to deal with theft.

But such companies may lack an adequate code of conduct and be heavy-handed in their reactions.

“We brought back cautionary tales about private security,” says Inspector John Copeland of emergency operations of the Ottawa Police.

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008 – Page 11

Israeli Ambassador Alan Baker (left) shares a moment with guest speaker Yehuda Avner.

Yehuda Avner pays tribute to the late Lubavitcher Rebbe

By Liana Shlien A commemoration of the 14th Yahrzeit of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson brought a distinguished Israeli guest to Ottawa to pay tribute to the late Lubavitcher Rebbe on July 13.

The evening’s guest speaker was former diplomat Yehuda Avner, whose 45-year career in Israel’s government included stints as an adviser to Israeli prime ministers Levi Eshkol, Golda Meir, Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres.

The event, which drew more than 100 people to the social hall of the Soloway Jewish Community Centre, was sponsored by Chabad of Greater Ottawa and spearheaded by the Jewish Youth Library of Ottawa.

Avner was introduced by Israeli Ambassador Alan Baker.

“I’m very happy that while I’m here as ambassador, I’m able to welcome another, far more worthy ambassador,” he said.

Avner served as an Israeli consul in the U.S. and as ambassador to the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia. He is currently a diplomatic consultant to the Israeli government.

Avner entertained the crowd with sometimes humorous insider anecdotes about Israeli politicians, but much of his speech centred on the late Rabbi Schneerson, whom he had

met several times.

He noted that the Rebbe spent most of his life in Brooklyn and never actually set foot in the Jewish state.

“He dwelled on an entirely different plane, a profoundly mystical plane, one to which I could never ever aspire.”

However, this was not to say that the Rebbe was not a staunch Zionist.

“To him, the very existence of Israel constituted one of the three pillars of Judaism,” said Avner.

In fact, the Rebbe exercised profound spiritual influence in Israel, even from afar, Avner said. “It is assuredly an interesting commentary on our political leadership that they all sought, in one degree or another, to maintain some form of contact with this extraordinary luminary.”

Avner recounted how an initially hesitant Yitzhak Rabin, then Israel’s ambassador to Washington, after meeting with the Rebbe in Brooklyn in 1972, confided to him, “I just met a great leader of the Jewish people.

That man knows more about what’s going on in Israel and the Middle East than most members of our Knesset.”

Avner described Rabbi Schneerson as a mystic visionary who predicted Israel’s military victories with absolute accuracy.

“I have no doubt that the Rebbe would have thoughts

about how Israel should deal with the threats of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,” he later added.

Under the Rebbe’s leadership, the Chabad Lubavitch movement spawned a vast network of programs, services, institutions and followers worldwide. Their Orthodox Judaic outreach programs have touched countless lives.

Though the Rebbe left no successor, his influence remains pervasive 14 years after his death.

According to Avner, there have been few people in Jewish history who have had as much influence on the Jewish world.

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Page 12 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008

In Memoriam Promoting quality of life Ida (Roodman) Gaffen for persons with developmental disabilities passed away July 22

By Morton Roodman Asia, I have brought you latest project work in Asia in a Jewish environmnent Ida (Roodman) Gaffen something else you might just hours before learning she Tamir acknowledges with sincere thanks the following donations, which were received as of July 30, 2008.

Mazeltov to: Meredith Caplan on her birthday by Rita and Fred Essner Mrs. Celina Strawcynski on her 85th birthday

by Marcia and Richard Zuker Shirley and Sid Pascal on their wedding anniversary by Esther and David Kwavnick Ms. Abigail Caplan on her special mitzvah by Sylvia and Michael Caplan Sol and Laya Shabinsky on the recent Bat Mitzvah of their granddaughter by Deb, Norm and Vicky Ferkin Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Tennenhouse on their wedding anniversary by Selma, Les, Naomi, Evan, Carol and Miriam Mr. Norman Potechin on his 85th birthday by Lynn and Brian Keller and by Norma Miller Mr. and Mrs. Stan Katz on the engagement of their granddaughter Lauren by Bert Palmer Mrs. Sally Taller on her birthday by Bert Palmer Mr. and Mrs. Saul Ross on their 50th wedding anniversary by Evelyn and Norman Potechin Mr. and Mrs. Edward Kerzner on their wedding anniversary by Lois and Jerry Nudelman Mr. Martin Bogant on his special birthday by Lois and Jerry Nudelman Aunt of Evelyn and Norman Potechin on her special birthday by Evelyn and Norman Potechin Helen and Rick Zipes on the birth of their twin grandchildren by Dodie and Bram Potechin and by Debbie, Norm and Vicky Ferkin Mr. Mark Goldstein on his 60th birthday by Betty and Jay Dover Mr. Lee Raskin on his 80th birthday and wishing him a speedy recovery by Betty and Jay Dover Mrs. Linda Greenberg on her 50th birthday

by Deb, Norm and Vicky Ferkin and by Aunt Gladys Alyce and Allan Baker on the birth of their twin grandchildren by Debbie and Norm Ferkin Mrs. Bernice Kerzner on her special birthday

by Norma and Stan Goldstein Norm and Arlene Glube on their 40th wedding anniversary by Jill, Allan, Neil and Anna Bellack David and Esther Kwavnick on their wedding anniversary by Abe and Esther Tarasofsky Refuah Shlemah: Mrs. Tina Koffman by Deb, Norm and Vicky Ferkin Mrs. Ethel Taylor by Bert Palmer; by Lily and Jerry Penso; by Evelyn and Norm Potechin; by Debbie and Norm Ferkin and by Bernice Kerzner Mrs. Freidel London by Deb, Norm and Vicky Ferkin In Memory of: Archie Taller,( Israel,) by Sally Taller and Family Freda Lobel by Debbie, Norm and Vicky Ferkin Sam Kreisman by Margaret and Carl Brownstein and Family; by Debbie, Norm and Vicky Fer-

kin; and by Howard, Seline, Alexa and Dylan Yegendorf Joe Ages by Debbie (Greenberg) and Norm Ferkin; by Philip Rimer; by the Tamir Participants, Staff and Board of Directors Jack Paskell by Sylvia and Michael Caplan Mother of Larry and Shane Fishman by Edward and Judi Kerzner Bella Gallaman by Susan Heisel and Sye Mincoff and by Philip, Kayla and Jaime Rimer Max Feldman by Rona and Brian Tannenbaum and by Debbie and Norm Ferkin Perle Weissman by Mrs. L. Shapiro Dennis Murphy by Gladys Bodnoff Sidney Lithwick by Jack and Lesley Cramer and by Lily and Jerry Penso Mother of Roger Brennan by Philip Rimer Mother of David Perl by Philip, Kayla and Jaime Rimer Zeev Vered by Tamir Participants, Staff and Board of Directors Myer Vexler by Rochelle and David Greenberg; by Isabel and Norm Lesh; by Lily and Jerry Penso; by Gloria and Frank Roseman; by Mrs. M. Schaenfield; by Cele Dionne; by Eva Segall; by Rosalind and Stanley Labow; by Bruce Kalbfleisch; by Merivale Medical Imaging Inc.; Brian, Gail, Faye and Joel, Ryan, Minelle, Laura and Sam; by Barry and Toby Appel; by Lillian Katz Nelson and Joe Ginsberg and Family; by Eric Elkin and Molly Hirsch; by Richard Addelman; by Hana and Gerry Cammy; by Libby and Stan Katz; by Antoinette Capelle; by Rick, Colleen, the children and Ben Brother of Annette Werk by Mona KlingerTakefman and Michael Takefman Lawrence Weiner by Lily and Jerry Penso and

by Bernice Kerzner Hyman Wisenthal by Seline, Howard, Alexa and Dylan Yegendorf General Wishing much happiness to Yaacov and Alissa Attias and Family in their new home by Deb, Norm and Vicky Wishing good health and happiness to the Almstedt Family in their new home by Norm, Deb and Vicky Ferkin In appreciation to Penny and Arnie Cader by Lois and Jerry Nudelman In appreciation to Saul Davidson by Lily and Jerry Penso Wishing good health and happiness to Lisa Wishman and Mark and Jordan Brandt on their posting in Washington by Lily and Jerry Penso In appreciation to Dr. Steven Fremeth by Lesley, Jack and Michael Cramer In appreciation to Linda Kerzner by Nina Arron Wishing Rabbi and Chevy Fine much happiness and nachas in celebrating their simchas by Jerry and Lily Penso and by Evelyn and Norman Potechin With many thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Paul Finn by Chelsea

Donation cards can be purchased for a minimum charge of $12.00 by contacting the Tamir office at 613-725-3519, 11 Nadolny Sachs Private, Suite 218, Ottawa, Ontario, K2A 1R9, or by e-mail to aalmstedt@tamir.ca

was my cousin – her dad and my grandfather were brothers. They were part of the wave of immigration to Canada at the end of the 19th century from an area we now call Russia, but which was actually Lithuania.

Ida was one of nine children; my father was one of 10. Mix in the 10-child family from which my own mother came and little wonder large halls – like the auditorium at Beth Shalom – were required to host family gettogethers.

Ida was easily identifiable. She was an intellectual who genuinely took an interest in the world around us.

Perhaps it was because she lived most of her life within sight of the Peace Tower.

I recall visiting her in mid-2001. She was in her early-90s and still living on her own in Ottawa, as she did until her last days. I was on a break from a consulting assignment in South Asia and wanted to supplement the gift from that region which I was already bringing her. So I decided to bring her a copy of the New York Times.

I arrived at her house and she opened the door. “As well as the souvenir from

like, today’s New York Times,” I said.

“The New York Times,” she replied. “Wonderful. I love New York.”

That was my cousin Ida – lively, sharp, warm and welcoming.

As a youngster I would faithfully attend Shabbos services every week and always had to let those in my family who weren’t able to attend know who was at the services and who wasn’t. Ida’s name always was in the attendee category. When someone was given an aliyah or honour during the service, say, opening or closing the Aron Ha-Kodesh, Ida would be the first to extend her Mazal Tov. She had her favourite seat at Beth Shalom – right side, half-way back from the bimah.

When I recently learned that my cousin was not well, I still held out hope. I even sent her a postcard from my

had passed away.

But think of what she saw in her nearly 99 years. Virtually every Canadian prime minister except John A. MacDonald and Wilfrid Laurier, two World Wars and the Vietnam War, about which the eldest of her two sons, Fred Gaffen, wrote about so eloquently in Unknown Warriors: Canadians in the Vietnam War. She saw Ottawa grow from a city of perhaps 100,000 people to a metropolitan area of one million.

The fabric of our community in Ottawa depends on people like my cousin Ida – 99 years of active life is the minimum such a person deserves.

Ida was predeceased by her husband, Sam Gaffen.

She is survived by her sons and daughters-in-law Fred and Susan, and Yale and Dee, as well as three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

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Letters welcome

Letters to the Editor are welcome if they are brief, signed, timely and of interest to our readership. The 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, 21 Nadolny Sachs Private, Ottawa, Ontario K2A 1R9; by e-mail to: mregenstreif@ottawajewishbulletin.com.

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008 – Page 13

Tamir pays tribute to a rich legacy of past presidents

By Sue Walker Development Manager Tamir Foundation Tamir held a past presidents reception, June 5, to pay tribute to the 12 exceptional people who have served as president of the organization. These very special individuals deserve the highest praise for their unwavering support and dedication to Tamir.

In attendance to celebrate the occasion were Tamir staff, volunteers and family members, as well as Jonathan Freedman, chair of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa, and Christian Sitmayer, representing the Ministry of Community and Social Services. While volunteers are a vital part of many organizations, thank yous are not expressed often or loudly enough.

Tamir started 23 years ago when Lily and Jerry Penso had a dream of establishing a program to support people like their son, Michael.

Today, Tamir has six group homes, supported independent living and outreach, time shares, day services and Judaic outreach programs.

The past presidents have a lot to be proud of!

Over the years, each president contributed time and talent to ensure that Tamir thrived and evolved to be the wonderful organization that is today: a proud and caring team of partici-

Tamir honoured its past presidents with a reception June 5. (Front row, left to right): Eric Weiner, Maggie Lederman, Hilary Ostrov (Ingre), Rona Shaffran-Tannenbaum, Lily Penso, Noreen Bosloy; (back row, left) Ron Stein, Dick Zuker, Esther Tarasofsky, Lew Auerbach, current president Esther Kwavnick; (missing) Zelda Shore and Gilda Good.

pants, families, volunteers and professionals dedicated to assisting people with developmental disabilities realize their potential in a supportive Jewish environment through opportunities for personal growth and community involvement.

When founding president Lily Penso was asked what makes Tamir stand out in the community, she replied, “How far we have come from three residents in a townhouse to the more than 100 we serve today, and with all of the programs we have to offer.”

Ron Stein was president when Tamir purchased one of its first homes and saw

some of the residents return from three different institutions in which some had resided for more than 30 years. To be able to bring these individuals to Ottawa, and to a supportive Jewish living environment, is the essence of Tamir.

Lew Auerbach was president when yet another home was purchased to expand Tamir’s services in the community. Auerbach was also instrumental in Tamir’s expansion of services to include individuals with psychiatric disabilities and acquired brain injuries.

When asked what stands out most about his tenure as president, he replied, “It

was an incredible privilege – a gift – to be able to work with the clients, staff, volunteers and families.

Esther Kwavnick is the current president of the Tamir Foundation and, along with Mark Palmer, the executive director, paid fitting tribute to the 12 individuals who have given so much to Tamir and their community. She noted that the evening had a “truly magical feeling” with such leadership and commitment

to Tamir gathered together under one roof.

Having the past presi-

dents together, renewing and strengthening their link and commitment to Tamir, was a highlight of the evening. It is an inspiration to us all that so many wonderful individuals have given so much and continue to remain involved with the organization. These dedicated individuals will be permanently honoured with a Presidents Wall that will be on display in Tamir’s boardroom.

With such dedication demonstrated by the past presidents, and with the passion of the current president, board members and staff, Tamir has made a difference in hundreds of lives over the past 23 years. And, with continued support, Tamir will make a difference for many years to come.

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Page 14 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008

MDA volunteer reports from Ambulance 45

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By Davina Finn This summer, I had the fantastic opportunity to be a volunteer with Magen David Adom (MDA), the ambulance service in Israel. I learned much about emergency medicine and patient care, and also about the country and people of Israel and about what a fantastic organization MDA is.

MDA is run almost entirely by volunteers and is financed by donations from Jewish communities around the world. I have never before met a group of people more dedicated than the MDA drivers, medics, first responders and paramedics, of whom 90 per cent are volunteers.

One of my course instructors was Arieh Jaffe, an Israeli volunteer paramedic who was on-call 24/7and who never failed to be the first person on the scene of an emergency. He has been involved with MDA for five years and his levels of passion and dedication to MDA are extremely

inspiring.

As much as the Israeli volunteers love their work and run a successful ambulance service with one of the fastest response times worldwide, the organization also welcomes international volunteers. The international volunteer program I participated in was named for Yochai Porat, the MDA volunteer who started the international program before being tragically killed by a terrorist while on call.

After taking an intensive 10-day training program in Jerusalem and passing written and practical examinations, my group dispersed across Israel for month of volunteer service. I was sent to Holon, a small suburb of Tel Aviv.

I was extremely excited before my first shift and anxious to put what I had learned in class to practical use. I was determined to help people in need and to make a difference. Passing the 60hour course qualified me as a Certified First Responder.

Davina Finn in Holon, near Tel Aviv, with MDA Ambulance 45, purchased and equipped by Congregation Agudath Israel.

This meant I was qualified to perform CPR and backboarding, apply tourniquets and bandages, operate defibrillators, set up IVs, and help women giving birth.

While the majority of MDA calls involved such things as caring for the elderly, broken bones, minor car accident injuries, dehydration or intoxication, some volunteers had to deal with shootings, hangings, suicides, strokes, heart attacks and severe car and motorcycle accidents. There was even one case where a woman gave birth in an ambulance.

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among the first to arrive on the scene of the first bulldozer terrorist attack on July 2 when a worker from a construction site rode a bulldozer onto a main street in Jerusalem attacking several cars, flipping a public bus, killing three and wounding more than 30 others.

The most amazing part of my experience occurred a week into my placement when I was assigned for the first time to Ambulance 45.

Every MDA ambulance is inscribed with the information stating from whom, and from where, it was donated. When I approached Ambulance 45, I noticed it was from Canada and immediately felt a connection. Then I noticed it was from Ottawa, Ontario and looked to the line above and saw that the ambulance was donated by Congregation Agudath Israel. I had contributed to the fundraising initiative for the ambulance so it was incredible to see the ambulance there, and to actually serve on it. Without all of our contributions, this essential ambulance would not have been there to care for the people of Israel.

Ambulance 45 was one of three ambulances our station had to serve Holon, Bat Yam, Rishon leZiyon and other towns in the Ayalon region near Tel Aviv, and it was inspiring for me to have such

a strong personal connection to the source of this ambulance. It really helped me bridge the gap between making a donation in Canada and seeing how the donation was being used somewhere far away.

Sometimes donations seem intangible and we don’t always know how the money we donate is spent or what good may have come of it. But, in this case, purely by fate, I was given the opportunity to work in our ambulance. It was truly empowering to see how our synagogue’s donation was directly helping the people of Israel.

The way Israelis responded to the international MDA volunteers was amazing. They lowered our taxi fares, gave us discounts on food and kept thanking us.

They were clearly appreciative that people came from around the world to help care for the people of Israel.

While MDA in Israel is managing well and doing so much great service, there is always room for improvement. I know that, with more donations, MDA will be able to purchase better equipment and provide more ambulances throughout Israel.

I encourage everyone to support MDA and, if the opportunity arises, to go to Israel as an MDA volunteer. I found it to be an eye-opening and extremely rewarding experience.

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008 – Page 15

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 July 3 and August 6, 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 Observance of the Yahrzeit of: Our beloved father Bill Adler by Jeff, Marilyn and Elayne Adler In Memory of: Martin Ginsburg by Marilyn Adler Sidney Lithwick by Marilyn Adler Valery Perchikovsky by Marilyn Adler Arnost Rodan by Marilyn Adler Moses (Chuck) Skulsky by Marilyn Adler Samuel and Jean Akerman Memorial Fund In Honour of: Weldon Levine Wishing every happiness on your special birthday and always by Sheila and Larry Hartman Auxiliary of Hillel Lodge Fund In Honour of: Helen and Rick Zipes Mazal tov on the birth of your granddaughter and grandson by Ruth and Lawrence Mendell Elsie Baker Endowment Fund In Memory of: K.C. (Kenneth) White by Polly and Jack Moran; and Lenora, Evan, Noah and Arielle Zelikovitz

Freidberg and Dale Families Fund In Memory of: Tillie Dale, beloved Mother and Grandmother by Elaine Friedberg, Bob and Jonathan Dale In Honour of: Natalie and Tommy Gussman Mazal tov on the birth of your granddaughter by Elaine Friedberg, Bob and Jonathan Dale Adele and Jeff Sidney Mazal tov on David’s engagement by Elaine Friedberg, Bob and Jonathan Dale Martin and Thea Ginsburg Memorial Fund In Memory of: Martin Ginsburg by Mickey Smolkin; Ron McGillvray and Minto Suite Hotel; William Bloom; Gilda and Sonny Rubin; Ellen and Marty Cardash; Ruth and Irving Aaron; Marcia and Dick Zuker; Miriam and Jack, Pamela and Allan Hoffman; Ruth Ginsburg; Judy Ginsburg; Mary Ginsburg; Susan Elias; Arlene and George Smolkin; Mrs. Smolkin; Sue and John Fisher and Family; Minda and Peter Wershof; Joanna and Mort Prager; and Linda, Ed and Shira Feuer, Avital and Michael Karpman Malcolm and Vera Glube Endowment Fund In Memory of: Sidney Lithwick by Vera and Malcolm Glube Myer Vexler by Vera and Malcolm Glube In Honour of: Alyce and Allan Baker Mazal tov on the birth of your twin grandchildren by Vera and Malcolm Glube Freda Lithwick Congratulations on your 90th birthday by Vera and Malcolm Glube Nell Gluck Memorial Fund In Memory of: Sidney Lithwick by Maureen and Henry Molot; and Manny Gluck and Cheryl Sylvia Molot by Maureen and Henry Molot Zeev Vered by Manny Gluck and Cheryl In Honour of: Henry Bloom Congratulations on your birthday by Manny Gluck and Cheryl Barbara and Sid Cohen Congratulations on your anniversary by Manny Gluck and Cheryl Julia Gluck and Ted Overton and Family Thank you very much for your generous hospitality by Toby and Joel Yan Manny Gluck With every good wish for health, happiness on your 80th birthday and many more with love by Freda Saphier; and Anne Shapira Moe Greenberg and Elissa Greenberg Family Fund In Memory of: Ida Gaffen by Elissa Iny

In Honour of: Fay Shulman Mazal tov to a lovely lady on your special birthday by Elissa Iny

and Lloyd Rossman, Sharon and Lorne Chapnick; and Minda and Peter Wershof Arnost Rodan by Howard Lithwick

Nordau and Roslyn Kanigsberg Family Fund In Honour of: Nordau Kanigsberg In appreciation by Anna and Sam Wex

Pencer Family Fund In Memory of: Martin Ginsburg by Marcia and Irwin Pencer

Dorothy and Maurie Karp Endowment Fund In Honour of: Maurie Karp Wishing you continued good health by Claire and Irving Bercovitch In Memory of: Ida Gaffen by Etta Karp; and Joy and Rick Karp Muriel Rosenberg by Etta Karp; and Dorothy and Maurie Karp Lillian and Morris Kimmel Family Fund In Honour of: Dr. Howard Dubarsky With much appreciation by Brenda and Daniel Levine Morris Kimmel Wishing you a happy birthday and a very healthy and happy year by Esthel and Larry Huniu; Debi and David Shore; Linda and Jack Smith; Roz and Lee Raskin; Rickie and Marty Saslove; Evelyn and Lou Eisenberg; Noreen and Syd Bosloy; Claire and Irving Bercovitch; and Gaye and Joel Taller Sally and Harry Weltman Mazal tov on becoming great-grandparents with all our love by Brenda, Nathan, Jesse and Daniel Levine R’fuah Shlema: Rose Wald by Morris Kimmel Bill and Phyllis Leith Family Endowment Fund In Honour of: Fay Shulman with our best wishes for a very happy 85th birthday by Lisa, David, Sydney and Zachary Leith Levenson-Polowin Feeding Fund In Memory of: Rheal Lafrance by Heidi Polowin In Honour of: Gerry Morin With our love and best wishes for a happy 70th birthday by Heidi and Steve Polowin Ida and Sidney Lithwick Fund In Memory of: Sidney Lithwick by Ingrid, Gerry, Stephanie and Naomi Levitz; William Bloom; Estelle and Sol Gunner; Penny, Gordie, Zac and Steven Resnick; Irma and Bernie Brodkin; Freda Lithwick; Elaine Lithwick and Harris Stein; Ruth and Irving Aaron; Anna Bilsky; Maxine Miska and Sheldon Posen; Sue and John Fisher and family; Ruth and Lawrence Mendell and family; Estelle and Ian Melzer; Wendy and Stephen Waxman; Phyllis and Norman Seltzer; the Partners and Staff of Noble and Gadient; Gloria Kung; Frayda and Charles Wiseman; Merle and Richard Moses and family; Lionel Metrick; Annette and Jack Edelson; Susan Elias; Barry Lithwick; Judy, Michael, Jeremy and Lindsay Aranoff; Ruth and Dale Fyman; Debra

Rosenthal/McCormack Family Fund In Honour of: Joanna and Ira Abrams Mazal tov on your son’s marriage by Helen Rosenthal In Memory of: Martin Ginsburg by Helen Rosenthal Moses (Chuck) Skulsky by Helen Rosenthal Stephen and Debra Schneiderman Family Fund In Memory of: Eugene Flegg by Debra, Stephen, Stacey and Jordon Schneiderman Martin Ginsburg by Debra and Stephen Schneiderman Sidney Lithwick by Debra and Stephen Schneiderman and family Sylvia Schneiderman by Frances and Joe Richman Chuck Skulsky by Debra and Stephen Schneiderman Myer Vexler by Debra and Stephen Schneiderman In Honour of: Morris Kimmel Best wishes for a very happy birthday by Debra and Stephen Schneiderman Label and Leona Silver Family Fund In Memory of: Betty Gold by Millie Schaenfield Ralph and Anne Sternberg Memorial Fund In Honour of: Tommy Gussman Mazal tov on your milestone birthday with warmest wishes by Laya and Ted Jacobsen Natalie and Tom Gussman Mazal tov on the birth of your new grandchild, Talia Amy Simons with warmest wishes by Laya and Ted Jacobsen Mendy Taller Mazal tov on your milestone birthday with warmest wishes by Laya and Ted Jacobsen Sarah and Arnie Swedler Family Fund In Memory of: Ida Gaffen by Sarah and Arnie Swedler Sintra Singh by Sarah and Arnie Swedler In Honour of: Fran and Stan Ages Mazal tov and best wishes on the birth of your granddaughter by Sarah and Arnie Swedler Alyce and Allan Baker Best wishes on the birth of your twin grandchildren. Mazal tov!

Mazal tov! by Sarah and Arnie Swedler Sarah and Arnie Swedler Mazal tov and congratulations on this wonderful occasion! We love you very much and hope to celebrate many more with you. Happy special anniversary by Gilda, (Continued on page 16)

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 728-3900, extension 111, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. 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.

Page 16 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008 and Victor Zuckerman; Lisa Feldman, Jeff and Logan Segall; Arlene Goodman; Diane and Allen Abramson; Helen Wiseman; and Sally Philippson Edith Sonken by Ruth and Irving Aaron Myer Vexler by Andrea and Michael Malek; and Janet and Norman Ironstone Lawrence Weiner by Ellen and Marty Cardash; and Ruth and Irving Aaron The dear brother of Annette Werk by Bela Gelbman (Continued from page 15)

Morris, Joseph, Robert and Andrea Abdulezer Elaine and Norman Wolfish Mazal tov on the birth of your granddaughter by Sarah and Arnie Swedler Helen and Rick Zipes Best wishes on the birth of your twin grandchildren. Mazal tov!

Mazal tov! by Sarah and Arnie Swedler R’fuah Shlema: John Holzman by Sarah and Arnie Swedler Roslyn and Myles Taller Family Endowment Fund In Honour of: Morris Kimmel Wishing you a very happy birthday and many more by Roz and Myles Taller R’fuah Shlema: Lee Raskin by Roz and Myles Taller Milton and Mary (Terry) Viner Family Fund In Memory of: Moses (Chuck) Skulsky Schaenfield and Family

by

Millie

Toby and Joel Yan Family Fund In Memory of: Beloved mother of Suzanna Rubin Bleuer and Mary Rubin Fried by Toby and Joel Yan Residents Feeding Program In Observance of the Yahrzeits of: A beloved mother, Betty Polowin and a beloved father, Philip Levenson a very generous donation was made by Stephen Polowin and Heidi Levenson-Polowin In Memory of: Sidney Lithwick by Mara and Isaac Muzikansky ********** IN MEMORY OF: Joseph Ages by the Partners at Ginsberg Gluzman Fage and Levitz LLP.; Stella, Jakob, Gabriella and Ethan Arbitman Anna Buch by Helen Trachtenburg Ida Gaffen by Carolyn Weiss Bella Gallaman by Ruth and Lawrence Mendell Martin Ginsburg by the Residents, Board and Staff of Hillel Lodge Betty Grossner by Belle Gitterman Harry Langsner by the Residents, Board and Staff of Hillel Lodge; the Oramax Family; and Carolyn Kobernick Joan and Harry Langsner by Dena Kingstone and Family Sidney Lithwick by the Residents, Board and Staff of Hillel Lodge Valery Perchikovsky by the Residents, Board and Staff of Hillel Lodge; and Ethel and David Malek and family Arnost Rodan by the Residents, Board and Staff of Hillel Lodge Moses (Chuck) Skulsky by the Residents, Board and Staff of Hillel Lodge; William Bloom; Jane and David Kuhnreich, Michelle and Dina; Annette Goldenberg; Gladys and John Greenberg; Ruth and Irving Aaron; Dorothy and Abe Shapransky and Family; Phil Waserman; Angela

IN HONOUR OF: Laya and Michael Abramowitz With best wishes on your 31st anniversary by Ruth and Irving Aaron Joanna and Ira Abrams Mazal tov and best wishes on the upcoming marriage of your son Jonathan by Lillian Kahan and Sally; and Linda and Steven Kerzner Vivian Caplan With our love and best wishes for a happy birthday by Annette and Jack Edelson Dina Edelson With our love and best wishes for a happy birthday by Annette and Jack Edelson Mark Froimovitch Mazal tov on your special birthday by Minda and Peter Wershof Ruth Fyman Wishing you the best of special birthdays to 120 by Ruth and Dale Fyman Arlene and Norm Glube Wishing you all the best on your 40th wedding anniversary by Janet and Norman Ironstone Janet and Norman Ironstone Mazal tov on your 40th wedding anniversary by Arlene and Norm Glube Ellie and Joel Kanigsberg Mazal tov on Sara and Kathy’s graduation and Mazal tov on Kathy’s engagement by Ruth and Dale Fyman Steve Kerzner Wishing you good health and happiness on your birthday by Lillian Kahan and Sally Leiba Krantzberg Mazal tov on your election as Vice President of B’nai Brith Canada by Rickie and Marty Saslove Ralph Levenstein Wishing you a happy birthday and all the best for a happy, healthy year

by Laurie and Bill Chochinov Amnon Pasher Mazal tov on achieving this stage in life by Minda and Peter Wershof Liz Petigorsky and Semyon Ioffe Wishing you mazal tov, happiness and good health on your wedding by Linda and Steve Kerzner Issie Scarowsky In appreciation by Carol Weidman Adele and Jeff Sidney Mazal tov on David’s engagement by Ruth and Dale Fyman Gaye and Joel Taller Mazal tov on your son Adam’s engagement by Rickie and Marty Saslove Carol and Mark Tolchinsky Wishing you a happy anniversary and all the best for continued happiness and joy by Laurie and Bill Chochinov Dayna Zunder Mazal tov on the occasion of your Bat Mitzvah by Rhonda, Danny, Samuel, Zachary and Shelby Levine Lillian and Mark Zunder Mazal tov on the occasion of Dayna’s Bat Mitzvah. Wishing you and your family a safe trip toIsrael by Doreen and Ariel Arnoni R’FUAH SHLEMA: Agnes Sermann by Bela Gelbman The Foundation would like to thank the following: Lawrence Hershorn for a generous donation to the Lodge.

Musica Ebraica for a generous donation to the Lodge.

Arthur and Anne Silverman for an extremely generous donation to the Lodge and for their kindness in establishing the Anne and Arthur Silverman Family Fund.

David Katz is new student rabbi for Ottawa Reconstructionist Havurah

By Ruth Silbert Ottawa Reconstructionist Havurah Rabbinical student David Katz will be joining the Ottawa Reconstructionist Havurah in September to lead High Holiday Services and provide on-going spiritual and liturgical leadership over the coming year.

Katz grew up in New York City and lived in Florida and Texas before moving to Philadelphia to attend the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC). He is currently in his last year of studies and anticipates his rabbinic ordination in June 2009.

During his time at RRC, Katz has served as a student rabbi for congregations in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, as a chaplaincy intern and student rabbi for several Jewish senior communities and nursing homes in the Philadelphia area, and as the rabbinic intern for Greater Philadelphia’s Interfaith Family Support Network and for the Reconstructionist movement’s Youth Programming Network.

Previously, Katz worked as the youth and program director at a synagogue in Texas, as the director of cultural programming at a Jewish community centre in Florida, and with troubled teenagers at Covenant House Texas. He was also a public school

David Katz

Joseph Berman

teacher for several years, teaching English and math in New York and Florida.

The Havurah has also announced that rabbinical student Joseph Berman will serve as cantor for the High Holiday services.

Berman, who is entering his fourth year at the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College in Boston, previously worked with community organizing groups in Kansas City and Seattle and spent a year doing peace and coexistence work in Jerusalem on a New Israel Fund Social Justice Fellowship.

In 2006 Berman was a Rabbinic Leadership for Public Life fellow with the Jewish Funds for Justice studying congregation-based community organizing and interning as a student rabbi at Reconstructionist Congregation Bnai Keshet in Mont-

clair, New Jersey. He founded the first egalitarian minyan at Ben Gurion University in Be’er Sheva and frequently leads services at various minyanim, havurot and synagogues.

The Ottawa Reconstructionist Havurah, an egalitarian congregation, will hold High Holiday services at the First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa, 30 Cleary Ave., and at the Society of Friends Meeting House, 91A Fourth Avenue. Child care is available.

High Holiday memberships are available for the month of Tishrei, beginning on the eve of Rosh Hashanah on September 29 until the end of Simchat Torah on October 22.

Contact the Havurah at val_mclennan@rogers.com or 613-239-4988 or visit www.orh.ca.

Two choirs amalgamate to form Shiru Lach

By Roslyn Wollock SJCC Adult Program Manager What do you get when you fuse two local choirs each imbued with an unbridled ruach and passion for Jewish song?

The answer is Shiru Lach (Sing for You), now Ottawa’s largest Jewish folk choir, created by amalgamating the voices of the Soloway JCC Shira Ottawa Choir with those of the Zemer Lach Choir.

Ellen Asherman, who directed the liturgical choir at Temple Israel for 20 years, will be the choir’s conductor. In addition to her conducting career, Ellen is a long-time member of the Orpheus Choral group and was the driving force behind the birth of Zemer Lach in 2007.

Accompanist Aviva Lightstone, who has been with Shira Ottawa since the choir’s inception in 1998, will continue in that capacity with Shiru Lach.

A feature of the new 40-plus member choir will be the inclusion of repertoires that employ four-part harmony. Group sound and vocal quality will be developed with the help of regular visits by a vocal coach.

New members are welcome. If you love Jewish music and are interested in joining the choir, come to the Soloway JCC for the group’s first rehearsal on Tuesday, September 9 at 7:00 pm.

Call 613-798-9818, ext. 254 for more information.

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008 – Page 17

Cantor Subar is new prayer leader at Beit Tikvah Rabbi Howard Finkelstein has announced that Cantor Yair Subar has joined Congregation Beit Tikvah (formerly Beth Shalom West) as the synagogue’s new prayer leader.

The size of the congregation, and participation in services is growing, says Rabbi Finkelstein.

“We had over 200 people on the second day of Shavuot, a record for a weekday celebration in our shul outside of the High Holy Days.

“I have every confidence

Cantor Yair Subar

that we will continue to grow, not only in numbers as our congregational mem-

bership has reached its all time high with 150 plus families, not counting associates, but in our involvement in synagogue services.”

Beit Tikvah, Rabbi Finkelstein added, will “continue to grow and flourish, as a full service shul in every sense of the word. Our new name symbolizes our elevation as a continually developing congregation representing the highest ideals of religious Zionism and modern Orthodoxy.”

ALL JEWISH STUDENTS STUDYING IN OTTAWA Welcome all new and returning students The Ottawa Hillel House is OPEN to YOU! Stop by and check out the space.

Temple Israel offers two new outreach courses Temple Israel’s outreach committee has announced two new 20-week courses to begin Sunday, September 7.

Introduction to Prayers in Hebrew will enable participants to read prayer book Hebrew and to feel more comfortable at synagogue services.

Participants in the Jewish Information Class will study Jewish history, holidays and life cycle events.

Both classes are prerequisites for people considering conversion to Judaism at Temple Israel.

Due to the popularity of past courses, the outreach committee is encouraging interested persons to register as soon as possible.

To register, or for more information, contact Temple Israel outreach co-chairs Dave Abbey and Carol Ruttle-Abbey at 613-2256644 or templeoutreach@sympatico.ca.

Fall music appreciation lectures will examine Gustav Mahler

By Maxine Miska SJCC Director of Programming Several of the prominent figures of the 19th century often thought of as Jewish – including Karl Marx, Benjamin Disraeli and Felix Mendelssohn – had, in fact, converted to Christianity or were born Christian. Marx’s father could not practise law in Prussia as a Jew. Disraeli was converted to the Church of England at age 13 after his father had a dispute with his synagogue. Mendelssohn, the grandson of philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, grew up in a family that chose to reject Judaism for Lutheranism and acceptance in German society.

Assimilation and discrimination in the 19th century also shaped the symphonies of composer Gustav Mahler, the subject of this fall’s Music Appreciation Lectures by critic JeanJacques Van Vlasselaer. The lectures, sponsored by the Greenberg Families Library, will include musical excerpts and films of Leonard Bernstein conducting Mahler’s symphonies.

Mahler was born into a German-speaking Jewish family in Bohemia (modern-day Czech Republic), which was then part of the Austrian Empire. His musical talent was evident at an early age, and he began piano at age six. In 1875, Mahler, then 15, was admitted to the Vienna Conservatoire. Three years later, Mahler attended Vienna University.

In 1897, Mahler was offered the directorship of the Vienna Opera, the pinnacle of musical positions in the Austrian Empire. This official ‘Imperial’ post was barred to Jews and Mahler, an assimilated Jew, converted to Roman Catholicism. As a child, he’d sung in the choir in a Catholic church, and his pragmatic conversion was followed by real involvement in the rituals and beliefs of Catholicism. His ample symphonies reflect both the melodies and harmonies of his Jewish background and sacred church music.

Mahler’s symphonies melded themes from high and folk cultures and different ethnic traditions, an amalgam familiar to 20th century listeners, but considered bastardization by 19th century critics in an era of tensions based on nationalism and social class. During a concert tour to Finland in November 1907, Mahler told fellow composer Jean Sibelius that “the symphony should be like the world: it must embrace everything.“ The Mahler’s World lectures take place Wednesday afternoons from September 3 to 24 at 1:30 pm at the Soloway JCC. Tickets are $36/4 lectures for SJCC members, $48 for non-members; and $12 per lecture for members, $15 for non-members. Tickets are available at the SJCC front desk or by calling 613798-9818, ext. 295.

The Hillel House is a great place to: • • • • • •

meet new Jewish friends access free wireless internet access free television enjoy a Kosher snack take a break from campus and much more ...

We are excited about the 2008 - 2009 school year!

You are invited to all our events.

Please save the date for: • Wednesday, Sept 3rd, 11:30-1:00: Clubs and Societies Fair (Carleton) Clubs Fair Table: Stop by to become a member!

• Thursday, Sept 4th: Club Carnival at University of Ottawa: Stop by to become a Member!

• Friday, Sept 12th, 6:30pm: Hillel Ottawa Opening Shabbat Dinner at Carleton University • Sunday, Sept 21st, 4pm: Hillel Jew-B-Q: Meet new students and enjoy some Kosher hot dogs and hamburgers

Fell free to contact us or visit our website at: www.hillelottawa.ca

Hillel House is located steps away from the University of Ottawa campus at 284 Laurier Ave East Feel free to call us at 613-762-9977

Page 18 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008

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Merovitz spearheads Ottawa’s Cancer Survivors Park

By Liana Shlien “The park is a testament to the people who have survived and will survive,” says Ottawa lawyer Chuck Merovitz describing the city’s soon-to-be-opened Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Survivors Park.

While vacationing in Palm Springs, California, six years ago, Merovitz drove by a Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Survivors Park and was struck by the juxtaposition of the two words in the park’s name.

Having lost his mother to cancer, Merovitz felt the inspirational message needed to be brought home.

He approached the Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Foundation in March, 2002, and secured a $1.1 million pledge to help build an Ottawa park. Next on the list was then-Mayor Bob Chiarelli, who approved the proposal.

To date, Merovitz’s committee has raised $400,000 towards the park’s total cost of $2 million.

Managed by the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation (ORCF), the park is Canada’s second and one of 22 Cancer Survivors Parks across North America.

When the late Richard Bloch, founder of tax preparation company H&R Block, was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 1978, he was given only three months to live. He refused to accept the prognosis and instead underwent radical treatment.

Bloch ultimately beat his cancer and survived until his death, at age 78, from heart failure in 2004.

“It was then his belief that too many people die when

Ottawa’s Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Survivors Park will open September 24.

(OJB photo: Liana Shlien)

they are diagnosed with cancer because they don’t think it can be beaten,” Merovitz said.

“So he made it a goal of his to do what he could to help change that paradigm, and one of the ideas he came up with was cancer survivors’ parks so that, day after day, people will drive by and be more likely to equate cancer with survival than with death.”

While conventional parks are normally sited in a quiet area, cancer survivors’ parks are quite the opposite. One of the requirements is that they are located in an area with a very high traffic count, and, indeed, Ottawa’s park is at the busy intersection of Industrial Avenue, Alta Vista Drive and Riverside Drive.

All Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Survivors Parks have three major elements. The first is a bronze sculpture, entitled “Cancer … There is Hope,” created by world-renowned Mexican

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The sculpture depicts a lifesize family going through a maze embodying the cancer experience during its highly emotional stages, from worry upon diagnosis through hope after successful treatment.

There are also the “Positive Mental Attitude Walk” and the “Road to Recovery,” which feature both informative and inspirational plaques.

The 4.5 acre park, due to be completed by late summer, will also include a “Tree of Life” mosaic, an honour wall and survivor testimonials.

Unique to Ottawa is “Shine,” a stainless steel sculpture Merovitz calls “a very uplifting piece,” as well as a bouquet of colourful metal flowers designed by

Ottawa landscape architect Steve Sunderland.

Though the grand opening is not until September 24, Merovitz says, “I’ve already had a number of people who’ve come to me and commented on how terrific it is.”

For his leadership in the park’s establishment, Merovitz won the Rabbi Reuven Bulka Community Award from the ORCF last fall.

Rabbi Bulka is on the board of directors of the ORCF and chairs its Courage Campaign.

Merovitz is a Rotarian, sits on the executive of the Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation, co-chairs the community endowment campaign and is past chair of the United Jewish Appeal.

To make a donation to the park, contact Chuck Merovitz at 613-868-7544.

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008 – Page 19

JETsetters listen to Rabbi Label Lam while enjoying a chocolate-themed dinner.

JETsetters offers young Ottawa adults opportunities to connect

By Liana Shlien Recent studies in the U.S. indicate that unmarried Jews in their 20s and 30s tend to identify with Judaism more culturally than religiously. With synagogue affiliation a lesser focus for their Jewish identity, this generation prefers to experience Judaism in diverse ways, in often unorthodox settings.

Therefore the prospect of attending Havdalah services while skating on the Rideau Canal or talking about the Torah over a beer at a pub has drawn growing numbers to such programs run by JETsetters.

JETsetters is the young-adult division of JET (Jewish Education through Torah) and seeks to provide the post-undergrad cohort with new opportunities to engage in the Jewish community.

JET was founded by Rabbi Zischa Shaps and his wife Lauren more than 15 years ago to provide Jewish outreach to adults by bolstering knowledge of Judaism. The local organization runs a year-round array of programs and classes, such as last month’s week-long Yarchei Kallah.

JETsetters’ creation four years ago was infused with “a real sense of purpose,” says Lauren Shaps, who runs many of its programs. The aim is to reach and connect with young Jewish adults through events such as holiday parties and Shabbat dinners.

The mandate is to not overwhelm, but to impart Jewish learning gradually, so that young adults can make informed choices on major life decisions.

Accommodating to both singles and newly-weds, Shaps says couples have met at JETsetters events, but “it’s not the sole purpose.”

Program co-ordinator Josh Margo says

JETsetters “provides participants an opportunity to break away from family-oriented programming while connecting to other people their age.”

Margo tries to come up with programming with a twist.

“It’s the little nuances that make people come out to events like the chocolate dinner.” Margo said, referring to Death by Chocolate, a dinner held last month where every course contained chocolate, at which Rabbi Label Lam from Monsey, New York, spoke about male-female dynamics in marriage.

Asher Farber, a University of Ottawa student who attended commented, “What more could you ask for from a JETsetters event? Jewish learning, chocolate, good food and good company – this event was a great idea.”

Margo is pleased by the success of this and other programs.

“It shows there are people interested in keeping their Jewish identity and in continuing to learn.”

He expects more than 50 people to attend the annual Jetsetters Buffalo Barbecue in the fall.

David Walters, another University of Ottawa student, sees the programs as a way of connecting with Jewish peers and as a source for rewarding spiritual growth.

What keeps Walters coming back is the welcoming atmosphere, the sense of fellowship and the wisdom he feels he’s gained from the program leaders.

“Having proper role models is the key to spiritual success,” Walters says. “Thanks to JETsetters, I have had opportunities to surround myself with people of good character and strong Torah values.”

WHO WAS IN THE SYNAGOGUE THE LAST FEW MONTHS? A young couple, along with family and friends, were celebrating the naming of their newborn daughter.

A relocated engineer and his family were making Jewish connections with their new community.

A lawyer who recently lost his father was saying Kaddish.

A divorced mother and her sons were enjoying a Shabbat service.

A real estate broker was learning Hebrew in preparation for deciding on a possible adult Bat Mitzvah at some point in the future.

Perhaps one of these persons was you.

Perhaps one of these persons will be you.

Won’t you help ensure that the synagogue will be there when one of these persons is you?

BE A PART – N.O.T. A.P.A.R.T. Temple Israel welcomes you.

1301 Prince of Wales Drive Ottawa, Ontario K2C 1N2 613-224-1802; fax 613-224-0707 execdir@templeisraelottawa.ca Rabbi Steven Garten President Steven M. Mendelsohn

OPEN HOUSE Thursday, September 4 • 7 pm Refreshments

Page 20 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008

Two years after war, soldiers still suffer with the pain of trauma

By Dina Kraft TEL AVIV (JTA) – The talk often turned to blood at a group therapy session for Israeli soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder: salty, sweet, warm, cold, covered in your own or of the friend who did not survive.

“The smell of blood, that’s what stays with you,” Tom Shechter, 22, says matter-of-factly.

Shechter, a combat medic, was badly injured during the 2006 Lebanon war. He was setting up a field hospital in an empty school building in a Lebanese village when he was hit by a Hezbollah missile.

Like Shechter, the other men in the group were injured in combat during the war with Hezbollah two years ago.

This group and dozens of others like it that treat reservists and active-duty soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, are a reminder of one of the least visible but most painful scars of the 2006 war.

They are also a sign of the progress Israel has made in reducing the stigma traditionally associated with PTSD in Israeli society, where military service is mandatory and everyone either has fought in a war or knows someone who did.

Even public service announcements on the radio urge war veterans who suffer from trauma symptoms – they include difficulty sleeping or concentrating and problems interacting with family and friends – to call a help hot-line.

“Today it is no longer treated as something to be ashamed of,” says Miri Shalit, who supervises the Defense Ministry’s Tel Aviv rehabilitation department and is a psychologist and social worker by training.

“You can see the difference, for example, from the Yom Kippur War [in 1973] – it took people years to seek help.”

Shalit credits a new, more cognitive therapeutic approach – patients are encouraged to recount in detail the traumas they endured so they can begin to process the events and overcome them – for better success rates in treating PTSD. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) now trains combat officers to work with their soldiers in the aftermath of attacks or difficult incidents as part of an effort to prevent cases from developing into PTSD. The concept, based on years of research conducted in Israel and abroad, is to debrief as soon as possible after the traumatic event in a safe place away from the battlefield.

In providing a supportive frame-

Tom Schecter sits at his home computer in Petach Tikvah on Aug. 7, 2008 showing a photograph of himself injured by a Hezbollah missile during the Second Lebanon War two years earlier.

(Photo: Brian Hendler)

work within the soldiers’ units to discuss traumatic incidents soon after they happen, the focus is on preventing PTSD, said a senior army psychologist who serves in the military’s mental health unit and spoke to JTA on condition that his name is not used.

During the debriefing, the soldiers can review the facts of the incident together, and share their thoughts and feelings. They can understand, too, that it’s normal to have intense reactions to traumatic situations – called “acute stress reaction” – and at first suffer from symptoms such as difficulty sleeping and moodiness.

The problem occurs when the symptoms do not subside and prevent one from functioning normally.

During and immediately after the 2006 war, soldiers from the front lines were brought to vacation areas straight from battle to undergo physical and mental recuperation.

When the sessions had to take place within range of Hezbollah rocket attacks, they were held in underground shelters.

There are no exact figures on how many veterans of the Second Lebanon War are suffering from PTSD or are in treatment for mental health problems, though the IDF and Defense Ministry report high rates of improvement among those they treat.

Research shows that some 10 per cent of those exposed to traumatic events suffer from PTSD. Combat soldiers tend to have a lower occurrence in part because they are trained to deal with stressful battlefield situations.

But, as Shechter attests, even

soldiers cannot fully be ready for the traumas of the battlefield.

“You cannot fully prepare yourself,” he says. “An incident will always come as a surprise.”

As Shechter lay wounded in an Israeli hospital with shrapnel injuries from a missile to his stomach, head and hand, he dismissed an offer of help from an army psychologist.

But two months after returning home, Shechter knew things weren’t right. He found himself waking suddenly in the middle of the night, unable to fall back asleep. He was haunted by flashbacks from the day of the attack, when a missile slammed into the wall next to him, showering his body with shrapnel.

After undergoing individual and group therapy at the Defense Min-

istry, Shechter says he’s starting to feel improvement.

“It was good to be able to feel like I could unburden myself, to talk,” Shechter tells JTA. He says it was a relief to meet as a group, where he could talk with others who had undergone similar experiences.

“What we spoke about there, it was hard to talk about with other friends because they were not there and did not go through the same things,” Schechter says. “Here we could share and give each other advice.”

For Shechter’s mother, Orna, her son’s injury and subsequent trauma has been bewildering and painful.

“There is Tom before the war and Tom after the war,” she says, pausing to weep. “Before, Tom was

happy, he was Tom without these dark moods.”

Rachel Gold, a social worker at the Defense Ministry, tells of one young officer she treated who was shot by a Hezbollah fighter. He came home a changed person, she said: frustrated and silent, withdrawn from his wife and children, suspicious and unable to concentrate.

“He became obsessive-compulsive,” Gold says. “As if he still had blood on his hands, he kept cleaning them.”

She worked with him on his flashbacks, his feelings of incompetence for not killing the Hezbollah gunman who shot him and his refusal to go to crowded public places like malls and restaurants because he believed it was too dangerous.

Getting the officer to recount the night he was shot was the key to his rehabilitation, Gold says. In the course of retelling his story, the soldier realized that instead of underperforming, he actually may have saved Israeli lives because he had fired back and protected his fellow soldiers.

Gold also got the officer to start going out again, giving him homework assignments to overcome his fears, like taking a trip to the mall.

“The world seemed wider again,” she says. “He could go back to living and remove the association of the trauma.”

As for Shechter, he sounds upbeat when he describes his plans to study management in college. But he acknowledges that he still struggles to overcome his war trauma.

“When a door slams too loudly, my heart leaps into the sky,” he says. “I try to calm myself down, that everything is OK – that it’s not Lebanon.”

Tisha B'Av at the Wall

Jews pray at the Western Wall to mark Tisha B'Av in Jerusalem's Old City on Aug. 9, 2008. Tisha B'Av, a day of fasting and lament, is traditionally the date on the Jewish calendar on which the First and Second Temples were destroyed.

(Photo: Brian Hendler)

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008 – Page 21

L’Dor V’Dor: Volunteerism passes from generation to generation

By Benita Siemiatycki For 12 years spanning two locations, Debi Shore has been a fixture at the reception desk of the Bess and Moe Greenberg Family Hillel Lodge, answering phones in her friendly manner, greeting visitors with a warm smile and giving tours of the Lodge to family members of prospective residents. And that’s only the morning.

After lunch, which she spends with husband David and his friends in the Lodge’s café, she heads upstairs to assist Marilyn Adler, the recreation program manager, with programming for the residents.

Those are just her official duties. Unofficially, she does anything that is asked of her, from photocopying and filing, to helping someone get dressed, to styling an upset woman’s hair when the hairdresser is not present.

“I treat each one like they are my own mother or father,” she states.

Three days each week, she devotes her time to the Hillel Lodge. For the past five years, Debi has even hosted a pool party for residents at her Alta Vista home. The water is warmed up to a comfortable temperature for the elderly guests, and everyone has a great time.

An avid dancer, Debi joins the performing group, A Touch of Klez, when the ensemble is playing at Hillel Lodge. Her job is to get the residents off their feet, or simply moving in their chairs, to the lively beat of klezmer music. When she’s not danc-

ing, she’s playing tambourine.

Besides volunteering, music and dancing are Debi’s other passions.

Stephen Schneiderman, Hillel Lodge’s executive director, praises Debi’s contributions. “She loves people and they love her back. She adds life to the party.”

In fact, she oozes exuberance when describing why she volunteers.

“I just get a wonderful day,” she says. “I get there (the Lodge) and I’m happy there. It’s just a nice place to be. It makes me feel good. It makes me feel wanted. It doesn’t get much better than that.”

Over the years, she has grown to love the residents and staff alike.

Debi’s volunteering history goes back a long way. In 1979, she received a special citation from then-mayor Marion Dewar to recognize her many volunteer activities.

For years, she has canvassed to raise funds for health charities and is the captain of her area for the Arthritis Society’s door-to-door campaign. Plaques from the Canadian Magen David Adom for Israel, the Maimonides Geriatric Centre and Hillel Lodge hang proudly in the family home. Debi credits her volunteering experience with boosting her self-confidence.

Debi learned volunteering from watching her mother her entire life in Montreal. When her mother was placed in Montreal’s Maimonides Geriatric Centre and given six months to live, Debi visited regularly.

“I needed to be with her,” she explains.

Twice each week, she boarded a bus and headed to Montreal. Fortunately, the six month prognosis turned into 10 years and, during that time, Debi continued her visits.

With her mother already having the benefit of a companion to assist her, Debi turned her attention to the other residents.

“I was very lucky because, while I was there, I was able to help other people while being beside my mother. That worked out very well for me.”

After her mother passed away, Debi received a call from a cousin who worked at the old Hillel Lodge downtown.

“Come to the Lodge, and see what you like to do,” said her cousin.

The receptionist was away on Debi’s first day giving her the opportunity to answer the phones. She discovered she truly enjoyed talking to callers and welcoming visitors, many of whom she knew.

Debi urges anyone to “go and see what you like to do.

There are so many different aspects of volunteering (at Hillel Lodge),” she explains, from friendly visits to playing cards, to any activity that can be shared with residents.

And the need extends well beyond Hillel Lodge.

“It’s something we have to do in life – to help others.

We’re here for a reason,” Debi believes. “We have to make a difference to other people.

And hopefully when we need it, the help will be there for us to receive.”

A great source of inspiration is Debi’s husband of 51 years, David, her three children, Eliot, Mark, and Suzi, and her six grandchildren.

David and the grandchildren are regular Hillel Lodge volunteers as well, and her children offer their time for other community causes. They all gather regularly Shabbat evenings in the matriarch’s home.

Speaking of her volunteer work and family life, Debi confesses, “I am truly blessed.”

Benita Siemiatycki will be profiling other community volunteers in future editions of the Bulletin. Many organizations are in desperate need of volunteers. Call the Jewish Ottawa InfoCentre at 613798-4644 for information.

Volunteering at Hillel Lodge is a way of life for Debi (OJB photo: Benita Siemiatycki) Shore.

MAILBAG Re: “It’s been 10 years! Help celebrate the Soloway JCC” by David Spring (Bulletin, July 21, 2008) I add my personal congratulations and Kol HaKavod to the Soloway JCC on its 10th anniversary and in the splendid variety of programs and activities it offers its members. The increased involvement of its members, from preschoolers to seniors, is to be applauded.

However, in listing the various programs, there was a glaring omission of an

ongoing and vital program. Die Folkshpieler, the Soloway JCC Yiddish Players, is an enthusiastic group of 22 players, supported by the Soloway JCC, which has presented light Yiddish theatre for the past six years, attracting ever-increasing audiences of up to 175 to our annual productions.

Yiddish theatre has not only nostalgic value, but adds another dimension to Jewish identity and to the growing interest in Yiddish as a culture.

Shirley Steinberg, Die Folkshpieler

For more information, call 613-789-7137

Page 22 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008

Mazal Tov!

Birthday congratulations!

Congratulations to Molly Goldie who celebrated her 95th birthday, in good health, at a family gathering with her children, grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Molly resides at Central Park Lodge.

With much love Susan, Judy, Neena, Jeffrey and their families.

Roz Barrett, Freda Lithwick and Jeanne Horwitz standing with a new Plymouth that was to be raffled at the Ottawa Hadassah-WIZO Bazaar on November 19, 1958.

(Photo courtesy of the Ottawa Jewish Archives.)

OHW Bazaar returns Sept. 7, after 19 years

By Myra McFarlane for CHW Ottawa I was eavesdropping at the coffee shop where a group of people was talking all at once. There was such a buzz. They looked so excited, like they were waiting for some momentous event, and the buzz just kept building.

It turns out they were anticipating a momentous

event: the Ottawa HadassahWIZO Bazaar on Sunday, September 7 at the Nepean Sportsplex. The first Ottawa Hadassah-WIZO Bazaar in 19 years.

Here’s some of what I heard.

It started with Bella. She was kvetching about all she had to do to get ready for the High Holy Days. Right after getting her daughters off to school, she had to start baking, no time to catch her breath.

Her friend Rosie spoke up.

“You know, I have lots to do this year too, but I’m going to the Hadassah Bazaar to get my baking. I hear there are going to be knishes, blintzes and cookies for the kids. It’s one thing off my list.”

Then Sam piped up. She was excited about her fabulous new job and was no longer concerned about whether she was going to have the wardrobe to match.

She knew that a great shipment of Steillman clothing, handbags and excellent jewelry was coming in to the bazaar, that it would all be going for a song and that the proceeds were going to a good cause.

“What cause?” asked Jamie, the youngest one there.

“Well, because it’s the Hadassah-WIZO Bazaar, a percentage of the revenue goes to support women, children and health care in Israel, the projects that HadassahWIZO has been supporting for years,” said Bella, who, it turned out, came from a long line of Hadassah ladies and remembered the HadassahWIZO bazaars of her childhood.

“In addition to raising funds for our worthy projects in Israel,” added Rosie, “we are partnering with local charities to raise awareness for local causes. The only price of admission will be a donation to the Ottawa Food Bank and several other local charities will be there with tables raising awareness for their causes, too.”

Then Deborah, the quietest one there, piped up.

“Well, that’s great for all of you, but Avi and I are getting married in December, and we have to worry about gifts for our wedding party and stationery and all kinds of other things. We want our wedding to be unique. Do you think there will be anything there for us? We’re on a budget.

And besides, aren’t Hadassah-WIZO Bazaars for people like our bubbies?”

That’s when Avi, her fiancé, arrived. “I hear there (Continued on page 23)

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008 – Page 23

Briefs from Israel Olmert sees land swaps in deal with Palestinians JERUSALEM (JTA) – Israel offered the Palestinians land in the Negev in exchange for West Bank settlement blocs.

The idea was part of a draft peace deal that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert presented to Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas this month, Ha’aretz reported.

Under the proposal leaked to the newspaper, Israel would keep West Bank settlement blocs, turn the West Bank security fence into a border and evacuate settlers east of it.

In exchange for what would be, effectively, an annexation of 7 per cent of West Bank land, Israel would cede a parcel of the Negev to the Gaza Strip. The Negev land would be equivalent to 5.5 per cent of the West Bank; the shortfall would be made up for by a road connecting Gaza and the West Bank, allowing for free Palestinian passage between the territories.

According to Ha’aretz, the Gaza annexation would take place only after Abbas re-establishes his authority over the Gaza Strip, ending Hamas rule there.

The PA leadership has indicated a willingness to consider territorial exchanges, but other disputes remain. Both sides want sovereignty in Jerusalem, which Israel has vowed to keep as its undivided capital. According to Ha’aretz, Olmert and Abbas agreed to defer the Jerusalem issue to future negotiations.

Israel also has demanded that the future Palestinian state be demilitarized, while the Palestinians want an armed force capable of defending against “outside threats,” Ha’aretz reported.

According to the newspaper, Olmert’s proposal includes a “detailed and complex formula” for solving the issue of Palestinian refugees. Israel wants the refugees resettled in a future Palestinian state while the Palestinians want them to

Bazaar to offer diverse goods (Continued from page 22)

will be artisans there who will have fine arts and crafts and other unique collectibles for sale. Since we got engaged, I’ve become very interested in these things.”

Everyone giggled, apparently at the thought of Avi, previously known only for his prowess on the baseball diamond, thinking about wedding things.

He shushed the group.

“Seriously, my mom was a Hadassah lady and I can tell you, from what I’ve heard, there will be great bargains, something for everybody, and everyone will be there! It ain’t my bubbie’s bazaar, but I bet, if she were with us today, she would be the first one in the door!”

“What time should we be there on September 7?” asked Rosie.

“I’ll be there when the

doors open at 10:00 am,” said Avi, “and I’m staying until they close at 4:00 pm.

I’ll be there to support Deborah and honour the memory of my bubbie. And with more than 20 tables of goods, there’s enough for a whole day.”

At that point, someone’s phone alarm went off, and they all dispersed. But I know I’ll see them all again at the Ottawa HadassahWIZO Bazaar. I’ll be there with my donation for the Ottawa Food Bank, my best walking shoes and a canvas bag or three for the goodies.

My spirits will be high because I know my money will be going to a good cause.

The Ottawa HadassahWIZO Bazaar, Sunday, September 7, 10:00 am-4:00 pm at the Nepean Sportsplex, 1701 Woodroffe Avenue.

be granted a “right” to land that is now in the Jewish state.

Schalit’s father appeals in Palestinian newspaper JERUSALEM (JTA) – Gilad Schalit’s father authored an article in a Palestinian newspaper accusing Hamas of blocking a prisoner exchange with Israel.

In an op-ed in Al-Quds this month, Noam Schalit wrote that his son was entering a third year of captivity in the Gaza Strip because his Hamas captors were sticking to unrealistic ransom demands that Israel cannot meet.

“It emerges that Hamas, in insisting on a very specific list of Palestinian prisoners that it demands Israel free in exchange for Gilad, has been preventing the release of hundreds or thousands of other prisoners,” Schalit said.

Hamas-led gunmen abducted Gilad Schalit, a tank crewman, to Gaza on June 25, 2006 and have kept him largely incommunicado since.

A release roster presented by Hamas includes hard-core terrorists, which, Israel says, must remain behind bars if there is to be a chance for peacemaking with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Israeli officials have signalled flexibility on releasing inmates jailed for lesser offences.

Schalit wrote that Hamas was effectively holding Gaza “hostage” as well as his son, given Israel’s refusal to lift a crippling embargo on the territory unless there is progress in Egyptian-brokered negotiations on a prisoner swap.

Al-Quds is a Palestinian Authority newspaper, and Schalit’s op-ed appeared to be an effort to turn ordinary Palestinians against Hamas, Abbas’ Islamist rival.

Page 24 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008 – Page 25

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A Jewish approach to social justice and community action Righteous Indignation: A Jewish Call for Justice Edited by Rabbi Or N. Rose, Jo Ellen Green Kaiser and Margie Klein Jewish Lights Hardcover, 2008 351 pages

Book Review Mira Sucharov

While most would agree that we in the West live in an era of economic abundance coupled with an intoxicating relationship to a revolution in technology that enables unprecedented levels of communication and interconnectedness, the social and environmental ills surrounding us – including poverty, AIDS, social discrimination, ethnic conflict, and environmental degradation – are difficult to ignore. Where we tend to be divided is in the degree to which we see these problems as of our own making, and the nature of the solutions we favour.

Jeff Greenberg

200-1335 Carling Avenue Ottawa, Ontario K1Z 8N8 Phone: 613-725-1171 Private Fax: 613-248-4781 Toll Free: 1-800-307-1545 Email: greenje@magma.ca

The contributors to Righteous Indignation: A Jewish Call for Justice believe these pressing social problems are addressable through communal effort informed by a progressive spiritual vision that defines social responsibility in a broad, humanistic and global sense.

In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll note that while I’m a member of the board of directors and the outreach task force of the Soloway Jewish Community Centre, the views expressed in this review are my own.

Righteous Indignation is a tour de force of social justice commentary that invites community contemplation on what remains to be done in our local, national and global spheres.

Perhaps most fundamental are the following three themes.

First, as chapters by Margie Klein, Rabbi Michael www.jeffreygreenberg.com Lerner and Rabbi Jane Kanarek make clear, we need to keep in mind the distincFREE PUBLIC SYMPOSIUM

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tion between direct-service social action – chesed, acts of kindness directed at individuals – and the more comprehensive and systemic social justice agenda, what Judaism calls Tikkun Olam, the repairing of the world.

While the former is crucial for addressing the day-to-day needs of the needy, it is only through sustained attempts at changing the social order that we can address the roots of inequality and suffering.

As Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner argues, “Too often in Jewish communal life, we confuse service-oriented work at soup kitchens, mitzvah days and B’nai Mitzvah projects with the work of redemptive social justice. While such good works can be useful in exposing people to injustice and providing short-term relief for the symptoms of injustice, they are only a beginning. At worst, these projects undermine our commitment to systemic change.”

Second, it is not just Jews who should be the recipient of Jewish efforts toward tzedakah and Tikkun Olam. In many cases, it is Jewish cultural, historic and religious sensibilities that motivate these efforts (and indeed, these are qualities and orientations that should be embraced), but, as Ruth Messinger and Aaron Dorfman argue, our “universe of obligation” should extend to the farthest reaches of the globe.

Finally, while Judaic precepts can, and indeed, should inspire social awareness, religion devoid of action is meaningless. As Rabbi Or N. Rose describes his struggle with Judaism in the context of hearing the account of a Sudanese refugee boy fleeing murderous government-backed militiamen only to be confronted by an alligator-infested swamp, the boy’s story, “though certainly not intended as such, made the Exodus narrative feel hollow.” It is not enough to study Judaism; its teachings need to be translated into action.

The volume tackles a plethora of social and economic themes, ranging from stem-cell research to sexual diversity, transgender identification, environmental sustainability, domestic violence, Israeli-Palestinian relations and immigration policy.

A close reading of the book raises a number of important questions that I would argue are worthwhile – and even essential – for our community to grapple with.

Is religion necessary for social justice to take place? What about a role for secular Jews who maintain an uncomfortable relationship with the idea of a divine presence?

And what shall we do if it is adherence to particular Jewish laws – however progressive a contemporary reading of Halacha is offered – that may themselves be the problem in sustaining particular social ills?

And what about Jews who do not identify with the progressive wings of their communities? Is there a role for them to engage in social justice, and how would they define the necessary solutions? How should our various denominations discuss the role of religious action in ameliorating social problems when their respective definitions of community – who is in, who is out, and who is deserving of our efforts towards tzedakah and Tikkun Olam – are so different from one another?

What is the “universe of obligation” as defined by our Ottawa community? And, in the words of Messinger, what is our “moral identity?”

The volume opens with a meditation on the role of social justice efforts in galvanizing Jews towards communal identification.

Rabbi Sidney Schwarz suggests a useful distinction between “Exodus/tribal Jews” and “Sinai/covenantal Jews,” arguing that “data that can tell you how many Jews belong to synagogues, how many contribute money to federations, and how many travel to Israel … What cannot be as accurately determined, however, is how many Jews feel Jewish, or how many Jews view Judaism and Jewish ethics as an important part of their identity.”

Perhaps what we need to do in our own community, more than enjoining Jews to “affiliate” for affiliation sake, or to engage in Judaic rituals absent a tangible, interconnected outlook, is to ensure that Jewish communal organizations are in touch with the essence of the covenant – that “justice, justice ye shall pursue.” Otherwise, our Jewish communal activities risk falling into moral irrelevance, and worse, into aiding and abetting a local and global status quo that is still in need of repair.

Mira Sucharov is an associate professor of political science at Carleton University.

TIME TO RENEW YOUR SUBSCRIPTION? ARE YOU MOVING? Call Rhoda Saslove-Miller, 613-798-4696, ext. 256 to update your information or to renew.

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Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008 – Page 29

Tzedakah and stickers I recently attended a talk on the topic of tzedakah, the Jewish concept of charity.

Someone asked whether the Judaic obligation to give to those less fortunate extends to non-Jewish causes. The speaker replied that should the fire department ask him for a donation, he’ll typically give a minimal amount – say five dollars – in order to receive a sticker to place on his window, thereby ensuring that passersby look kindly on the Jews.

He explained that this is a practice known as “instilling goodwill.” When I asked him for clarification, he said there is a prescribed hierarchy of potential recipients of charity according to the level of relatedness, proximity of residence, etc.

Perhaps, needless to say, non-Jews rank low on this Talmudic-inspired list, at least according to that particular rabbi.

Part of the beauty of Jewish tradition, as least as I see it, is the practice of interpretation. No single thinker has ever been able to claim a monopoly on truth. So we cannot take one learned man’s opinion as gospel – excuse the pun – though neither are we free, with apologies to Pirkei Avot, to desist from questioning this assumption. What, indeed, is our ethical role as individuals – and as members of the Ottawa Jewish community – to direct our tzedakah (the term comes from the Hebrew tzedek, meaning justice) efforts and general benevolence to non-Jews?

Perhaps the root of the problem – and my personal sense of cognitive dissonance in attending this lunchtime talk as a member of the Jewish community while listening to a religious leader expound a world view so antithetical to my own – is in what it means to be part of a community. What I quickly realized is that these perspectives clash on a basic question: is spirituality fundamentally about tribal identity, or about global interconnectedness?

Certainly, tribal identity – the inclination to protect ‘one’s own’ first and foremost – would have appeared essential to new immigrants fleeing European anti-Semitism, as my grandparents did when they arrived in Win-

Values, Ethics, Community Mira Sucharov

nipeg from Russia 80 years ago, only to witness those they left behind perish in the Holocaust decades later.

I am, perhaps, among the first generation of Canadian Jews who did not worry that a non-Jewish schoolmate would think unkindly of me because of my religion. Perhaps, for this reason, as a pre-teen, I was able to read Chernowitz, Fran Arrick’s 1983 novel about a Grade 9 student plagued by anti-Semitic harassment, with the detached fascination of a marine biologist.

All this has meant that, aside from small pockets of ultra-religious Jews who have sought out more culturally and religiously homogeneous lives for their families, all of my contemporaries have developed intimate relationships – to say nothing of close professional connections – with Jews and non-Jews alike.

So, when I think about whatever spiritual life it is that I harbour internally, I keep returning to the idea that there seems to be little ethical meaning in adhering to Judaic precepts that do not see the Jewish community as fundamentally and intrinsically embedded within broader geographical and identity spheres.

This is indeed a theme that globally minded Jewish activists have long cultivated. As Ruth Messinger, president of American Jewish World Service, has written, engaging in social action beyond one’s immediate community should not be thought of in the strategic, good-for-my-group terms of the notion of ‘goodwill,’ but simply as bringing more peace to the world. So said Maimonides, she continues.

None of this is to say that advertising one’s charitable acts is essentially futile. When my family decided to switch to green Bullfrog Power last year, our registration packet arrived with a colourful assortment of lawn signs, fridge Executive Worldwide Travel/American Express magnets and mailbox stickers that any preschooler would Dedicated to exceeding your travel expectations covet. Dog-walking neighbours with whom we had never Welcome to a World of Possibilities! had a chance to chat began stopping to ask about the company and how they, too, could convert their homes to clean Business Travel * Groups and Conventions energy.

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But such public proclamations need to be motivated by a sense that ‘we are all in this together.’ Otherwise, they risk promoting a message of communal hubris rather than collective destiny. The fundamental question might therefore be better posed as, “How much tzedek still needs to be enacted in our struggling $100.00 per Monument world?” rather than, “Who, by virtue of their religion, is more deserving of justice Call Jean Myers, Jewish Federation of Ottawa and repair?”

613-798-4696, ext 242 Mira Sucharov is an associate professor of political science at Carleton We accept Visa - MasterCard - Amex - Cheques University.

JEWISH MEMORIAL GARDEN CEMETERIES Monument Pressure Cleaning Now Available

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.

• JFS runs two monthly luncheon programs for seniors. If you can drive someone to and/or from Agudath Israel or Beth Shalom on a monthly basis, there are isolated seniors who would love to participate in the programs.

• Emergency, last-minute drivers are always needed to deliver Kosher Meals on Wheels and to transport clients to medical appointments. On-call or on a regular basis.

• An elderly woman who lives in the Carling & Woodroffe area needs help with grocery shopping on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.

• A disabled woman who lives downtown needs help with paperwork approximately 2-3 times per month for 1-2 hours.

• A woman who lives downtown needs help taking a few boxes to the storage locker in her building and with organizing it a little.

• An elderly woman who lives in the Byward Market area needs a friendly visitor to share coffee visits, trips to museums, art galleries, grocery shopping, etc. Weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly.

• An elderly man who lives only 1 block away would like to attend Shabbat services at Beth Shalom Synagogue but needs help to get there.

• An elderly lady who likes crafts & sewing would love to meet someone with similar interests to help her get out of the house once in a while.

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

• An entertaining lady who uses a scooter is looking for someone to accompany her to Carlingwood shopping centre (walking distance), stay for coffee, etc.

• Shofar blower needed at JFS event for only a few minutes on erev Rosh Hashanah, anytime between 6:30 pm and 8:00 pm.

Please note: Mileage incurred by volunteers is always reimbursed by JFS.

THE BESS AND MOE GREENBERG FAMILY HILLEL LODGE • Community hours in the summer? High school students, get your hours completed by volunteering at Hillel Lodge during the summer months!

• 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).

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

• Newly retired? Put Hillel Lodge volunteering in your plan. Residents welcome visitors, program assistance, all kinds of options. Pick a day, a time of day, a type of event – whatever suits your schedule. Try it out now.

• Don’t get the summertime blues. Spend time with us at concerts, BBQs, Wii tournaments and bingo.

• 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.

• Want cashier experience in a friendly atmosphere? Come to Hillel Lodge at lunch (11:45 am to 1:30 pm Monday to Friday).

• 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 while accompanying residents to shopping at a mall (Monday mornings).

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)

Page 30 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008

LPGA golfer Morgan Pressel and her grandparents, Evelyn and Herb Krickstein, were welcomed to Ottawa, August 11, with a reception at the home of Julie and David Ross. Pictured (left to right): Evelyn Krickstein, Julie Ross, Morgan Pressel, Herb (Photo: Peter Waiser) Krickstein and David Ross.

LPGA golfer Morgan Pressel welcomed to Ottawa

By Mitch Miller Morgan Pressel had friends and supporters from Ottawa’s Jewish community in the gallery when the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tour stopped here this month for the CN Canadian Women’s Open at the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club.

Morgan made lots of friends on August 11 when the community welcomed the 20year-old golf sensation and her grandparents to Ottawa with a reception at the home of Julie and David Ross.

Morgan’s swift rise to golfing fame came two years ago when she became the youngest woman to ever win an LPGA major tournament with her victory at the Kraft Nabisco Tournament at the age of 18.

Morgan, who lost her mother to breast cancer when she was only 15, lives with her grandparents, Evelyn and Herb Krickstein, in Florida. They’re an athletic family. Former top 10 tennis player Aaron Krickstein is Morgan’s uncle.

So, how did we get to welcome Morgan Pressel to Ottawa? That’s easy. She’s Jewish, warm and outgoing. But it also took a call from Gary Ulrich of Maccabi Canada who mentioned that he knew the Kricksteins from their golf club in Boca Raton, and that Morgan would enjoy meeting members of the Jewish community in Ottawa.

Not being a big fan of golf, I called David Ross and asked if he knew of Morgan Pressel and whether he thought people would want to come and meet her. David’s response was immediate. He certainly did know of her and offered his home for the

welcome reception. Thankfully, David’s wife, Julie took over from that point and the evening was perfect.

Morgan and her grandparents were gracious with everyone, posing for as many pictures as were asked for and signing anything that was presented to them.

During the evening, Gary Ulrich said a few words on behalf of Maccabi Canada and Bob Wener, a volunteer on the executive of the Soloway Jewish Community Centre, welcomed Morgan and the Kricksteins on behalf of the community. We presented her grandparents with a framed, personalized photo of the Parliament Buildings, and Morgan received a book filled with photos of Ottawa and signed with good wishes from the evening’s guests.

As well, donations were made on Morgan’s behalf to Maccabi Canada – to offset the cost of participants from Ottawa attending the games in Israel in 2009 – and to breast cancer research.

I had read about how Morgan was looked up to by many young female golfers and one of the highlights of the evening was when a 10-year-old golfer named Grace was speechless in meeting her. Morgan made Grace feel like she was another female golfer chatting at an LPGA gathering.

When I dropped Morgan and her grandparents at their hotel, they told me that it was the nicest reception they have ever received in any city. They said it was like spending an evening with family and friends and wanted to thank everyone for the reception.

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008 – Page 31

Temple Israel Religious School 1301 Prince of Wales Drive Ottawa, Ontario K2C 1N2 613-224-1802; fax 613-224-0707 School 613-224-3133 execdir@templeisraelottawa.ca New members of Temple Israel can enrol their child in Kindergarten or Grade 1 for half the school fee; K and Gr. 1 fee is $893, new members can enrol their child for only $446 for this year.

AJA50+ members enjoy an active summer of golf.

AJA 50+ to kick off eighth year of programs

By Estelle Melzer AJA 50+ Active Jewish Adults (AJA) 50+ will kick off its eighth program year at Registration Day on Wednesday, September 3 from 11:00 am until 2:00 pm at the Soloway Jewish Community Centre (JCC). At 1:00 pm real estate agent Anne Steinberg will give a talk, Condo Buying, Condo Living: Is It Right for You? Steinberg is a native Ottawan well known for her love of singing and for her successful real estate career.

“Understanding the needs of my clients and how their lives will be impacted by their real estate decisions is the most important element of my work,” she said.

Many AJA 50+ members are now considering downsizing and wondering if a condo is the right next step for them. Steinberg will discuss the many issues to consider, explain the pros and cons and answer questions.

“We thought this would be a valuable topic to explore because we know there is a lot of interest in condos among our contemporaries,” explained AJA 50+ co-president Sonja Kesten. “Understanding and filling the needs of the 50-plus population is the raison d’être of our organization.”

AJA 50+ is a grassroots, volunteer-driven organization with more than 500 members dedicated to providing relevant social, recreational, health and educational programming for the large and growing segment of the Ottawa Jewish community over the age of 50.

A highlight of the fall programs is the VIP Brunch, to be held on September 14, featuring Martin Rudner, founding director of the Canadian Intelligence and Security Studies. He will address the topic, Canada and the Challenges of Global Security. This

event will be held at the Penthouse of the Crowne Plaza and is open to both members and non-members, but with limited seating.

Ever popular is the annual Bridge and Mah Jongg Fundraiser being held October 29 at Agudath Israel. This event includes lunch and prizes.

Other fall offerings include lectures and tours at the National Art Gallery given by art historians; The Joy of Singing; health and wellness lectures and an Antiques Roadshow.

Ongoing weekly programs run by members include Jews in Music; Current Events and Lyman’s Classic Movies. Drop-In Bridge and Drop-In Mah Jongg offer a weekly challenge and chance to socialize and there are computer courses taught by members to members. This fall, there will be a wide array of classes to upgrade members’ skills.

In addition, AJA 50+, together with the Soloway JCC, runs Creative Connections for older members. It takes place on Tuesdays and provides a full day of activities including gentle fitness, lectures, music, holiday celebrations and most important of all, connection.

“Our programming is always evolving as we try to respond to the needs of our members and we encourage suggestions and feedback,” comments programming cochair Cecily Bregman.

If you are looking for stimulating programming and new outlets for social interaction, then you’re invited to participate in AJA 50+ programs and activities.

Drop by on Registration Day, Wednesday, September 3, and see what AJA 50+ has to offer.

For more information about AJA 50+, call 613-798-9818 ext. 309 or e-mail aja50plus@sympatico.ca.

3rd and 4th children attend at no charge, when 1st and 2nd children are in school.

Kindergarten to Grade 10.

Grade 9 to Grade 12 Senior Youth group (FROSTY).

Morah Penny with the Grade 2s

✡ ✡ ✡

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Temple Israel, a 21st century Reform community.

Temple Israel Religious School honours our ancient Jewish roots and tradition.

Temple Israel Religious School honours the Reform commitment to seeing Judaism through the everchanging lens of modernity.

Temple Israel Religious School honours Jewish worship with exciting music and liturgy.

Temple Israel Religious School honours Jewish study of the most ancient and the current.

Temple Israel honours the most precious of Jewish gifts, its children.

Page 32 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008

Made with Love

It’s better on the Big Rideau Last month, we made our annual trek to Muskoka to visit our good friends. We stopped on the way to have dinner at another friend’s cottage on Lake Joseph.

If you have ever been to the Muskoka region, you know that what they call ‘cottages,’ the rest of us would call summer homes. Many have boathouses bigger than most people’s cottages. The little towns of Port Carling and Port Sandfield both have clothing boutiques that sell Prada and Dolce & Gabbana. There is a specialty store that sells only yoga wear. The gourmet grocery markets sell organic meats and produce as well as every type of salsa, pesto, tapenade, boxed cracker or flatbread you can imagine.

Near my cottage on the Big Rideau is the town of Portland. We have an LCBO and Portland Foodland. Our market sells cello-wrapped fruits and vegetables that are sometimes past their prime.

Everything is bigger in Muskoka. But, as I soon learned, more and bigger is not always better. After touring our friend’s property and boathouse on Lake Joseph, we had an amazing dinner of lamb chops and garlic mashed potatoes.

Then we said ‘goodnight’ and drove to our other friends’ place on Lake Muskoka. By this time, we were exhausted.

So we chatted for a few minutes and then fell into bed.

Spinach Salad with Strawberries and Poppy Seed Dressing 1 bag or box of baby spinach 1 quart strawberries 1/4 cup sugar 1 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds 1/4 teaspoon paprika 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1/4 cup raspberry vinegar 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1/2 cup spiced nuts (recipe below) Wash and spin-dry baby spinach.

Place all dressing ingredients in a jar. Securely screw on lid and shake well.

Wash strawberries, cut off tops and slice.

Lightly dress spinach leaves with a few tablespoons of dressing. Remaining dressing will keep in fridge for several weeks.

Arrange dressed spinach on platter. Scatter sliced strawberries and spiced nuts over top. Serve.

Around 4:00 am, I woke up with a stiff neck. It really hurt to turn my head. Ordinarily, I am not a hypochondriac, but I have a tendency to imagine the worst in the wee hours of the morning. So I diagnosed myself with meningitis. I figured if it was bacterial meningitis, I had a few hours until the bacteria multiplied and entered my cerebrospinal fluid. So there was no need to wake Roger or our hosts. I could safely wait until the morning. Shortly after dawn, I reported my symptoms to Roger. He lifted my ponytail to examine my neck and let out a scream.

I had over 24 insect bites on my neck. My girlfriend came running to see what was going on. She said they were black fly bites. I must have been bitten while outside touring our friend’s boathouse. Muskoka was overrun with them this season. Apparently, they only like women, their favourite place to nibble is on the neck, and you don’t feel them biting.

Black flies are the vampires of the insect world. Who knew? We only have garden-variety mosquitoes in the Rideau Lakes region. She prescribed two extra-strength Benadryl capsules and lay me down on the screen porch where the vampires could not find me.

By 10:30 am, I was fast asleep. Several hours later, I

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Warm Potato Salad I like to mix red and white mini potatoes when I make this salad. If I can find the mini purple ones, I add those as well. It’s really beautiful. Do not be alarmed by the two tablespoons of salt that go into the potato cooking water.

It is important to season the water very well. There is no additional salt added to the salad. Slicing the potatoes, before cooking eliminates those torn raggedy skins you always get if you cut the potatoes after cooking.

Serves 4

Makes 3 cups These spiced nuts are wonderful served on their own as a snack or sprinkled in salads. Do not attempt to make them on a very humid day as they will not dry out properly and will be very sticky after baking.

3 cups pecan halves 1/4 cup sugar 4 teaspoons kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or more if you like it really spicy) 1 egg white Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a small bowl, mix together sugar, salt, black and cayenne peppers and set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl lightly beat egg white with a whisk until frothy. Add cooled pecans and toss until evenly coated. Add spice mixture and toss until well coated.

Spread evenly on parchment lined baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow them to cool thoroughly. Break apart nut clusters and store in airtight container at room temperature.

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woke up, and pesticides be damned, sprayed myself from head to toe with insect repellent and joined in the fun.

Despite the healthy insect population, we had a great visit in Muskoka. As usual, we were wined and dined to perfection. My girlfriend was generous enough to share some of her recipes with me and I’m passing them along to you.

Spiced Nuts

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2 pounds mini potatoes, washed but not peeled, cut into 1/4-inch thick slices 2 tablespoons kosher salt 1 1/2 tablespoons champagne or white wine vinegar 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 3 stalks celery, peeled and diced 1 large shallot, finely diced 2 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped Place potatoes, 6 cups cold tap water and salt in large saucepan; bring to boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium. Continue to simmer potatoes, uncovered, until tender but still firm (thin bladed paring knife can be slipped into and out of centre of potato slice with no resistance), about 5 minutes. Drain potatoes. Arrange hot potatoes close together in single layer on rimmed baking sheet.

In a small bowl, whisk together champagne vinegar, olive oil and black pepper. Drizzle the dressing over warm potatoes and let sit for 10 minutes so that the warm potatoes have time to absorb the dressing.

Transfer potatoes to a serving bowl and gently mix in diced celery, shallot and chives. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008 – Page 33

Picture books based on Jewish Legends One of the pleasures of reviewing Jewish kid lit is the constant learning that is an essential part of the job.

Whether it’s a new and interesting way to tell an old story or a Jewish legend that I’d never heard of being the basis for a new story, the excitement of learning and enjoying is palpable. Such was the case for the following picture books based on Jewish legends.

Kid Lit Deanna Silverman

The Wedding That Saved a Town

By Yale Strom Illustrated by Jenya Prosmitsky Kar-Ben Publishing 2008 32 pages. Ages 5-10 The very notion that a wedding can save a town is far out, even for shtetl stories. Yet Jewish tradition presumably claims that if a calamity, such as a cholera epidemic, befalls a town, a miracle can occur and the townspeople can be saved if, and only if, a “shvartze chasene – a black wedding,” takes place. The bride and groom for a black wedding must be orphans and the ceremony must occur in a cemetery.

That, then, is the premise for The Wedding That Saved a Town. Add Reb Yiske, leader of a klezmer band and his wise horse Fairdy, a telegram summoning the klezmorim to play at a wedding in Pinsk, and the fun begins.

There is only one small problem. Although Rabbi Yamferd has lined up an orphan bride and the townspeople are eagerly preparing for the wedding, there is no groom. “Oy. Oy. Oy,” as the hapless barber is wont to say. Yiske and Fairdy, with the barber as their adviser, are determined to find a worthy orphan groom. They find success on their third try.

As for this magical way to end a cholera epidemic: in a lively picture storybook anything is possible. The full colour illustrations are as appropriately outlandish as the story itself with a good time being had by all at The Wedding That Saved a Town.

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The Princess and the Ziz

By Jacqueline Jules Illustrated by Katherine Janus Kahn Kar-Ben Publishing 2008 32 pages. Ages 3-7 The fourth book in the Ziz series about a mythical, supersized, lovable, klutzy, child-like bird, The Princess and the Ziz incorporates the theme of jealousy and making things right in a dryly humorous story about friendship and love.

Because King Solomon doesn’t want his daughter, Magda, to marry the wrong man, he locks her in a tower on an island. Then the king worries that she may feel lonely.

What to do? Send the Ziz to keep her company, of course.

The Ziz is delighted to take on such an important job and is determined to do his utmost to keep Magda entertained and happy. But what can a giant bird do? Fly her wherever she wants to go.

Day after day, they share adventures. As they visit the jungle, the pyramids and the penguins, the princess and the Ziz become close friends. One day, they see a young man falling from a rocky cliff. The Ziz catches the young man in mid-air and lands on a mountain top.

The princess and the young man, a scribe from Acco, hit it off immediately, much to the distress of the jealous Ziz. When will the young couple meet again? Never, if the Ziz

By Jacqueline Jules; illustrated by Katherine Janus Kahn

has his way. He lies to the princess, claiming he can’t remember where they left the young man.

When King Solomon learns that Magda is unhappy and why, he orders the Ziz to bring the young man to the princess. The result: love, marriage and lots of children who love playing with their friend, the Ziz. Whimsical illustrations exaggerate all aspects of The Princess and the Ziz as the Ziz’s bold yellow, red, green and orange colours are mirrored throughout the tale making for a delightful collaboration between the writer and illustrator.

Page 34 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008

A French priest’s Holocaust mission The Holocaust by Bullets: A Priest’s Journey to Uncover the Truth Behind the Murder of 1.5 Million Jews

By Father Patrick Desbois Palgrave Macmillan Hardcover, 2008 272 pages Polina Katsenko, a Red Army nurse, recalled a report she wrote after Auschwitz was liberated: “Where we come from, the Nazis machine-gun the Jews, but in the West they kill them in camps.”

From the perspective of the slaughterers, whatever the method used, the story is always the same: an orderly killing machine at work on a regular basis; efficient, effective and ruthless. Hannah Arendt, noting that for Eichmann, the Holocaust was an every day routine of business as usual, coined the term “the banality of evil.”

Through the recollections of Ukrainians in their 70s and older, Father Patrick Desbois directly recreates vivid memories of the killings of local Jews, often neighbors or schoolmates, that they witnessed, mainly as children or teenagers.

A story of four victims who had somehow escaped the first executions by the einsatzgrupppen (task forces) is told by a very old woman on her deathbed. She was a young mother at the time.

“The Gestapo was living with us. They had requisitioned the house. One day I was

Book Review Saul Silverman in the garden … behind the entrance gate, and I saw in the distance a Jewish woman coming on foot with her three small children. She was going from house to house to beg for food. I ran as fast as I could to tell them not to stop at our house. The head of the Gestapo saw me from the window; he opened the door and started coming after me. When the Jewish woman was in front of us with her children, he shouted out to them in a loud voice: ‘Juden?’ The woman nodded yes. Then he got out his pistol and shot them, right there, in front of my door.”

Desbois uses the word ‘assassinations’ to categorize this aspect of the Shoah. A few Jews, a few dozen at a time, hundreds, thousands – behind the routine, the settings and the incidents varied. An old man recalls that as a child his family’s farmhouse was on the far edge of open fields that ended in a forest. He was woken for months by the sound of shots. For some reason, the Germans did their killings there at night. Desbois’ team, using metal detectors to find bullets, estimated that thousands had been killed in that field.

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Desbois was born in a small village near Paris in 1955. None of his family was Jewish. They were Christians and secularists and ran a small butcher shop. His maternal grandmother helped refugees during the war: “Why should I have asked them, whether they were Jewish?” she told him.

Three of his relatives, had been French prisoners of war. All three had been punished by being sent to punitive centers, often part of concentration camps. One died at Matthausen, another returned with tuberculosis from Dachau. His grandfather was sent to the Rawa Ruska punitive camp, near Lvov, in the Ukraine.

At Rawa Ruska, the grandfather said, it was bad for the prisoners, but worse for “the others.”

This was the germ of Desbois’ dedication to investigating the details of the Holocaust in the Ukraine. Later, he found German documentation that French prisoners from Rawa Ruska were compelled to dig the long trenches in which the Jews of the area were killed.

Desbois, the secretary of the French Bishops’ Commission on Relations with the Jews, carefully documented his findings in the Ukraine, using an accumulation of convergent site-specific evidence: the testimonies of witnesses, detailed work in the German and Russian archives, and physical evidence (use of metal detectors to count bullets, location of graves, and, under the guidance of Orthodox rabbis, limited excavation of mass graves).

This book was emotionally difficult, more so than anything else I have read.

Desbois makes you feel that you are in the midst of what is happening, experiencing

horrors that you would like to erase from your memory. But Desbois himself states why we have to keep our face turned to witness this horror and to see it not simply as a huge statistic of inhumanity, pigeonholed as past history, but in specific detail, as part of contemporary in-your-face reality.

“Terror is part of the strategy of those who commit genocide. Like predators, they create ways of petrifying their victims before killing them…If sixty years later, we allow ourselves to be terrified as well…we are allowing the people of the Third Reich, who perpetuated genocide, an additional victory. Terror can immobilize thought and awareness, and hinder the ability to remain responsible, confrontational and strong in front of the perpetuation of genocide.”

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008 – Page 35

FOUNDATION DONATIONS A gift forever

Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation Donations To make a donation and/or send a tribute card, call Carolene Preap (613-798-4696 ext. 232) e-mail: cpreap@jewishottawa.com • website: www.OJCF.ca

Join us in building our community by supporting these local agencies GREENBERG FAMILIES LIBRARY ENDOWMENT FUND Mazal Tov to: Helen and Rick Zipes on the birth of their grandchildren by Barry Walfish and Adele Reinhartz.

HILLEL ACADEMY ENDOWMENT FUND Mazal Tov to: Stephen and Wendy Waxman on Jodi’s marriage

by Diane Koven.

HILLEL LODGE LEGACY FUND In memory of: Sidney Lithwick by Anita Dubinsky; by Laurie, Carol, Byron and Noah Pascoe; by Bernie and Donna Dolansky.

Jean Zackon by Dorothy Nadolny.

Moses (Chuck) Skulsky by Mottie and Claire Feldman; by Bonnie Feldman.

Mazal Tov to: Freda Lithwick on her 90th birthday by Eileen Goldberg.

Arnie and Sarah Swedler on their 50th wedding anniversary by Marilyn and Bill Newman.

JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Myer Vexler by Dorothy Nadolny.

Martin Ginsburg by Dorothy Nadolny.

OTTAWA POST JEWISH WAR VETERANS FUND Special birthday wishes to: Freda Lithwick by Sylvia and Sol Kaiman.

GABY SASSOON FOR VICTIMS OF TERROR IN ISRAEL MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Danny and Aynat Haran by Maureen and Jeff Katz.

Rose Litwack by Maureen and Jeff Katz.

Gaby Sassoon by Maureen and Jeff Katz.

Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser by Maureen and Jeff Katz.

Mazal Tov to: Jeff and Maureen Katz on their double chai wedding anniversary by Carol and Laurie Pascoe.

SARA AND ZEEV VERED ISRAEL CULTURAL PROGRAM FUND In memory of: Zeev Vered by Shirley Steinberg.

SOLOWAY JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTRE ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Dolores Ridewood by David and Jackie Lyman.

Mazal Tov to: Ken and Tina Ages on the birth of their daughter

by David and Jackie Lyman.

The Board of Directors of the Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation acknowledges with thanks contributions to the following funds as of August 5, 2008.

ROSE AND LOUIS ACHBAR MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Norman Raskin by Zelda Freedman.

FRANCEEN AND STANLEY AGES ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Joseph Ages by Elizabeth Siegel; and by Martin and Frayda Nadel.

JOSEPH AGES FAMILY FUND In memory of: Joseph Ages by David Gavsie; and by Patrick Whelan.

Mazal tov to: Ken and Tina Ages and Family on the birth of their daughter and sister by Jack and Sarah Silverstein and family.

Stuart and Leila Ages and Family on the birth of their niece and cousin by Jack and Sarah Silverstein and family.

Stan and Fran Ages and Bonnie Ages on the birth of their granddaughter and niece by Jack and Sarah Silverstein and family.

AJA 50+ ENDOWMENT FUND Mazal tov to: Norman and Elaine Wolfish on the birth of their granddaughter by Graham and Ricarda Smith.

SOLOWAY JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTRE YOUTH SERVICES FUND Mazal Tov to: Jack and Helaine Gould on the Issac’s marriage

by Diane Koven.

MARY AND ISRAEL (AL) ALLICE MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Myer Vexler by Bev and Irving Swedko.

TORAH ACADEMY OF OTTAWA TORAH EDUCATION FUND In memory of: Moe Babins by Zischa and Lauren Shaps.

APPOTIVE FAMILY ENDOWMENT FUND Anniversary wishes to: Edith and Dave Appotive (66th) by Fruma, Carolyn, Stephen, Enid, Karl, Eric and Families.

In memory of: Ida Gaffen by Carolyn and Stephen Appotive.

AKIVA EVENING HIGH SCHOOL ENDOWMENT FUND SHIRLEY AND SHIER BERMAN FUND FOR OTTAWA JEWISH ARCHIVES MENDEL AND VALERIE GOOD HOLOCAUST CONTINUING EDUCATION FUND HY HOCHBERG MEMORIAL LECTURE FUND JEWISH COMMUNITY CEMETERY HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL 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 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 SOLOWAY JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTRE EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION FUND JEWISH MEN’S SOFTBALL LEAGUE FUND SOLOWAY JEWISH COMMUNITY SUMMER CAMP SCHOLARSHIP FUND YITZHAK RABIN HIGH SCHOOL FUND IN MEMORY OF EVA WINTHROP

ANNE AND LOUIS ARRON MEMORIAL FUND Mazal Tov to: Alyce and Allan Baker on the birth of their grandchildren by Daphne and Stanley Arron.

In memory of: Sylvia Molot by Daphne and Stanley Arron.

ALYCE AND ALLAN BAKER FAMILY FUND Mazal Tov to: Alyce and Allan Baker on becoming grandparents by Libby and Stan Katz; by Barb, Len, Steven, and Michael Farber; by Emily, Sarah and David Aaron; and by Rena and Max Cohen.

RICKI AND BARRY BAKER ENDOWMENT FUND Mazal Tov to: Alyce and Allan Baker on becoming grandparents by Ricki and Barry Baker.

Helen and Rick Zipes on becoming grandparents by Ricki and Barry Baker.

Elaine and Norman Wolfish on the birth of their granddaughter by Ricki and Barry Baker.

Stan and Fran Ages on the birth of their granddaughter by Ricki and Barry Baker.

ABRAHAM AND RACHEL BAROOK MEMORIAL FUND Mazal Tov to: Celia and Ron Goldstein on the birth of their granddaughter by Cynthia and Max Weinstein.

MYRNA AND NORMAN BARWIN FOUNDATION OF THE PINCHAS ZUKERMAN MUSICAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND In memory of: Sidney Lithwick by Myrna and Norman Barwin.

Myer Vexler by Myrna and Norman Barwin.

Birthday wishes to: Pinchas Zukerman by Myrna and Norman Barwin.

Hy Calof by Myrna and Norman Barwin.

Norman Barwin (70th) by Sidney and Sandra Barwin; and by Evelyn Greenberg and family.

CAYLA AND MICHAEL BAYLIN ENDOWMENT FUND Congratulations to: Manny Gluck on his 80th birthday by Cayla and Michael Baylin.

Philippa and Marvin on their “rêve de chine” by Cayla and Michael Baylin.

IRVING AND ESTHER BELLMAN MEMORIAL FUND Birthday wishes to: Seymour Bellman by Vivian and Gina Rakoff.

Condolences to: Rabbi and Mrs. David Hayes on the loss of a beloved father by Mitchell Bellman and Nicola Hammer.

JAMIE BEREZIN ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Ida Gaffen by Susan and Frank Danoff.

ALEX AND MOLLIE BETCHERMAN MEMORIAL FUND Birthday wishes to: Mark Barish by Bonnie Greenberg.

SAM AND ANNE BROZOVSKY ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Jean Zackon by Ann Brozovsky.

TILLIE AND HARRY CHERM MEMORIAL FUND Birthday wishes to: Morris Kimmel by Sol and Sylvia Kaiman.

Nancy Kosiner by Donald and Robert Cherm.

Mel Swey by Donald and Robert Cherm; and by Sol and Sylvia Kaiman.

Mazal Tov to: Sally and Harry on the birth of their great-granddaughter by Sol and Sylvia Kaiman.

In memory of: Martin Ginsburg by Sol and Sylvia Kaiman.

ARTHUR AND LINDA COGAN FUND FOR YOUNG WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP In memory of: Myer Vexler by Arthur and Linda Cogan.

Ida Gaffen by Arthur and Linda Cogan.

Dorothy Nodleman by Arthur and Linda Cogan.

Best wishes to: Ethel Taylor by Arthur and Linda Cogan.

Kaysa and Alfred Friedman on Michael’s wedding by Arthur and Linda Cogan.

Gordon and Margo Roston on the birth of their grandson by Arthur and Linda Cogan.

Cayla and Michael Baylin on the marriage of their daughter Lisa by Arthur and Linda Cogan.

Alyce and Allan Baker on the birth of their twin grandchildren by Arthur and Linda Cogan.

SID AND BARBARA COHEN COMMUNITY ENDOWMENT FUND Anniversary wishes to: Sid and Barbara Cohen by Lilyan Philipp.

Birthday wishes to: Manny Gluck by Sid and Barbara Cohen Rose Taylor by Sid and Barbara Cohen Mazal Tov to: Alyce and Allan Baker on becoming twin grandparents by Sid and Barbara Cohen.

Arnie Vered on receivng the Gilbert Greenberg Distinguished Service Award by Sid and Barbara Cohen.

Speedy recovery to: Margie Kardash by Sid and Barbara Cohen.

In memory of: Zeev Vered by Sid and Barbara Cohen.

Continued on page 36

Page 36 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008

FOUNDATION DONATIONS DAVID AND QUEENIE COHEN MEMORIAL FUND In observance of the Yahrzeit of: A beloved mother, bubbie by David and Judith kalin.

SANDI AND EDDY COOK ENDOWMENT FUND Birthday wishes to : Steve Gordon by Sandi and Eddy Cook.

Chaim Borenstein by Sandi and Eddy Cook and family.

Avraham Iny by Sandi and Eddy Cook and family.

Best wishes to: Mrs. DaCosta by Sandi and Eddy Cook and family In memory of : Myer Vexler by Sandi and Eddy Cook.

Martin Ginsburg by Sandi and Eddy Cook and family.

Mazal Tov to: Sam and Susan Firestone on their 20th wedding anniversary by Sandi and Eddy Cook and family.

Stephen DaCosta on his retirement by Sandi and Eddy Cook and family MARTY AND TERRI DAVIS ISRAEL CHESED FUND Mazal Tov to: Terri and Marty Davis on their daughter’s marriage by Marion Silver, Alan Brass and family.

NATHAN AND REBA DIENER ENDOWMENT FUND Birthday wishes to: Naomi Diener by Reba Diener; and by John and Dayra Diener.

In memory of: Martin Ginsburg by John and Dayra Diener.

ELLEN AND RAHAMIM FATHI ENDOWMENT FUND Speedy recovery to: Rabbi Gary Kessler by Ellen and Ray Fathi and family.

MOSHE AND LILY FEIG ENDOWMENT FUND Mazal Tov to: Pam and Saul Ross on their 50th wedding anniversary by Lily Feig.

In memory of: Zeev Vered by Lily Feig.

LILLIAN (HITZIG) FEIN MEMORIAL FUND Speedy recovery to: Lee Raskin by Barbara and Gerald Thaw MARJORIE AND MICHAEL FELDMAN FAMILY FUND In memory of: Sintra Singh by Marjorie and Michael Feldman.

Mazal Tov to: Rick and Helen Zipes on the birth of their grandchildren by Marjorie and Michael Feldman.

In appreciation to: Michael and Marjorie Feldman by Marian, Boaz and Errol Feldman.

SAM AND SUSAN FIRESTONE ENDOWMENT FUND Anniversary wishes to: Susan and Sam Firestone by Joany and Andy Katz.

In memory of: Sidney Lithwick by Sam and Susan Firestone.

FLORENCE FAMILY MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Chuck Skulsky by A.L., Ann and Leanne Smith.

Sylvia Molot by A.L., Ann and Leanne Smith.

Ida Gaffen by A.L., Ann and Leanne Smith.

ABE AND SYLVIA FREEMAN FAMILY FUND Anniversary wishes to: Fina and Mel Groper by Sylvia Freeman.

ROZ AND STEVEN FREMETH FAMILY FUND In memory of: Sintra Singh by Rona Shaffran and Brian Tannenbaum.

Growing up and giving back For Lise and Mark Thaw, raising two children in a city they both grew up in has made them appreciate all that they have and inspired them to give back.

They have watched the steady growth and vitality of Ottawa’s Jewish community and feel it is of the utmost importance to find ways to give back and help their community.

The Thaws have established the “Lise and Mark Thaw Family Fund” as one way to give back to their community that is meaningful to them. Through their family fund, the Thaws are able to perform tzedakah in their family name each year when a disbursement is made from their fund. “Both our children established a B’nai Mitzvah fund using their own monies and we felt that we should also follow suit”.

It was difficult for Lise and Mark to choose one beneficiary agency for their fund as there are so many worthy agencies in the community to choose from, explained Mark.

The Thaw family’s passion towards building a successful and thriving community made choosing the Jewish Federation of Ottawa as the beneficiary agency for their family fund a logical choice for them.

It brings comfort to Lise and Mark in knowing that as the needs of the community change, they can adapt to those changes through their fund. “We want to ensure that

GILBOA/MAOZ FAMILY FUND In appreciation to: Ellen Waxman by Tal Gilboa.

Faye Goldman by Tal Gilboa and Eitan Maoz.

Norman Lesh.

Nathan Lang by Isabel and Norman Lesh.

A very dear Uncle, Abe Hanser by Isabel and Norman Lesh.

STAN AND LIBBY GLUBE FAMILY FUND Anniversary wishes to: Arlene and Norman Glube (40th) by Susan, Charles, Jaclyn and Paul Schwartzman.

HY AND PAULINE HOCHBERG ENDOWMENT FUND Birthday wishes to: Enid Bultz by Auntie Pauline Mazal Tov to: Michael Sklar on his acceptance to the University of Saskatchewan School of Medicine by Bubbie Pauline.

EVA, DIANE AND JACK GOLDFIELD MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Martin Ginsburg by Morley Goldfield and family.

JEFFREY AND ENID GOULD FAMILY FUND Birthday wishes to: Enid Gould by Sally and Morton Taller.

GREENBERG, HUTT, KONICK ENDOWMENT FUND Mazal Tov to: Alan Greenberg on his retirement by Rose and Morris Kronick.

IRVING AND SHIRLEY GREENBERG ENDOWMENT FUND Congratulations to: Shirley Greenberg on her daughter’s success by Anne Benedek and Geoff Matthews.

LAURA AND MILTON GREENBERG FAMILY FOUNDATION Mazal Tov to: Lilllian and Mark Zunder on their granddaughter’s Bat Mitzvah by Laura Greenberg.

MICHAEL GREENBERG MEMORIAL FUND Special birthday wishes to: Carol Greenberg by Stephen, Jocelyne, Lee, Jessica and Emma.

GROSSMAN KLEIN FAMILIES FUND In memory of: Zeev Vered by Vera Klein.

Linda Middleton by Vera Klein.

Mazal Tov to: Alyce and Allan Baker on becoming grandparents by Vera Klein.

R’fuah Shlemah to: Ethel Taylor by Vera Klein.

REBECCA AND CHARLES GUSSMAN MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Aunt Mindel by Tom Gussman.

HANSER FAMILY ENDOWMENT FUND In observance of the Yahrzeit of: A very dear Aunt, Annie Hanser Lang by Isabel and

Bryan, Mark, Alayna and Lise Thaw

our community continues to grow and that we support the excellent resources that have helped make this community what it is today”, replied Mark.

“Our family has been touched by many of these agencies,” says Mark. “Their continued survival is critical to the well-being of our community. I was brought up to believe that it is up to each one of us to ensure the community continues to thrive.”

Fulfilling your philanthropic goals through one of the various giving vehicles of the OJCF is only a phone call away. Call us at 613.798.4696 ext. 252 and start your legacy today. www.OJCF.ca

DOROTHY AND HY HYMES ENDOWMENT FUND Speedy recovery to: Mrs. Magidson by Dorothy and Hy Hymes.

Norman Torontow by Dorothy and Hy Hymes.

Ethel Taylor by Dorothy and Hy Hymes.

Anniversay wishes to: Sara and Arnie Swedler on their 50th wedding anniversary by Dorothy and Hy Hymes.

In memory of: Norman Raskin by Dorothy and Hy Hymes.

Sidney Lithwick by Dorothy and Hy Hymes.

JEREMY KANTER MEMORIAL FUND Speedy recovery to: Ethel Taylor by Evelyn and Lou Eisenberg.

Special birthday wishes to: Zelda Cohen by Evelyn and Lou Eisenberg.

MAX AND DORA KARP KAPINSKY MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Muriel Rosenberg by Ruth, Dana and Arthur Karp.

PINNEY AND LIBBY KARDASH ENDOWMENT FUND Anniversary wishes to: Iris and Max Richter (50th) by Sid and Cally Kardash.

SAMUEL AND TILLIE KARDISH MEMORIAL FUND In memory of Sylvia Molot by Cheryl Kardash-Levitan, Brian, Elana, Tyler and Ian Levitan.

BERTRAM L. KATZ MEMORIAL FUND Mazal Tov to: Arianne Robinson and Jeff Davis on their engagement by Carol and Larry Gradus.

Mr. and Mrs. John Robinson on Arianne’s engagement to Jeff by Carol and Larry Gradus.

LIBBY AND STAN KATZ FAMILY COMMUNITY ENDOWMENT FUND Anniversary wishes to: Libby and Stan Katz by Barbara and Len Farber, Andrew and Joany Katz, David and Cheryl Katz and Continued on page 37

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008 – Page 37

FOUNDATION DONATIONS family; and by Sally and Morton Taller.

Norman and Arlene Glube (40th) by Stan and Libby Katz.

KERSHMAN FAMILY ENDOWMENT FUND In appreciation to: Sylvia Kershman and family by Eva Hotimsky.

ARTHUR AND SARAH KIMMEL MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Neil Shapiro by Arnie and Roslyn Kimmel.

Myer Vexler by Dan and Marilyn Kimmel.

Martin Ginsburg by Dan and Marilyn Kimmel.

Sylvia Molot by Dan and Marilyn Kimmel.

R’Fuah Sh’lemah to: Marsha Magidson by Isabel and Norman Lesh.

SHARON KOFFMAN ATHLETIC SCHOLARSHIP FUND Speedy recovery to: Ethel Taylor by Fay Koffman.

KOVOD ENDOWMENT FUND Thank you to: David and Adele Loeb for a wonderful day by Max and Phyllis Sternthal.

In memory of: Sidney Lithwick by Solly and Felice Patrontasch.

SUSAN AND DAVID KRIGER ENDOWMENT FUND In observance of the Yahrzeit of: Shirley Movshovitz Kriger by Susan and David Kriger.

Judith Ain, mother of Susan Kriger by David and Susan Kriger.

In memory of: Ruth Ain’s mother by Susan and David Kriger.

Martin Ginsburg by Susan and David Kriger.

ISSIE AND EDITH LANDAU ENDOWMENT FUND Mazal Tov to: Mr. and Mrs. B. Rachlin on the birth of their new grandson by Edie Landau.

GOLDMAN/LANDAU FAMILY FUND In memory of: Steve Goldstein’s father by Mike Landau and Faye Goldman.

Rabbi David Monson by Edie Landau.

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

Mazal Tov to: Libby and Stan Katz on the occasion of their 58th wedding anniversary by Fran, Ivan and Carly Kesler.

Michael and Cayla Baylin on the occasion of their daughter’s wedding by Fran, Ivan and Carly Kesler.

David and Cheryl Katz on the occasion of their daughter, Lauren’s engagement by Fran, Ivan and Carly Kesler.

Anniversary wishes to: Ivan and Fran Kesler by Stan and Libby Katz.

HUGO AND RUTH DAVIS LEVENDEL MEMORIAL FUND Mazal Tov to: Morris and Margaret Zbar on the birth of their grandchild by Diane Koven.

RUTH AND RON LEVITAN ENDOWMENT FUND Mazal tov to: Arlene and Norman Glube on the occasion of their 40th wedding anniversary by Ron and Ruth Levitan.

Fran and Stan Ages on the birth of their granddaughter by Ron and Ruth Levitan.

In memory of: Jack Klein by Ron and Ruth Levitan.

SALLY AND ELLIOTT LEVITAN ENDOWMENT FUND R’fuah Sh’lemah to: Al Cohen by Sally and Elliott Levitan.

In memory of: Sylvia Molot by Sally and Elliott Levitan.

JOHN AND ESTELLE LIBERMAN ENDOWMENT FUND New Year wishes to: Sally and Elliott Levitan by Estelle and John Liberman.

IDA AND SIDNEY LITHWICK ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Sidney Lithwick by Bernard and Donna Dolansky; and by Barbara and Len Farber.

DAVID LOEB FAMILY FUND Anniversary wishes to: Phyllis and Max Sternthal by David and Adele Loeb.

Sid and Barbara Cohen by David and Adele Loeb.

SAMUEL AND LEEMA MAGIDSON ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Sidney Lithwick by Roz and Arnie Kimmel and family.

Sylvia Molot by Roz and Arnie Kimmel and family.

REUBEN AND SYLVIA MOLOT ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Sylvia Molot by Gita Kizell Pearl; by Chuck and Malca Polowin.

JACK AND HONEY MONSON ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Sidney Lithwick by Cecelia Levitan.

Martin Ginsburg by Cecelia Levitan.

Mazal Tov to: Sally and Harry Weltman on becoming great-grandparents by Cecelia Levitan.

AARON NAOR B’NAI MITZVAH FUND Mazal Tov to: Aaron Naor on his Bar Mitzvah by Judith and Jack Weinman; and by Neil, Bella, Hannah and Sheera Kraitberg.

PREHOGAN FAMILY FUND IN MEMORY OF AARON HARRY COHEN Anniversay wishes to: Jack and Ethel Prehogan (60th) by Carole, Rick, Jason, Randi and Jen Steinberg.

GERALD AND MARY-BELLE PULVERMACHER FAMILY ENDOWMENT FUND Birthday wishes to: Derrick Blumenthal (50th) by Mary-Belle and Gerry Pulvermacher.

In memory of: Dolores Ridewood by Mary-Belle and Gerry Pulvermacher.

PHYLLIS AND ALAN RACKOW ENDOWMENT FUND Birthday wishes to: Joseph Pagnutti by Alan and Phyllis Rackow.

JACOB AND LEAH RIVERS MEMORIAL FUND Mazal Tov to: Aubie Diamond on the marriage of Danny and Jennifer by Eileen Goldberg.

PINKUS AND YEHUDIT NEWMAN MEMORIAL FUND Birthday wishes to: Manny Gluck by Marilyn and Bill Newman.

HARRY AND BERTHA PLEET MEMORIAL FUND In observance of the Yahrzeit of: Harry Nathanson by Pinchas and Barbara Pleet.

ALTI AND BEREL RODAL FAMILY FUND Mazal Tov to: Herb Gray and Sharon Sholzberg-Gray, Elizabeth Continued on page 38

In Appreciation We wish to express our warmest appreciation to all our friends and members of the community for their generous donations and expressions of sympathy during the recent loss of Bella Cohen Gallaman, a loving wife, mother, sister, grandmother, aunt and friend.

Michael Gallaman; Aliza, Larry, Mitch, Sam & Robin Gauzas; Edward & Morris Cohen; Helene, Murray, Joshua, Lauren & Brandon Schwartz

In Appreciation To my family and friends, a very special thank you for all your donations to my foundation and good wishes on the occasion of my special birthday. Your thoughtfulness and generosity are very much appreciated. Please accept this as my personal thank you.

Fay Shulman

NORMAN AND ANNE MIRSKY MEMORIAL FUND Best wishes to: Freda Lithwick by Millie and Steve Mirsky.

Mazal Tov to: Millie and Stephen Mirsky on their 10th wedding anniversary by Rhea Wohl.

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Page 38 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008

FOUNDATION DONATIONS Gray and James Smith on the birth of Malka Molly by Berel and Alti Rodal.

Menachem and Shterna Rodal, Mordy and Sarale Rodal, Dvora Leah and Shimy Heidingsfeld on the birth and bris of Levi Yitzchak and of Yitzchak David by Berel and Alti Rodal.

Irwin and Ariella Cotler on the engagement of Tanya and Warren by Berel and Alti Rodal.

FLORENCE AND GDALYAH ROSENFELD ENDOWMENT FUND Birthday wishes to: Freda Lithwick by Florence and Gdalyah Rosenfeld.

Speedy recovery to: Mayna Slatt by Florence and Gdalyah Rosenfeld.

SAMUEL AND RUTH ROTHMAN MEMORIAL FUND Mazal Tov to: Rick and Helen Zipes on the birth of their grandchildren by Sue and Stephen Rothman and family.

Daniel Taylor on passing the Bar exam by Barbara Taylor.

ANNE AND IRVING SABRAN MEMORIAL FUND Mazal tov to: Sandra Fishbain on Jeffrey’s engagement to Barbara

by Rena and Max Cohen.

RAPHAËL SANDLER B’NAI MITZVAH FUND Mazal Tov to: Raphaël Sandler on his Bar Mitzvah by Neil, Bella Hannah and Sheera Kaitberg.

RICKIE AND MARTIN SASLOVE FAMILY FUND R’fuah Sh’lemah to: Ethel Taylor by Rickie and Martin Saslove.

Mazal Tov to: Leiba Krantzberg on becoming vice-president of B’nai Brith Canada by Rhoda and Jeff Miller Jack and Sheila Presser on the engagement of their daughter, Bonnie by Rhoda and Jeff, Howard and Sara.

ELAYNE AND WESLEY SCHACTER ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Al Manes by Elayne and Wesley Schacter and family; and by Joanne Shinwell and Irwin Igra and family.

CLARE AND MAURICE SCHWARTZ FUND Birthday wishes to: Freda Lithwick (90th) by Julia Schwartz and Gilbert Bismuth.

In memory of: Sylvia Molot by Julia Schwartz and Gilbert Bismuth.

HAROLD SHAFFER MEMORIAL FUND Birthday wishes to: Sheila Baslaw by Rhea, Frances and Dorothy.

In memory of: Myer Vexler by Frances Shaffer.

SYLVIA AND HARRY SHERMAN MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Casey White by Barbara and Sy Gutmajer.

HERB GRAY AND SHARON SHOLZBERG-GRAY FAMILY FUND Birthday wishes to: Berel Rodal by Sharon and Herb Gray.

FAY AND JOSEPH SHULMAN ENDOWMENT FUND Birthday wishes to: Fay Shulman on her 85th birthday by Ilse Lutzow; by Sarah and Maurice Rak; by Adrienne, Chuck, Zachary and Dahlia Shabsove; by Tracey Kronick and Alan Abelson; and by Roz and Steven Fremeth.

JACK AND SARAH SILVERSTEIN FAMILY ENDOWMENT FUND Condolences to: Rabbi and Mrs. David Hayes on the loss of a beloved father by Jack and Sarah Silverstein and family.

LOUIS AND STELLA SLACK MEMORIAL FUND Birthday wishes to: Myra Aronson by Barbie and Lenny Farber.

Mazal Tov to: Steffi and Tom Hirschen on their 40th wedding anniversary by Myra and Lester Aronson.

MOE AND CHARLOTTE SLACK MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Myer Vexler by Marlene Vexler.

LAURA AND GORDON SPERGEL ENDOWMENT FUND Birthday wishes to: Gordon Spergel by Rose and Morris Konick.

VICTOR AND SHIRLEY STEINBERG ENDOWMENT FUND Mazal Tov to: Ian and Estelle Melzer on the marriage of their daughter, Rachel and their son’s engagement by Shirley Steinberg.

DORIS AND RICHARD STERN FAMILY FUND In memory of: Don Boyaner by Doris and Richard Stern.

Sylvia Molot by Doris and Richard Stern.

Condolences to: The Satov family by Doris and Richard Stern.

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

JAY B. TALLER MEMORIAL FUND Anniversary wishes to: Sally and Morton Taller by Stan and Libby Katz; and

by Bev and Bernie Zaifman In memory of: Moe Babins by Sally and Morton Taller CHARLES AND RAE TAVEL MEMORIAL FUND Congratulations to: Juan Carlos Alzate on completing his residency by Lilyan Philipp.

IRVING AND ETHEL TAYLOR ENDOWMENT FUND Mazal Tov to: Ethel and Irving Taylor on their granddaughters’ achievements, Shira, Stephanie and Jennifer by Marilyn and Bill Newman.

Thinking of: Ethel Taylor by Edie Landau.

R’Fuah Sh’lemah and speedy recovery to: Ethel Taylor by Ruth and Myron Poplove; by Adrienne and Chuck Shabsove.

RUTH AND JOSEPH VINER ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Sylvia Molot by Joe and Ruth Viner.

Martin Ginsburg by Joe and Ruth Viner.

HAZE WAINBERG FAMILY FUND Birthday wishes to: Hy Reinish on his 75th birthday by Haze Wainberg and Merv Blostein.

Tom Gussman on his 65th birthday by Haze Wainberg and Merv Blostein.

JUSTIN WAKTER MITZVAH FUND Birthday wishes to: Norean Taller by Sally and Morton Taller.

Semyon Ioffe and Liz Petigorsky on their upcoming marriage by Rick and Helen Zipes.

In memory of: Richard Alexander MacLeod by Rick and Helen Zipes.

Myer Vexler by Rick and Helen Zipes.

R’Fuah Sh’lmeah to: Siggy Rajman by Rick and Helen Zipes.

KAREN AND IAN ZUNDER FAMILY FUND Anniversary wishes to: Arnold and Sarah Swedler (50th) by Ian and Karen Zunder.

THE SAUL AND EDNA GOLDFARB B’NAI MITZVAH PROGRAM

MIRIAM AND LOUIS WEINER ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Sidney Lithwick by Miriam and Louis Weiner.

Sylvia Molot by Miriam and Louis Weiner.

RYAN JEREMY BAKER B’NAI MITZVAH FUND In memory of: Myer Vexler by Beatrice and Moe Lesser and family.

Liza Citron by Steven and Benita Baker.

MILDRED AND PERCY WEINSTEIN ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Pearl Cooper by Mildred Weinstein.

Birthday wishes to: Weldon Levine by Mildred Weinstein.

JORDAN SAMUEL FINN B’NAI MITZVAH FUND In memory of: Sidney Lithwick by Sharon and Paul Finn and family.

Mazal Tov to: Helen and Rick Zipes on becoming grandparents by Sharon and Paul Finn.

HALTON/WEISS FAMILY FUND In honour of: Lauren Weiss confirmation from Temple Israel by Mom and Dad. Josh Weiss graduation from McGill Bachelor of Science by Mom and Dad. Jess Weiss acceptance to the University of Ottawa Law School by Mom and Dad. R’fauh Shlemah to: Ethel Taylor by Debbie and Ron Weiss.

In memory of: Leah Finkelstein by Debbie and Ron Weiss.

Zeev Vered by Debbie and Ron weiss Mazal Tov to: Arnie Vered on receiving the Gilbert Greenberg Award by Debbie and Ron Weiss.

RYAN GOLDBERG B’NAI MITZVAH FUND Birthday wishes to: Bram Potechin by Aunt Mary and Uncle Len. In memory of: Rabbi David Monson by Len and Mary Potechin.

IRVING AND DIANE WEXLER FAMILY FUND Mazal Tov to: Diane Wexler on the birth of her great-granddaughter

by Sandy Marchello.

Michael and Muriel Wexler on the birth of their granddaughter by Sandy Marchello.

ZIPES KARANOFSKY FAMILY ENDOWMENT FUND Mazal Tov to: Helen and Rick Zipes on the birth of their grandchildren by Sherri and Jack Torjman and family; by Barb and Len Farber; by Steven and Elizabeth Rubin; and by Howard and Deborah Kebs.

Steve Ducat and Josée Boutin on the birth of their son by Rick and Helen Zipes.

CAROL AND LAWRENCE (LORRY) GREENBERG FUND Birthday wishes to: Carol Greenberg by Elissa and Avraham Iny; and by Sunny and John Tavel.

STACEY SAMANTHA KATZ B’NAI MITZVAH FUND In memory of: Sidney Lithwick by Joany and Andy Katz.

SAMUEL JOSEPH LESH B’NAI MITZVAH FUND In memory of: Dolores Ridewood by Isabel and Norman Lesh.

JONATHAN, MATTHEW AND ADAM SHERMAN B’NAI MITZVAH FUND In memory of: Casey White by Dr. Stanley and Norma Goldstein.

Contributions may be made online at www.OJCF.ca or by contacting Carolene Preap at 613-798-4696 extension 232, Monday to Friday. We have voice mail. Our e-mail address is donation@ojcf.ca. 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.

Bulk packages of Tribute Cards available at the OJCF!

ELIZABETH AND ARNON VERED FAMILY COMMUNITY FUND In memory of: Martin Ginsburg by Arnie and Liz Vered.

Zeev Vered by Donna and Josh Cohen and family.

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

SARA AND ZEEV VERED ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Zeev Vered by David Gavsie; by Zahava and Barry Farber; by Marilyn and Bill Newman; by Yvonne and Harvey Lithwick and family; and by Ruth and Myron Poplove.

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STEPHEN AND GAIL VICTOR ENDOWMENT FUND Mazal Tov to: Stephen and Gail Victor on the birth of their grandson

by Dan and Marilyn Kimmel.

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613.798.4696. extension 274

www.OJCF.ca

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008 – Page 39

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I can find true love, any drug I want, purses, casinos, enhanced personal qualities – all for a very low price.

I know when I look in the mirror in the morning, I sometimes feel the need for self-improvement, but none of these amazing offers gives me the opportunity to access more brains or high culture.

“Click here for some fantastic views of paintings by Renoir!” Now that’s a message I could appreciate. All I get is access to views of Britney Spears in a thong – or worse.

Sometimes, these mass marketers pretend to be visitors to the site leaving comments like “Great site with interesting content. Come visit me at Mistressofdarkness.com.”

This personal comment comes in the form of a mass mailing. So, apparently, the mistress of darkness is saying exactly the same nice thing on every web site on the World Wide Web. Am I supposed to be so impressed that someone finally commented on something I wrote that I completely ignore the return address? For sure.

And when I get phone calls from charities or free offers to go on a Caribbean cruise, why is it always when I am eating supper? Are there cameras watching me so that all the

telemarketers know when I am home?

My main tactic has started to be denial. No there is no one by that name here. Since so many of the calls ask for Robin Fried-(as in fried chicken)-man, I feel like I’m not lying.

My cell phone number is only one digit different from the number of a car parts service in Ottawa. Instead of referring them to the right place the next time some one calls to ask if I have a transmission for a 1998 Mercedes, I’ll tell them to come right in and ask for Bill.

So I am already getting unsolicited calls on my home and cell phones. Now the cell phone companies are going to charge me for receiving unwanted text messages! It’s as if television broadcasters started to charge you for receiving commercials. No thanks! And I’ll hesitate to put myself on the proposed No Call List. I have the feeling that I will end up on the No Fly List instead.

Lately, I have been getting spam that makes no sense. It looks like it is text lifted from many sources, pasted together and dotted with hyperlinks to things like seestallonenaked.com. Sometimes, it has a strange hypnotic quality where you can almost figure out what it means – like a difficult-to-decode message from another universe. Here is a small sample where all I have done is insert punctuation and put it into lines. See what I mean? It could just about be a poem!

March of the Bagels How do we know we’re eating a bagel – a real bagel?

We’re not just talking about baked rolls with a hole in the middle that looks like doughnuts.

Bagels have been consumed, produced, and sold by Eastern European Jews for the better part of the last five hundred years. At markets, besides being sold from stalls, peddlers would walk around with rings of bagels (sometimes accompanied by a portable samovar). Besides providing a convenient snack, they came in handy in childbirth. Women in the throes of childbirth would be given chewy bagels to bite into.

What’s key in defining real bagels is how they are made.

They’re baked after the dough is first boiled. Other breads produced this way include Russian bubliki (the hole is wider and the finished product is harder) and pretzels. The result is to produce the typical bagel texture, chewy, but not impossibly hard, with a brown, sometimes crusty, outer surface.

Bagel-making was a very special talent, and a closelyguarded secret, passed on for generations as a family trade. It was generally dominated, at least officially, by men. We know this because guilds of bagel-makers were organized in larger towns. In the early 1900s, there was even a bagel-makers’ union in New York with a rule that trade secrets would be guarded and only passed on from father to son.

Because of its roots in the shtetls and towns of Eastern Europe, and variations in the preferences of families with a bagel-making tradition, there are some local differences in today’s bagel from city to city. But two main bagel types emerged: New York and Montreal styles. The difference occurred at the boiling stage. New York bagels were boiled with salt water while a little honey was added to the water in Montreal. Wood stoves have remained the oven of choice in Montreal.

Spread of bagel culture Bagels came to the U.S. and Canada with the great wave of Jewish migration from Russia and Poland in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Production remained traditional and some cities had a locally dominant bagel enterprise. More often, there were various small family firms whose customers were vigorous partisans of their own bagel brand. The Wikipedia article on Montreal bagels claims that Isidore

Shlafman introduced bagels there in 1919.

When Deanna and I moved to New Haven, immediately after our marriage, we quickly found the local bagel producer.

On Sunday mornings we’d pick up bagels at the bakery started by Harry Lender. A few years after he landed in New York in 1927, Lender moved to Connecticut with his Lublin-style bagels. When we started buying our bagels, Lender’s was a large, thriving establishment, but little did we know what an impact it would have on bagels as part of American culture and business enterprise.

Lender’s was the first to produce frozen bagels in a plastic bag and sell them to supermarkets. By the mid-1960s, the firm had a well organized system of national distribution and the bagel boom was launched. Over the next 20 years, bagels became a leading food which, like pizza, transcended the bounds of its original ethnic clientele. By the 1980s and early 1990s, bagel franchising became one of the hottest food crazes. Marketing data indicates that while the rate of new entries in bagel franchise operations peaked in the last decade, sales volume has continued to grow.

This has been accompanied by other signs of cultural adoption and embrace. “Bagel” has passed into contemporary language in wild and wonderful ways: calling a young man a bagel suggests that he is round and pudgy, while bageling, in its most polite sense, refers to ways of letting people know you are Jewish.

Thus the bagel may be the indicator that sums up where we stand in North American society. All in all, this is something for which we should be grateful. **********

Humour me, please Rubin Friedman We know the operation was successful.

The deformity dissolved by letting it disappear.

Whoever takes the (she winced) cork from the bottle, Take two tablespoonfuls three or four times …

Are you miss driver?

Yes. What’s that about Carlotta?

They consent to become merely sectional.

Because he’s as dead as a doornail.

It was someone might have done it.

Probably one of them did.

But why a woman and a very dear friend?

You know very well.

This is spam I can live with! I find it highly entertaining.

Now if I could only figure out how to filter the good spam from the bad spam … Is there a No Bad Spam List?

Global Shtetl Saul Silverman Eight years ago, when I proposed this column to then-Bulletin editor Myra Aronson, I quoted an unnamed Chabad rabbi: “What has happened to the Internet is potentially one of the major developments that gives hope for Jewish life today.”

Since Global Shtetl’s debut in the Rosh Hashanah issue of the Bulletin in 2000, this has been the belief that has animated the column. Unfortunately, personal priorities require that this be my final column in the series.

In closing, I want to thank various friends and readers who sent me suggestions for topics, readers who were kind enough to comment and the editors – most recently Barry Fishman and Michael Regenstreif – and staff of the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin who have been unfailingly helpful and encouraging.

And, as always, Deanna – who in this, as in everything else, has been my partner in all my endeavours since we became engaged 50 years ago.

Websites History and variety of bagels: tinyurl.com/5uka4 Montreal bagels: tinyurl.com/5vm58v History of Lender’s Bagels: tinyurl.com/625yk4 Bagel statistics: tinyurl.com/5pwmxz Bageling: tinyurl.com/5nx69r

Readers and advertisers are advised the next edition of the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin will be published on Monday, September 15, 2008.

This is the Rosh Hashanah community-wide issue.

Page 40 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – August 25, 2008

WHAT’S GOING ON

August 25 to September 14, 2008 ON-GOING Yiddish-speaking group, sponsored by Jewish Family Services. Info: 613-722-2225, ext. 325.

Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race exhibition,

through display and specific programs, looks at how the Nazis used eugenics to justify mass murder and the Holocaust, Canadian War Museum until November 11. Info: 819776-8600.

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

CANDLELIGHTING BEFORE Aug 29 Sep 5 Sep 12 Sep 19 Sep 26

✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡

7:27 7:14 7:01 6:47 6:34

pm pm pm pm pm

WEDNESDAYS Music Appreciations series, with Jean-Jacques Van Vlasselaer, “Mahler’s World,” September 3-24, 1:30 pm. Info: 613-798-9818, ext. 295.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27 Sid Rothman Memorial Golf Tournament, Cedarhill Golf & Country Club. Info: 613727-5418.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4 The Kibbitz Club, sponsored by Jewish Family Services and Congregation Beth Shalom. Program: George Laidlaw, local author and historian shares some of his writings.

Transportation can be arranged in advance. Congregation Beth Shalom, noon. Info: 613-7893501, ext. 223.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7 Ottawa Hadassah-WIZO Bazaar, the first in many years, an all-day shopping experience featuring a huge selection of fashion, jewelry, baked goods, new and gently used merchandise, including highend couture items, Nepean Sportsplex, 1301 Woodroffe Avenue, Hall F, 10:00 am. Info: 613-726-0637.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 Annual Campaign Kickoff of the Jewish Federation of

For a further listings visit www.jewishottawa.org/ calendar/planitjewish

Ottawa, featuring Mariane Pearl, journalist, author of “A Mighty Heart,” and widow of slain journalist Daniel Pearl, Centrepointe Theatre, 7:30 pm.

Info: 613-798-4696, ext. 241.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 SJCC 10th Anniversary Celebration, featuring a cocktail gala

and live entertainment, 7:00 pm.

Info: 613-798-9818, ext. 271.

JET Holiday Seminar, 10:00 am. Info: 613-798-9818, ext. 247.

COMING SOON TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16 Stem Cell Research: Issues and Opportunities, hosted by Weizmann Science Canada.

An interactive forum and question period with Dr. Tsvee Lapidot of the Weizmann Institute of Science, Department of Immunology; and Dr. Michael Rudnicki and Zubin Master, Ph.D., of the Regenerative Medicine Program and the Sprott Centre for Stem Cell Research, Ottawa Health Research Institute.

Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington Street, 7:30 pm.

Info: 613-236-3391.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17 “Friends of the St. Louis,” a one-hour

documentary of the remaining survivors of the St. Louis ship. Congregation Machzikei Hadas, 2310 Virginia Drive, 7:00 pm.

Info: 613-521-9700 SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 21 Jewish Federation of Ottawa Women’s Campaign Luncheon, featuring Paper Clip project creator Linda Hooper, Congregation Beth Shalom, 151 Chapel Street, 11:30 am.

Info: 613-798-4696, ext. 270.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 Annual General Meeting, Jewish Family Services of Ottawa, with guest speaker David Berman, 2255 Carling Avenue, 7:00 pm.

Info: 613-722-2225.

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.

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Condolences Condolences are extended to the family of: Toby Appel Joel Delman Ida Gaffen Martin Ginsburg Lillian Katznelson Harry Langsner Iris Loves Saul Lutwak Sylvia Molot

Clara Sicuso, Montreal (mother of Diana Heitin) Sunny Silverman Moses Skulsky Lawrence Weiner Casey White, British Columbia (son of Julie and Jack Sherman) Hyman Wisenthal 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 Carolene Preap, 613-798-4696, ext. 232.

Voice mail is available.

162 Cumberland Street, Suite 300 Toronto, Ontario M5R 3N5 Tel: 416.966.1100 Toll Free: 1.800.494.0389 www.romspenfund.com

BULLETIN DEADLINES 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 * Community-wide Issue (all dates subject to change)