Ottawa jewish bulletin 2010 06 14(inaccessible)

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bulletin volume 74, no. 16

june 14, 2010

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Federation AGM addresses changing times

By Michael Regenstreif Changing some of the ways established Jewish communal organizations operate in order to adapt to the needs of emerging generations in the 21st century was a theme struck by several speakers at the annual general meeting of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa, held June 2 at the Joseph and Rose Ages Family Building.

“The world is changing. Our Jewish world, especially, is changing,” noted Federation Chair Donna Dolansky, adding that the Federation is determined to change and adapt to meet the challenges of the changing world and the needs of the emerging generation of young people in the community.

Dolansky pointed to several

initiatives already launched by the Federation, including the re-establishment, this past year, of the Young Women’s Leadership Council, which is providing young women with training to assume leadership roles within the Federation and various community organizations; and a symposium for young adults to be held in spring 2011.

Dolansky also pointed to the work being done to revitalize the community’s day and supplementary schools.

Federation President and CEO Mitchell Bellman observed that Ottawa’s Jewish community is facing the same challenges of fighting assimilation, complacency and (Continued on page 2)

Ron Prehogan (left) accepts the Gilbert Greenberg Distinguished Service Award from Robert Greenberg.

(Photo: Peter Waiser)

Prime ministers meet in Ottawa Prime Minister Stephen Harper greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his Parliament Hill office, May 31.

The Israeli leader cut short his visit to Ottawa and cancelled his scheduled meeting the next day in Washington with U.S. President Barack Obama to return to Israel to attend to the crisis that developed when nine people were killed during fighting that broke out when Israeli forces boarded a Turkish boat, intent on breaking the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip, which refused Israeli orders to proceed to Ashdod for inspection.

(Photo courtesy of PMO)

Sarah Silverstein (centre) receives the Lawrence Greenberg Young Leadership Development Award from Linda Greenberg and Jonathan Freedman.

(Photo: Peter Waiser)

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Page 2 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – June 14, 2010

Federation initiatives engage young people (Continued from page 1)

apathy as other Jewish communities throughout North America.

“We have too many Jews who simply don’t care,” said Bellman. “Either they were raised without a strong Jewish identity or they were turned off by their parents’ or grandparents’ Jewish identity.”

According to Bellman, the fact that other communities have the same kinds of problems is not an excuse for inaction.

“We at the Federation believe that we can carve a different path in Ottawa,” he said.

“Why do we have to save our institutions, rebuild Jewish education, have a successful JCC and a strong annual campaign?” he asked rhetorically.

“We need these institutions to be there at that moment when our most precious commodity, young people, turn toward us in their search for meaning.”

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Bellman called attention to several of the community’s initiatives that have successfully engaged young people recently.

“Our Hillel Ottawa campus programs are thriving,” he said. “More and more Jewish students are being connected on campus because of our investment in Hillel and the other Jewish programs serving students.

“Jnet is a grassroots initiative of over 150 young Jewish adults connecting through social parties and social action. They use new media to reach out to those people we have not yet developed strong ties with.”

Bellman also indicated that, in a year when the Federation wasn’t able to send a traditional community mission to Israel, a record 164 young people from Ottawa have or will travel to Israel this year under Federation auspices. These trips include a social action mission for young adults – a 10 day mission for 16 young adults who left for Israel the day after the meeting – as well as a medical students’ mission, an Ottawa Jewish Community School exchange involving 25 students, Birthright and March of the Living trips.

“Our community has been there at the right time for these 164 people and, despite challenging times, we did not give up on them,” he said.

Reiterating the messages of challenges and changing times, Bellman said the financial costs of supporting the community’s institutions is great and that supporters must dig deeper to help maintain the community.

“We need to recognize that the community has

Blanche Osterer receives the Shem Tov Community Volunteer Award from Ottawa Citizen Publisher James Orban.

changed and that change may be outside of our comfort zone,” he said.

In his speech accepting the Gilbert Greenberg Distinguished Service Award, Ron Prehogan, a past Federation chair, drew on his own history to underscore the need for change and engagement of young people that Dolansky and Bellman spoke about.

Prehogan noted that he grew up in Montreal without a Jewish education, that he did not attend a Jewish summer camp or participate in a Jewish youth group and that Bar Mitzvahs and High Holidays were the only times he set foot in a synagogue.

He suggested he might have remained disconnected from the Jewish community were it not for the fact that he and some friends chose to take a summer trip to Israel instead of to India after graduating from high school

in 1971.

“The feeling of connection to a people that had accomplished so much, over so many years, against such odds, really stood out for me. I was one proud Jew,” he said.

Inspired by that trip to Israel – and by another a few years later with wife, Avalee, as newlyweds – Prehogan embarked on a long career as a Jewish community volunteer and leader that has included terms as president of the Jewish Community Centre and chair of the Federation.

“The reason I decided to give of myself to the community was that I developed a huge sense of responsibility to pass on our heritage to the next generation. I had this constant image of a chain-linking one generation of Jews to the next going back thousands of years, and darned if my (Continued on page 11)

Israel’s Deputy Head of Mission Amit Gil-Bayaz (left) is presented with a gift by Federation Chair Donna Dolansky. Gil-Bayaz will return to Israel this summer following the completion of her four-year term at the Embassy of Israel.

Jason Shinder is presented with a gift in appreciation for chairing the 2009 and 2010 Annual Campaigns by Federation Chair Donna Dolansky.

(Photos: Peter Waiser)

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, Ottawa Jewish Bulletin, 21 Nadolny Sachs Private, Ottawa, Ontario K2A 1R9; or by e-mail to bulletin@ottawajewishbulletin.com.

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – June 14, 2010 – Page 3

Page 4 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – June 14, 2010

Terry Schwarzfeld Ottawa Day Care Centre to be dedicated, June 21

By Ruth Kahane Goldberg for Canadian Hadassah-WIZO The Terry Schwarzfeld Ottawa Day Care Centre will be officially dedicated by Canadian Hadassah-WIZO (CHW) in Akko, Israel on June 21.

Along with CHW officials, the family of the late Terry Schwarzfeld, including husband Stephen Cotsman, their sons, daughter-in-law and grandson, will attend.

A vibrant memorial to Terry and to her role as CHW national president, the daycare is a home-away-fromhome for 57 young Israelis, aged from six months to three years. The children, sponsored by the Israel’s Ministry of Welfare and Social Services, are from lowincome homes within the Russian, Ethiopian and Israeli Arab populations.

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maut, the well-organized centre was decorated with rainbow cloth streamers and Israeli flags. Children, dressed in attractive play clothes, were doing craft activities. Meanwhile, in the music room, a group paraded with their teachers to Israeli music, freely waving Israeli flags.

“The staff works with the children as if they are their own,” says Director Yehudit Eliyahu, who heads the friendly staff of 13.

Renovations financed by donations and events in held Terry’s memory have brought the daycare centre, originally opened in the 1960s, up to current ministry standards. There are two new playgrounds with extensive play structures, kitchen upgrades and a large, bright, tiled bathroom area with facilities for changing babies and children’s toilets tailored to the age groups.

“The daycare was able to go from the 19th to the 21st century,” says Hava Gilo, the WIZO administrative man-

Plaque at the daycare centre named in Terry Schwarzfeld’s memory in Akko, Israel.

(Photo: Jane Gordon)

ager who oversees 47 daycare centres in Northern Israel. There are six daycare centres operated by CHW in Israel.

Because the children live in older, highrise apartments, the outdoor facilities are very important.

“Parents rarely have time to take their children to a playground,” says Gilo.

The climbing frame areas, with special outdoor carpeting, replaced the previous sandlots.

This has had a big impact.

Previously, the municipal child development specialists

found it impossible to properly observe children’s gross motor skills. Now, on the play structures, they are able to diagnose problems. As a result, they train daycare staff to promote children’s development in time for them to go to municipal kindergarten, explains Gilo.

The Akko daycare centre and Ottawa have been linked since 2007, when CHW assigned each daycare to a Canadian centre. In 2008, before becoming national president, Terry visited the daycare. She brought back photographs that were posted at

the CHW tea and other key events to raise awareness of the need to renovate the facility. Then, in 2009, after her tragic death, the daycare was officially renamed in her honour and the Terry Schwarzfeld Fund was established by CHW. Members of Amit, Terry’s CHW chapter, along with Temple Israel, her congregation, jointly sewed 18 children’s quilts, which I delivered to the daycare on my April visit.

Jane and Martin Gordon, who live part-time in Caesarea, made a second quilt delivery from the Temple Israel quilters. Jane said she was “impressed with how well run the centre is and well cared-for the children are.”

A striking painting called The Parade, sent by Fortunée Shugar, an artist and Amit CHW member, now hangs in the front entrance hall. It captures a group of children on a hilltop silhouetted by a blaring orange sunset. They are joyously playing different instruments, marching behind a girl leading them with a raised flag.

Morton Baslaw honoured

by Ottawa School of Art

By Shirley Berman Morton Baslaw, an internationally recognized watercolour artist, was honoured at a fundraiser, April 28, by the Ottawa School of Art (OSA) for his many years of outstanding art instruction to hundreds of Ottawans.

The event, attended by friends and well wishers in the community, raised more than $20,000 for the OSA’s outreach program, which provides free visual art classes to children and youth facing difficult economic circumstances.

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Morton Baslaw (left), with OSA Executive Director Jeff Stelleck, was honoured for his many years as an outstanding art instructor.

Baslaw, an aerial photographer with the RCAF during the Second World War, is a graduate of the Chicago Academy of Fine Art and a life member of the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour, the Ontario Society of Artists, and the Ottawa Watercolour Society. His works are interna-

tionally exhibited.

The certificate, presented to Baslaw by OSA Executive Director Jeff Stelleck, cites “over 35 years of outstanding commitment to the OSA as well as continued dedication to the promotion of watercolour and the importance of an arts education.”

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – June 14, 2010 – Page 5

Zak Shusterman among 120 IDF soldiers honoured for excellence

By Benita Baker Ottawa’s Zak Shusterman was one of the 120 soldiers who gathered at Israeli President Shimon Peres’ residence in Jerusalem on Yom Ha’Atzmaut to receive the prestigious President’s Award for Excellence.

“I look at you and I see 2,000 years of pogroms and bloodshed, of triumphs and achievements, of grief and joy, of tears in your eyes and hope in your hearts,” Peres told the soldiers.

“Fearless combatants, soldiers who have not lost human values, you are the sons of a small nation with great achievements. You are the State of Israel.”

Shusterman, who just completed three years of service in the Golani Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), made aliyah in 2007 in order to join the army.

“I wanted to give something to the country,” Shusterman said in a video about the event. “I had heard good things about Golani; they are good people and good soldiers with a lot of history; they are a family.

“It is has been difficult, but at the same time enjoyable, being in the Golani brigade. During my service in the IDF, I took part in Operation Cast Lead. After it was over, the best thing was that the people in the south could return to a more

normal life. It is important that whatever someone has to give, they give it to the State of Israel.”

The selection criteria for the President’s Award for Excellence are not publicized, but it is obvious that the soldiers singled out for the award have distinguished themselves in service. In the commemorative booklet, the notation beside Shusterman’s photo says the 23-year-old “excels in everything. Great leader.

Great soldier.”

What Shusterman did to stand out from the crowd is classified. However, an example of his leadership and his commitment to the IDF happened during a surprise visit to Ottawa in December 2008.

It had been almost two years since he had been home. Only a few days into his stay, Israel launched Operation Cast Lead, a major attack on Hamas targets in Gaza. As much as he wanted to spend well-deserved time with his friends and family, Shusterman felt the need to return to Israel and fight alongside the men in his Golani Brigade.

Shusterman thought he was in trouble when he got called to the office of the commanding officer one day in early spring. Instead, he was handed a letter informing him that he was chosen to receive the Presi-

dent’s Award for Excellence.

Getting an award is always special; however, he was not aware of how esteemed an honour it was until he mentioned it in passing to his kibbutz parents, Vivian and Dubi Saggi, and their four daughters. The girls, one of whom is in the IDF, started screaming because they recognized the award’s significance.

Seated in the audience during the ceremony were Shusterman’s father, Lorne, who travelled from Ottawa to witness the event, and his brother, Ben, who made aliyah in 2008, also to join the IDF. “To hear his name called, and see him standing in front of the president and the IDF chief of staff, that was good,” said the proud and understated father. “Zak accepted the honour on behalf of his family, his brother and his unit.”

Also in attendance at the awards ceremony were Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Jewish Agency for Israel Chair Natan Sharansky and IDF Chief of Staff LieutenantGeneral Gabi Ashkenazi.

“This special group of people, the best of the best, represents all the good and beauty present in our youth,” said Ashkenazi.

Zak Shusterman is congratulated by IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi as Israeli President Shimon Peres looks on.

(Photo courtesy of Shusterman Family)

“Despite the wide range of backgrounds, they are united by a sense of mission and a shared spirit: the spirit of the IDF.” “Thanks for taking care of my son,” Lorne Shusterman told Ashkenazi at the reception following the awards ceremony.

“Thanks for sending him here,” replied the IDF chief.

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Page 6 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – June 14, 2010

A year of challenges and highlights for our community The world is changing.

Our Jewish world, especially, is changing.

Demographics show us that although the number of Jews in Canada is increasing, we are becoming more of a minority in comparison to other groups. Anti-Israel and anti-Semitic sentiments are on the rise.

To compound that, more Jews are deciding that being Jewish is not that important to them, and they eschew Jewish affiliation and connection. It is also becoming more difficult to recruit volunteers.

It takes courage to admit that change is necessary – and determination to implement that change. It requires leadership.

At the Jewish Federation of Ottawa, we believe our community has the volunteers, staff and leadership to adapt to our changing world. If we have the will to work together, we can continue to transform our good Jewish community into a great one.

One of our strategic objectives this year is to engage young people aged 18 to 35. They are our future leaders.

We have made many strides in that area this year. We have revitalized the Young Women’s Leadership Council and

Federation Report Donna Dolansky Chair have a group of 17 committed young women enjoying and learning from the program.

We also have a young adult sub-committee of our Jewish Outreach, Identity and Education Committee (JOIE), who are planning a young adult symposium to be held in spring 2011. The symposium will engage the emerging generation in discussions about where they see their role in our community’s future.

Outreach is also a part of what we do.

In April 2008, we launched the Jewish Ottawa InfoCentre as a way to connect to the community and reach out to unaffiliated Jews and newcomers. Since it opened, the InfoCentre has become a vital service helping people and organizations in the community connect with each other. In an effort to create better communication, the InfoCentre launched INFObytes, an online agency newsletter highlighting newsworthy information

about the work of our agencies.

We have also been working very hard this year with our community schools.

Our Jewish schools are a source of great pride for our community and remain our greatest tool in the fight against assimilation.

The Ottawa Jewish Community School, comprising Hillel Academy and Yitzhak Rabin High School, has had a wonderful year. Together, we have invested considerable financial resources, instituted structural and curriculum changes, and are working to further improve the quality of education and increase enrolment.

There is still much work to be done. It will take time, patience, hard work and money. We still have a long way to go, but we are headed in the right direction.

Jewish supplementary schools in Ottawa are also experiencing declining enrolment and we are working through another arm of the JOIE Committee to revitalize afternoon school education.

In continuing to strengthen ties with Israel, we have sent more than 160 people under the age of 35 to Israel this year on different kinds of missions.

We sent students from the Ottawa Jewish Community School to the Upper Galilee, 16 young professionals on our

first young adult social action mission, 10 people on a medical student mission, eight Ottawa students on the March of the Living, and the largest-ever contingent of youth on Birthright trips.

It is impossible to mention the many names of all the board members, staff and volunteers who have played a role in our successes, but I would like to single out Ian Sherman, Jeff Polowin and Allan Moscovitch, who have just left the board and thank each of you for your enormous contribution. We hope you will stay involved – we need your leadership.

The management and staff of the Federation are wonderful. They keep this organization running and they all care about its future. They have the skills and leadership to adapt to change.

There have been many highlights this year, and there are many challenges. I must tell you, though, that the highlights outshine the challenges.

Just a few weeks ago, many of us attended Tamir’s production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat celebrating its 25th anniversary. It was incredible, but what was even more important to me was that it was the epitome of what community is all about.

Together, we can and will be stronger.

May we go from strength to strength!

Summer vacation should not be a vacation from our religious lives Do you think God takes a summer vacation? Do you suppose that God, somewhere around the end of June or beginning of July, decides it’s time for a break until September? The notion is, of course, ludicrous. We may have some serious questions about God’s existence, or God’s justice, but setting aside these deep, on-going theological challenges, if we assume God exists, we probably assume God’s presence is constant, and the divine business is not seasonal.

So why do we sometimes behave as if it were? Why do we sometimes see summer as not only a vacation from work, but a vacation from our religious lives? So permit me to suggest four activities to spiritually engage us during the summer months:

From the pulpit Rabbi Charles Popky Agudath Israel to use your imagination and reflect on what a prayer may mean to you, in your life. Read the natural imagery of the Psalms (particularly in the early parts of the morning service or in Kabbalat Shabbat) and let the prayers become not just words but experiences.

Come to shul If you are remaining in town during vacation, take advantage of the extra time by spending it on your soul. During the week, take some time at the beginning or end of the day for contemplation and reflection. Do it on a regular basis and explore our prayers more deeply. Expand your Shabbat davening experience, perhaps attending all the Shabbat services at your synagogue. Enjoy the relaxed atmosphere of services throughout the summer.

Find a Tzedakah project If we have more time during the summer, let’s use it in a way to make the summer more enjoyable for everyone. I’m sure Jewish Family Services still needs volunteers during the summer. And many other worthwhile services within our community (such as those for children or seniors) also need help. If your children have a summer job, encourage them to donate a portion to a tzedakah of their choice. Let them think of Jewish values all year long. Also, don’t forget to bring them to shul, and make sure they, too, bring a siddur to the cottage.

Bring a siddur with you to the cottage Daven outside, at your own pace, and sing your own favourite melodies. Take the time

Observe Tisha B’Av Yes, Tisha B’Av (the Ninth of Av) is the saddest day of the Jewish calendar, com-

memorating the destruction of our Temples, the exiles and expulsions of our people, and the many acts of degradation and violence perpetrated against us. However, living in the generation following the Shoah, when sick individuals try to deny this horrible event and continue to challenge our very right to exist as a people, how can we not observe this powerful day of historical memory and contemporary meaning? Moreover, the mourning customs that guide the syna-

gogue ritual and the chanting of Megillat Eikhah (the Book of Lamentations) in its unique haunting melody can be profound religious experience.

There are certainly many other activities we could choose. Perhaps many of you have your own list. But, regardless of which list of mitzvoth we use, the important thing is to just do it. Perhaps if we don’t take a break, we’ll discover that God is much closer than we thought.

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Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – June 14, 2010 – Page 7

There are no simple answers in the Middle East Look at the picture on the front page of this issue. It’s evident, from the grim expressions on the faces of Stephen Harper and Benjamin Netanyahu, that it wasn’t the happy occasion it was meant to be, May 31, when the Israeli prime minister came to Ottawa to visit his Canadian counterpart.

Netanyahu’s visit was meant to celebrate the strong ties and bonds of friendship enjoyed by the Israeli and Canadian governments and by the Israeli and Canadian people.

Instead, we woke up to the news that morning that nine people were killed when Israel stopped the Free Gaza flotilla from reaching the Hamas-controlled territory.

It was, to be sure, Israel’s toughest day since Operation Cast Lead ended almost a year-and-a-half ago.

There would be no gala reception for Netanyahu that evening at the Fairmont Château Laurier, and no meeting at the White House, the next day, with President Barack Obama. Laureen Harper and Sara Netanyahu – the prime ministers’ wives – did not make it to the Soloway Jewish Community Centre for the special performance of Tamir’s production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat that had been scheduled for them.

Editor Michael Regenstreif Instead, Netanyahu returned quickly to Israel to attend to the crisis.

Israel faces a terrible situation in regard to Gaza. There is no denying the humanitarian crisis there. Many of the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza suffer in the most horrible of conditions. Much of the area remains devastated from the destruction of Operation Cast Lead and many of the necessities of life that we take for granted – food, water, medicine, shelter, sanitation, etc. – are in too short supply for far too many people.

And while the simple answer would be for Israel – and Egypt – to just open the borders and sea routes to Gaza and allow unfettered access to the territory, there are no answers that simple in the Middle East.

Gaza is governed by Hamas, a terrorist organization and Iran proxy bent on Israel’s destruction. As long as it could, Hamas dispatched suicide bombers to Israel and terrorized communities like

Sderot with thousands of rocket attacks in a barrage that lasted years.

Hamas gives Israel every reason to believe that unfettered access would just result in a rapid arms buildup leading to more rounds of terrorism and guerilla warfare.

Some sort of solution needs to be found – and found soon – to alleviate the suffering in Gaza without subjecting Israel to the very real threats of terrorism and rockets it faced for so many years.

Israel faces a lot of criticism. Too often, that criticism is way out of proportion and motivated by hatred. It’s important to stand up and respond to those who seek to delegitimize and destroy Israel.

But let us remember that it is a hallmark of freedom and democracy that no country or government is above legitimate criticism. All criticism of Israel is not anti-Semitic.

Organizations like Peace Now and J Street – which are Zionist organizations – are not being disloyal to Israel by lobbying for peace and a two-state solution to the conflict with the Palestinians. Quite the opposite, they are standing for policies seen by many in Israel as essential if Israel is to maintain its duality as a democratic and Jewish state.

In his speech at the Federation AGM, Ron Prehogan talked about a task force he chaired several years ago for the JCC Association of North America. His task force found that one of the reasons many North American Jews, particularly young people, are – or are becoming – alienated from the organized Jewish community is the attitude of “Israel right or wrong.”

Ron said his task force concluded that discussion and debate should be welcome in our communities.

“It’s OK to disagree,” Ron said. “Let’s talk about it, argue about it, wrestle with each other about it so that we can understand each other better. That is what families do. And we are a family.”

New genealogy column With this issue, we welcome John Diener, a new columnist, to the Bulletin.

He’ll be writing about genealogy in Connecting the Branches, which will appear in every second issue.

As John explains, genealogy has become an incredibly popular pastime as more and more people research their family histories. John’s been tending to the Diener family tree for some time now and has a wealth of information and tips that he’ll be passing on.

‘Maybe there’s a small ember of baseball fever still glowing inside me’ Navin Vaswani, a Toronto-based former colleague of mine, landed something of a dream gig this spring. The talented young journalist, who covers Toronto sports on his personal blog, started a second blog on the Globe and Mail website back in mid-April.

He has used his Globe blog to document what he calls “The Baseball Road Trip of a Lifetime,” a journey that has taken him from his hometown all across the United States as he visits each of the 30 Major League Baseball stadiums on a game day or game night, reviewing not only each stadium and team, but also every beer he drinks and every ballpark snack he eats.

If you’re not a baseball fan, you probably think that trip sounds like some kind of a punishment for something. But if you ARE a baseball fan, you are likely shivering with envy at my friend’s good fortune.

Oh, to once again be young, free, on the road, in love with a game, and able to digest large quantities of pretzels, hot dogs, other miscellaneous fried food, and barrels of lager over a sustained period of time.

I’m pretty much a former baseball fan, but I’ve enjoyed the vicarious journey (and the vicarious beer) through the blog.

He began both his trip and his blog at the Blue Jays’ home opener, in what was

Alan Echenberg once called the Skydome, which was the last-built – and is the last-remaining – multi-sport mega-stadium monstrosity still used by any Major League Baseball team.

As his journey has progressed, and as he has visited one beautiful new-old ballpark after another, the blog has betrayed a growing frustration with his hometown stadium so lacking in the baseball-exclusive, red-brick, day-at-the-park charm that is found in so many of the retro Major League parks built over the past couple of decades.

I can sympathize, having spent my formative baseball-watching years in the great concrete toilet bowl known as the Olympic Stadium, cheering on the heartbreak factory known as the Montreal Expos.

The Expos, of course, were slowly asphyxiated to death by bad luck and worse ownership over many years. The team was kept on life support in its final seasons by

Major League Baseball, which ultimately pulled the plug in 2004, transplanting the team’s vital organs into the new (and consistently mediocre) Washington Nationals.

To win a new team for their city, Washington taxpayers were forced to pony up most of the cash for one of those shiny new-old stadiums. According to my friend Navin, that stadium turned out to be just as mediocre as the team for which it serves as home. Here’s how he described Nationals Park on his blog in late April: “It doesn’t stand out; I wouldn’t say there’s anything absolutely super or special about it …”

Ha! Take that Washington!

OK, maybe I’m still bitter about the Expos after all of this time. When the Montreal Canadiens upset the Washington Capitals, eliminating them from the playoffs earlier this spring, half my joy was in the baseball-revenge element of the hockey victory.

Navin even sympathized with me in a passing reference on his blog: “You can’t help but feel for the baseball folks in Montreal ... A former colleague of mine was a huge Expos fan, and he’s given up on baseball. No longer cares for MLB. I don’t blame him.”

Thanks buddy. That’s pretty much true.

I used to spend many a summer not only

following baseball, but also obsessing over it. Even in the dying years of the Expos, when they were attracting fewer fans per game than your average American high school team, I’d make special trips into Montreal several times a year to catch games.

And I knew exactly which detours to take while driving through the streets of Ottawa so that I could maintain radio reception of game broadcasts from Quebec stations.

But, as soon as the Expos breathed their last, I found it surprisingly easy not to care anymore – notwithstanding the occasional, sentimental baseball pang.

I’ve sent my former colleague an email, inviting him to Ottawa sometime this summer, after his road-trip blogging duties are complete.

Maybe I’ll take him to see Ottawa’s newest baseball team, the Fat Cats, who play in about as minor a league as you can find.

I don’t expect that it will make me want to follow Major League Baseball once again, but who knows? Maybe there’s a small ember of baseball fever still glowing inside me, waiting to be rekindled again.

Play ball!

Alan Echenberg is TVOntario’s Parliamentary bureau chief.

Page 8 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – June 14, 2010

Spanish diplomats saved thousands of Jews during the Holocaust

The Ottawa Jewish Historical Society takes pleasure in presenting

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By Cynthia Nyman Engel Spanish policy during the Second World War enabled thousands of Jews to move to safety in other countries, according to an award-winning historian of modern Spain.

Stanley G. Payne, professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, History Department, addressed an audience of close to 100 recently at the Soloway Jewish Community Centre on “Spain and the Holocaust: The Role of Spanish Diplomats Saving Jewish Lives.”

“Because of its non-belligerent status, Spain occupied an important position in World War II,” Payne said.

“On the one hand, after 1940, Spain bordered on German-held territory and, on the other hand, it opened up to the entire world.

“When France fell in June 1940, many thousands of refugees, Jews and nonJews, piled up on the Spanish frontier,” he said.

“The Spanish government admitted all who had proper documentation and even some who did not.

“Apparently, once you got into Spain you were safe because there is no indication that any refugee without proper papers was ever handed back to the Germans.”

Sebastien Romero Radigales and Angel Sanz Briz were just two of several Spanish diplomats the professor singled out.

“But the real hero in 1940 was Aristides de Sousa Mendes, Portugal’s consul in Bordeaux,” he said.

“He was a devout Catholic who believed that he had absolute humanitarian imperative to assist anyone, Jew or non-Jew, who was trying to flee the Germans.”

De Sousa Mendes deliberately disobeyed his government and granted new transit visas to myriad people, making it possible for thousands of refugees to flee across the border to Portugal. Since Spanish border

authorities were under orders to grant transit visas to anyone holding French or Portuguese papers, an estimated 20-40,000 Jews poured into Spain and Portugal.

Although not anti-Semitic, the Portuguese government was not amused. It recalled the rebellious consul home where he was cashiered from the diplomatic service. He never again could get a decent job and died 16 years later in relative poverty in Portugal. He is remembered at Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations.

In 1941, Spain’s Franco sent a division to the eastern front to fight against the Soviet Union. Returning veterans told horror stories about what the Germans were doing to Jews and civilians in occupied territories.

By 1942, the Spanish Foreign Ministry had no illusions about what was going on in central and eastern Europe.

In Salonica, Greece, Spanish Consul Sebastien Romero Radigales held the fate of the population of 500 Sephardic Jews in his hands.

Romero, married to a Sephardic woman, bombarded Spanish authorities with letters and telegrams asking them to take action

for repatriation of these Sephardim.

“Even Fascist Italy is doing more than Spain in this regard,” he wrote.

Communications were very slow.

“They used telegrams only part of the time [and] mainly wrote letters,” explained Payne. “It could take an entire month for a letter to get from Athens to Madrid and the same amount of time to get an answer.”

Romero finally took the initiative himself, moving about half of Salonica’s Sephardim to safety. In August 1943, after the Germans took over all of Greece, the Germans transported the remainder to Bergen-Belsen.

There, as citizens of a neutral country, they were put in the neutral section of the camp where conditions were much better and you could actually stay alive.

The final great act took place in Hungary during the second half of 1944 when the Hungarian government ousted the old Spanish ambassador, leaving the young Spanish Chargé d’Affairs Angel Sanz Briz in charge.

Within weeks, Sanz Briz had issued 1,500 visas to Jews. When the Germans would not let them leave, the embassy rented apartments, declared them Spanish residents and used them to safely house some 2,000 Jews.

A full account of Spain’s actions can be found in Payne’s recently published book, Franco and Hitler: Spain, Germany, and World War II. Payne’s lecture was sponsored by the Embassy of Spain in collaboration with the Embassy of Israel, the Jewish Federation of Ottawa and the Soloway Jewish Community Centre.

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Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – June 14, 2010 – Page 9

JET celebrates 18th anniversary at Jewish Unity Live gala

Advertorial

JEWISH NATIONAL FUND More than trees 613.798.2411

Brian Pearl president

A new and unique JNF Canada fundraising effort: Restorer of Jerusalem JNF Canada embarked, this year, on a new and inspirational fundraising project. In our lifetime, we have witnessed Jerusalem become the capital of the modern Jewish state and have had the privilege of witnessing the miracle of the reunification of the entire city. Since statehood, the Jewish National Fund, Israel’s leading environmental organization, has continued protecting Israel’s ecology and remains committed to sustainable development. JNF is always focusing on its important tasks of planting trees, establishing reservoirs, building roads, draining swamps and dozens of other ways of preparing the land for useful habitation and cultivation.

Now, JNF is being asked for its assistance in the physical improvement of the Old City walls of Jerusalem. The Jewish National Fund of Canada, in partnership with the Jerusalem Foundation, is taking on this unprecedented opportunity to allow Canadians to link their names with Jerusalem, the city that embraces the spirit of the Jewish people, past, present and future.

The Restorer of Jerusalem Project will focus on the restoration and development of the Old City walls of Jerusalem, expanding the possibilities of its utilization, including development of an archaeological activities garden and scenic promenade for the enjoyment of all visiting the ancient city, especially school children and the physically challenged.

JNF’s partner in the work, the Jerusalem Foundation, was founded 40 years ago by the legendary mayor of Jerusalem, Teddy Kollek. It has an unmatched track record in creating and nurturing philanthropy projects in Israel. For 40 years, the Jerusalem Foundation has pioneered much of the archaeological discovery and preservation projects including the City of David excavations, the major gates of the Old City walls, the Tower of David Museum and much more.

The names of all “Restorers of Jerusalem” will be inscribed on a Wall of Honour, which will be located at the entrance to the Zion Gate. Those who assume responsibility in restoring the ancient city walls will be linked to the City of Jerusalem and their names will be perpetuated for all time.

Your participation is invited in the following categories: Restorer ($1,000,000), Trustee ($250,000), Guardian ($100,000), Pioneer ($54,000), Builder ($36,000), Chai ($18,000), Sponsor ($10,000), and Friend ($5,000). Donations can be made over a five-year period.

If you would like to contribute or would like more information, please contact Ottawa JNF Co-ordinator, Susan Schwartzman at 613-798-2411.

Sefer Bar Mitzvah/Bat Mitzvah Inscriptions Madeleine Lize Burke, by her proud parents, Miriam and Mario Burke; Zachary Ethan Shabinsky, by his proud parents, Melissa and Ian Shabinsky; Rachel Erin Steinhart, by her proud grandparents, Phyllis and Alan Rackow; Ariel Hannah Hope Elman-Walker, by her proud parents, Marlene Elman and Bruce (Skip) Walker.

On a daily basis you can plant trees for all occasions. An attractive card is sent to the recipient.

To order, call the JNF office (613.798.2411).

By Rachel Gray for JET When I turned 18, I threw a party in my living room. My mom helped me bake a cake and my friends came over to help me eat it.

At least that’s how I remember it!

When JET (Jewish Education through Torah) turned 18 this year, they needed more than someone’s living room and more than one cake. They booked the National Gallery of Canada, ordered a dazzling array of desserts and laid on top notch entertainment, May 5.

Most impressively, though, JET got adults and children from across the city involved in a campaign to log 18,000 hours of Torah learning. The participants far exceeded the goal, clocking more than 24,000 hours.

More than 300 people attended the gala Jewish Unity Live celebration. It was a full program ably MCed by David Hoffman.

In addition to the greetings from the board chairs and event co-chairs, Shelley Harris described how JET has made an impact on her life and how she made Torah learning part of her daily menu.

JET chose to honour 18 people (nine couples) who have all made significant contributions to the organization over the years. A slide-show presentation with narration detailing their involvement preceded the awards ceremony.

Entertainment was provided by Marc Weiner, a comedian who has appeared on Saturday Night Live, Comedy Central and Good Morning America, who also happens to be an Orthodox Jew. Weiner delivered a sidesplittingly funny comedy routine about Judaism that spoke to everyone in the room without being offensive to anyone. It’s not often that a room full of Jews can agree on anything, but “that guy was really

(Left to right) Comedian Marc Weiner, Rabbi Zischa Shaps, Lauren Shaps and guest speaker Lori Palatnik at the Jewish Unity Live gala, May 5, celebrating JET’s 18th anniversary.

funny” seemed to be the consensus.

Lori Palatnik, a Jewish author and educator well known for her aish.com video blog, Lori Almost Live, addressed the crowd with some words of inspiration and practical suggestions on how to take the incredible achievements of the learning project to the next level.

And then there was cake and schmoozing, and more cake, and a bit more cake.

Just like at my own 18th birthday party – except, unlike my mom, JET didn’t make us vacuum afterwards!

Rabbis Zischa Shaps (left) and Dovid Burger present Hillel Academy student Meredith Barwin with a notebook computer as the winner of the draw for students who participated in JET’s Jewish Unity Live 18,000 hour learning campaign.

Page 10 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – June 14, 2010

Hillel Academy teacher wins national award from JNF

By Nicola Hamer Communications Director Ottawa Jewish Community School When Head of Schools Donna PalmerDodds got the news that Hillel Academy teacher Ruth Lebovich had won the Esther and Eric Exton Education Award, she was delighted, but not surprised.

“Ruthie comes up with incredibly artistic and unique ways to celebrate the holidays with the children. She really engages them, not just in her own class, but in the entire school.”

The Esther and Eric Exton Education Award is presented annually by the Jewish National Fund of Canada to an educator from across Canada who “has most advanced the cause of JNF and Zionist education in Canada.”

The JNF committee said they chose Lebovich for her “comprehensive understanding of Israeli culture, religion, history, tradition, etc., using innovative and creative teaching methods that have been both inspiring and effective.”

Lebovich – known to her students as Morah Ruthie – teaches Judaic studies in Grade 3 and plans holiday celebrations for the entire school.

She directed a marvellous school-wide Chanukah celebration in December that was a huge hit with the entire Hillel community.

“I like to use art to bring the holidays alive for my students. Some holidays, such as Tu B’Shvat, can be hard to celebrate here in Canada, so I need to be creative to find ways of making them real for the children.”

In January, she and the students created an entire forest in the school’s front lobby for Tu B’Shvat – with each grade making a different type of tree found in Israel. In April, she created a giant floor map of Israel, cut it into pieces and gave each grade a piece. On Yom Ha’Atzmaut, the students came together, shared what they had learned about their section of Israel, and recreated the map.

While Lebovich is delighted with this honour, she is quick to point out that it really doesn’t just belong to her.

Hillel Academy Judaic Studies teacher Ruth Lebovich with her Grade 3 class.

“We are so lucky in this school to have the marvellous Judaic teachers we have. They are so enthusiastic and helpful when I bring new ideas to them or ask them for help; and the other

teachers, too. It is the way everyone works together that brings this success to our school.”

The award will be presented in November at the annual Negev Dinner in Ottawa.

CHS students explore history and culture of Israel

By Pherris Hamilton for CHS Grades 4 and 5 students at Chabad Hebrew School (CHS) have been exploring the history and culture of Israel.

The students have all painted maps of Israel on a canvas and, each week, they discover the history and special features of a particular city, recording their findings on a worksheet and

adding the city to their canvas by putting 3-D objects, such as a mini-Kotel (Western Wall) for Jerusalem, on their maps.

“The hands-on component of this project is so important,” explains teacher Bluma Caytak.

“Children learn best when they are actively involved and whatever they learn will stay with them for a long time.”

The six-week program includes an experiential component into Israeli culture, giving the children a real taste for Israel. The students got to make their own pita and hummus as well as enjoy Israeli pickles and snacks.

Close to 60 students are enrolled at CHS. “Our program’s most underlying approach is for the children to enjoy the time spent at

Week of July 4 to 10, 2010

Hebrew school so that they are left with positive feelings and fond memories of their Jewish education,” explains Dina Blum, director of CHS. “We constantly examine our curriculum to ensure that the children develop a strong sense for their Jewish identity.”

Visit ottawatorahcentre.com for more information about CHS.

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – June 14, 2010 – Page 11

Prehogan: ‘If this community was able to turn me into a committed Jew, anything is possible’ (Continued from page 2)

generation was going to be the one to break it!

“If anything, we were going to make it stronger and that became my burning passion, my raison d’être, essentially what I wanted my life to stand for,” he said.

Prehogan said he believes Ottawa’s Jewish community will grow stronger, “but, in order for that to happen, we will have to do some things differently.”

He added that he believes the community will rise to face its current challenges as it always has in the past.

“After all,” Prehogan said in conclusion, “if this community was able to turn me into a committed Jew, anything is possible.

Sarah Silverstein, in accepting the Freiman Family Young Leadership Award, recalled the encouragement she received from Ingrid Levitz on her arrival in Ottawa in 2001.

Levitz, Silverstein said, advised her to get involved in the community, to join com-

mittees and meet people.

Silverstein said that joining one committee led to another and another.

“A great way to welcome a newcomer is to invite them on to a committee.”

As the recipient of the Freiman Family Young Leadership Award, Silverstein also received the

Lawrence Greenberg Young Leadership Award, which includes a scholarship to attend the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly taking place in New Orleans in November.

Blanche Osterer, who has given many years of service as a volunteer and women’s leader with the Ot-

tawa Chevra Kadisha, was the recipient of the Shem Tov Community Volunteer Award presented by the Ottawa Citizen.

“I’m honoured to have worked with many wonderful women in the Chevra Kadisha,” Osterer said. “I accept this award on behalf of all of them.”

Israeli Ambassador Miriam Ziv also addressed the meeting.

The Jewish community of Ottawa, she said, has a special bond with the State of Israel, and she and the other members of Israel’s diplomatic mission feel they are a part of the community.

Referring to Israeli

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to Ottawa – cut short two days earlier when he returned to Israel in the wake of the Gaza flotilla incident – the ambassador said the prime minister “felt the love of the community and the special bond between Canada and Israel.”

Adjucator rules Ottawa Jewish civil servant discriminated against at Passport Canada (JTA) – The federal government has discriminated against a Jewish civil servant because she followed the rules of her religion, a federal adjudicator ruled.

The ruling, by adjudicator Michele Pineau, agreed that Valery LaBranche’s workplace at the Ottawa headquarters of Passport Canada was poisoned by anti-Semitism.

The decision found that LaBranche’s colleagues discriminated against her because she would leave work early on Fridays to observe the Sabbath and took off Jewish holidays, and that her

superiors at Passport Canada did not help her.

LaBranche, who converted to Judaism in 1997, said she had been deeply traumatized by her treatment, had to seek medical treatment and take time off work. She launched her grievance in January 2007.

According to the adjudicator’s decision, LaBranche became ill and unable to work after anonymous antiSemitic messages were sent to her superiors.

“Be aware of Mrs. LaBranche. She is a Mossad agent,” read one.

“The Jew sucks your

blood. Don’t fall into her trap. You will make her go swiftly or we will make her go slowly and painfully! It’s your choice!!!” said another.

LaBranche said she felt humiliated when she was told to fill out forms in order to observe holy days.

Pineau noted that LaBranche was also told by her boss’s administrative assistant that she was isolating herself by not taking part in

dress-down Fridays or by going out to restaurants with co-workers.

“As an observant Jew she did not own clothing in keeping with dress-down Fridays and … her dietary restrictions did not allow her to eat at the popular restaurants chosen by her col-

leagues,” wrote Pineau in the decision.

The decision slammed the federal department, saying it was more interested in protecting itself than LaBranche’s well-being.

In a separate action, LaBranche is seeking damages for pain and suffering.

Renew your OJB subscription by calling 613-798-4696, ext. 256 or 242

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Page 12 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – June 14, 2010

Seniors enjoy drumming workshop at Creative Connections and agreed that he should be invited to Creative Connections again.

“I liked it and I liked the guy, too. He has a lot of personality,” said Rose Toytman.

“It was wonderful. I thought he was sensational,” added Pauline Kokay.

Laughter echoed throughout the room as the seniors beat on their drums, sharing music, rhythm, and movement. If the smiles on the participants’ faces were not proof enough that this workshop was worthwhile, their comments afterward certainly were convincing.

“Everyone had a good time,” said Naomi Skoll. “Seniors are usually so serious but this brought out the fun in everyone.”

“I am not a drummer, but today was fun,” added a smiling and chuckling Evelyn Potechin.

Laura Hoffman sums it up best: “I felt I had gone back to Kindergarten!”

Creative Connections, a joint program of AJA 50+ and the Soloway JCC, attracts about 30 seniors every Tuesday.

The day begins with 45 minutes of chair exercises run by Kathy Roy. Lunch is usually brown-bagged by participants, with a few opting to buy sandwiches ordered from Hillel Lodge.

Merle Haltrecht-Matte, the Creative Connections coCarpet • Vinyl ordinator, invites a variety of Ceramics • Hardwood Floor speakers, story tellers and musicians for educational 1365 Cyrville Road and entraining programOttawa, Ontario ming.

K1B 3L7 Creative Connections is one of nearly 150 programs Tel: 613-741-4261 offered by AJA 50+ throughFax: 613-741-2944 out the year.

By A.M.M.Scheide for Creative Connections What happens when usually serious senior citizens encounter a bunch of percussion instruments?

A heck of a good time!

Leo Brooks of Treefrog Percussion visited Creative Connections, May 25, at the Soloway Jewish Community Centre (JCC), and led the seniors in a drumming workshop.

Brooks came to the workshop with 13 large African drums, a hand-carved Brazilian drum, a marching-style drum, and three bins of percussion instruments including metal cowbells, wood blocks, shakers and maracas. Everyone had a chance to shake and bang and make music during the hourlong workshop.

Thirty chairs were set in a big circle to accommodate the drums and ensure visibility for all, a layout that pleased the participants.

“I am not used to this kind of activity. It is different from the other activities we have had, because we all contributed and participated,” said Sylvia Bronsther.

The participants were quite taken by drum leader Brooks’ contagious enthusiasm

Leo Brooks leads a drumming workshop with Creative Connections.

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Erika (left), Irene (centre) and Eve participate in the Creative Connections drumming (Photos: Pamela Rosenberg) workshop.

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Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – June 14, 2010 – Page 13

The Soloway JCC’s first ever ladies basketball team will be honoured at the Breakfast of Champions.

Jean Labonté to speak at Breakfast of Champions Paralympics began when he was diagnosed at

By Pamela Rosenberg 17 with osteosarcoma, a bone cancer freSoloway JCC After a long season of competition, the quently found in teenagers. Three years later, crème de la crème of Soloway Jewish Com- his left leg was amputated above the knee. It munity Centre (JCC) athletes rise to the top to was during his time in the hospital that receive their awards and devour a delicious Labonté, a software engineer, read an article breakfast buffet while listening to some in- on sledge hockey and first became interested in the sport, which was in its early days at the spiring words.

The 9th Annual Soloway JCC Breakfast of time.

“Jean Labonté is a tremendous athlete and Champions, Sunday, June 20, 11:00 am, is an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the top individual who has a special message and we ranking teams from the Athletics and Leagues are delighted that he has agreed to be our speDepartment as well as community members cial guest speaker at this year’s breakfast,” says Soloway JCC Athletics and Leagues who are involved in sports at all levels.

Teams getting top billing at this year’s Manager Jon Braun. “Jean Labonté truly is a breakfast include the Jewish Men’s Softball champion.”

Tickets for the Breakfast of Champions League’s team Outaouais, JCC Men’s Basketball League’s team UCLA, JCC Men’s Hock- are available at the Soloway JCC front desk ey League’s team Red Wings and our first at $10 (children 13 and under) and $15 ever ladies basketball team. The JCC Mac- (adults). For more information, contact Jon cabi Team, which will participate in the JCC Braun at 613-798-9818, ext. 267, or Maccabi Games in August in Baltimore, will jbraun@jccottawa.com. be honoured along with many individuals who have contributed to sports in our community.

The special guest speaker will be Jean Labonté, captain of the gold-medal-winning Canadian sledge hockey team, and the flag bearer for Canada at the opening ceremony of the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver.

The 40-year-old native of Gatineau competed in three previous Paralympic Winter Games, earning a gold medal in 2006 and silver in 1998.

Labonté’s route to Sledge hockey player Jean Labonté (left) will be the guest sledge hockey and the speaker at the Soloway JCC Breakfast of Champions.

Page 14 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – June 14, 2010

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 May 6 and 26, 2010 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 Commemoration of the Yahrzeit of: Leona Adler, beloved mother by Marilyn Adler, Elayne Adler and Jeff Adler Beloved Father of Esti Fogel by Elayne Adler and Farley, Jordan and Benjamin Stenzler In Honour of: Esther Chana and Avraham Lenet Mazal tov on the occasion of your son Yitzchok Yehoshua’s Bar Mitzvah Blanche Osterer Mazal tov on receiving the Shem Tov Community Volunteer Award by Elayne Adler and Farley, Jordan and Benjamin Stenzler R’fuah Shlema: Carolyn Katz by Marilyn Adler and Neil and Daniel Blacher Auxiliary of Hillel Lodge Fund R’fuah Shlema: Carolyn Katz by Marion Silver and Alan Brass and family; and Sonja and Ron Kesten, and Edith Sporn Elsie Baker Endowment Fund In Honour of: Hannah and Gerald Halpern Best wishes on your 50th anniversary by Polly and Jack Moran Fred and Esther Ballon Family Fund In Memory of: Rita, beloved daughter-in-law of Ida Freedman by Esther and Fred Ballon R’fuah Shlema: Carolyn Katz by Esther and Fred Ballon

Boris and Dolly Blacher Family Fund In Memory of: Sheila Schinman by the Blacher family In Honour of: Evelyn Rivers Best wishes for a very happy special birthday by Marla Blacher Joel and Sharon Edelson Family Fund In Memory of: Jack Pleet by Sharon and Joel Edelson In Honour of: Joel Diener Mazal tov on receiving the Thelma Steinman Direct Service Award from Hillel Lodge by Sharon and Joel Edelson Friedberg and Dale Families Fund In Memory of: Simon Schweitzer by Elaine Friedberg and Bob and Jonathan Dale In Honour of: Ed Borts Best wishes for a very happy 60th birthday

by Elaine Friedberg and Bob Dale Elaine Friedberg Mazal tov on being honoured as an outstanding volunteer by the Jewish Federation of Ottawa

by Diane and Gary Arkin Minda and Peter Wershof Mazal tov and best wishes on the birth of your granddaughter by Elaine Friedberg and Bob Dale Sandy and Nachum Woolf Mazal tov on being honoured for your ongoing dedication and involvement with NCSY by Elaine Friedberg and Bob Dale Malcolm and Vera Glube Endowment Fund In Memory of: Shirley Udaskin by Vera and Malcolm Glube William Wheatley by Vera and Malcolm Glube In Honour of: Mera and Bill Goldstein Mazal tov on the birth of your new granddaughter, Margo Elise by Vera and Malcolm Glube Fran and Mort Ross Mazal tov and best wishes on the birth of your first grandson by Vera and Malcolm Glube Marcia and Larry Strauss With love to two special people for a very happy 50th anniversary by Vera and Malcolm Glube Nell Gluck Memorial Fund In Memory of: Lois, beloved sister of Rabbi Alan Cohen by Maureen and Henry Molot, Alex, Adena, Edie and Shahar Jack Pleet by Maureen and Henry Molot, Edie and Shahar In Honour of: Julia Gluck Wishing you all the best for a happy 60th birthday by Sandra Appel, Jerry Shuman, Mira and Naomi Paula and Jon Miller Mazal tov on the birth of our newest grandson and wishing you much nachas from the next generation by Maureen and Henry Molot Minda and Peter Wershof Mazal tov and welcome to the club! We wish you much nachas from your new granddaughter by Maureen and Henry Molot

R’fuah Shlema: Morton Taller by Maureen and Henry Molot Evelyn and Irving Greenberg Fund In Memory of: Jack Pleet by Evelyn Greenberg Sally Christine Soroka by Evelyn Greenberg Nordau and Roslyn Kanigsberg Family Fund In Honour of: Debbie Kaplan Mazal tov on joining the clan with love by Roz and Nordau Kanigsberg David, Harvey and Victor Kardish Family Fund In Memory of: Sadie Craft by Margo, David, Aaron and Gail Kardish In Honour of: Bea Dubinsky Love and best wishes to our special aunt on your special birthday by Margo, David, Aaron and Gail Kardish Deb, Lee and Jack Merovitz Mazal tov and all the best on the birth of Matthew Gabriel Merovitz by Aaron Kardish Dorothy and Maurie Karp Endowment Fund In Memory of: Sadie Craft by Dorothy Karp Morris and Lillian Kimmel Family Fund In Memory of: Freda Meyer by Janet, Steve, Tobin and Aaron Kaiman In Commemoration of the Yahrzeit of: Leona Adler by Janet, Steve, Tobin and Aaron Kaiman In Honour of: Joel Diener Mazal tov on receiving the Thelma Steinman Direct Service Award – well deserved! by the Kimmel, Kaiman and Levine families Daniel Levine Mazal tov on your graduation with love

by Auntie Janet, Uncle Steve, Tobin and Aaron Kaiman Felice Pleet Mazal tov and all our best wishes on your special birthday by Brenda, Nathan, Jesse and Daniel Levine R’fuah Shlema: Ed Levine by Morris Kimmel and Brenda, Nathan, Jesse and Daniel Levine Shirley and Maurice Rose Memorial Fund In Memory of: Jack Pleet by Mavis and Simon Wasserberger Irma and Harold Sachs Family Fund In Honour of: Wilbur Keon Best wishes for a happy birthday and congratulations on your many years of public service by Irma and Harold Sachs Stephen and Debra Schneiderman Family Fund In Memory of: Shirley Grekin by Debra and Stephen Schneiderman Jack Pleet by Debra and Stephen Schneiderman In Honour of: Rabbi Ely and Sheli Braun Mazal tov and best wishes on the marriage of your daughter by Debra and Stephen Schneiderman Label and Leona Silver Family Fund In Honour of: Blanche Osterer Mazal tov on receiving the Shem Tov Community Volunteer Award by Leona and Label Silver Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wiseman Mazal tov on the marriage of Yossi to Julia by Leona and Label Silver

Ralph and Anne Sternberg Family Fund In Memory of: Jack Pleet by Laya and Ted Jacobsen In Honour of: Laya Jacobsen Happy Birthday to the ‘Lovely Laya’ from your Husband-in-Awe, Teddy Roslyn and Myles Taller Family Endowment Fund In Memory of: Cesare Giaccone by Roz Taller and Myles Taller and family R’fuah Shlema: Carolyn Katz by Roz Taller and Myles Taller Milton and Mary (Terry) Viner Family Fund In Observance of the Yahrzeit of: Joe Viner beloved brother by Millie Schaenfield Eric Weiner and Arlene Godfrey Family Fund In Memory of: Rita Cole by Miriam and Louis Weiner Carole and Norman Zagerman Family Fund In Memory of: Betty Feller by Carole and Norman Zagerman In Honour of: Mera and Bill Goldstein Mazal tov on the birth of your granddaughter by Carole and Norman Zagerman Mera Goldstein Best wishes on your retirement by Carole and Norman Zagerman Feeding Program In Memory of: Shirley Lacome by Carol and Larry Gradus Yankel Lebovich by Mara and Isaac Muzikansky Jack Pleet by Pat Guthrie R’fuah Shlema: Mark Max by Carol and Larry Gradus Ritual Fund In Observance of the Yahrzeit of: Anne Edelson, beloved sister by Belle Gitterman ************* IN MEMORY OF: Rita Cole by Janis Rapoport and Fernando Miranda; Marley and Patrick Carroll; and Judith and David Kalin Dr. Israel Hoffman by Sylvia and Joel Cohen Simon Penso by Sylvia and Joel Cohen Jack Pleet by Susan Heisel; Zena Lieff; Sue and Jon Fisher; and the Residents, Board and Staff of Hillel Lodge Morton Roodman by Marilyn Waserman and family Rita Ryant by the Chemistry Class of ‘63 Miriam Shadman by Anna Bilsky Shirley Udaskin by Bev and Bryan Glube and family IN HONOUR OF: Rabbi Ely and Sheli Braun Mazal tov on the recent marriage of your daughter by the Residents, Board and Staff of Hillel Lodge Joel Diener Mazal tov on receiving the Thelma Steinman Direct Service Award by Golda Feig and Ned Steinman; Edie Laundau; Les Melamed Best wishes on your special birthday – ad meah v’esrim by Minda and Peter Wershof Blanche Osterer Mazal tov on being named the recipient of the Shem Tov Award by Sybil and Sol Goldlmaker Sheldon Popliger With sincere thanks and appreciation for the donation of bibs by the Residents, Board and Staff of Hillel Lodge Fran and Allen Schwartzberg Best wishes to you both on your 60th birthdays by Ruth and Dale Fyman

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

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – June 14, 2010 – Page 15

Soloway JCC Summer Camps see overwhelming registration

By Pamela Rosenberg Soloway JCC The overwhelming number of registrations for Soloway JCC Summer Camps this year speaks volumes about the quality of programming, the exceptional staff and the all around amazing experiences that take place at our camps.

Soloway JCC Summer Camps Executive Director Jon Braun and Day Camp Director Shayna Leikin attribute this summer’s burgeoning enrolment to parents feeling a significant level of comfort knowing their children are at the JCC. “The facility is fantastic, the programming is creative and exiting,� says Braun. “Most importantly, we have surrounded the kids with a caring and motivated staff and that means a great deal to any parent.�

Although Soloway JCC Summer Camps do their best to accommodate everyone, they will have to start closing groups when the numbers get too big for purposes of safety and quality of experience, both of which are extremely important to the camp directors and staff. “Quality of care and safety of children are our number one priorities. That means staffing groups appropriately with qualified teachers and early childhood educators and keeping groups within acceptable ratios,� says Leikin.

Day and Travelling Sports campers benefit from daily Ontario Lifesaving Society swim lessons and all campers enjoy a free swim. Aquatics Manager Robin Jordan and her staff are currently in the process of contacting parents to determine children’s swim levels and make lessons and placement in the correct level as seamless as possible.

In order to ensure that all swimmers stay in the appropriate area of the pool, each camper will wear a coloured wristband associated with their aquatic capabilities. The band will help lifeguards determine where each child should be.

This summer, aquatics staff will be handing out report cards for those who will be at camp long enough to complete a level and progress reports for those enrolled in one week of camp. “We have highly enthusiastic and keen staff for this summer. Neil [Mason, aquatics supervisor] and I will be leading the staff and will be on deck throughout lessons and free swims every day,� says Jordan. “We are also putting more lifeguards on during the camp free swim to ensure everyone is looked after.�

Learning to swim, trying something for the first time and making new friends are all part of positive and memorable camp experiences and are top priority at the Soloway JCC

will also discuss the connection of the Manitobans to Ottawa.

Rackow was born and raised in Winnipeg and studied at Montreal’s McGill University earning his master’s degree in engineering. A position at the National Research Council brought him to Ottawa in 1951, where he spent a 36-year career in the federal civil service.

After retiring from government service, Rackow spent several years as a principal in a small consulting firm, from which he retired in 1995.

Rackow’s interests include genealogy, listening to music and learning about visual art. He and his wife, Phyllis, are volunteers at the National Gallery of Canada.

The community is invited to hear this interesting story

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Alan Rackow to discuss history of Manitoba’s Jews and their connection to Ottawa

By Elaine Brodsky Ottawa Jewish Historical Society The Ottawa Jewish Historical Society’s next lecture will feature Winnipeg-born Alan Rackow discussing the origins of Manitoba’s Jewish community.

Rackow will talk about his research, which follows the Manitoba Jewish community back to the 19th century, and

regardless of whether or not a family can afford it.

The Send a Kid to Camp Campaign assists families through financial subsidies. Since its inception, the campaign has provided nearly 50 children with unforgettable summer camp experiences.

The summer camp staff is looking forward to another amazing summer. While they do their best to accommodate everyone, some camps do have limited space and are filling up fast. Drop by the Soloway JCC or visit jccottawa.com to download a registration form.

For information about Soloway JCC Summer Camps, or to contribute to the Send a Kid to Camp Campaign, contact Jon Braun at 613-798-9818, ext. 267, or jbraun@jccottawa.com.

I’m Jerry of Jerry’s Hobby Reg’d and I can take “Memories out of a box�

Think of all your old photos, slides, 8mm & 16mm home movies in boxes in your basement. “Memories in a box�.

Alan Rackow will deliver the Ottawa Jewish Historical Society’s next lecture, June 23.

I can convert those “memories� with an easy-to-use format onto a DVD. Just sit back and enjoy “your memories� on TV.

on Wednesday, June 23, 7:30 pm, at Agudath Israel Synagogue, 1400 Coldrey Avenue.

For more information, I can be reached at

613-301-4919

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Page 16 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – June 14, 2010

Hillel Lodge presents three awards The Bess and Moe Greenberg Family Hillel Lodge presented three awards, May 26, at its annual general meeting.

The Jewish Federation of Ottawa received the Outstanding Service Award, which is given to an organization that “has provided outstanding service to the Lodge and its residents.”

Mitchell Bellman (left), Federation president and CEO, and Donna Dolansky, Federation chair, accepted the award from Ingrid Levitz, past-president of Hillel Lodge.

McGuinty visits Yad Vashem Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty tours Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, May 23, during his recent trade mission to Israel. The premier laid a wreath in memory of Jewish victims of the Holocaust.

(Photo courtesy of Yad Vashem)

The Shalom Perel President’s Award of Merit was presented to the accounting firm Ginsberg Gluzman Fage & Levitz, LLP for contributions that “have been longstanding, multiple and manifold.” Leon Gluzman (left) and managing partner Deborah Bourchier (centre) accepted the Award from Stephen Schneiderman, executive director of Hillel Lodge.

Joel Diener is the recipient of the Thelma Steinman Direct Service Award, which “honours an individual who works tirelessly with or on behalf of our residents.”

The award was presented by Adele Tate (right), daughter of Thelma Steinman.

(Photos: Issie Scarowsky)

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – June 14, 2010 – Page 17

The Socalled Movie profiles artist taking Jewish music in new directions

By Michael Regenstreif As a teenager growing up in Ottawa and Chelsea in the 1990s, Josh Dolgin got into hip hop and rapping and adopted ‘Heavy J’ as his rap name. It was, it seems, somewhat of a misnomer. He wasn’t a person of excessive poundage and, apparently, his music in those days was not something you’d describe as “heavy.” In response, a fellow rapper took to calling him ‘Socalled Heavy J.’ The original ‘Heavy J’ eventually fell away and ‘Socalled’ he’s remained.

By the late-‘90s, Socalled had begun mixing klezmer and other forms of Jewish music with the beats and samples of contemporary urban hip hop to create a unique, compelling and utterly original fusion. While generally remaining true to the spirit of Jewish music, he’s taken it in directions it’s never gone before.

Several years ago, Socalled, now based in Montreal, caught the attention of documentary film director Gary Bietel, whose works include Chez Schwartz, about the legendary Montreal smoked meat joint; Bonjour! Shalom! which explores the relationships and tensions between the Chassidic and French Canadian communities in the Montreal area of Outremont; and Endnotes, about a palliative care unit.

Over a couple of years, Bietel and his crew sporadically followed Socalled at home, on tour in Europe and the U.S., and on a klezmer cruise organized by the Dolgin family in 2007 along the Dnieper River in Eastern Europe. The result is The Socalled Movie, a documentary that explores Socalled, his creative process and his seemingly disparate collaborations in a series of 18 vignettes.

The most joyous parts of the film are the frequently infectious

Socalled with Irving Fields in The Socalled Movie.

(Photo: Garry Beitel/Reframe Films)

Hillel Academy Grade 6 class takes part in the Dog Walk Raising funds for Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind was the Tikkun Olam project of Hillel Academy’s Grade 6 class this year.

The class, along with some teachers, parents and Head of Schools Donna PalmerDodds, participated, May 30, in the Go For Guide Dogs Fundraising Dog Walk & Dog Social at Andrew Haydon Park.

(Photo: Howard Sandler)

performance sequences. Whether Socalled is leading his own band, which includes bluegrass and folk singer Katie Moore and, occasionally, musicians like Matt Darriau of the Klezmatics, or participating in a unique collaboration like his musical summit with legendary funk trombonist Fred Wesley and klezmer clarinetist David Krakauer at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem, one is easily caught up in the music.

The film also reveals Socalled – like many creative people – to be conflicted and, sometimes, contradictory. In one interview segment, he says his fascination with Jewish music comes from his respect for Jewish culture despite the fact that he has nothing but contempt for religious beliefs and traditions. But, in another segment, he looks at an old siddur seemingly with reverence for what it represents. He dismisses Holocaust-education trips like March of the Living, but is deeply affected on the klezmer cruise when he visits the site of a Jewish massacre during the Holocaust.

Socalled also speaks openly about being gay – and even celebrates his sexuality with a concert at a Montreal porno palace that was a Yiddish theatre back in the 1930s and ‘40s – but will not reveal his partner or the nature of their relationship.

One thing I found particularly interesting about Socalled is that while his main form of musical expression is hip hop, a genre that is often, and perhaps unfairly, seen as rejecting of older genres of music and the musicians who made it, he seeks out older musical heroes to work with. In addition to Wesley, who was playing with soul legend James Brown long before Socalled was born, we see Socalled in

Josh Dolgin aka Socalled in The Socalled Movie.

(Photo: Liam Maloney/NFB)

poignant scenes with Irving Fields, a Jewish lounge musician now in his 90s, and Arkady Gendler, an older singer of traditional Yiddish songs who was a guide on the klezmer cruise down the Dnieper.

At the same time, he’s also collaborating with contemporary hip hoppers like C-Rays Walz and D-Shade, and composing a solo piece for classical cellist Matt

Haimovitz.

The Socalled Movie is a fascinating look at an artist who, I suspect, will continue to develop in interesting ways in years to come.

The Socalled Movie, co-produced by the National Film Board of Canada and reFrame Films, will be screened in Ottawa at the Mayfair Theatre, 1074 Bank Street, on June 18, 21 and 23 at 9:30 pm.

Page 18 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – June 14, 2010

Na’amat brings Generations Day to Hillel Lodge

By Elianna Saidenberg for Na’amat Canada Ottawa There is a Hebrew proverb that states, “Whoever teaches his child, teaches not his child alone but also his child’s child and so on, to the end of generations.”

Modify that proverb to refer to teaching of her child and you capture the essence of Generations Day held May 2 at Hillel Lodge.

The event, which fell on Lag B’Omer, brought together the residents of the long-term care facility with the women of Na’amat Canada Ottawa and their children.

The event began with uplifting live music played by Yitzhak Neyvelt, a 91-year-old Hillel Lodge resident, his daughter,

Natasha Guiller, Sol Gunner and Floralove Katz. Smiling faces looked on as sisters Jenny, 3, and Sasha, 1, daughters of event cochair Miriam Peters, approached the musicians to be serenaded in both Yiddish and English. Sasha even tried to grab the violin bow and play a tune of her own!

Throughout the afternoon, residents of the Lodge and the children in attendance worked together decorating wooden boxes and placemats. Their beautiful creations will serve as lovely souvenirs for everyone who attended.

I opened this article with a reference to teaching because this unique event gave the women of Na’amat Ottawa the opportuni-

ty to impart to their children some of the spirit that imbues the work of the organization. Having their sons and daughters participate in just one of the many mitzvot accomplished by Na’amat helps lay the foundation for the next generation of Jewish volunteers.

Five-year-old Abby Shmorgun was full of pride at the event’s conclusion when she exclaimed to her father, “I helped the grown-up ladies set up the tables and helped Tillie and Sylvia (both octogenarian residents of Hillel Lodge) make a craft.”

It is in teaching our children the pure joy of helping another person that we plant seeds that will grow to the end of generations.

Floralove Katz sings to Jenny and Sasha Peters as Yitzhak Neyvelt looks on.

Young Israel fundraiser to feature Moroccan cooking class

By Zev Singer for Young Israel After decades of demonstrating kosher Moroccan cooking in Ottawa, Yvonne Azuelos only recently realized why she ever taught herself the culinary art.

“I cooked out of nostalgia,” she says.

The smells brought her back to her parents’ home in Casablanca.

By now, Azuelos has become an authority in Ottawa on this style of cooking. The dusty archives of the Ottawa Citizen show that the paper’s food section featured her way back in 1983 as an exot-

ic import to the kitchens of the capital.

People often assume Azuelos learned Moroccan cooking as a girl. After all, she lived in Morocco until she was 23. What’s more, she was the oldest of four children in a house where pots and pans of one kind or

other were constantly simmering away.

But, she never learned to cook at home. Her mother always looked after the kitchen without her help. It wasn’t until she left Morocco as a married woman that she was forced to learn how to cook. Luckily, for her, and for all those she’s taught over the years, it came naturally.

Actually, it came so naturally that she never measured anything. It was only when she began teaching a class at Loblaws that she had to start quantifying all of the ingredients.

At home, as she and her husband, Yehuda, raised three children, she always saved the Moroccan meals for Shabbat, going with more simple fare during the week.

That was partly to make the Shabbat food a special treat, and partly because it took too much time to do every day.

“It can be very elaborate and you can spend lots of time on Moroccan cooking,” she says.

For that reason, she worked over the years at finding ways to cut corners but still get excellent results.

She started calling her style “Moroccan Express.”

On Sunday, July 11, she will give a hands-on class as a fundraiser for the Young Israel of Ottawa synagogue.

“Moroccan food suggests an evening of home-cooked abundance, redolent with spices, full of ‘contrast and surprises,’ to quote the wonderful food writer Claudia Roden,” said Rabbi Ari Ga-

landauer of Young Israel.

“This knowledge is very important to us as Jews, because everyone knows that Judaism is based on the stomach.”

Men and women are welcome at the class, which will take place from 2:00 to 4:00 pm at a private home. Dinner will follow at 5:00. The cost is $50 per person.

Contact Young Israel at 613-722-2568 or young israelottawa@gmail.com for information or to reserve for the class and dinner.

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Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – June 14, 2010 – Page 19

Friendship Circle offers a night out for moms of special needs kids

By Cynthia Nyman Engel for Friendship Circle Ruthie Raz made a kiddush cup, complete with a Hebrew blessing.

Susan Bright’s masterpiece was a cat-shaped jewelry holder (with removable head to accommodate the jewelry).

Sheryl Schweitzer discovered, much to her surprise, the vase she was decorating was actually a candleholder.

The three women are part of Friendship Circle’s Mom’s Night Out, a monthly bonding program for mothers of special needs children that functions under the umbrella of the Jewish Youth Library.

Seventeen women attended the April program held at Gotta Paint. They nibbled on sushi, exercised a bit of creativity, shared laughter and, of course, found plenty to talk about.

“As mothers of special needs children, the opportunity to spend an evening out with other moms who are coping with similar situations is very special to us,” explains program co-ordinator Sigal Baray.

“It gives us the chance to relax with people who understand each other’s circumstances, to have some fun, exchange ideas, and to share the sorrows and the joys we deal with in common.”

Ruthie Raz has a special needs daughter. Raz has been involved with the program for a year and always looks forward to participating in the regular outing.

“Parents of special needs children do a different kind of parenting,” she says. “And when you have that in common with others, when you meet with others who know, it’s a very comfortable feeling. It’s not at all depressing when we get together; in fact, it’s the opposite. We can joke with each other because we all understand.”

Sheryl Schweitzer moved to Ottawa from New Jersey with her husband and family just 18 months ago.

“I found out about Mom’s Night Out from Sigal. She had heard of me through another special needs mom, and reached out to me,” she says.

“Sigal is marvellous.

“I have two special needs kids and it’s wonderful to be with people whom you can relate to, who understand the trials and tribulations, the hardships, and, yes, the happy times you go through, too,” she says. “Until you walk the walk, you cannot know what it is,” says Schweitzer.

“Sigal plans great programs,” adds Schweitzer. “I always say to my husband, ‘This sounds like a lot of fun,

Mark. I hope you can come home so I can go.’ And, of course, he tries to.”

By the way, the vase that really was a candleholder turned out beautifully and will be a gift for Schweitzer’s mother.

First time attendee Susan Bright, mother of a special needs daughter, thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

“I found out about the program through a cousin,” she says. “Everyone here was so very, very nice and I find it very helpful to speak to others in like situations. It’s nice to be out with others and sharing.”

The evening included a short talk by dog owner Ayala Sher on the advantages of pet therapy. Sher, who owns a Shiba Inu especially trained for this purpose, offered to bring her dog to the home of any special needs child who might benefit from interacting with a calm, quiet dog.

Bright liked the idea.

(Left to right) Sheryl Schweitzer, Devora Caytak, Ruthie Raz and Susan Bright enjoy Friendship Circle’s Mom’s Night Out at Gotta Paint.

“I’d like my daughter to meet the dog,” she said. “It sounds like it would be a lovely experience.”

In addition to Mom’s Night Out, Friendship Circle also matches special needs children with carefully chosen teenage volunteers for home visits.

For information about Friendship Circle, call 613729-1619 or 613-282-0565.

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Judaic Outreach Programs June • July • August 2010 Alison Caplan, Judaic Administrative Assistant • 613-725-3519 Adele Horwitz, Judaic Program Leader • 613-592-8365 Date

Program

Place

Time

Tuesdays until June 22

Music on Wheels Adele Horwitz

77 Grammercy

3:00 – 4:00

Thursdays until June 17

Music on Wheels Adele Horwitz

842 Broadview

4:00 – 5:30

Friday June 11

Community Shabbat RSVP Alison Caplan

Day Program 11 Nadolny Sachs

5:30 – 7:30

Tuesday June 15

Tamir Annual General Meeting

Agudath Israel

6:30 – 8:30

Wednesday June 23

Judaic End of Year Party RSVP Allison Caplan

SJCC Garden

5:30 – 7:30

Friday July 30

Community Shabbat RSVP Alison Caplan

Contact Alison Caplan for details

5:30 – 7:30

The Judaic Studies Program will be closed for the summer break during July and August.

Look for the fall Judaic Outreach Schedule coming to you in August.

Page 20 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – June 14, 2010

SAY IT WITH TREES 613-798-2411

●

To remember

●

To congratulate

●

To honour

●

To say I care

TREES HAVE BEEN PLANTED Condolences to: Raquel Aneckstein in memory of your husband Mike by Frieda & Phil Chodos Davina Bakerman in memory of your grandmother by Carol & Laurie Pascoe Ben-Israel family in memory of your mother Sara Ben-Israel by Carol & Laurie Pascoe & family Steven Bencze in memory of your mother Eva by Carol & Laurie Pascoe Anna Cantor in memory of your mother Polly by David & Rochelle Greenberg, by Marcia & Barry Cantor & family Mitchell Caplan in memory of your cousin Kirby by Peggy Kleinplatz Margaret Charko in memory of Z. Ron Charko

by Rose & Morrie Konick Dr. Myron Cherun in memory of your mother Jennie Cherun by Marion, Alan, Lawrence, Rafi & Shira Eric Cohen & family in memory of your mother Mina Dover-Cohen by Penney Prud’homme Willy & Bertha Cuplowsky in memory of Dora Cuplowsky by Jerry & Melanie Gluss Michelle Cusson in memory of Marcelle Pilon

by Morton & Sheila Baslaw Eva Czigler & Peter Herrndorf in memory of your mother Magda Czigler by Ken & Anne Mozersky Susan Dawson & Carson Wells in memory of Duke by Oliver Javanpour Elena Denejkina in memory of your Mama by the Jason-Byerley Family Irene Evans & family in memory of Lee Evans

by Rose & Morrie Konick Harold Fireman in memory of Les Scott Fireman by Lise Gareau Norm Freeman in memory of your father by Laura & Gordon Spergel Ted Jacobsen in memory of your mother by Anna-Lee Chiprout, by Nina Jason & Brian Byerley Jason Kenney in memory of your father by Anna-Lee Chiprout Real Laflamme in memory of Dolores Y. Laflamme by Joseph Eliot Magnet Norm Leckie & family in memory of your father Leon Leckie by Penney Prud’homme, by the JasonByerley Family, by Carol & Laurie Pascoe Jeff LeVine in memory of your father David LeVine by Margo, Alan, Scott, Matt & Amy Blostein Arleen Lynch in memory of your mother Dot by Marcia Cantor Deena McNichol in memory of Olga Kelman by Debra Rossman & Sharon Chapnick Paul Mendelsohn in memory of your mother Dorothy by Reisa & Allan Glenns Lynda O’Connor in memory of your mother Priscilla by Merle Haltrecht-Matte Family of the late Mark Parkinson by Sara Shabsove Miriam Pleet in memory of Jack Pleet by Alan & Margo Blostein, by Shirley Marcus Maurice Ryant in memory of your wife Rita by Carol & Laurie Pascoe Viviane Ohana Sandler in memory of your

mother Solange Sandler by Marcia & Barry Cantor Joan Schrier in memory of your husband Sam Schrier by Penney Prud’homme, by Merle HaltrechtMatte, by Jane & Martin Gordon, by the JasonByerley family Family of the late Uri Schwarz by Jean Rivier Marion Silver & family in memory of your mother Penny Bar-Noy Roodman by Carol & Laurie Pascoe, by Marcia & Barry Cantor Andrew Sim in memory of your dear sister by Merle Haltrechte-Matte & Arianne M. Matte Shauna Small in memory of Rachel Marcovici

by Sandra Marchello Elaine Singer in memory of your husband Irv Singer by David & Rochelle Greenberg, by Penney Prud’homme, by Philip & Shirley Teitelbaum, by Sam & Lisa Feldberg & family, by the Jason-Byerley family Linda Steingarten in memory of your mother Margaret Griffin by Penny Prud’homme Morton Stober & family in memory of our cousin Evelyn Stober by Carol & Laurie Pascoe Ian Vandenberg in memory of your mother Joan

by Carol & Ben Caspi Steve Wilson in memory of Danielle Wilson by Brian Byerley & Nina Jason The Zloten family in memory of Murray Zloten

by Mel & Tziona Wishing Speedy Recovery/ Refuah Shleima to: Carolyn Katz by Sandra Marchello Rochelle Pearl by Alan & Margo Blostein, by Jane & Martin Gordon, by Rosalie & Harold Schwartz, by Susan & Charles Schwartzman, by Carol & Laurie Pascoe & family Livia Ravek by Karen & Ian Zunder & family Chuck Rotenberg by Diane Koven Sharon Steinberg by Marcia Cantor In Honour of: Shirley Berman on your 80th birthday by Leon, Ruth & Floralove Katz Lorna Bernbaum on your retirement from OCDSB by the staff of Queen Elizabeth School Malcolm Bernstein on your milestone birthday

by Fern Goldman, Arielle & Elie Cory Felber on your 60th birthday by Lorna Bernbaum Paula Gelmon on your 60th by Lorna Bernbaum Simon Greene on your 81st birthday by Linda & Hillel, Elana, Benji & Danielle Leon & Ruth Katz on your 60th anniversary by Floralove Diane Koven on your special birthday by Rosie Goldstein & Mark Hardy Anita Landis on your birthday by Shirley & Philip Teitelbaum Andy Lee with thanks for your time & dedication

by Merle Haltrecht-Matte Terry Markell on your special birthday by Norean Taller-Harris Michael Miller on your 70th birthday by Elaine

& Eva Vininsky Howard Osterer in appreciation by Neil, Marilyn & Daniel Blacher Lewis Perelmutter on your special birthday by Doreen & Ariel Arnoni Dr. Itamar Pomeranz with thanks & appreciation by Jane & Martin Gordon Marsha Saper on your special birthday by Margo, David, Aaron & Gail Kardish Betty & Nathan Scott with thanks & appreciation by Dundi & Lyon Sachs Linda Shaw on your 60th birthday by Lorna Bernbaum Dorothy Stern on your 60th birthday by Lorna Bernbaum Sunny & John Tavel on your special birthdays

by Alyce & Allan Baker Stephen & Gail Victor with thanks & appreciation by Sheela & Si Morin, Larry & Fern Szpirglas Sarah Waghorn with thanks & appreciation by David & Rochelle Greenberg Mazal Tov to: Myrna Barwin on being honoured as one of Ottawa’s inspirational women by Marcia Cantor Magda & Peter Benedek on the birth of your grandson by David & Judith Kalin, by Reisa & Allan Glenns Rabbi Dovid & Suzanne Burger on being honoured at Jewish Unity Live by Marcia & Barry Cantor Anna-Lee Chiprout on being honoured as one of Ottawa’s inspirational women by Marcia Cantor Daniel Davies & Maya Phansalker on Benjamin’s birth by Diane Koven Anita Dubinsky on the engagement of Byron & Elissa by Maureen & Jeffrey Katz Hailey Eisen & Isaac Gould on the birth of Willow Charlotte Eisen by Rhona Shaffran & Brian Tannenbaum Helen Eisen on the birth of your great granddaughter Willow Charlotte by Margo, Alan, Scott, Matt & Amy Blostein Golda Feig on being honoured as one of Ottawa’s inspirational women by Marcia Cantor Janice & Ed Fine on the marriage of Michael to Shelly by Reisa & Allan Glenns, by Marcia & Barry Cantor Elaine Friedberg on being honoured as one of Ottawa’s inspirational women by Marcia Cantor Rabbi Yisroel & Rochel Goldbaum on being honoured at Jewish Unity Live by Marcia & Barry Cantor Carolyn Katz on being honoured as one of Ottawa’s inspirational women by Marcia Cantor Linda & Steven Kerzner on being honoured at Jewish Unity Live by Marcia & Barry Cantor Kathi Kovacs on being honoured as one of Ottawa’s inspirational women by Marcia Cantor Liz Kronick on being honoured as one of Ottawa’s inspirational women by Marcia Cantor Liz & Skip Kronick on the birth of your granddaughter Sadie Ren by Marcia & Barry Cantor Stanley & Cathy Levine on being honoured at

Jewish Unity Live by Marcia & Barry Cantor Rhoda & Joe Levitan in honour of Shayna’s engagement by Diane Koven Marsha & Mort Levy on your wedding anniversary by Helen & Sol Rauch Rabbi David & Rachel Lewin on the Bar Mitzvah of your son by Peggy Kleinplatz Tema Lewin on the Bar Mitzvah of your great grandson by Peggy Kleinplatz Susan Marcus on being honoured as one of Ottawa’s inspirational women by Marcia Cantor Rabbi Chaim & Bassy Mendelsohn on the arrival of Avraham Avinu by the Jason-Byerley family Bonnie & Chuck Merovitz on the birth of your grandson Matthew Gabriel by Rosalie & Harold Schwartz Byron Pascoe & Elissa Haimovitz on your engagement by Maureen & Jeffrey Katz Carol & Laurie Pascoe on Byron & Elissa’s engagement by Maureen & Jeffrey Katz, by Diane Koven Gita & Gerry Pearl on your double Bat Mitzvahs by Dundi & Lyon Sachs Sherna Posner on the birth of your grand-twins

by Lorna Bernbaum Debbie Scharf on being honoured as one of Ottawa’s inspirational women by Marcia Cantor Dr. Andrew Wershof Schwartz on your graduation from medical school by Carol & Laurie Pascoe & family Dr. Andrew Wershof Schwartz & Charlie Schwartz on the birth of your daughter Maayan Shai

by Carol & Laurie Pascoe & family Rosalie Schwartz on being honoured as an outstanding volunteer by Rochelle & Brian Pearl Irwin Schweitzer & Kathi Kovacs on being honoured at Jewish Unity Live by Marcia & Barry Cantor Dr. & Mrs. Joseph Shuster on Maxine’s Bat Mitzvah by Estelle Fox Jeff & Adele Sidney on being honoured at Jewish Unity Live by Marcia & Barry Cantor Mark & Barbara Siegel on being honoured at Jewish Unity Live by Marcia & Barry Cantor Anna Silverman on being honoured as one of Ottawa’s inspirational women by Marcia Cantor Miriam Taub on being honoured as one of Ottawa’s inspirational women by Marcia Cantor Sara Vered on being honoured by JNF by Norman & Elaine Wolfish, by Estelle & Sol Gunner, by Esther & Abe Tarasofsky, by Elaine Singer, by Magda & Peter Benedek, by Sam & Sandra Zunder & family, Sabina Wasserlauf on being honoured as one of Ottawa’s inspirational women by Marcia Cantor Peter & Minda Wershof on the birth of your granddaughter Maayan Shai by Carol & Laurie Pascoe & family Glenn Wolff & Penny Torontow on being honoured at Jewish Unity Live by Marcia & Barry Cantor Tree purchases are $18 and are fully tax receiptable.

JNF thanks you for your generous contribution.

Please accept our apologies if we misspelled or omitted anyone’s name or contribution.

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – June 14, 2010 – Page 21

Guest Column

Retracing Herzl and looking to the future of Zionism

By Sid Kardash Under the auspices of the World Zionist Organization, my wife and I joined 100 people from around the world spending six frenetic, emotionally packed days, from April 14 to 20, on a Journey with Herzl, visiting Budapest, Vienna, Basel, Paris and Jerusalem – cities where Theodore Herzl grew up, worked and dreamed – and recalling the times where he entered into the pages of Jewish and world history.

Born in Budapest in 1860, Herzl attended Jewish elementary school and high school in Pest. In 1878, the family moved to Vienna, where he enrolled in the faculty of law at the University of Vienna and achieved his doctorate of law in 1882.

In liberal, cosmopolitan Vienna, with its beautiful parks, boulevards, palaces and cafés, Herzl wrote plays and short stories. He was a popular conversationalist in the drawing rooms and salons of Vienna and considered himself a citizen of the world.

In 1891, Herzl became the Paris correspondent for Neue Freie Presse. Covering the 1894 treason trial of Captain Alfred Dreyfuss, he witnessed the public disgrace of the Jewish army officer falsely accused of spying for Germany and was shocked to hear shouts of “Death to the Jews” from the Paris mob. Dismayed at the pervasive anti-Semitism in one of the most sophisticated, cosmopolitan cities in the world,

The gravesite of Theodore Herzl on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.

Herzl realized that not only is Dreyfus on trial, but that the Jewish people as a whole stand accused. He wrote later that “the Dreyfus trial … made me a Zionist.”

The first Zionist Congress in 1897 in Basel, Switzerland was organized and scripted to the last detail by Herzl himself. Jewish delegates from all over Europe gathered in the social hall of a casino where the agenda was dedicated to beginning the process of finding a homeland for the Jewish people.

Not only would Jews take their place among the family of nations as an independent entity, but the principles and ideology underlying this new state would serve as an example to the world as a state governed by laws based on both modern secular legal precedents and on the tradi-

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tional Jewish halachic principles that governed Jewish communities throughout the ages. This initial gathering was followed by five more such meetings where Jews from every social, intellectual and religious level argued policy and instituted actions that served as the basis for the foundation of the State of Israel.

Herzl travelled and wrote extensively. He met with numerous Jewish groups and individuals and had audiences with the German Kaiser, the sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Lord Chamberlain of Britain, the pope and the king of Italy.

These meetings of a Jewish leader with key heads of state electrified the Jewish masses of Europe – who were facing increasing antiSemitism and violence – and gave hope that a solution to Jewish powerlessness could at last be found. There would be no turning back on the inevitable march toward the return to the ancient homeland of Israel.

Unfortunately, due to ash from the volcano erupting in Iceland, we were stranded in Budapest for two extra days and missed the Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha’Atzmaut ceremonies in Israel.

Instead, we observed those highly emotional occasions at the Jewish cultural centre in Budapest before returning to Israel.

Our Herzl tour ended on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, where we visited the gravesite of the man who founded the modern Zionist movement.

Because of the delay, the last part of our tour was limited to four hours in Jerusalem and precluded planned seminars, walking tours and visits to Ashkelon and Sderot. However, the time spent at Herzl’s gravesite gave us time to reflect on his remarkable achievements and on the future of Zionism for the Jews of Israel and the Diaspora.

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tions and words of longing for a return to Israel, with Jerusalem as the capital, have been achieved. We are a strong, flourishing, independent nation. The ultimate goal of the early Zionist leadership is now a reality.

But what of the future?

Israel, like many Western societies, appears to be in the midst of a moral crisis. Jewish values and traditions have been abandoned. We are living with no apparent ideals and goals to guide us into the future, not only as a state for the Jews, but as a Jewish state. We must re-examine our priorities in this world to achieve what our prayer books call an “Or Chadosh (new light)” that will flow from Zion and enlighten all of us.

As a start, we should convene a new Zionist Congress, an assembly of Jews from around the world to discuss, debate and present a new proclamation that would galvanize Jewish people of every persuasion and nationality toward creating a new doctrine from Zion on how to make our homes Jewish, on how to begin again to study and debate and enlarge upon our Torah and our classical texts, on how to begin and expand the process of Tikkun Olam.

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Page 22 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – June 14, 2010

Physiotherapy student Leah Schwartz inspired by clinical placement at Alyn Hospital in Israel

By Leah Schwartz I first heard about the Alyn Hospital Pediatric and Adolescent Rehabilitation Center in an e-mail Steven Kimmel sent to my father in 2008. Steven, among his many other charitable activities, raises funds and participates in the Wheels of Love International Bike Ride for the Children of Alyn Hospital that takes place each fall in Israel.

As part of my master’s program in physiotherapy at Queen’s University, I had the option of doing an international six-week clinical placement, in a hospital or clinic outside of Canada. I have always loved working with children – I have been a counsellor at Camp B’nai Brith of Ottawa for the past eight years and have volunteered working with children at the

Hotel Dieu Hospital in Kingston – so doing a pediatric placement in Israel at the Alyn Hospital was a goal of mine since I started in physiotherapy.

When I arrived at the Alyn Hospital in Jerusalem on November 4, 2009, I was immediately welcomed by the entire physiotherapy department. I had the opportunity of working one-on-one with each of the physiotherapists in the department and of observing each of their approaches. The Alyn Hospital treats children and adolescents who are afflicted with a broad range of physical disabilities. These are children who have been injured in road accidents and terrorist attacks, children suffering from congenital conditions and children suffering from physical limitations due to various illnesses.

Promoting quality of life for persons with developmental disabilities in a Jewish environmnent Tamir acknowledges with sincere thanks the following donations, which were received as of May 20, 2010.

Mazeltov to: Mr. and Mrs. Gdalyah Rosenfeld on their wedding anniversary by Evelyn and Norman Potechin Mr. Gene Schacter on his 80th birthday

by Faye and Arnold Tennenhouse Mr. and Mrs. Ken Mintz on their anniversary by Larry Weisz Sandy and Shelly Kapinsky on the birth of their grandson Gabriel by Deb, Norm and Vicky Ferkin Mr. Josh Wex on his Bar Mitzvah by Anita, Brent, Alyssa and Ryan Almstedt Elizabeth and Skippy Kronick on the birth of their grandchild by Evelyn and Norman Potechin Mrs. Reba Diener on her special birthday by Jerry and Lily Penso Mr. Martin Fortus on his 80th birthday

by Jerry and Lily Penso Mrs. Sylvia Garber on her 92nd birthday

by Bert Palmer and Family Jerry and Lily Penso on the birth of their granddaughter Charly by Sylvia and Morton Pleet Mrs. Esther Kwavnick on being recognized by the Jewish community for all her volunteer efforts by Toby, Sheila, Cally and Sylvia and by Bev and Irving Gershkovitch Mr. and Mrs. Mark Kerzner on the Bat Mitzvah of Dalia Erin by Lois and Jerry Nudelman Mrs. Hilary Bruun on her 70th birthday

by Rachel, Howard, Davida and Josh Schachter Dr. Eric Elkin and Ms. Molly Hirsch on Ben’s academic achievements by Esther and David Kwavnick Bonnie and Chuck Merovitz on the birth of their grandson by Evelyn and Norman Potechin and by Diane and Gary Arkin Tamir Foundation for the amazing pro-

duction of Joseph and on their 25th anniversary by Judith and Edward Borts and by Dawn Paterson Mr. Jamie Greenberg on his fabulous performance in the Joseph production by Aunt Carol and Stephanie Greenberg Refuah Shlemah to: Mrs. Judi Kerzner by Jerry and Lily Penso Mrs. Elyse Schwartz by Janet and Eric Cohen Mrs. Lily Feig by Sue and Phil Bronsther Mrs. Frances King by Judi and Eddie Kerzner Ms. Brenda Liff by Abe and Ethel Murray Mr. Terry Gordon by Uncle Eddie and Aunt Judi In Memory of: Pearl Moskovic by Lily and Jerry Penso Mina Dover Cohen by Esther, David and Andrea Kwavnick Al Cohen by Jerry and Lily Penso Sam Schrier by The Management and Staff of Honey Fashions; by Patricia and George Royer; by Sheila Howard; by Maryanne Murphy; by Gary, Mary, Mark, Andrea, Emma and Sarah; and by Eric and Janet Cohen Jerry Taylor by Debbie Greenberg Ferkin Mother of Stuart McCarthy by Debbie and Norm Ferkin Husband of Mrs. Susan Dewar by Debbie Greenberg Ferkin Joseph Zito by Eddie and Judi Kerzner Melvin Lerne by Judi and Eddie Kerzner Michael Broitman by Hank and Barbara Meil Mother of Marion Silver by Sue and Jonathan Fisher and by Sharon and Paul Finn and family

Mother of Mr. Sam Burstein by Nancy Weiss Leslie Fireman by Bert and Kathryn Palmer Mother of Mrs. Vivian Ohana Sandlers

by Yvette and Henry Dahan Rebecca Perloff and Simon Penso by Sylvia and Morton Pleet; and by Harris Pleet Simon Penso by Annette Albert and Lew Perelmutter; by the Participants, Staff and Board of Directors of Tamir; by Sol and Estelle Gunner; by Sue and Jonathan Fisher;

by Arnold and Faye Tennenhouse; by Sharon, Paul, Josh, Jordan and Davina Finn; by Evelyn and Norm Potechin; by Rhonda, David, Evan and Lindsay Buckspan; by Gail, Guy, Kenny and Shawn Elbaz; by Hildy, Steven, Maya and Dahlia Lesh; and by Bob and Maggie Lederman Murray Zloten by Lily and Jerry Penso;

by Anna Bilsky; by Murray, Judy, Gail and Steven Lieff; by Janet Kaiman and Jamie Greenberg; by Estelle and Sol Gunner; by John and Gladys Greenberg and family and

by Natalie and Tom Gussman Jack Pleet by Judi and Ed Kerzner and by Evelyn and Norman Potechin General: Wishing Mr. Jack Kivenko well by Lois and Jerry Nudelman In appreciation to Dr. Gary Newton and Dr. Jeff Kolbasnik by Evelyn and Norman Potechin In appreciation to Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Penso by Avrum Kerzner In observance of the Yahrzeit of their dear father, Samuel Lazear by Sonia and Sheldon Shaffer In appreciation to Mrs. Judy Wolfe for the donation in honour of Shoshi’s marriage by Evelyn and Norman Potechin

Donation cards can be purchased for a minimum charge of $18.00 by contacting the Tamir office at 613-7253519, 11 Nadolny Sachs Private, Suite 218, Ottawa, Ontario, K2A 1R9, or by e-mail to aalmstedt@tamir.ca.

Every morning, Debbie, a volunteer from the United States, and I worked together helping many of the children in the Intensive Care Respiratory Rehabilitation Unit into their standers.

There were premature babies, children with muscular dystrophy and spinal cord injuries in this unit. Some of the children would then head downstairs to the hospital’s school. Throughout the day, I helped kids in the hospital’s in-patient and out-patient clinics as well as the Educational Medical Day Care Center.

Treatment sessions were done all over the hospital from the playground, to the basketball court, on bikes and riding hand-propelled cars down the hallways. Two people dressed as clowns work with the physiotherapists and other departments to entertain the kids and create games designed to treat them. There is also a woman who does animal therapy with the kids using animals ranging from rabbits and guinea pigs to birds and snakes, many of which live at the hospital. There were children who were otherwise unable to speak who could express themselves when playing with the animals. Others benefit from the hydrotherapy pool located within the facility.

What I saw was just a glimpse into one department of the Alyn Hospital and it is truly an inspirational place. The Alyn Hospital treats children of all ages and all faiths, religions and cultures under one roof. I had the opportunity to work with and observe Orel, a Jewish boy, and Marya, a Muslim girl. They are the same age and met during their treatments at the hospital where they became good friends. Orel was wounded by a rocket fired by Hamas from Gaza, while Marya was paralyzed by an Israeli missile, which killed her mother and injured her father and brother. Neither child has any idea why they were almost killed. Their friendship gives hope for future co-existence of Arabs and Jews in the Middle East and clearly demonstrates that the Alyn Hospital treats all children equally.

I had the opportunity to welcome Steven Kimmel, the Ottawa contingent and more than 600 other cyclists in the Wheels of Love bike ride when they rode into the hospital on November 5. The celebration at the end of the ride gives the hospital staff the opportunity to thank the 370 international riders and almost 250 Israelis who rode 500 kilometres to support the 200-bed non-profit hospital.

I learned many techniques at the Alyn Hospital that will help in my practice of physiotherapy and I look forward to returning to visit my friends and former co-workers on my next visit to Israel.

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – June 14, 2010 – Page 23

Wheels of Love bike ride supports Alyn Hospital

By Steven Kimmel Several years ago, a friend talked about taking part in Wheels of Love, a five-day bike ride in Israel that raised funds for Alyn Hospital in Jerusalem. I was just getting back into cycling again and vowed that the following year I would sign up as the thought of combining two of my loves – cycling and Israel – was appealing.

The chance to see Israel with more than 400 people from around the world was equally enticing as was the mitzvah of raising money for a hospital in Israel.

After registering in the spring, I realized I needed to begin training. Starting in April, and continuing Steven Kimmel cycles near Masada on the Wheels of Love bike ride. through the summer and into the fall, I rode my bike through the ers. Each day begins early in the morning Gatineau Hills. Many kilometres later, as with each group setting off on their asthe departure date approached, I felt I was signed route. The days include a mid-morning snack/rest break, a lunch break and the ready.

I knew nothing about the institution I mid-afternoon snack/rest. As you can imaghad committed to raising money for; just ine, the food is nutritious and plentiful. At that the ride provided a unique opportunity. the end of the day, after checking into the On my arrival in Tel Aviv, the organizers of accommodations, resting, showering and the ride were there to meet the many riders changing, the evening provides ample opcoming from Canada and elsewher. We portunity to meet and visit with riders from were taken to the Alyn Hospital in all over the world during and after dinner.

I have participated in two Wheels of Jerusalem to complete our registration, drop off our bikes and be treated to a tour. At this Love rides and am looking forward to my point, seeing the amazing facility where the third in October. The first year I rode, there money you are raising will be used, it all were nine other Ottawans riding with me.

Last year, though, there were only two of comes together.

On the morning the ride begins, it is us. I am hoping to persuade more people to quite amazing to see more than 400 people participate this year. Registration for the gathered together and ready to take on the 11th annual Wheels of Love ride is now Wheels of Love challenge. The ride offers open. Spaces fill up quickly, so do check it many options: the 500 km (100 km per day) out early at alynride.org. Feel free to conon-road or off-road; the touring group (50 tact me at skimmel@westboroflooring.com km per day and area tours); and the chal- if you have any questions.

See you in Israel! lenge group – for the more competitive rid-

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Page 24 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – June 14, 2010

Genealogy: a big jigsaw puzzle where you never find the final piece Genealogy, the study of families and the tracing of ancestry, has become the fastest-growing hobby in North America, enjoyed by people of all backgrounds. In the Jewish community, the popularity of genealogy is particularly high.

We all seem to have become obsessed with our past, something that’s been proven by the appeal of the various Who Do You Think You Are? series that have been produced around the world.

My interest in genealogy began about 14 years ago after the death of my father, Nathan Diener. My siblings and I knew a little bit about his past. We were aware that he was born in Grzymalow, Poland, and that he survived the Holocaust. We knew that his parents, his two sisters and many cousins were not as fortunate. Growing up, we heard little snippets about his life in Europe before 1948, but, typical of many survivors, he kept most of the memories to himself. I found myself wishing that I had asked more questions while he was alive.

I got together with my mother and began to interview her about what she knew about our Diener family. She pulled out a few documents. One was a family tree that my brother Joel had put together about 15 years earlier, with fewer than 50 people on it. The tree was handwritten on the back of a paper Steinberg’s grocery bag and Joel had given up in frustration after not being able to find out very much more than what a few cousins could tell him.

The second was a set of notes in my mother’s distinctive handwriting. A few weeks before my father’s death, knowing that he didn’t have much time, he realized his story should be preserved for his children and grandchildren. He sat at the kitchen table with my mother dictating his memories.

Those two documents became the motivation I needed to start digging into our past. Over the past 14 years, the 40-plus names on the Steinberg’s bag have grown to about 2,500, and the collection of census records, newspaper articles, birth, marriage and death records, as well as gravestone pictures, takes up vast storage space on my computer hard drives. I also began learning about the towns of my ancestors – places with strange sounding names like Zhvanets, Sokolets and Skalat.

Over time, I came to know the geography of Poland and Ukraine and beyond. Names that were very strange started to become as familiar as Toronto and Montreal.

I began to attend the monthly meetings of the Jewish Genealogical Society (JGS) of Ottawa, led by Hymie Reichstein, undisputedly the top authority on Jewish genealogy in Ottawa. Attending the meetings, and interacting with Hymie and other local genealogy experts, slowly gave me the tools I needed to research my roots and expand the family tree. I also travelled almost every summer to attend the annual conference of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies, a huge convention attended by as many as 2,000 Jewish genealogists offering hundreds of seminars and information sessions, as well as the opportunity to network with experts from around the world.

The ride has been exciting. Genealogy is like a big jigsaw puzzle with thousands of pieces. Each time you complete a section, there is instant satisfaction. However, unlike a conventional puzzle, you never find the final piece.

In coming instalments of Connecting the Branches, I intend to write about various aspects of doing genealogical research. I will share tips on conducting research, offer sources of information available on the Internet, on doing research at various archives, and by visiting cemeteries.

I will also talk about the travels I have done to further my own research, in particular an amazing adventure to Poland and Ukraine in 2005 with my brother and my son.

I will also share the pleasure I have experienced reconnecting branches of the family that have had no interaction for decades – a thrill achieved by travelling to

places like London, Paris and Texas and walking into a room of family members who were strangers but who, within minutes, made me feel like I’d known them forever.

I will deal with the overwhelming emotions that overcome you walking on the streets of the shtetls where one’s ancestors lived, of standing on the spot where close relatives perished at the hands of the Nazis during the Holocaust, and of discovering a seldom visited cemetery in the old country where, undoubtedly, some ancestors were buried almost 200 years ago.

I’ll end this initial column with the first lesson of doing genealogy. “Interview, interview, interview” is the most important step in doing research. Arm yourself with a pad and pencil, or a tape recorder, and sit down with older parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and family friends and ask questions.

Everyone who does genealogy says that it is too bad they

Connecting the branches John Diener didn’t begin their research earlier, while a knowledgeable relative was alive to supply family info. We all know that five or 10 years from now, or possibly sooner, someone who is with us today will not be here to answer our questions. These older relatives are our best starting point. They have memories and connections stored in their minds. Once they are gone, it might take 10 years to discover what you might have found out during a one-hour interview. So, don’t put if off. Get started today.

JGS Ottawa meets monthly from September through June at the Soloway Jewish Community Centre. For information, contact Hymie Reichstein at reichstein@magma.ca or me at johndiener@ymail.com.

Peeping in the digital age The Peep Diaries: How We’re Learning to Love Watching Ourselves and Our Neighbors

By Hal Niedzviecki City Lights 256 pages The first thing that struck me when reading The Peep Diaries: How We’re Learning to Love Watching Ourselves and Our Neighbors – Toronto-based writer and cultural commentator Hal Niedzviecki’s meditation on the contemporary culture of surveillance and “oversharing,” – was Niedzviecki’s scrawled signature on the title page. Autographs are rare for books purchased online. I wondered whether Niedzviecki, already having posed for a cover photo in which we peer at him while he stares into his laptop screen, wanted me to think I was being watched while I read his musings.

Niedzviecki, who was partly raised in Ottawa and attended Hillel Academy and Camp Gesher (a setting for his 2005 novel The Program), seeks to uncover the societal reasons for the rise of what he calls “peep culture” (or “peep” for short), the sharing and “oversharing” of personal information that seems to have exploded in the last decade.

Peep covers activities ranging from Facebook to Twitter to reality TV to spy gadgets, as well as blogging about everything – including one’s own sexual escapades. Some of the material will be familiar to readers of The Walrus, for which Niedzviecki originally wrote about both surveillance and internet pornography. But, in the book, he attempts a farther-reaching social explanation for the rise of peep.

His answer is two-fold.

First, pop culture has given us the desire to become celebrities – even if it’s only among a few hundred Facebook friends or among the faceless viewers of our aging naked torsos. Second, “post-industrial capitalism” has led us to focus on possessions more than people. “Behind the locked doors of our castles we sit alone, desperately trying to stave off the inevitable discouragement, depression, and anxiety that are byproducts of our antihuman society.”

Out of our longing for connection, we peep.

Niedzviecki acts as a participant-observer (to use an anthropologist’s term). He works up his nerve to blog about his personal life, and one hilarious segment has him inviting all 700 of his Facebook friends, many whom he has never met in person, to “meet Hal!” at a local watering hole. With semienthusiastic RSVPs pouring in, he expects about 25 people to show up. But only one does. He enjoys chatting with the 30something woman, but goes home to his wife and young daughter, chastened that his online life appears livelier than his

Book Review Mira Sucharov real life. (The event apparently did not cause him to give up on Facebook. A recent peeping of his profile shows he now has over 2,500 friends, including me – whom he “friend-requested” after I queried him about his bio. And, hey, who am I to turn down the request?)

Niedzviecki’s argument for why we peep is fine as far as it goes, but I found myself craving an answer to another crucial question: what explains the variation in peep habits? Though I don’t engage in online erotica, and while I spent a couple of years enjoying reality TV, I am now oblivious to most of it. But I am an admitted Facebook addict. And while 500 people whom I ostensibly know are my Facebook friends, many of my closest real-life friends won’t go near the site. What explains this?

Of the online nudists (some of whom he interviews in the book), he declares that it is their desire for community rather than any erotic charge that is motivating them. Readers may not be entirely convinced by this, again raising the question of what motivates individuals to engage in such activities since engaging in peep – on either side of the camera or keyboard – is clearly not a universal phenomenon.

While the search for community is a worthwhile aim, Niedzviecki also points to the risks inherent in peep, like insurance companies pulling the rug from under you because of access to information you didn’t know they had (though Canadian readers would probably welcome more information on how our privacy laws may differ from those in the United States) or individuals being ridiculed by unintended video footage capturing an unguarded moment; the list goes on.

Niedzviecki has cautioned us to be “pragmatic” about our engagement with peep. He says we should be very clear with ourselves about what we’re intending to get out of the transaction. Is it money? Friends? Fame? Infamy?

The Peep Diaries will only get timelier. Witness the rise of Blippy, a website that keeps your credit card number and publishes a log of your purchases. This isn’t George Orwell’s 1984. It’s a world of our own making that we’re still struggling to understand. With his lively style and wry social commentary, Niedzviecki is helping get us there – even if he’s watching us while he does it.

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – June 14, 2010 – Page 25

Perfect moments provide memories that last a lifetime Sometimes, we happen upon a perfect moment of community and connection. One such moment for me involved my daughter, her doll and the memory of John Lennon during a Shabbat morning a few weeks ago.

The setting was Congregation Etz Chaim (formerly Rosh Pina) in Winnipeg’s north end. My daughter, Rory, and I had flown from Ottawa to Winnipeg for the long weekend to attend the Bar Mitzvah of my friend Carrie’s son. Twenty-five years earlier, almost to the day, I had flown from Vancouver to Winnipeg to attend Carrie’s Bat Mitzvah.

As a heartfelt nod to our friendship, Carrie invited Rory and me to lead Ashrei, the prayer immediately following the Haftorah reading. It’s a wordy prayer, chanted responsively.

My daughter can’t yet read Hebrew and the English transliteration would be overwhelming for a kid in kindergarten.

We practised a little by watching a rabbi chant it on YouTube.

She pretty much mastered the first line, but, when the time came to stand on the bimah, Rory couldn’t see over the podium. Her solution came midway through the prayer when she lifted her doll, Ashley, above her head and perched it against the edge of the siddur. Titters rippled through the crowd and I stifled a laugh. Ashley was a natural with the Ashrei.

With Ashley’s inanimate, latex nature keeping her serene, I was filled with nostalgia. This was the same shul where I had my own Bat Mitzvah. It was the building where I composed and performed an unabashedly maudlin number with a few friends at the city-wide Jewish song festival in Grade 6. The shul was where my parents had first met at my

Values, Ethics, Community Mira Sucharov aunt and uncle’s wedding. And it was the same shul where we said a final goodbye to my Babba Rosie – for whom Rory was named – a dozen years ago.

But it was not only place and space that captured my emotions that Shabbat morning. It was also spotting my beloved Grade 3 music teacher, Shayla Fink, among the worshippers. Whenever I hear the music of the Beatles, I think of Shayla. The same goes when I think of how children are sometimes forgotten during momentous times. You see, Shayla had realized that even eight-year-olds might want to share in the collective consciousness surrounding the death of one of rock music’s most legendary singersongwriters.

The day after John Lennon was murdered outside his New York apartment, Shayla changed her lesson plan. She told my Grade 3 class at Ramah Hebrew School about the Beatles, and of Lennon’s tragic death. That day, we learned to sing “With a Little Help from My Friends.” If it weren’t for that lesson, I am certain I would have no direct memory of that hugely significant event.

A new U.K. government with a brand new Afghanistan policy The U.K.’s new coalition government, in an unprecedented move, sent three of its ministers – Defence Secretary Liam Fox, Foreign Secretary William Hague and International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell – on an official visit to Afghanistan last month, barely a week after being elected.

“We are not in Afghanistan for the sake of the education policy in a broken 13th century country. We are there so the people of Britain and our global interests are not threatened,” said Fox during the visit.

That Britain would send three high profile ministers to Afghanistan at the same time is a message from the Conservative government to the European Union (EU), NATO, the Afghans, and to the Ministry of Defence. Fox has made no secret of wanting to cut the ministry’s budget and expenses by 25 per cent, a move some might say is both naïve and dangerous. At the same time, the U.K., much like Canada, has grown fed up with the EU’s stance on Afghanistan.

It is mainly the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. that have troops in harm’s way fighting the insurgents.

“National security is the focus now. We are not a global policeman … We shouldn’t deploy British troops unless there are overwhelming humanitarian emergency considerations or a national security imperative,” said Fox. Such strong language is an indication that the Brits are ready to pack it in. With the Taliban and Al-Qaida having successfully convinced most European nations to leave Afghanistan, it appears that Al-Qaida may get its fondest wish: this war will become an all-American war.

The current state of economic vulnerability, a unique coalition between the right and the left in the U.K., personal ideology, and the unpopularity of the Afghan War at home triggered the new government’s dispatch of three of its ministers to Afghanistan to set the record straight imme-

diately. It is even more peculiar that a proposed first foreign visit by David Cameron, the new prime minister, would be to Afghanistan.

It was to be expected that Cameron would visit the troops straightaway, but an official visit after sending the three ministers to prepare the way is rather odd.

“There is a difference between a military mission and the aspiration for the long-term plans for the country,” Fox said.

“What we want is a stable enough Afghanistan, able to look after its own security so we can leave without the fear of it imploding ... But, let’s be clear, it’s not going to be perfect.”

It is rather interesting that it is left to the secretary of defence to explain the U.K.’s new foreign policy to the world. This would be the United Kingdom’s second ungraceful exit from Afghanistan in the past 150 years. One wonders what would have resulted if they had stayed the first time.

After 10 years, our collective consciousness has either forgiven or forgotten the brutality of the Taliban and their Al-Qaida mentors. It seems that we have neither the will nor the stomach to stand behind what is right and just. We choose to forget and ignore that, during the Taliban’s reign, women were enslaved and often stoned, mass conversion was the rule of law, ethnics were in danger of pogrom, and there were indiscriminate killings of thousands of innocent people, especially around Mazar-i-Sharif. The connection between September 11, 2001 and Afghanistan has been diluted in our minds.

Afghanistan is not a regional problem – it is the rest of the world’s problem. Once the U.K. and Canada leave, the United States will be the main fighting force still in Afghanistan. Europeans and Canadians are playing directly

People like Shayla remind kids that they matter. While adults often talk in hushed tones around children, teachers like Shayla took us seriously. Specifically, Shayla helped carve out a tiny space for us in cultural history.

Standing with my daughter and her doll on the bimah that Shabbat morning helped me feel that I was keeping her connected to the long story of Jewish culture through the central practice of communal Hebrew prayer. Leading tefillah as a woman and a girl also reinforced the idea that the chain is being richly broadened from the time of my parents and grandparents. The words to the Ashrei were complicated, but my daughter had a place. The podium on the bimah was too high, but Rory had her doll to help mark the spot. The tune isn’t as melodic as a Beatles hit, but it is pretty and laden with history.

When we returned to our seats, an older lady leaned over and smiled at my daughter. I glanced over and paused. I realized that it was my school principal whom I had last seen in Grade 3. Her regal face was unmistakable, even 30 years later.

“Mrs. Fink?” I whispered (she happens to be Shayla’s mother).

It was, indeed, her. We sat together during the Kiddush luncheon and caught up. Over party sandwiches, cheese kugel and Winnipeg’s famous cinnamon torte, we filled in the links of identity and memory. And with my daughter beside us, we were also helping to add new ones.

Mira Sucharov, an associate professor of political science at Carleton University, is writing a book on nostalgia and political change.

World Affairs Oliver Javanpour into the hands of Al-Qaida and turning this war into AlQaida versus America. Once this becomes the U.S. war, there will be a great deal of push from the left to end it, and end it soon, leaving us all exposed.

The fundamentalists and terrorists have figured us out. If they engage us in a long-drawn-out war of insurgency, they win every time. We have failed to learn from the Vietnam experience that this is a preferred model among many terrorist organizations bidding to govern.

The Taliban, Al-Qaida, Hamas and Hezbollah have perfected their approach based on our responses. Those who believe the Taliban mentality would stay only in Afghanistan if they came to power are the same people who thought an Al-Qaeda attack on U.S. soil impossible. The evil being perpetrated in Afghanistan will not remain in Afghanistan. It will be exported and the proof is 9/11.

In Afghan terms, change is an investment in people to gain the trust, money and resources needed to build a country from scratch. This kind of change and investment does not occur in five or 10 years. It will take 50 to 80 years.

Self-sustainability and stability require the establishment of a long-term vision and the perseverance to stick with it.

I genuinely hope that U.S. President Barack Obama is able to persuade Prime Minister Cameron and other NATO leaders to act responsibly, not only in the interests of Afghans, but also in the interests of their own countries.

Afghanistan will become like Pakistan, an exporter of ideologies, with countries like the U.K. the lucky recipients.

Oliver Javanpour is a senior partner at Cyrus Echo specializing in public policy and international relations.

Page 26 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – June 14, 2010

Try to imagine Tevye as Hamlet My father was self-educated. He left school to be apprenticed to a tailor when he was nine and could barely read Polish. His Yiddish was quite good, though, and he could read whatever was put in front of him in that language. He was widely read in the Western canon having read Plato, Karl Marx and Shakespeare in what he said with a smile was “the original Yiddish.”

He was a bit of a dreamer who taught himself Esperanto in the hopes that a single language would unite humanity even though he had difficulty understanding his wife when they spoke the same language.

Being my father’s son means two things. I have some of his qualities, but as a form of rebellion, I want to do everything he did, but backwards. I want to understand the particularity of each language – not only what they have in common, their uniqueness as well as their universality.

Growing up in my parents’ house, I tried to acquire the specific way they talked and the culture in which their way of talking had meaning. Like all such second-hand efforts, one tends to lose as much as one retains.

I have the elements of their way of talking that seem like a Fiddler on the Roof version of a real shtetl where people actually lived in grinding poverty that was mostly miserable and where the whole population did not break into song spontaneously.

Nevertheless, these elements still stick with me and, reversing my father’s striving to understand Shakespeare’s Hamlet, I will try to use Hamlet to understand what I have been left with. Here, then, is an adapted soliloquy from that play, imagining Tevye as Hamlet and speaking (mostly) English.

To be or not to be, This is a question?

Do you really think you have, God forbid, a choice?

To arm yourself to fight your troubles – you think this makes sense?

Arming yourself to fight trouble just makes more trouble for yourself And adds to those you already face, so numerous they can fill a sea.

And what do you think will happen if you decide to end things early?

There is no dreaming, just the black descent into the ground Until the Moshiach comes to wake you and asks, “What have you done with your life?”

What are going to say, “I couldn’t wait so I left early”?

As my rabbi says, everyone has his own package of sorrows to bear.

There’s no escaping them in this world and if you try,

Did you know who’s been drafted?

• Is there something in the Ottawa air that makes our junior hockey players so good?

Two outstanding players will now join the ranks of the Ontario Hockey League. Michael Vered, 16, was drafted by the Ottawa 67’s and Daniel Altshuller, 16 in July, was drafted by the Belleville Bulls. They are following in the footsteps of Jason Bailey, who currently plays for the Ottawa Senators’ AHL farm team in Binghamton after a stint with the Ottawa 67’s.

• We also produce some great baseball players! The Ottawa Fat Cats won their first-ever game in franchise history, no doubt thanks to the skills of shortstop Jon Dale. It must have been obvious that I am not a baseball fan when I reported last month that Jon’s batting average was .700 (which I am told is impossible). Jon’s dad, Bob Dale, tells me that his average is .524.

• Eitan Maoz is playing baseball for the IBL’s Mississauga Twins. Maoz, who played for upstate New York’s Genesee Community College’s Genesee Cougars, has just signed with University of North Carolina at Pembroke and will play for the UNCP Braves.

• Canterbury student Ariana Bercovitch, 15, was a delegate to the National Youth Ambassador Caucus held in May in Ottawa. One hundred students from across Canada were selected to attend the Caucus, which was hosted by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the Federal Economic Development Agencies.

Ariana was the only high school delegate from Ottawa and only one of 20 high school students from across Canada. At

the Caucus, the Youth Ambassadors met with Prime Minister Stephen Harper as well as other government, business and community leaders and discussed the same issues that will be addressed at the G8 and G20 summits this month: maternal health, food security and nuclear proliferation.

• Somehow, in addition to the time she spent on her community work, her family and her myriad outdoor activities, the late Terry Schwarzfeld also found the time to cook. According to those in the know, her cooking was sublime.

Now, 10 of Terry’s close friends have banded together to honour her memory and her life by publishing a cookbook as a fundraiser for the Terry Schwarzfeld Ottawa Daycare Centre in Israel.

According to Gloria Rankin, one the organizers, the book will include Terry’s recipes as well as ones from her mother, her grandmother, her friends and her sons. It will also feature photos and anecdotes about Terry. The book will be launched gradually, first to friends, then the dragon boat community and Hadassah-WIZO members. Look for a table in the Soloway JCC lobby sometime soon.

• You have to be pretty good to be singled out for a prize at the prestigious Kiwanis Music Festival where more than 10,000 local young musicians compete annually. As if winning an award was not enough of an accomplishment, imagine winning the award that is sponsored by your grandmother! That is what happened to soprano Amy Greenberg.

In a wonderful musical twist of fate, she won the Evelyn Greenberg Trophy award for Best Musicianship in Junior & Intermediate Vocal. Amy performed at the festival’s annual

Rosh Hashanah is approaching Let the Bulletin convey wishes to all those you hold dear.

Greetings will be published in the September 6 OJB. The deadline for submissions is August 4.

For more information call Rhoda Saslove-Miller 613-798-4696, ext. 256 e-mail: rsaslovemiller@ottawajewishbulletin.com

Humour me, please Rubin Friedman They will be waiting for you in the world to come.

No, better lower your head, take up the weight of what is given you And become like an ox that quietly pulls its plow.

And when you look at the lovely Goldie Ophelia, with her dark eyes and flowing hair You know it will be such a joy to fulfil God’s commandment to be fruitful and multiply.

And this love that brings with it its own tsuris, Will make even uttermost misery feel like you are back in Gan Eden, Almost reversing the decree that expelled us into this world and suffering.

And time will go so fast, it will seem like Moshiach is coming faster.

So whether you believe or not, if you have hope, Even death will seem like a short interval.

L’Chaim!

Did you know?

Benita Baker highlights concert held at Centrepointe Theatre last month.

• Three students were nominated for Cappie Awards for their roles in Yitzhak Rabin High School’s production of Brighton Beach Memoirs. Itzy Kamil (Grade 9) was nominated for comic actor and Michaela Sadinsky (Grade 11) for lead actress. Itzy Kamil and Raphael Sandler (Grade 9) were nominated together for ensemble in a play.

• When the late Barry Fishman, editor emeritus of the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin, was fighting ALS, a group of his friends regularly visited to chat, to laugh and to keep him company.

Barry’s cousin, Paul Bregman, and wife Suzanne, hosted a barbecue to show their appreciation to the visitors. In attendance were Joel and Toby Yan, Mitchell Bellman, Louise Rachlis, Cindy Engel, Diane Koven, Mark Borts, Debra Viner, Sylvia Greenspoon and Benita Baker.

Barry’s “grace,” “courage,” “dignity” and “good humour” were repeatedly mentioned when the group reminisced about him – not to mention his “twinkly eyes.”

Diane Koven spoke for all when she said, “It was not an obligation or a good deed to visit Barry. People were happy to do it. They wanted to be there.”

Unable to attend were Francie Greenspoon, Anna Bilsky, Leonard Stern and Barry’s widow, Phyllis Bloch.

• Despite short notice and limited publicity, the used hockey equipment drive organized by Mitch Miller, Steve Baker and Bob Wener was very successful. Thanks to the generosity of John Gilboa and DG McDonald Moving, the gear was transported to Toronto, where it was combined with donated equipment from Toronto hockey lovers and shipped via El Al (also gratis) to Israel. The Friends of Israel Hockey welcome financial support as well. Visit tinyurl.com/israelhockey to donate.

If you know something that we all should know, tell me, so I can tell the community.

Send e-mail to me at didyouknowottawa@gmail.com.

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – June 14, 2010 – Page 27

FOUNDATION DONATIONS Our future is in your hands

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The Board of Directors of the Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation acknowledges with thanks contributions to the following funds as of May 26, 2010.

SID AND BARBARA COHEN COMMUNITY ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Lester Berkow by Sid and Barbara Cohen.

FRANCEEN AND STANLEY AGES ENDOWMENT FUND Speedy recovery to: Beverly Friedman by Stuart and Leila Ages and family.

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

Rita Snook by Sandi and Eddy Cook and family.

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NORMAN AND MYRNA BARWIN FOUNDATION OF THE PINCHAS ZUKERMAN MUSICAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND Mazel Tov to: Anne Markus on the birth of her great-grandson Oscar by Myrna and Norm Barwin.

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CAYLA AND MICHAEL BAYLIN ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Selma Tarantour by Cayla and Michael Baylin.

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DR. GERALD BLOOM MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Beloved mother of Lynn Faigin by Ethel Bloom and family.

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SAM AND ANN BROZOVSKY ENDOWMENT FUND Birthday wishes to: Ann Brozovsky by Moe Kardish.

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In observance of the Yahrzeit of: Donald Chodikoff, a dear husband, father and grandfather by Leah Chodikoff and family.

ISRAEL AND POLLY COHEN ENDOWMENT FUND Get well soon to: Sharon Steinberg by Anna and Ronny Cantor.

In memory of: Al Hoffman by Anna and Ronny Cantor and family.

SANDRA CZARNY FUND FOR CHILDREN IN NEED Birthday wishes to: Sylvia Bronstein by Samy and Rita Czarny.

NATHAN AND REBA DIENER ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Jack Pleet by Dayra and John Diener and family.

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CYNTHIA AND ABE ENGEL ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Jack Pleet by Cynthia Engel.

Lester Berkow by Cynthia Engel.

Speedy recover to: Mark Max by Cynthia Engel.

BENCE AND ETHEL ENGEL HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FUND In observance of the Yahrzeit of: Nelly Engel, a dear mom and Bubby by Jonah, Tehillah and Aryeh Avishai Rabinovitch.

ELLEN AND RAHAMIM FATHI ENDOWMENT FUND In appreciation to: Barry and Marcia Cantor by Ellen and Ray Fathi.

MARJORIE AND MICHAEL FELDMAN FAMILY FUND Birthday wishes to: Roger Freedman by Marjorie and Michael Feldman.

JOSEPH AND BETTY FELLER ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Betty Feller by Alan and Phyllis Rackow; by Dorothy Nadolny; by Bernice and Robert Feller and family; and by Gladys and John Greenberg In appreciation to: Joseph Feller by Richard Martin and family.

FLORENCE FAMILY MEMORIAL FUND In observance of the Yahrzeit of: Freda Florence, a dear aunt by A.L., Anne and Leanne Smith.

In memory of: Jack Pleet by A.L., Anne and Leanne Smith.

ALFRED AND KAYSA FRIEDMAN ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Jack Pleet by Alfie and Kaysa Friedman.

Continued on page 28

Page 28 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – June 14, 2010

FOUNDATION DONATIONS HENRIK AND WILMA GELBERGER HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FUND In observance of the Yahrzeit of: Nelly Engel, a dear mom and Bubby by Jonah, Tehillah and Aryeh Avishai Rabinovitch.

GILBOA/MAOZ FAMILY FUND Birthday wishes to: Risa Taylor by Tal Gilboa and Rob Steiner, Paz, Ryan, Eitan, Alexandra and Nadar.

HERB AND DENA GOSEWICH ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Cesare Giaccone by Herb and Dena Gosewich.

Jack Pleet by Herb and Dena Gosewich.

In appreciation to: David Finestone by Herb and Dena Gosewich.

Mazel Tov to: Ellen and Norman Kert on the engagement of their sons by Herb and Dena Gosewich.

M.J. Binks on becoming partner of Augustine Bater Binks LLP by Herb and Dena Gosewich.

MICHAEL GREENBERG MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Jack Pleet by Jocelyne and Stephen Greenberg.

HY AND PAULINE HOCHBERG ENDOWMENT FUND Birthday wishes to: Beatrice Dubinsky by Lisa, Lawrence, Michael and Jaime Sklar; by Pauline Hochberg and Brian.

In memory of: Jack Pleet by Pauline Hochberg.

RHEA AND JEFF HOCHSTADTER FAMILY FUND In memory of: Jack Pleet by Rhea, Jeff, Elana and Lorne

Hochstadter.

In appreciation to: Gladys and John Greenberg by Elana Hochstadter.

DOROTHY AND HY HYMES ENDOWMENT FUND Mazel Tov to: Elliott and Sally Levitan on the engagement of their daughter Shirley to Bill Rogers by Dorothy and Hy Hymes.

Birthday wishes to: Honey Baylin by Dorothy and Hy Hymes.

JEREMY KANTER MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Jack Pleet by Evelyn and Lou Eisenberg.

BENJAMIN AND LILLIAN KATZ MEMORIAL FUND Speedy recovery to: Carolyn Katz by Jeff and Maureen Katz and family.

SYD, ETHEL, LINDA AND STEVEN KERZNER AND FAMILY COMMUNITY ENDOWMENT FUND Happy Mother’s Day to: Beth Flesher by Linda Kerzner.

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ARTHUR AND SARAH KIMMEL MEMORIAL FUND Mazel Tov to: Linda and Warren Melamed on Jacob’s Bar Mitzvah by Paul, Sharon, Joshua, Jordan and Davinna Finn.

PHILLIP AND ETTIE KIMMEL MEMORIAL FUND Anniversary wishes to: Judy and Norman Tenenbaum on their 50th wedding anniversary by Joyce and Milton Kimmel.

What’s new within the Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation

SHARON KOFFMAN ATHLETIC SCHOLARSHIP FUND Mazel Tov to: Carol and Harry Weitz on their recent marriage by Fay Koffman.

Dave Cohen on his granddaughter’s upcoming Bat Mitzvah by Fay Koffman.

In memory of: Jack Pleet by Fay Koffman.

In appreciation to: Bev Margolian by Judi, Rubin, Jesse and Brynn Bodnoff.

HARRY AND GERTRUDE (PLEET) KOTLARSKY MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Jack Pleet by John and Louise Kotlarsky.

KRANTZBERG KRANE FAMILY FUND In appreciation to: Reuven Bulka by Joshua Krane.

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ANNICE AND SYDNEY KRONICK FAMILY FUND In memory of: Louis Satov by Sydney Kronick and Barbara Sugarman.

ISSIE AND EDITH LANDAU ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Moishe Pearlman by Edie Landau.

Get well soon to: Aaron Shier by Edie Landau and family.

Mazel Tov to: Ely and Sheli Braun on the upcoming marriage of their daughter Naomi by Edie Landau.

LEON AND BYRTHA LECKIE MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Leon and Byrtha Leckie by Miriam Chernick and family.

The OJCF has revamped its website – www.OJCF.ca – in an effort to be more responsive to our community’s philanthropic needs.

NORMAN AND ISABEL LESH ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Murray Zloten by Norman and Isabel Lesh.

Mazel Tov to: Blanche Osterer on being awarded the 2010 Shem Tov Community Volunteer Award by Norman and Isabel Lesh.

Check it out, bookmark our site and visit us often.

RON AND RUTH LEVITAN ENDOWMENT FUND Mazel Tov to: Chuck and Bonnie Merovitz on the birth of their

We encourage you to explore our new site and learn all about the “Foundation” which provides donors like you the vehicle to contribute to the long term financial stability and support of the needs of the agencies that serve the Ottawa Jewish Community.

You can also make online donations to our many endowment funds using a streamlined user-friendly and secure donation form. Our form is designed to give you the capabilities to make multiple donations in one transaction and provides you with a copy of the donation details directly to your email account, along with an instant e-receipt for your contribution(s).

Visit us online today!

grandson by Ron and Ruth Levitan.

Bill and Mera Goldstein on the birth of their granddaughter by Ron and Ruth Levitan.

Anniversary wishes to: Paul and Sheila Roth on their 50th wedding anniversary by Ron and Ruth Levitan.

SALLY AND ELLIOTT LEVITAN ENDOWMENT FUND Mazel Tov to: Elliott and Sally Levitan on the engagement of their daughter Shirley to Bill Rogers by Dorothy Nadolny.

ERNEST AND IDA LEVITZ MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Simon Penso by the Levitz family.

In appreciation to: Anil Mehta by the Levitz family.

SAMUEL AND LEEMA MAGIDSON ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Betty Feller by Roslyn and Arnie Kimmel.

Al Cohen by Leema Magidson and family.

Polly Cohen by Leema Magidson and family.

CHUCK AND BONNIE MEROVITZ FAMILY FUND Mazel Tov to: Sarah Silverstein on being the recipient of the Freiman Family Young Leadership Award and the Lawrence Greenberg Young Leadership Development Award by Chuck and Bonnie Merovitz.

Ron Prehogan on being the recipient of the Gilbert Greenberg Distinguished Service Award by Chuck and Bonnie Merovitz.

Mazel Tov to: Chuck and Bonnie Merovitz on the birth of their grandson by Jack and Sherri Torjman.

RHODA AND JEFFREY MILLER FAMILY FUND In memory of: Jack Pleet by Rhoda and Jeffrey Miller.

PERCY AND SHELLEY OSTROFF FAMILY FUND Birthday wishes to: Margie Auerbach by Percy, Shelley, Rachael and Rebecca Ostroff.

Mazel Tov to: Ron Prehogan on receiving the 2010 Gilbert Greenberg Distinguished Service Award by Percy and Shelley Ostroff.

Continued on page 29

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – June 14, 2010 – Page 29

FOUNDATION DONATIONS ANNE (BLAIR) AND HYMAN MAYBERGER ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Shirley Udaskin by Morris and Shelley Schachnow, Anne Blair.

MORTY MAYBERGER UNITED JEWISH APPEAL GOLF TOURNAMENT FUND In observance of the Yahrzeit of: Charlotte Kuttas and Morty Mayberger, a dear sister and brother by Morris and Shelley Schachnow.

TANYA AND SAMUEL MOSES MORIN MEMORIAL FUND In memory of; Murray Zloten by Harvey Morin.

In observance of the Yahrzeit of: Moses Morin, a dear father by Harvey Morin.

Mazel Tov to: Blanche Osterer on receiving the 2010 Shem Tov Community Volunteer Award by Harvey Morin.

PEARL AND DAVID MOSKOVIC ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Pearl Moskovic by Dorothy Nadolny.

DOROTHY AND HERBERT NADOLNY ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Al Cohen by Dorothy Nadolny.

Irv Singer by Dorothy Nadolny.

HAROLD AND YETTA PEARL MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Selma Tarantour by Herb and Susan Pearl.

Mazel Tov to: Cathy and Stanley Levine on their outstanding achievement by Herb and Susan Pearl.

HARRY AND BERTHA PLEET MEMORIAL FUND In observance of the Yahrzeit of: Myer and Pearl Anna Schwartz, dear grandparents

by Barbara and Pinchas Pleet.

In memory of: Jack Pleet by Barbara and Pinchas Pleet.

Birthday wishes to: Mark Goldhamer by Barbara and Pinchas Pleet.

JACK AND MIRIAM PLEET ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Jack Pleet by Clair Krantzberg; by Dorothy Nadolny; by Mitchell Bellman and Nicola Hamer; by

Naomi and Richard Davine; by Felice, Jeffrey, Erin, Jordan, Zachery and Mitchell Pleet; by Yetta and Perry Lande; by Linda Blauer; by Wright and Packers families; by Natalie and Tom Gussman; by Lilyan Philipp; and by Rhona and Jerry Rosenblatt, Jess and Liana, and Sara and Sean.

PREHOGAN FAMILY FUND IN MEMORY OF AARON HARRY COHEN Mazel Tov to: Avalee and Ron Prehogan on Dara’s graduation from Veterinarian school by Isabelle, Allan, Zachary, Jessica and Chase Cantor.

Ron Prehogan on being the recipient of the 2010 Gilbert Greenberg Distinguished Service Award by Isabelle, Allan, Zachary, Jessica and Chase Cantor; by Bram and Chani Bregman.

PHYLLIS AND ALAN RACKOW ENDOWMENT FUND Best wishes to: Lily Feig in her new home by Phyllis and Alan Rackow.

In memory of: Murray Zloten by Phyllis and Alan Rackow.

MOE AND SARAH RESNICK ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Sheila Schinman by Gordon and Penny Resnick and family.

Louis Satov by Gordon and Penny Resnick and family.

ALTI AND BEREL RODAL FAMILY FUND In memory of: Dora Prostak by Alti and Berel Rodal.

SAMUEL AND RUTH ROTHMAN MEMORIAL FUND R’fuah Sh’lemah to: Mark Max by Corinne and Sheldon Taylor and family.

In memory of: Jack Pleet by Corinne and Sheldon Taylor.

Murray Zloten by Corinne and Sheldon Taylor.

RICKIE AND MARTIN SASLOVE FAMILY FUND Mazel Tov to: Claire and Irving Bercovitch on their granddaughter’s Bat Mitzvah and Irving’s birthday by Rickie and Marty Saslove.

In memory of: Jack Pleet by Rickie and Marty Saslove.

SAM AND CELIA SHACHTER ENDOWMENT FUND Mazel Tov to: Isaac Lifchutz on completing his MBA by Estelle and Ian Melzer.

DORIS AND RICHARD STERN FAMILY FUND Anniversary wishes to: Larry and Sheila Hartman by Doris and Richard Stern.

LORNE AND LAURIE SHUSTERMAN FAMILY FUND In memory of: Jack Pleet by Lorne and Laurie Shusterman.

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

JACK AND SARAH SILVERSTEIN FAMILY ENDOWMENT FUND Congratulations to: Sarah Silverstein on receiving the Freiman Family Young Leadership Award and the Lawrence Greenberg Young Leadership Development Award by Marion Silver and Alan Brass and family; by Cynthia, Dan, William and Thomas Kelly.

David, Marla, Max and Aiden Baker on the birth of their new daughter and sister, Zoe by the Silverstein family.

LINDA SILVERMAN MEMORIAL FUND Happy Retirement to: Marvin Silverman by Clair Krantzberg.

In memory of: Jack Pleet by Marvin and Phylis Silverman.

THE TARANTOUR FAMILY FUND In memory of: Selma Tarantour by Alan and Phyllis Rackow; by Arnon and Ruth Miller; by Jody and Gary Roodman;

by Beth and Tom Grahame; by the Shoihet family; by Susan, William and Morley Greenberg; by Sunny and Sheldon Shaffer; by Bev and Lindsay Steinberg; and by Merle and Richard Moses.

SUSAN WEISMAN AND JEFF TAYLOR ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Cesare Giaccone by Susie Weisman, Jeff, Josh, Bram and Dani Taylor.

Continued on page 30

SAM AND SUE SLACK ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Sadie Craft by Sue Slack.

An unveiling in memory of

BOBBY STEINBERG MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Bobby Steinberg on his birthday, May 23 by Jane Steinberg and family.

VICTOR AND SHIRLEY STEINBERG ENDOWMENT FUND Mazel Tov to: Naomi Steinberg on the publication of her paper in the International Journal of Psychoanalysis by Shirley Steinberg.

Elana Steinberg on the opening of her practice of Psychotherapy by Shirley Steinberg.

In memory of: Penny Bar-Noy Roodman by Shirley Steinberg.

R’fuah Sh’lemah to: Miriam Sussman by Shirley Steinberg.

Edith Buddy Kizell will take place

Sunday, July 4, 2010 at 11:00 am

Bank Street Cemetery Family and friends are invited to attend.

HERMINA SCHACHNOW MEMORIAL FUND In appreciation to: Eric Elkin by Shelley Schachnow.

CARLSON WAGONLIT TRAVEL and TOURCAN VACATIONS

Present: “INDIA – A Living Heritage�

13-Day Itinerary Specially Prepared for Jewish Heritage Travel Begin your Journey in Delhi, visiting Old Delhi and sights such as Humayun’s, Safdarjung’s Tombs and the Qutab Minar tower.

In the evening you will be able to attend services at the Judah High Hall synagogue. From Delhi continue to Agra to see marvels such as the Taj Mahal at sun set and Agra Fort, built along the banks of the Yamuna River. On to Jaipur, Mumbai and tropical Bombay. Experience its vibrant culture, beautifully maintained grand public buildings and weathered Victorian Mansions. In Jaipur we will visit The Palace of Winds and a Textile Factory, with dinner at Surabhi restaurant, also an excellent Turban Museum displaying over 200 varieties of turbans. Your tour will include lunch at a Jewish home and visit to the Joint Distribution Committee office, where American Jews have come to the assistance of the local Jewish communities helping to finance and manage Indian Jewish projects ... visits to the Bene Israel community’s Gate of Mercy Synagogue, Magen David Synagogue, Magen Hassidim Synagogue, and much more ... ending your tour in Cochin, one of the most fascinating cities along coastal South India, enjoy a houseboat experience departing Alleppey, riding through the narrow canals and channels of the backwaters of Kerala.

For additional information or to book please contact our office at 613-238-4040.

Sandra Granatstein Ottawa@carlsonwagonlit.com 130 Albert St. Suite 714, Ottawa, ON, K1P 5G4

JAY B. TALLER MEMORIAL FUND In observance of the Yahrzeit of: Elizabeth Roodman by Sally and Morton Taller.

613-238-4040

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Page 30 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – June 14, 2010

FOUNDATION DONATIONS BARBARA AND GERALD THAW ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Louis Satov by Barbara and Gerald Thaw.

LISE AND MARK THAW FAMILY FUND In memory of: Louis Satov by Lise and Mark Thaw and family.

HENRY (HANK) TORONTOW 39TH BOY SCOUTS In observance of the Yahrzeit of: Henry Torontow, a dear husband, brother, father and grandfather by Jean Naemark.

MOSES, CHENYA AND HENRY TORONTOW MEMORIAL FUND On observance of the Yahrzeit of: Leah Torontow by Bea Torontow and family.

Birthday wishes to: Sylvia Monson by Bea Torontow.

STEPHEN AND GAIL VICTOR ENDOWMENT FUND Mazel Tov to: Cameron Clement on receiving the Children’s 911 Achievement Award for saving his grandmother’s life

by Sandy Marchello.

SONIA AND ARTHUR VINER MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Jack Pleet by Gladys and John Greenberg.

MIRIAM AND LOUIS WEINER ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Jack Pleet by Miriam and Louis Weiner.

Shirley Lacome by Miriam and Louis Weiner.

MILDRED AND PERCY WEINSTEIN ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Polly Cohen by Millie Weinstein.

Louis Satov by Millie Weinstein.

Jack Pleet by Millie Weinstein and Bruce Weinstein.

ZIPES KARANOFSKY FAMILY ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Sossipatros Katsaros by Helen and Rick Zipes.

Birthday wishes to: Marcia Saper by Helen and Rick Zipes.

THE SAUL AND EDNA GOLDFARB B’NAI MITZVAH PROGRAM ABIGAIL GREENBERG MITZVAH FUND Mazel Tov to: Abigail Greenberg on her Bat Mitzvah by the JAGelber Fund.

CHARLOTTE HAMBURG MITZVAH FUND In memory of: Simon Penso by Cybele and Lyon Hamburg.

Mazel Tov to: Jacob Melamed on his Bar Mitzvah by Cybele, Lyon, Charlotte, Gabriel and Noah Hamburg.

Lauren Bohbot on her graduation from University

by Cybele, Lyon, Charlotte, Gabriel and Noah Hamburg.

JONATHAN, MATTHEW AND ADAM SHERMAN B’NAI MITZVAH FUND Mazel Tov to: Ian Sherman on being installed as “2009 Business Person of the Year” by the Zunder family.

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.

The Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation has published its Annual Report summarizing the 2009 calendar year.

To obtain a copy of the report, please contact the Foundation office at 613-798-4696 ext. 252, via email at fpaulin@ojcf.ca or in writing c/o Francine Paulin 21 Nadolny Sachs Private Ottawa, ON K2A 1R9.

Merry-go-rounds and Old World Jewish craftsmen Feivel’s Flying Horses

By Heidi Smith Hyde Illustrated by Johanna van der Sterre Kar-Ben Publishing 32 pages. Ages 5-9.

Kid Lit

As a kid, I was always a sucker for carnival and amusement park rides, especially the merry-go-round at Winnipeg Beach.

After buying my ticket, my parents would urge me to get on as soon as the ride stopped, but I wouldn’t. First, I had to walk saved every penny they could in order to around and find the one splendid horse I bring their wives and children to America wanted to ride that day. If someone was on as soon as possible. That is Feivel’s story.

For three long years, Feivel worked to it, I would wait, keeping an eagle eye on my earn enough money to bring his wife, horse so I’d be right beside it when that Goldie, and their four children, Hershel, kid’s ride was over.

Shmuel, Sasha and baby Lena, to the New I remember marvelling at the variety and World.

His first job was as a furniture beauty of those carousel horses. I still do maker on New York’s Lower East Side. when I visit a friend’s house where a couple Then, quite by accident, he discovered of those horses are part of the decor. Much Coney Island and its carousel. Feivel could to my present-day chagrin, I never thought, barely take his eyes off the glorious, bejewback then, to ask who made them. They elled prancing horses.

When he finally did, were just there for me to enjoy. Now I’m he noticed a sign: “Wanted: Experienced aware that many of them are folk art at its Wood Carvers.” finest and were created by master craftsThe rest, as they say, is history. Not only men. was Feivel hired as the chief apprentice to Much like Mendel’s Accordion, the first the carousel’s owner, he was also allowed to picture storybook written by Heidi Smith give the horses he made whatever character Hyde, and also illustrated by Johanna van and appearance he chose. Thus Feivel der Sterre, Feivel’s Flying Horses is a gloturned his longing for his wife and children rious tale of historical fiction depicting the into positive, aesthetic energy, modelling hopes and dreams, skills and talents that his first five horses for the new merry-gomany Jewish immigrants brought with them round after his family. when they came to America in the late Writing with her own energy and sense 1800s. of rhythm, Hyde’s storytelling bridges the In a historical note at the back of the gap between the Old World and the New, book, Hyde writes that the arrival of these and between children of the late 1800s and Jewish immigrants coincided with “the children of today, with a sense of joy and emergence of amusements parks such as accomplishment.

Enhanced by van der Brooklyn’s Coney Island,” which allowed Sterre’s sparkling folk art style ink line and the carousel industry to flourish. Wood watercolour illustrations, Feivel’s Flying carvers were in especially high demand.

Horses is a terrific, feel good winner. ChilIn the Old World, generations of Jewish dren will pore over the pictures and read the wood carvers had earned their living making story again and again. arks, tables, pulpits, lions and other decorations for synagogues. In America, the lucky ones – a few named in the note clearly served as models for Feivel, the hero of this story – carved and decorated carousel horses, in the process creating a new genre of folk art that brought happiness to generations of kids.

Many Jewish immigrants left the Old World to avoid persecution. Others, like Feivel, left to make a better life for their families.

The men frequently came over on their own first.

By Heidi Smith Hyde Illustrated by Johanna van der Sterre They worked hard and

Deanna Silverman

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – June 14, 2010 – Page 31

Rhubarb is a delicious, tangy vegetable One of the first gifts from the garden in springtime is rhubarb. For some reason, many people don’t think they like rhubarb. Yet, if properly prepared, rhubarb is one of the most delicious, tangy vegetables around. Yes, that’s right, although it is commonly thought of as a fruit, and is used that way in desserts, rhubarb is classified as a vegetable.

The key in preparing rhubarb is to soak the stalks in cold water for about 20 minutes to reduce their acidity. I often soak diced onions in cold water to reduce their harsh bite, so when I read about soaking rhubarb in Cook’s Illustrated, it made sense.

When cooking, add just enough sugar to temper rhubarb’s tart tendency, but not so much that it is cloyingly sweet. I also love to mix rhubarb with other fruits to help mellow out the astringent quality of rhubarb. Strawberries are the usual partner, most likely because they also are one of the first fruits to come to market in the spring. I love to mix them with other berries as well.

When choosing rhubarb, look for medium-sized crisp and firm stalks, about the same thickness as a stalk of celery. The stalks that are deeply coloured (red) have more sweetness to them. Avoid big stringy green stalks. There is no need to peel the thinner stalks.

Here’s a bit of useless trivia to toss out the next time you

Made with Love Cindy Feingold are at the theatre. The word ‘rhubarb’ is often used by actors talking quietly to one another on stage to simulate real conversation since it contains no harsh-sounding consonants and is hard to detect.

A wonderful way to use rhubarb is in Rustic RhubarbBerry Tarts. This recipe is adapted from Good to the Grain, a wonderful new cookbook by Kimberly Boyce. She elevates baking with whole grains to a whole new level. I have been obsessing over the utterly charming photo of rustic rhubarb tarts on the cover ever since the book arrived in my mailbox.

She makes them with a pure rhubarb filling, but I mixed mine with strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. These tarts are simple to make and can be frozen for several weeks, unbaked.

Just pop them into the oven, frozen, and in 35 minutes they are ready. They are the ultimate make-ahead dessert!

Rhubarb-Berry Filling 1 1/4 pounds rhubarb stalks 3/4 cup dark brown sugar 1 cup raspberries 1 cup blueberries 4 cups strawberries (measure first, then wash, cut off stems and dice into 1/2-inch chunks) 2 teaspoons vanilla extract Rinse the rhubarb stalks and trim the very ends. Fill a large roasting pan with cold water and soak stalks for about 20 minutes. Drain stalks and pat dry. Slice stalks lengthwise and then crosswise, on the diagonal into 3/4inch chunks. Set aside 1 cup chopped rhubarb.

Place remaining rhubarb into a large, heavy-bottomed

pot. Add the brown sugar and turn the heat to low. Note that this compote does not use any water. Cooking at a low temperature allows the rhubarb to releases its liquid.

Cook the rhubarb mixture, covered, for about 15 minutes, or until the mixture is saucy. Remove the cover and increase the heat to medium, cooking an additional 15 to 17 minutes, or until the rhubarb is completely broken down and thick enough that a spoon leaves a trail at the bottom of the pan. Add remaining raw rhubarb chunks to the compote. Pour the compote out onto a large plate to cool.

When cool, add vanilla extract, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.

Make ahead: This keeps for one week in the fridge. It can also be used to fill pies, crisps and cobblers.

Employment Opportunities Agudath Israel Congregation The JACCUSY Chapter of USY in conjunction with Agudath Israel Congregation is currently looking for a USY Advisor – beginning in September 2010 – to work with high school students in a fun, rewarding and creative atmosphere. Applicants should possess camp and youth group experience and should be a minimum of 20 years old.

The JACCUSY Chapter of Kadima in conjunction with Agudath Israel Congregation is currently looking for a Kadima Advisor – beginning in September 2010 – to work with grade 6 to 8 students in a fun, rewarding and creative atmosphere. Applicants should possess camp and youth group experience and should be a minimum of 16 years old.

For more information, or to send résumés, please contact Sasha Wittes at 613-728-3501 or sasha@agudathisrael.net Deadline: July 1, 2010 The Ottawa Jewish Bulletin Publishing Co. Ltd. collects and uses your personal information primarily for the purpose of providing you with the products and services you have requested from us.

The Ottawa Jewish Bulletin may also contact you from time to time to ask about

your account or to conduct market research and surveys in an effort to continually improve our product service offerings.

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

with the Jewish Federation of Ottawa, the Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation and the Soloway Jewish Community Centre.

If you would like more information, or to speak to the Privacy Officer, please call 613-798-4696, ext. 256.

Rustic Rhubarb-Berry Tarts This recipe calls for corn flour, which can be found in a bag, right next to the cornmeal, in the supermarket. Corn flour is just very finely ground cornmeal.

1 cup corn flour 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 cup fine cornmeal 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon Kosher or coarse salt 1 stick (4 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons 35% cream 2 egg yolks Rhubarb-Berry filling (recipe below) In the bowl of the food processor, fitted with metal blade, add all the dry ingredients. Process, with one or two pulses, until just combined. Add butter and pulse about eight to 10 times until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.

Add cream and egg yolks and pulse until combined. Do not process until dough comes together in a ball. The mixture will look crumbly but that’s what you want.

Dump mixture out onto the counter and gently knead until it comes together into a ball. Divide dough into 10 equal-sized pieces.

Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment and set aside.

Lay dough, one piece at a time, between two sheets of parchment paper and using a rolling pin, flatten dough into a roughly shaped circle, about five inches in diameter. The circle does not have to be perfect. In fact, imperfection is what you are aiming for in rustic tarts!

Lift top sheet of parchment and flip over tart. Peel off bottom sheet of parchment. Spoon about three tablespoons of filling into the center of the tart, leaving a border around the edge. Fold the uncovered border of dough up over the filling allowing the dough to pleat as you lift it up and work your way around the tart. The folds will be quite irregular and look kind of rough. If the folds are too perfect your tarts will lack charm.

Slide a wide spatula under the tart and transfer it to the parchment-lined baking sheet. Continue making all the tarts. Wrap the baking sheets well with plastic wrap and freeze for at least an hour or for up to two weeks.

Preheat oven to 375 F. and bake tarts, still frozen, for about 35 minutes until pastry is brown and filling is bubbling. Serve warm or at room temperature. I served them with vanilla ice cream the first time I made them and whipped cream the second time.

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Page 32 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – June 14, 2010

WHAT’S GOING ON June 14 to July 18, 2010 WEEKLY EVENTS TUESDAYS Israeli Folkdancing, learn dances, have fun, no experience or partner necessary, Vincent Massey Park bandstand, 7:00 pm. Info: 613-722-9323.

WEDNESDAYS Chill and Grill for Jewish students and young adults, sponsored by Chabad Student Network, 29 Gilmour Street, 6:00 pm. Info: 613-601-7701.

MONDAY, JUNE 14 Monday Matinée, “Crossing Delancey,” sponsored by

CANDLELIGHTING BEFORE Jun 18 Jun 25 Jul 2 Jul 9 Jul 16

✡ ✡ ✡ ✡ ✡

8:36 8:37 8:37 8:34 8:30

pm pm pm pm pm

Jewish Family Services. Valley Stream Manor, 2 Valley Stream, 1:30 pm. Info: 613-722-2225, ext. 327.

TUESDAY, JUNE 15 Annual General Meeting of the Ottawa Jewish Community School (Hillel Academy and Yitzhak Rabin High School), 31 Nadolny Sachs Private, 7:00 pm.

Info: 613-722-0020.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16 Let’s Do Lunch, sponsored

by Jewish Family Services and Agudath Israel Congregation: Cantor Bielak presents the music of Israeli singer Dudu Fischer, 1400 Coldrey Avenue, 12:00 pm.

Info: 613-728-3501.

THURSDAY, JUNE 17 2010 Desert Classic Golf Tournament, in support of the SJCC and the Ottawa Jewish Community School, Loch March Golf Course, Kanata, registration

begins at 11:00 am. Info: 613798-9818, ext. 225.

Israeli Film Festival presents “Bruria,” sponsored by the Canadian Film Institute and the Israel Cultural Forum, the story of a woman creating havoc in the life of an orthodox, Jerusalem family as she searches for a book written by her father, Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington Street, 7:00 pm. Info: 613-798-9818, ext.

243.

SUNDAY, JUNE 20 “The Jazz Singer,” presented by the Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre, day trip to Montreal sponsored by Jewish Family Services. Bus departs 2255 Carling Avenue at 10:00 am, returns at 6:30 pm. Info: 613-722-2225, ext. 325.

9th Annual Breakfast of Champions, with special guest speaker Jean Labonté, captain of Canada’s gold-medal-winning

For more community listings, visit ottawa.planitjewish.com

sledge hockey team and flagbearer at the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games. Celebrate our athletic heroes, championship teams and volunteers, 11:00 am.

Info: 613-798-9818, ext. 267.

Israeli Film Festival presents “Five Hours from Paris,” sponsored by the Canadian Film Institute and the Israel Cultural Forum, about an Israeli taxi driver who meets a Russian immigrant music teacher in Tel Aviv.

Can they make it work? Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington Street, 7:00 pm. Info: 613-798-9818, ext. 243.

MONDAY, JUNE 21 JET June barbecue for Jetsetters, JET On Campus and young couples, Home of the Goldbaums, 880 Riddell Avenue North, 6:30 pm. Info: 613-7989818, ext. 247.

TUESDAY, JUNE 22 Malca Pass Book Discus-

sion Group, sponsored by Agudath Israel Synagogue, Norman Wolfish reviews Songs for the Butcher’s Daughter, by Peter Manseau, 1400 Coldrey Avenue, 7:30 pm. Info: 613-829-2455.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23 Wonderful Wednesdays, sponsored by Jewish Family Services and Congregation Machzikei Hadas, Norma Goldsmith shares her expertise in navigating the internet, 2310 Virginia Drive, 12:00 pm. Info: 613521-9700.

SUNDAY, JUNE 27 Shalom Ottawa community TV show on Rogers 22, 12:00 pm. (Repeats July 1 at 4:30 pm and July 3 at 12:00 pm).

Anat Cohen Quartet from Israel performs music from around the world on clarinet and sax as part of the Ottawa Jazz Festival, Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington Street, 7:00 pm. Info:

613-798-9818, ext. 243.

Israeli Film Festival presents “Eli & Ben,” sponsored by the Canadian Film Institute and the Israel Cultural Forum, about 12-year-old Eli fighting for the release of his father, a city architect, who is charged with taking bribes, Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington Street, 7:00 pm. Info: 613-798-9818, ext. 243.

SUNDAY, JULY 4 13th Annual Yarchei Kallah Opening Night Dinner, sponsored by Jewish Education Through Torah. Info: 613-7989818, ext. 247 Events continue to July 10.

MONDAY, JULY 12 17th Annual Jewish Federation of Ottawa Golf Tournament, Rideau View Golf and Country Club, 6044 Rideau Valley Drive, Manotick, 11:00 am.

Info: 613-798-4696, ext. 241.

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 Ottawa InfoCentre. Organizations which would like their events to be listed, no matter where they are to be held, should send the information to InfoCentre coordinator Benita Siemiatycki via e-mail at bsiemiatycki@jewishottawa.com or fax at 613-798-4695. She can also be reached by telephone at 613-798-4644. Accurate details must be provided and all events must be open to the Jewish public.

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Condolences Condolences are extended to the family of: Esther Silverstone

May her 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 613-798-4696, ext. 232.

Voice mail is available.

162 Cumberland Street, Suite 300 Toronto, Ontario M5R 3N5

Readers and advertisers are advised the next edition of the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin will be published on Monday, July 19, 2010.

The deadline date is Wednesday, June 30, 2010.

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BULLETIN DEADLINES JUNE 30 FOR JULY 19 JULY 28 FOR AUGUST 16 AUGST 11 FOR SEPTEMBER 6* SEPTEMBER 1 FOR SEPTEMBER 27 SEPTEMBER 22 FOR OCTOBER 11 OCTOBER 6 FOR OCTOBER 25 * Community-wide Issue (all dates subject to change)