Ottawa jewish bulletin 2011 09 05(inaccessible)

Plant A Tree For All Reasons

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To Remember • To Congratulate • To Honour • To Say “I Care” •

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bulletin volume 75, no. 19

september 5, 2011

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Sara and Zeev Vered Educational Area inaugurated at Ben-Gurion’s desert home

By Yoav Devir KKL-JNF An upgraded educational compound – the Sara and Zeev Vered Educational Area – and a film presentation were inaugurated, August 14, at the desert home of David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, at Kibbutz Sde Boker in the Negev Desert. Both the compound and the film production were funded by donations from Friends of JNF in Ottawa at the Negev Dinner, held March 22, 2010 at the Fairmont Château Laurier, in honour of Sara Vered and in memory of her late husband, Zeev Vered.

The educational compound comprises four instruction centres where visitors will learn about the site and the legacy of Ben-Gurion.

The film allows viewers to meet

Miri Palmach (left), director of the Ben-Gurion house site, makes a presentation to Sara Vered from the Ben-Gurion Heritage Institute.

Sara Vered at the dedication of the Sara and Zeev Vered Educational Area at David Ben-Gurion’s home at Kibbutz Sde Boker.

(Photo: Dudu Grinshpan/KKL)

(Photo: Dudu Grinshpan/KKL)

(Continued on page 2)

Gay Orthodox rabbi to be visiting scholar at Agudath Israel Congregation, September 9-11

By Nicola Hamer for Agudath Israel Congregation Agudath Israel Congregation will welcome visiting scholar, Rabbi Steven Greenberg, over the weekend of September 9 to 11.

Rabbi Greenberg, a senior teaching fellow at the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership (CLAL), is the author of Wrestling with God and Men: Homosexuality in the Jewish Tradition.

Rabbi Greenberg is an openly gay rabbi

who follows Orthodox tradition, although calling himself a ‘gay Orthodox rabbi’ does cause some controversy. He was ordained in 1983 and came out publicly in 1999. He is also the founder of a GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered) community centre in Jerusalem called Open House.

While working to encourage Orthodox communities to be more open to homosexual members is a significant focus for Rabbi Greenberg, he believes it is still very much an

issue in the wider Jewish community as well.

As he explained to Nicole Neroulias of Religion News Service in a 2010 interview, “There’s a desire to be tolerant, but to move from tolerance to real welcome, and from welcome to celebration, is something that has yet to occur, even in the more liberal congregations.”

Ben Sher, whose family belongs to Agudath Israel, is an openly gay teenager attending university in Montreal. He agrees with

Rabbi Greenberg’s evaluation.

“Growing up in Ottawa, it’s like gay issues aren’t even on the radar. I had my gay friends and my Jewish friends and it never occurred to me that they were anything but completely incompatible.”

While Ben acknowledges that Temple Israel is known for embracing GLBT issues, “I grew up Conservative and, if I start to become more involved in Jewish life, that is where I’d (Continued on page 2 )

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Educational area provides unforgettable learning experience (Continued from page 1)

Ben-Gurion at his home in Sde Boker and listen to his account of eight historic events in the annals of the State of Israel and in his own life. Particular emphasis is placed on Ben-Gurion’s special relationship with the Negev and his vision of settling the desert and making it bloom.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by Sara Vered and a large group of family, friends and supporters from both Israel and Canada.

KKL-JNF Head of Protocol Andy Michelson, master of ceremonies for the event, said the presence of so many members of Vered’s family, including her grandchildren, symbolized the passing of the torch from one generation to the next.

Vered concluded the inaugural proceedings with a moving speech in which she recalled the Negev Dinner of 17 months ago.

Negev Dinners are a Canadian JNF tradition bringing together Friends of KKLJNF in 11 cities to raise funds for a variety of projects in Israel.

Vered quoted Ben-Gurion

Vered family members gathered outside the Sara and Zeev Vered Educational Area at Ben-Gurion’s home.

(Photo: Dudu Grinshpan/KKL)

who said, “Every person possesses tremendous hidden strengths, which need to be discovered and put to use.”

These words from Israel’s first prime minister would appear to apply to

Sara herself, who has found her own hidden strengths and used them for the common good.

“How wonderful it is that we have such a great country, of which we can all be proud,” she added.

More than 80,000 people visit Ben-Gurion’s cabin every year. Among them are large numbers of soldiers, students, tourists and families. Thanks to the new Sara and Zeev Vered Educational Area, these visits will be-

come an unforgettable learning experience.

Paula and David BenGurion’s cabin at Kibbutz Sde Boker has been preserved just as it was on the day of his death in 1973. The guard hut nearby contains an

exhibition documenting BenGurion’s close connection with the Negev, while the courtyard hosts three activity centres focusing on his links with KKL-JNF: a sand map, two relief maps of the Negev and a rope game.

Rabbi’s visit a pastoral response (Continued from page 1)

want to be. When I was a kid, there was no sign I’d be welcome. Not talking about it sends the message that we have to stay invisible.”

Ben’s mother, Erica, is a member of the adult education committee at Agudath Israel. She said she believes that, had the sort of discussions that will be going on during Rabbi Greenberg’s visit happened when Ben was younger, he might be a more engaged Jewish adult.

“I want people to understand that we don’t want to start a crusade. We just want to start a dia-

logue. We want kids, in particular, to feel that it is an issue that is being taken seriously,” she said.

Rabbi Charles Popky, the congregation’s spiritual leader, also hopes the weekend will send a message to GLBT Jews, particularly young people.

“Addressing this issue and inviting Rabbi Greenberg here is not necessarily about policies and practices,” he said. “It is a pastoral response to members of our community, to let them know that they matter and we care about them. These are our family and our friends.

Rabbi Greenberg said his goal is to “encourage Jewish communities to open their hearts to listen to our stories. You are taught ‘Do not judge your neighbour until you have come to his place.’

“While you cannot walk in our shoes, you can listen as we share our stories with you and tell you what it is like to grow up gay in the Jewish world.”

Ben Sher said he’s looking forward to Rabbi Greenberg’s visit and the discussion that is surrounding it.

“If mainstream Judaism wants

to be relevant to young Jews, this is a necessary discussion. It’s time for this issue to come out of the closet.”

The schedule for Rabbi Greenberg’s September visit to Agudath Israel is available online at agudathisrael.net/AdultEd.html.

While in Ottawa, Rabbi Greenberg will also take the opportunity to meet with various agencies and Jewish youth groups. As well, he will be available to meet “under the radar” with anyone who wishes. He can be reached in advance of his visit at sgreenberg@clal.org

Rabbi Steven Greenberg will address issues of Judaism and homosexuality as visiting scholar at Agudath Israel, September 9-11.

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September 5, 2011 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 3

Page 4 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – September 5, 2011

Non-Jewish Carleton student is new president of Israel Awareness Committee of Ottawa

By Ilana Belfer Leaving for home after the Hasbara Fellowships, a 16-day education and activism program in Israel, Hashem Hamdy was interrogated by security personnel at Ben Gurion International Airport for two hours, July 7.

He was even carrying a Hebrew letter from the Israeli Embassy validating his participation on the trip.

“They said, ‘We read your letter and everything checks out; we just don’t understand why it is that you’re doing this,’” recalled Hamdy, the new city-wide president of the Israel Awareness Committee of Ottawa (IAC).

Hamdy’s mother, who is from Nova Scotia, is Christian, and his father is Egypt-

ian and Muslim.

Hamdy gave them his standard answer, an answer, he said, he has given hundreds of times before.

“I got involved, in part, because anti-Zionism reminded me so much of antiSemitism and also because Israel has the same principles that we do… and the same enemies.”

Growing up, Hamdy was raised celebrating holidays from both parent’s faiths – Eid al-Adha and Eid ul-Fitr for dad, Christmas and Easter for mom. He described both parents as very religious, but not at all obtrusive.

“One of the things they’ve always said is, ‘We’ve raised you in a house of tolerance,’” said Hamdy.

He keeps up some of the cultural practices he is used to, but said he has no religious inclination himself.

Having a Jewish Israeli girlfriend in high school, he said, opened him up to Judaism.

In 2009, his third year at Carleton University, Hamdy was president of the Political Science Society, which co-hosted an event with Hillel and IAC during Israeli Apartheid Week. He got to know people, learned more and more, and ended up serving as IAC finance chair in 2010-2011 before becoming this year’s president.

Reflecting on his experiences, Hamdy said, “I’ve seen people get really heated and, quite frankly, not want to deal with it because

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they feel personally attacked.”

For this reason, Hamdy said, his not being Jewish can sometimes be an advantage in his IAC work.

“It brings legitimacy to the argument and offers an outside perspective,” he said. “This is a person who has no stake in it either way saying, ‘Listen, this is something we should care about.’”

However, Hamdy said his being IAC president doesn’t come without some controversy. Jews are a tight-knit community and some find his involvement with Israel unusual. The Arab community, he added, doesn’t really understand it.

“That’s something I’ve kind of questioned myself: whether or not that’s something worth getting involved in,” he said. “But when you go to Israel, you see [the Arab population] living better there than in [the Arab] countries.”

Hamdy said he particularly looked forward to the more controversial aspects of the Hasbara Fellowship training and cited their visit to Hebron in the West Bank and their getting so close to the Syrian border that Israeli Defense Force soldiers pulled up in a Humvee and told them to leave.

Hashem Hamdy is the new president of the Israel Awareness Committee of Ottawa.

“It gave you perspective on things you can’t really understand unless you go there,” he said.

He said he also gained an understanding of the importance of the security fence.

“When you walk down Ben Yehuda Street in Jerusalem or … along the beach in Tel Aviv, the knowledge that five or 10 years ago you couldn’t do that without worrying about

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being blown up or shot, and knowing that the chance of that happening is almost nil now,” he said, “it’s absolutely necessary for it to be there.”

Hamdy said he will be able to use his experiences from the trip in his IAC leadership position. His goal, he added, is to change the environment at Carleton and make people who support Israel feel safe.

September 5, 2011 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 5

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Page 6 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – September 5, 2011

Every donation and volunteer hour change lives for the better It is a pleasure to write to the community in my inaugural year as the chair of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa’s Annual Campaign. Fundraising is a crucial component in the life of the Federation and, although sometimes difficult, if canvassers and donors both have a good understanding of its importance, the difficulties seem to disappear.

Over the years, we have all heard the slogans used to encourage people to give, like “When you give, we thrive” and “Live Generously: It does a world of good.” All campaign slogans try to convey the importance of giving, but what does it really mean to give?

Giving comes in many forms. While giving monetarily is crucial to the future growth and stability of the community, giving of your time to assist our agencies, the clients they serve and the people working on the front lines day in and day out, are all forms of giving equally important to the well-being of our community.

My first experience with canvassing came during my first year of dental school at the University of Toronto.

Working on behalf of the United Jewish

Federation Report Michael Landau Campaign Appeal, I canvassed some of my fellow students. My seminal moment came when one of my classmates threw a two dollar bill at me and told me to leave him alone.

I had two choices. I could get angry or I could educate and work towards eliminating this type of response. I chose the latter route and made a life-long commitment to give both my time and money and inspire others to do the same.

A very important question to ask yourself when canvassing, or when being canvassed, is “How will my life change with the amount I give, and how will the lives of others change?”

There is a wide variety of answers here, but let me share with you just a few.

For those who are giving, your life

“How will my life change with the amount I give, and how will the lives of others change?” will change because you are doing a good deed – the mitzvah of tzedakah – and your inner soul will be rewarded.

We can also reflect upon the level of giving and the impact that incremental increases have on the community. It is interesting how, in many instances, such incremental increases have little impact on one’s day-to-day living, but significant impact and benefit to the beneficiaries of such donations. Every donation you make and every hour you volunteer changes lives for the better.

When you give, you provide lifesaving and life-enhancing assistance to Jewish people, here in Ottawa and around the world. By giving, you support a powerful local and global network of aid, care, relief, advocacy, education, protection and emergency assistance.

In these uncertain economic times, as our community’s needs continue to grow, and with more people and agencies than ever before relying on the Federation, the funds we raise, and the help we provide, become more precious than ever. So, if it is within your power to give, please consider increasing your commitment. You will make a difference in the lives of many.

Let’s work together to meet the challenges our community faces, to address urgent needs and create a better future in Ottawa, so that our long-standing tradition of caring for one another continues.

On behalf of the Women’s Campaign Chair Susan Viner-Vered, and myself, I wish the entire Jewish community of Ottawa a year of health and happiness, and a year of giving.

Shana Tova!

‘The long walk is part of the gift’ A young girl in Africa gave her teacher a holiday gift. It was a beautiful seashell.

“Where did you get this?” the teacher asked.

The child told her that such shells are found only on a certain faraway beach.

The teacher was deeply touched because she knew that the little girl had walked many miles to find the shell.

“You shouldn’t have travelled so far just to find a gift for me,” she said.

The girl smiled and replied, “The long walk is part of the gift.”

During the upcoming holiday season, each of us sets out on a path in search of gifts. The gifts are intangible: healthier living, emotional fulfilment, spiritual growth, deeper self-understanding, happiness, forgiveness, and all the things we

From the pulpit Rabbi Scott Rosenberg Beth Shalom pray for during this High Holiday season.

Our tradition is there to guide us. From the beginning of the month of Elul, the daily blowing of the Shofar (excepting Shabbat) and the recitation of Psalm 27 serve as reminders along our path. Prayer, repentance and acts of loving kindness also serve as guideposts to our journey.

But how far is each of us willing to walk to find these gifts? Do we stay on course when the journey grows difficult?

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 send an e-mail to bulletin@ottawajewishbulletin.com.

Do we do the serious work that is required to reap the rewards of personal growth and change? Do we fully invest in this journey or do we choose the short course, tasting the meaning of the season without investing our souls in the journey?

When I think about the value of this season, the long walk, as the young African girl told her teacher, is part of the gift. Some of this journey we must take on our own, but most of it can be done surrounded by others walking alongside us on a parallel journey.

At this season, all of us who pride ourselves in our affiliation with the Ottawa

Jewish community are co-travellers. We need to support each other and encourage each other as we search for the many invaluable gifts found along this path.

We are a sacred community and, as such, find great meaning in our shared mission.

May this High Holiday season, which quickly approaches, serve as a source of light and inspiration for each of us as we journey along life’s path.

May the work that we do along the way challenge us to grow as Jews and may we always find great meaning in every journey we undertake.

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September 5, 2011 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 7

The Bulletin gets some attention As a small community newspaper, we’re always pleased to see the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin get some attention. We got some recently in two lengthy posts on the Ottawashtetl blog – ottawashtetl.wordpress.com – written by “Ottawayenta.”

There were also some interesting responses in the ‘Comments’ section of each of the posts.

I thank Ottawayenta for taking time to think and write about the Bulletin. Like so many people in this community, the blogger obviously cares about our community newspaper.

I would like to comment on a couple of things raised in the blog.

There was a stated assumption that the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin is financially supported by the Jewish Federation of Ottawa.

A natural assumption, I suppose, because many Jewish newspapers in North America are subsidized by federations.

The Bulletin, though, is not. We are a self-sufficient enterprise supported entirely by advertising and subscription revenue.

Our modest profits, in fact, support the work of the Federation.

By the way, the cost of a Bulletin subscription has not risen in many years. At $30 per year, an annual subscription costs about half what I pay every month for my home Internet account.

after all, your community newspaper.

Editor Michael Regenstreif Ottawayenta suggests the Bulletin should be available online for free as many people, particularly young adults, don’t read print newspapers and rely on the Internet for news and information.

I wish we could just do that.

The problem is that few, if any, newspapers have been able to break even in their online operations. Many, including the New York Times, are scaling back or beginning to charge for access to their online content.

We hope soon to give the Bulletin a greater online presence in a way that is financially viable and that makes sense for our subscribers and advertisers.

The Bulletin always welcomes feedback, suggestions and questions from anyone in the community. I’m easily accessible at the Bulletin office, on the phone, and via e-mail. My door is open.

And we always welcome articles, letters-to-the-editor and guest columns on issues of concern from our readers. We are,

CIJA As we’ve reported in past issues, the various Jewish advocacy agencies formerly under the umbrella of the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CIJA) – the Canadian Jewish Congress, the Canada-Israel Committee, the QuebecIsrael Committee, the University Outreach Committee and National Jewish Campus Life – were merged, as of July 1, into a single agency that was temporarily called “CIJA 2.0” until a permanent name was chosen.

There were many people across Canada who hoped the new agency would be called “Canadian Jewish Congress” and maintain the continuity of an organization that was the major voice of Canada’s national Jewish community for almost a century.

Alas, CIJA 2.0 will not be called Canadian Jewish Congress. After several months of behind-closed-doors discussion, the merged agency will be called the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, or CIJA. Jack Layton Seldom have Canadians – of all political stripes – been as united in grief and mourning as we were with the untimely

passing, August 22, of Opposition Leader Jack Layton.

In the election campaign last spring, Jack – it seems so natural to call him Jack – appeared to be getting stronger every day, to be recovering from cancer, as he led the NDP to unprecedented success in the May 2 vote.

Although fiercely partisan, Jack earned, and kept, the respect and affection of political friend and foe alike.

Almost immediately after his death, CIJA announced it would establish in his memory the Jack Layton Scholarship for Social Justice, “to be awarded annually to a Canadian student who demonstrates a meaningful commitment to enhancing Canada’s quality of life.”

CIJA chair David Koschitzky said Jack fought for “many causes dear to Canada’s Jewish community … We join with all Canadians in honouring the passing of a passionate advocate and pillar of our Parliament.”

In a last letter to Canadians, written just before his death, Jack continued to inspire.

“My friends,” he wrote, “love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.”

Learning history by walking in the footsteps of those who were there before When we got off the boat at Grosse Île, attendants quickly led us into the disinfection building right by the docks on the western end of the island.

Soon enough, we were undergoing physical inspections – of our tongues, our fingernails and our skin. Looming over us and dominating the room was the giant steam-powered disinfection machine, stateof-the-art when first installed, into which all visitors to the island were required to place their worldly possessions. For most, that meant a beat-up old bag or two.

Before too long, we were led upstairs to the shower room, also state-of-the-art at some point in its history, where each metallic stall was equipped with rows of curved horizontal pipes that would surround its occupants and spray water from all directions to ensure a thorough cleaning. For many visitors to the island, this mandatory disinfecting wash would have been the first shower of their lives.

The disinfecting steam machines and horizontal showers aren’t operational anymore, and the tongue inspections were just a bit of theatre. These days, visitors to Grosse Île arrive with cameras and boxed lunches and stay for only a few hours. Past visitors would often arrive with cholera,

Alan Echenberg typhus or smallpox and would stay for months at a time, if they ever left the island at all.

In fact, any sign of disease would get visitors shipped to the east sector of the island – the sick side. Many of them would die there. Those lucky enough to recover would get the coveted official papers they required to set foot anywhere else in Canada.

When it was in operation as a quarantine station for more than 100 years until just before the Second World War, this small island in the middle of the Saint Lawrence River north of Quebec City served as the first point of landing for most immigrants to our country. Possibly some of your own ancestors spent time on Grosse Île before sailing on to new lives in places south and west of there.

Of course, in all its years operating as a

quarantine station, no year brought as much tragedy to Grosse Île as 1847, when thousands of Irish immigrants fleeing the Great Potato Famine fell victim to a typhus epidemic that swept the island. This was a number of decades before technological and medical advances led to the disinfection and quarantine processes I described.

A mass grave not too far from the landing docks hosts the remains of the 5,424 victims who died that long-ago summer, the wavy appearance of the ground bearing evidence of piles of stacked coffins underneath.

More than two-thirds of all the people who died at Grosse Île over the course of a century perished that summer. When you approach the island by boat, the first thing you see is a stark, giant monument in the shape of a Celtic cross – the largest in North America – that pays tribute to their memory.

A smaller monument – a plaque inside an old Anglican church on the island – is similarly moving. It reads: “In memoriam of the thousands of persons of many races and creeds who, victims of pestilence, lie buried in nameless graves on this Island.”

I knew a little bit about Grosse Île and its history before I visited there this

summer. But nothing teaches the history of a place as effectively as stepping foot there and walking in the footsteps of those who were there before.

Especially a place with as much historical resonance as Grosse Île has to a country made up of so many immigrants and descendants of immigrants.

The Grosse Île site is now operated by Parks Canada. In my experience, there is no better guardian of its legacy than that agency. Last year, my family bought an annual pass that allowed unlimited access to all of the national parks and historic sites operated by Parks Canada. We visited as many as we could on trips in Quebec, Ontario and Atlantic Canada.

Every experience was worthwhile, and the history and natural wonders of each place we visited – from battle sites to unique geological phenomena – were presented in fascinating and memorable ways.

Parks Canada’s mandate is to “protect and present nationally significant examples of Canada’s natural and cultural heritage, and foster public understanding, appreciation and enjoyment … for present and future generations.”

It’s been doing so for 100 years. I hope it continues to do so for centuries to come.

Page 8 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – September 5, 2011

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Community should take steps to prevent Type 2 diabetes Rabbi Reuven P. Bulka points out that (Type 2) diabetes can be prevented or diminished by lifestyle changes (From the Pulpit, August 15). The community should and could facilitate such changes.

The following reiterates points I made in a letter published in the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin in 1975.

Remove products with large amounts (more than 2 per cent of calories, perhaps) of added sugars (sugar, glucose, fructose, corn syrup, etc.) from the tables, menus and vending machines of all communal facilities and events: kiddush, meals, synagogues, Soloway Jewish Community Centre, nursery schools, camps, Jewish Family Services, nursing homes, Tamir homes, etc.

Sweeten baked and other products with fruit purée, black strap molasses or other healthful sweets.

Serve fresh or dried fruits for dessert. (In my opinion, it

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is un-Jewish to give young children, or anyone, products that are mostly deceptive, possibly toxic, artificially coloured/flavoured, high-calorie sugar water.)

Replace cakes, cookies, pastries, pasta and all breads (bagels, challah, pita, matzo, crackers, sliced bread, etc.) with 100 per cent whole grain products such as whole wheat or brown rice pasta, 100 per cent whole grain rye bread, whole spelt matzo, cakes made of 100 per cent whole grain flour, etc. In my opinion, it is sacrilege to honour Shabbat with un-nutritious white flour challah artificially coloured a deceptive yellow to make the product look more expensive with lots of real eggs.

Use only whole grain flour in products like gefilte fish, breading for fish and chicken, and matzo balls.

I expect these suggestions to meet the same reaction they met decades ago: silence from community leaders and health care professionals.

Irma Cohen

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Phone: 613-725-1171 Toll Free: 1-800-307-1545 Email: greenje@magma.ca

(JTA) – Australia has withdrawn from the upcoming UN conference on racism over concerns of Israel-bashing.

The government said it was not convinced that “unbalanced criticism of Israel and the airing of anti-Semitic views” would be avoided, and therefore withdrew.

Other countries that have previously announced they would not participate in Durban III – scheduled for September 21 in New York City – include Canada, the United States, Israel, the Czech Republic, Italy and the Netherlands.

The conference has been dubbed Durban III, after the

original anti-racism conference in the South African city in 2001 that was marred by anti-Semitism and Israelbashing.

Back then, Australia, among other western countries, walked out.

Australia subsequently boycotted a follow-up conference in Geneva in 2009,

which Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad used as an opportunity to unleash a vitriolic attack on Israel and Jews.

A spokesman for Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Australia remained involved in early consultations “to oppose attempts to endorse extreme language or explicit references to the text of the Durban Declaration.” But Australia would not be able to “support a meeting that chooses to reaffirm the original Durban Declaration, as appears likely,” the spokesman said.

The president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Danny Lamm, welcomed the decision, which he had been urging since last November.

“We have said that Australia should take no part in a process that remains irredeemably corrupted by racism and by attacks on Israel’s legitimacy as the State of the Jewish people,” he said.

“When a respected middle power democracy like Australia decides to stay away from as high profile an event as Durban III, it sends a powerful message to the international community that the UN Human Rights Council and related organs of the UN General Assembly need to clean up their act.”

September 5, 2011 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 9

Rabbinical student Gadi Capela returns to Adath Shalom for High Holidays

More than trees 613.798.2411

Oliver Javanpour president

Negev Dinner to honour all Friends of Israel in Ottawa The Jewish National Fund was formed in 1901 to build the foundation for a future Jewish State. It began with fundraising and buying land. The first parcel of land purchased was 50 acres in Hadera. By 1921, JNF had purchased 25,000 acres.

When Israel became a state in 1948, 233 of Israel’s 305 towns stood on JNF land.

In the 1950s and ‘60s, JNF turned to building the infrastructure and environment for a sustainable Israel (not that anyone used the word “sustainable” back then). The 1960s saw a renewed focus, not just on tree-planting, but on rolling back the desert through afforestation in places where no one ever imagined there could be vegetation of any size.

The next few decades saw JNF expand its environmental activities to cover the creation of parks, and its people-focused activities building the quality of life for all Israelis, whether new immigrants, disabled or economically disadvantaged.

Now, in JNF’s 110th year, our programs are continuing to realize the dream of making the desert bloom (the Negev Desert covers 60 per cent of Israel’s land, but contains only 8 per cent of its population) and meeting the new challenge of overcoming the worst drought to hit the Middle East in 80 years.

And this is why we hold Negev Dinners – to keep our dreams and Israel’s alive.

The first Negev Dinner in Canada was held in Toronto in 1948. Negev Dinners began as a Canadian way to honour outstanding community leaders and significant events in Jewish life. This year, we honour all the Friends of Israel in Ottawa in recognition of JNF’s 110th Anniversary, for it is all the members of our community who contribute, in time, in money, in steadfast commitment to Israel’s success as a nation, who are the real gift that JNF gives to Israel.

Our gift will also be our contribution to an agricultural water reservoir in Sderot, one of more than 200 reservoirs already built that have added over 66 billion gallons of recycled and flood water to the national water economy – a full 10 per cent of the total water supply. This water irrigates more than 112,000 acres of crops that would otherwise consume scarce fresh water, a particular concern in these years of drought.

JNF may have contributed 10 per cent of Israel’s water supply so far, but we are 100 per cent committed to increasing that percentage.

Please join us for our JNF 110th Anniversary Negev Dinner, Tuesday, November 8, 6:00 pm, at the Fairmount Château Laurier Hotel, with keynote speaker Barbara Walters; Dinner Chair Vera Klein; Honorary Co-Chairs, the Honourable Linda Frum, the Honourable Judith Seidman and Dr. Roseann O’Reilly Runte, President and Vice-Chancellor of Carleton University; and our corporate supporters, including the Ottawa Citizen.

Seating is limited, so get your tickets early. For information on tickets or corporate sponsorship, please call Susan Schwartzman at 613-798-2411 or Gail Grief, Executive Director, Eastern Canada at 1-514-934-0313.

Sefer Bar/Bat Mitzvah Inscription Benjamin Bernard Javinsky, by his proud parents, Susan and Edward Javinsky.

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 Sylvia Greenspoon Adath Shalom Adath Shalom Congregation is pleased to have Gadi Capela, in his fourth year of rabbinical training at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, return for a second year as our spiritual leader for the High Holidays.

As part of his rabbinical program, Gadi, who was born and raised in Israel, studied in Jerusalem at the Schechter Institute for Jewish Studies. After an absence of 16 years from Israel, he enjoyed spending time with friends and family. In addition, he gained a new perspective on the intricacies of Israeli-Palestinian issues.

Gadi’s most inspiring experience this year was working for the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs in Chicago.

Through his teachings at Or Tzedek, a teen program, he was able to explore the response to the raid on the kosher meat packing plant at Postville, Iowa. Delving into the problems that were exposed there, Gadi and his students discussed the ques-

Gadi Capela

tion, “How kosher is our kosher food?”

During the High Holidays, Gadi will explore the question of pursuing justice from a personal perspective and will focus his teachings

on the pursuit of social justice. He will share his personal insights into the texts he has become passionate about during his recent year of study.

As Rabbi Tarfon stated

in Pirkei Avot, “It is not up to us to finish the task of pursuing justice, but neither are we free to desist from it.”

Adath Shalom looks forward to a special spiritual experience with Gadi Capela.

An egalitarian, Conservative congregation, Adath Shalom is lay led. Our members take turns leading different parts of the service.

Services for the High Holidays will be held at the Soloway Jewish Community Centre. Children’s services and childcare will be available during the High Holidays and throughout the year.

Tishrei members will receive a discount on their annual membership fee. University students may attend at no cost, but require a ticket.

Families with children who attend Jewish day school or an afternoon Jewish studies program receive a 50 per cent discount on their membership dues.

For further information, contact Elaine Hauptman at 613-829-6990.

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Page 10 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – September 5, 2011

AJA 50+ to hold fall registration day, September 7, at SJCC

By Dena Speevak for AJA 50+ Learn, create, think, share a laugh, nourish your soul – live your retirement years to their fullest with the exceptional and varied programming offered by AJA 50+.

AJA 50+ has more than 450 members ranging from 50 to 90+. We are an independent, volunteer-driven organization and a member of the Ontario Coalition of Senior Citizens’ Organizations. Membership and program costs are very affordable.

Examples of this fall’s programs include musical concerts such as “Jewish Music for the Soul” with Ellie Glantz; thought-provoking lectures including “Medical Research Ethics”; guided walking heritage tours of Manotick/Osgoode and Vankleek Hill; classes in printmaking and watercolour techniques; and a visit to an artist’s studio.

As well, the “Art at the National Gallery” series and the Jewish Film Series will continue. You can also develop skills at beginner bridge classes, the chess group, or attend a cooking demo. The list goes on.

There is also a lot of buzz about the November trip, “Discover Jewish New York with AJA 50+,” which will include visits to the theatre, museums and historical sites escorted by Scholar-in-Residence Rabbi Steven Garten.

To learn more about AJA 50+, or to obtain our Fall Program Guide, drop by the AJA 50+ Registration Day at the Soloway Jewish Community Centre on Wednesday, September 7, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm.

Musical entertainment by the Tamir Choir will follow from 1:00 to 2:00 pm.

For information, contact Dan Sigler at ajamembership@gmail.com or 613-2246110.

It was a dream-come-true for AJA50+ member Esther Williams to play chess with Ari Williams, her 11-year-old grandson. Esther learned the game with the AJA50+ Chess for Fun program.

Ottawa Torah Centre gets a jump on fall programs

By Pherris Hamilton for Ottawa Torah Centre While many view summer as a time of rest and respite, the rabbis at the Ottawa Torah Centre (OTC) use this time to put their programming in place for the coming year.

“We have some real innovative programs coming up,” said Rabbi Menachem M. Blum, director of OTC.

“But, at OTC, we don’t wait around and decided to roll out some of these planned classes and events through the summer.”

These programs include a new monthly ‘Lunch and Learn’ during the last week of every month, giving those working downtown a refreshing and stimulating Torah study session and a delicious lunch in a relaxed atmosphere.

“The sessions have been very well

attended so far,” said Rabbi Blum.

Another is a weekly Torah study group at Chapters Pinecrest on Sunday evenings at 7:30 pm.

“We named this study session, ‘Rediscovering Wonder,’” Rabbi Blum said. “By looking at weekly Torah portion in some depth we attempt to reclaim the wonder we had as young children.”

“Our goal is to offer a variety of pro-

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Orthodox services under the leadership of Rabbi Dr. Reuven P. Bulka OUR CONGREGATION OFFERs a welcoming, friendly atmosphere for people of all levels of observance; daily

morning and evening services; Shabbat services with Cantor Pinchas Levinson and Ba’al Kriyah Shimon Fogel; kosher meat and dairy kitchens; a deep sense of community and commitment to Jewish values and Israel; a place for joyful and meaningful celebration of festivals and commemoration of life cycle events for families, couples and singles of every age.

• Scholars in Residence • Breakfast & Speaker Series • Sunday Night Dinners • Weekly Classes • Purim Carnival • Senators Hockey Games • Pre-Passover Dinner • Shabbat Kiddushes • Morning breakfasts • Movie Nights • Seniors’ Lunches • Yoga Classes • Shabbat Dinners • Book Club • Youth Director

Youth Programs on Shabbat and the High Holidays include: • Babysitting • 2-5 Kids Group • 6-8 Junior Congregation • 9-12 Teen Alternative

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grams that would appeal to wide audience from a cross section of our community,” added Rabbi Sender Gordon, who joined OTC this year and is involved in the planning and teaching of the classes. “We have something for everyone whether you see yourself as unaffiliated, Reform, Conservative or Orthodox.”

For more information on OTC programs, visit ottawatorahcentre.com.

September 5, 2011 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 11

Guest Column

Jews must respond to the crisis in Somalia

By Caryl M. Stern (JTA) – A tragedy is unfolding in the Horn of Africa, where hundreds of thousands of children are at immediate risk of death. The disastrous combination of the worst drought in 60 years, high food prices and regional conflict has left 12 million people, including more than two million malnourished children, in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

A huge migration is now taking place from the areas of southern Somalia that have been engulfed in famine to the capital, Mogadishu, and to neighbouring Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti.

Mothers carry their infants for days or weeks on end, desperate to find them nourishment, clean water and medical assistance.

Some have been forced to make an unthinkable Sophie’s choice about which child to feed and which to allow to die – a decision no parent should ever have to make.

The next rains are not due to arrive until October, meaning that no new harvests can be expected in the region before the end of the

year. Unless aid to affected areas increases significantly, the famine will likely spread and intensify putting many more young lives in jeopardy. However, despite the scale of this catastrophe, the drought and famine in the Horn of Africa have not consistently made headlines, nor have these scourges caught the attention of many North Americans. The international donor community, so quick to mobilize after similar disasters, has been slow to respond to the situation in Somalia this summer. This catastrophe is not on the public agenda, but it urgently needs to be.

With this in mind, I turn to the Jewish community – my community – for support in efforts to save the lives of children threatened by conditions beyond their control.

My worldview, personally and professionally, has been shaped by a commitment to tikkun olam – healing the world. It comes from my mother, who was a child in Vienna during Kristallnacht. She survived the Holocaust by being sent to the United States in 1939, at the age of six, along with her four-year-old brother and a

woman she never saw again after they arrived. They were raised for two years in an orphanage for Jewish refugee children on New York’s Lower East Side. My mother’s dislocation as a little girl left both of us with the profound desire to do whatever we could to protect and care for other vulnerable children.

Today, it is in the Horn of Africa where children’s survival is most in peril. More than 400,000 refugees, the vast majority of whom are women and children, are crowded into three refugee camps in Kenya. They desperately require nourishment, medicine and access to clean water and sanitation facilities to survive. Aid organizations are there, providing those services – along with childfriendly spaces and educational opportunities – but the needs are tremendous.

In Somalia, the epicentre of the emergency, tens of thousands of people – mainly children – have died in the last few months.

UNICEF and other humanitarian groups are reaching thousands of malnourished children with nutri-

tional supplies. One highly effective weapon is a nutritional peanut paste that has the power to pull a child back from the brink of starvation. Packed with protein and vitamins, it is ready to use and does not need to be refrigerated or mixed with water. This miracle paste is saving lives. But many more are threatened and will per-

ish if we don’t act quickly.

The Jewish community must take notice of the plight of these children. As Jews, we have been at the forefront of humanitarian causes and responses to international disasters. Humanity is facing a devastating crisis in the Horn of Africa. We cannot fail to fulfill our Jewish responsibilities now.

The Jewish Federation of Ottawa has established a fund to aid victims of the famine in Somalia and surrounding areas in the Horn of Africa.

Visit jewishottawa.com, or call Jean Myers at 613798-4696, ext. 242, to make a donation to the African Famine Relief Fund.

Page 12 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – September 5, 2011

Morris Schachnow to speak at OJHS AGM

By Ian Sadinsky Ottawa Jewish Historical Society Ottawa Jewish Sports Hall of Fame member Morris Schachnow will be the guest speaker at the annual general meeting of the Ottawa Jewish Historical Society (OJHS), Wednesday, September 21, 7:30 pm, at Agudath Israel Congregation.

Schachnow, a long-time Ottawan, was born in Vienna but spent most of his youth in New York City where he was a baseball phenomenon. Signed to a minor league contract by the New York Yankees, Schachnow played in Missouri where he roomed with future Hall of Famer Tony Kubek.

After his professional baseball career was cut short by a hereditary knee ailment, Schachnow married Shelley Mayberger and the couple settled in Ottawa where he was a champion in basketball, softball and handball. Schachnow won the city handball championship an incredible 10 years in a row.

Schachnow’s talk will concentrate on his early days growing up in New York and on the challenges he faced playing high-level sports in the 1950s.

Also at the AGM, a presentation will be made to the family of the late John Holzman, the OJHS past-president who passed away last December.

The Ottawa Jewish Historical Society will also formally install Interim President Ian Sadinsky, Vice-President Anna Bilsky, and new board members Harry Beck, Lynne Cohen-Ben-Ami, Fran Freedman-Kessler, Tom Gussman, Henry Molot and Sunny Tavel.

The OJHS is devoted to the study and preservation of Jewish history in Ottawa including the taping of all Jewish funerals. A copy of A Common Thread: A History of the Jews of Ottawa is presented to all bar and bat mitzvah celebrants.

To join the OJHS, or for further information, contact Elaine Brodsky at 613-2448291.

(From left) Morris Schachnow, Irving Shapiro and Joe Zelikovitz at the 1987 Jewish Community Centre Sports (Photo courtesy of the Ottawa Jewish Archives) Award Dinner.

September 5, 2011 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 13

Tamir participants have their day in court

By Melanie Fulop Tamir Participants and staff from Tamir’s Outreach and Supported Independent Living Programs had the chance to get a look at the judicial system on a visit to the Ottawa Courthouse, July 7.

Arranged by outgoing Tamir President Howard Yegendorf – a personal injury lawyer and a regular face around the courthouse – the visit included a tour of the building, a visit with Justice Stanley Kershman, 15 minutes observing a criminal court trial, and, of course, a stop for a nosh in the cafeteria.

The highlight of the visit was when the seven participants and three staff were welcomed by Justice Kershman into his courtroom and given a short rundown of how the justice system works.

Once seated in the jury box, they learned about the roles of defence and prosecution attorneys, the court clerk and court reporter, and the judge himself. They asked many questions, including one which focused on the definition of

“contempt of court,” a popular interest for the participants who watch a lot of legal drama programs on television.

“It’s not like TV at all,” said Debby Waserman, a big fan of such shows as Law and Order and Boston Legal. “Except maybe that the judge looks the same,” she said pointing out Justice Kershman’s long black robes.

“Judges have extremely busy days and it was very gracious of Justice Kershman to welcome us into his court,” said Yegendorf. “Our participants peppered him with questions and they learned a lot from him.”

The participants enjoyed their visit and are looking forward to putting on a mock trial during one of their Saturday night social events.

Tamir is a charitable organization that offers residential and day services for adults with developmental disabilities in a Jewish environment.

For more information about Tamir, or how you can get involved, call 613-725-3519 or visit tamir.ca.

Participant Shirley Harris with Justice Stanley Kershman during Tamir’s visit to the Ottawa Courthouse.

(Photo: Howard Yegendorf)

Montessori Preschool offers new program for toddlers

By Sara-Lynne Levine for Westboro Jewish Montessori Preschool The Westboro Jewish Montessori Preschool has announced a new toddler program for children aged 18 months to two-and-a-half years for the September 2011 school session.

“The curriculum is fantastic, the quality of the education is outstanding and to see the way the school applies the Montessori method consistently, is amazing,” said parent Elianna Saidenberg.

“The children are learning skills that will last them a really long time and to see children of different ages together is wonderful. For the younger children, it gives them a person to emulate, and for the older children it allows them to become a role model.”

“Our school is a great educational option for working parents,” said preschool director Devora Caytak. “Our new toddler program complements our existing preschool program for children aged two-and-a-half to six. With our early care, after care and hot lunch program and our loving envi-

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ronment, this is a great place for children to begin their aca- with organic ingredients. Teachers are ECE certified, demic journey.”

Montessori-trained, and teacher-student ratios are kept The toddler program offers children a Montessori option in small. Early-care and after-care is available.

Tours of the school are available and an orientation is a cozy and nurturing setting. Montessori teachers are specifically trained to observe and take leads from a child and to held to welcome new parents and students.

For more information, visit the school’s web site at meet the needs of their students. A Montessori child leaves the environment with a feeling of independence and confidence. westborojewishmontessoripreschool.com or contact Devora With the added benefit of a Jewish curriculum, students have Caytak at dev18@sympatico.ca or 613 729-7712. a unique opportunity to enjoy, learn, thrive and grow in a truly special early childhood setting.

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Page 14 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – September 5, 2011

Young Women’s Leadership Council prepares for coming year

By Ilana Belfer Emma Cohen, the new co-chair of the Young Women’s Leadership Council (YWLC), said she didn’t need much arm twisting when fellow co-chair Lauren Bronstein asked her to take on the position.

Cohen and Bronstein have completed their first year of the twoyear program. Sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Ottawa, YWLC is designed for women aged 25 to 45 to enhance leadership skills through education and training, as well as hands-on experience.

“YWLC had a great impact on me … It really showed me how vibrant the Jewish community is in Ottawa. I was really not connected,” said Cohen, an Ottawa native who recently spent several years living in Toronto and Vancouver.

YWLC was initiated in 1991.

But, as the bulk of interested women from the target demographic finished the program, it eventually fizzled out. After five years of inactivity, YWLC was resurrected in 2009 and recently saw its first new graduating class.

“I think it was a great opportunity to ... see what exists [and] how the community works,” said recent YWLC graduate Julie Greenspoon,

Emma Cohen (left) and Lauren Bronstein are the new co-chairs of the Young Women’s Leadership Council.

(Photo: Ilana Belfer)

a lawyer for the Department of Justice and originally from Montreal.

Participants attend seminars each month in the first year and partner with Jewish agencies in the community as volunteers, acting as observers to the boards of directors.

In the second year, they continue these partnerships and help execute

the program for first-year participants.

Stephanie Appotive, another recent YWLC graduate, did her agency partnership with Jewish Family Services. She has continued working with them ever since and said she would be happy to sit on their board if she ever gets the

opportunity. Prior to the program, she said, she was involved in the greater Ottawa community, but not the specifically Jewish community.

“So many times you just don’t even know where to get started,” she said. “I’ve also met a lot of really nice friends. I think that it’s hard now to meet Jewish friends if you’re not a really active part of a synagogue, or don’t spend a lot of time at the JCC.” Cohen and Bronstein are currently conducting mini-interviews with second-year participants to find out how they can enhance central aspects of the program: community involvement via seminars and board placements, and the social component.

Feedback, they said, has included incorporating more religiousbased programs with educational Jewish content and increased social programming. They said it is their goal to bring in relevant, engaging speakers. Past topics have included anything from Jewish work-life balance to international criminal law in Rwanda.

“What we learn within our Jewish lives … helps shape the other parts of our lives,” Bronstein said.

A public speaking tutorial held last year was an example of this, she said.

Cohen and Bronstein also said they would like board members from partner agencies and community leaders to act as mentors to the women in the YWLC program.

YWLC alumni, they said, will be invited to maintain their involvement by attending social gatherings as friends and as role models.

Bronstein said an “exit strategy” or transition program for graduates is something that should be considered.

“Just seeing the dedication that people have to the community and involving young people in that is really important,” said Cohen, commenting on the Federation’s need to keep young adults engaged.

“Young people can be equally committed and make a difference too.”

An information session for prospective YWLC participants will be held Wednesday, September 21, 7:30 pm, at 29 Clemow Avenue.

Anyone interested in learning more and meeting second-year participants is encouraged to attend. For information, call 613-798-4616, ext. 248.

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University of Ottawa Room 129, Simard Hall 60 University Private Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5 For more information, please visit www.Vered.uOttawa.ca

September 5, 2011 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 15

Mothers Circle: Program for non-Jewish women married to Jewish men returns to Soloway JCC

Jen Arron Photographs

ers Circle] the celebration of Shabbat with my family.

The program, for me, was an enforcement of what I spent the last 25 years teaching myself and trying to teach my children,” said Susan.

Using a format oriented toward discussion rather than instruction, the women had the opportunity to share experiences about religion in their own upbringings and to talk about how they deal with issues and practices in their homes.

For many of the participants, the Mothers Circle opened the doors and exposed them to the different services and programs offered in the city.

Inger Weibust said the program made a concrete difference to her in a number of ways including providing a better understanding of the differences between the city’s various synagogues. Information she obtained at Mothers Circle sessions influenced her decision to send her son to summer camp.

“Sabina told us about studies showing that attending overnight Jewish summer camp is a strong predictor of Jewish identity in adults. I also found out about PJ Library, which is expanding my kids’ expo-

Social worker Sabina Wasserlauf leads the Mothers Circle program at the SJCC.

sure to Jewish books,” she said.

With their new found knowledge and confidence, some Mothers Circle graduates say they feel supported and more confident bringing Jewish practices into their homes. One woman has since added Havdallah to her family’s Shabbat tradition.

While the premise of the class is to welcome women to Judaism and to educate them on the religion, what the women ultimately gained from this class was much more than that. It was an opportunity to belong and to create a network for sharing experiences.

The Mothers Circle begins again at the Soloway JCC in the fall.

If you or anyone you know is interested, contact Maxine Miska at 613-7989818, ext.

263, or mmiska@jccottawa.com for more information.

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a rare opportunity for the women to connect with a community in which they have not always felt comfortable, to speak and bond with other mothers facing the same challenges, and to ask questions they may not have felt safe asking.

“We have a very high rate of intermarriage in our community and, when you have intermarriage, you have the opportunity to be less connected,” said Sabina. “Many times, people who have intermarried don’t know how to connect, there is nothing that says come on in. The Soloway JCC is doing that by offering this formal program that says, ‘you exist, come on in.’”

Susan Finkelman has been married to her Jewish husband for 25 years and always felt like an outsider in the Jewish community until her four daughters introduced her to the Mothers Circle.

“I love the traditional aspects of the Jewish holidays: the food, the focus on family, charity and, most recently, [thanks to the Moth-

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By Pamela Rosenberg Soloway JCC For eight months, beginning last fall, nine women with one thing in common gathered at the Soloway Jewish Community Centre (JCC) to learn about the rituals, holidays and values of Judaism, a culture they married into and are now trying to fit into and teach to their children.

The Mothers Circle, a free program created by the Jewish Outreach Institute, teaches non-Jewish women, married to Jewish men, how to include aspects of Jewish tradition in their family life.

The program is not a conversion course and respects the women’s choice to retain their own religious or cultural background.

With Sabina Wasserlauf, a clinical social worker, at the helm, the women went through a detailed curriculum that included readings and handouts, as well as Shabbat and Chanukah celebrations and a model Passover seder.

In addition to the educational component, the bimonthly meetings provided

Celebrations

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Page 16 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – September 5, 2011

JET launches Glebe Shul at Tu B’Av party

By Marlee Wasser for the Glebe Shul Tu B’Av this year marked the beginning of an exciting new development for Ottawa’s young, urban Jewish community with the inauguration of a new shul in the Glebe. The 15th day of the Hebrew month of Av (known as Tu B’Av), regarded by many as a day of love, hope and community connections, seemed the perfect time to officially launch the Glebe Shul, remarked Rabbi Michael Goldstein in a toast delivered to the crowd of more than 60 young professionals who gathered in his home on August 14.

“It’s more than just a day for interpersonal relationships,” he explained. “It’s also a day celebrating our connection to the divine. And we hope this is what the Glebe Shul can be for all of you, a place to make connections, a place to eat together, pray together and share a love for exploring spirituality together.”

Rabbi Goldstein and his wife, Stacy, moved to Ottawa last year to lead JET’s Young Professionals division. After an overwhelmingly positive response to hosting frequent Friday night dinners and davening in their Fifth Avenue home, and witnessing a growing appetite for Jewish learning and relationship-building in the down-

(From left) Alexandra Kuperman, Rachel Levine, Rabbi Michael Goldstein, Josh Raizman and Miriam Farber at the Glebe Shul launch party.

(Photo: Howard Sandler)

town community, the couple began floating the idea of a new unaffiliated urban shul. They envisioned an informal, self-identifying congregation without a dedicated location, which would grow together through regular Friday night services and member-driven programming. They said the proposal was met with immediate enthusiasm and offers of support.

“There are a lot of great Jewish programs around Ottawa for net-

working and socializing, and a lot of wonderful congregations. But this idea of creating a shul-without-walls seemed like a good bridge between the religious and the social aspects of our community. More of a chance to take ownership in a spiritual direction,” said Rachel Levine, a member of the Glebe Shul launch team.

Rachel and her husband, Justin, were thrilled when the Goldsteins invited them to help get the shul

off the ground. They gladly volunteered to handle most of the organization of the wine and cheese launch event on Tu B’Av. “This is really fulfilling, in a sense, what we’ve been longing for and looking for in the city,” said Justin. “It was also exciting for us to get involved in something from its early stages and to see it have such momentum and be so well attended. It was a great testament to the Goldsteins and

members of the launch team, and I’m confident it will be a sign of things to come.”

On the Friday night before the launch event, the Goldsteins hosted the Glebe Shul’s first official Shabbat dinner and service. The minyan was the largest they’d ever had under their roof, Stacy said.

“We were shoulder to shoulder, wall to wall. And the ruach, the energy was really amazing. There was also a great sense of cohesion from everyone, it really felt like it was a place for the community to come and gather,” she said. “Lots of people were pitching in to make the launch weekend a success.”

“Honestly, I think a lot of the reason why it’s attracting so many people is the Goldsteins are such generous people,” said Beata Romanovsky, a recent Carleton University Sprott School of Business graduate who attended the shul’s launch event. “The way they welcome you, it’s like they’ve known you your entire life. Not being religious, it doesn’t matter; I still feel part of their community.”

For young professionals looking for a place to spend Rosh Hashanah in Ottawa this year, the Glebe Shul will be offering dinner and services on Wednesday, Sept. 28.

For information about the Glebe Shul, visit glebeshul.com.

New rabbi at U.S. congregation grew up in Ottawa

By Ilana Belfer “Certainly the path I chose is surprising to people who knew me way back when I was in Ottawa,” said Rabbi Deborah Zuker, who was ordained just four months ago.

On October 1, she will become the first female rabbi at Temple Ner Tamid, a Conservative synagogue in Peabody, Massachusetts. “[Female rabbis are] much more common in the States than in Canada and it’s becoming more common in the Conservative movement,” said Rabbi Zuker, “but religions change very slowly … it’s a process for Jewish communities to get used to women rabbis.”

Rabbi Zuker described herself as “fairly involved” in Jewish life growing up in Ottawa. She and her family were members of Temple Israel, the Reform congregation, and had Shabbat dinners at home. She was a student at Akiva High School and attended Camp Gesher.

“But I never thought about being a rabbi,” she said.

However, in her second year at Queen’s University, she became involved with Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, attending international Hillel conferences and meeting more Jewish professionals.

During her third year at Queen’s, she said, she started considering the rabbinate as a potential career.

“I realized I really enjoyed what I was doing with Hillel, being an organizer in the Jewish community. It felt like a very strong part of my identity,” she said.

After graduation from Queen’s, she spent a year in Israel before going to New York to get her master’s degree in social work and Jewish studies, a joint program offered by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS) and Columbia University.

In 2006, she began the five-year rabbinical school program at JTS, a Conservative institution.

“When I was in Israel after undergrad, I was being exposed to a lot of different communities and I was … meeting a lot of people who were affiliated with different movements,” said Rabbi Zuker. “Living with Jewish rhythms and taking Jewish law very seriously, [Conservatism] just felt like the right fit for me.”

Throughout her rabbinical studies, Rabbi Zuker said she had a lot of practical pulpit experience through internships. As a student, she led High Holiday services at Adath Shalom Congregation of Ottawa for three years between 2007 and 2009.

Rabbi Zuker was ordained in May and is currently preparing to take on her new role at Temple Ner Tamid by getting to know people in the Jewish community in Peabody, which is located on Boston’s North Shore, as well as getting to know the area itself.

“This is a really warm community, really welcoming. There’s a lot of pride in the North Shore identity,” Rabbi Zuker said.

Rabbi Zuker said Peabody’s Jewish community is comparable to Ottawa’s in that it is large enough to be eventful, but small enough to be co-operative and collaborative.

As a “young, naïve, fresh rabbi,” Rabbi Zuker said her goals are to contribute her energy by bringing new ideas to the congregation and also to learn about their history, partnering with them to produce spiritual growth and deepen spiritual connections in the community.

“It’s a very big job, but it’s still where I want to be and what I want to be doing,” she said.

“I know that my Jewish experience in Ottawa … really did have an influence, even though it didn’t show until later. It sent me in this direction and brought me to this day.”

Rabbi Deborah Zuker, who grew up in Ottawa, will assume her first pulpit at a Conservative congregation near Boston next month.

September 5, 2011 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 17

French Jewry rethinks its JCCs, focuses on culture over ‘community’

By Alex Weisler Paris (JTA) – It’s hard to think of a more innocuous word for most North American Jews than ‘community.’ But, in France, things aren’t so simple.

France’s national ethos frowns upon displays of ethnic difference. So, for many French Jews, the word ‘community’ conveys a sense of separatism and insularity that clashes with the way they see their lives: French first, Jewish second.

That, in turn, causes headaches for France’s Jewish community centres – or centres communautaires, as they are known. “When you say ‘Jewish community,’ it’s considered

segregation and then it’s not French enough,� said Smadar Bar-Akiva, executive director of the World Confederation of Jewish Community Centres. “It’s interesting, because in other countries, community is the most important thing.�

The issue is distracting enough that the Fonds Social Juif UnifiĂŠ (FSJU) – the umbrella group that co-ordinates most aspects of communal French Jewish life – is considering changing the name of the centres, removing the emphasis on community and stressing something that better reflects the facilities’ commitment to culture and identity. “We’re working now on improving the image of the

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JCC,� said Jo Amar, the FSJU’s director of cultural action. “We feel for a long time that we have a problem.�

Though plans for change are far from set in stone, representatives of some French community centres said that a shift could be welcome. “The spirit is to find a balance between community centre and cultural centre,� said Sharon Mohar, an Israeli transplant who co-ordinates cultural efforts for a centre serving the 2,000family Jewish community in Bordeaux.

The question is also tied to how the centres relate to non-Jews. Mohar recalled an instance in which some older members of his community cautioned against allowing non-Jews to attend a community-run preschool, fearing that they would scare away Bordeaux Jews.

Instead, she found that a policy of openness ended up appealing to Jews. “In 2011, most people are just people, and it’s not that it’s less important for them to keep Jewish ... but I

think they are truly trying to find a balance between this part and the rest,� she said. “The balance is critical – [otherwise], we’re talking about a ghetto, and that‘s not the reality people want.�

Ilan Levy, who co-ordinates cultural programs for the three-year-old Hillel building serving the Jewish community in Lyon, France’s second-largest city, said Jews tend to be more apt to attend events that target non-Jews, too. “If we make events for all the people, then the others come and the Jews say, ‘Oh, if the others come, then we can go,’� Levy said.

At France’s largest Jewish community centre in Paris – catering to the country’s largest Jewish community – there is a renewed focus on bringing in new audiences and interacting with them virtually, said Jean-François Strouf, the centre’s communications co-ordinator.

The centre is developing an online university teaching Jewish and non-Jewish topics. The first of its kind

in France, the project recently received funding from the Paris regional government and should be operational by 2013.

The facility prides itself on providing the Paris community with a well-rounded slate of programming – not discriminating on the basis of religion or, within Judaism, by denomination. “It appears that a community centre in [North America] is a kind of private club,� said the facility’s director, Rafy Marceanu, citing sometimes high membership fees

and perks such as pools and fitness centres. “In France, it is the place of all Jews, and everybody finds his place.�

Regarding the larger rethinking of JCCs’ identities, the FSJU’s plan is still a work in progress, and each centre will have the ability to make its own choices about any future name change. But, Amar said the conversation is still worth having. “We want to put it on the table and revisit the whole notion,� he said.

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Page 18 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – September 5, 2011

There is a Tree: Murray Citron’s English translation of Itzik Manger poems launched

By Ilana Belfer There is a Tree (Shteyt a Boim), a book of 13 Itzik Manger poems translated from Yiddish into English by Ottawa’s Murray Citron, was officially released at a Tree Reading Series event on July 26.

Citron said it wasn’t his decision to write the book, it was the poems’.

“I would go for a walk, go to bed, do anything and the translations started coming into my head,” he told the Bulletin.

Born in New York and raised in Toronto, Citron, who moved to Ottawa in 1958, spoke Yiddish as a child, but lost it once he started school in English. He didn’t use the language again until a few years ago, when he happened to pick up The Penguin Book of Modern Yiddish Verse.

Citron is familiar with poetry – he graduated from the University of Toronto in 1952 with a BA in English literature. He said he had never heard of Manger before, but was at-

tracted to his poetry, which tends to focus on Bible stories and the lives of Jews in Eastern Europe.

“I was kind of startled when I read it,” he said, comparing Manger to the likes of Mark Twain or Charles Dickens, and calling him the most popular Jewish poet of the 20th century.

Manger was born in Romania around 1900 and died in Israel in 1968. Citron said much poetry written in European languages at that time was obscure, dealing with the poets’ own emotions, whereas Manger’s works, often traditionalstyle ballads, are written in a precise manner people can understand.

“He puts emotions into the characters that you just don’t get with really terse biblical narratives,” Citron said. “Manger’s poems typically tell a story in a very witty and charming way.”

Soon after his initial encounter with Manger’s work, while on a drive to Gananoque, Citron thought it might be fun to translate the

poem, “Eve and the Apple Tree.”

“The stanzas kept just presenting themselves to me in English in rhyming stanzas. Fortunately, I wasn’t kicked out by the OPP for driving while my ability was impaired by poem,” Citron said.

Once he had translated a number of Manger’s poems with the help of a couple of Yiddish dictionaries and Uriel Weinreich’s College Yiddish: An Introduction to the Yiddish language and to Jewish Life and Culture, Citron said he wanted to try them out somewhere.

He found out that the Tree Reading Series, a non-profit organization that supports local writers, holds a bi-monthly reading series, including an open-mike segment, at Arts Court.

“I went down there and just stood up cold and read in Yiddish and English to people who knew no Yiddish. They were very interested. They were very welcoming,” Citron said.

It was Tree Press, the Tree

Murray Citron reads from There is a Tree at the Tree Reading Series, July 26.

(Photo: Ilana Belfer)

Reading Series’ publishing company, that approached Citron about producing a bilingual book.

“You would be surprised how close my version is to being word-

Israel plays host to European baseball championship qualifier tournament

By Tal Gilboa I recently returned from an amazing two-week family vacation in Israel. One place we visited, more than once, were the baseball diamonds at Baptist Village, just outside Petach Tikvah.

My son, Eitan Maoz, is a member of the Israeli Senior National Baseball team and, this year, for the first time in the 25-year history of baseball in Israel, Israel hosted a division of the European Championship Qualifiers. Also participating were Great Britain, Georgia and Lithuania. The winner of the tournament will go on to the European Championship in the Netherlands this month. A total of 3,000 fans from around the world came to watch the four-day tournament, July 26 to 29.

Israel began the tournament, July 26, by defeating Georgia 11-1.

The next evening, Israel faced Great Britain, the team favoured to win the tournament, after having played in last year’s European Championship in Germany. Great Britain was leading 8-1 when Israel came back and scored five runs.

Unfortunately, Israel’s rally was not enough to defeat Great Britain,

the first game by winning 7-0. Israel then took the lead early in the second game until a fourth inning error gave the lead to Great Britain, which went on to win 5-2 and advance to the European Championship.

The Israel Association of Baseball (IAB) is the governing body for baseball in Israel and is recognized by the Israel Olympic Committee, the Confederation of European Baseball and the International Baseball Federation, Positive Coaching Alliance, Major League Baseball International and Little League. The IAB is dedicated to developing players, coaches and umpires and to develop Israeli players into world class baseball players.

“We have the potential, and I think, if we play well, we can be in serious contention to win the qualifier,” said Pat Doyle, global co-ordinator for Major League BaseCatcher Eitan Maoz, who grew up in Ottawa, led Team Israel in bat- ball’s envoy program and the Team ting at the European Baseball Championship Qualifiers in Petach Israel head coach, before the start Tikvah. of the tournament. which won the game 8-6.

Championship. The Israeli team Team Israel proved Doyle right On July 28, Israel defeated was ready for a daytime double by playing hard and being a conLithuania 13-2. header on July 29 and spirits were tender until the end.

Israel then had to defeat Great high amongst both the team and its For more information on baseBritain twice to win the tournament fans. ball in Israel visit baseball.org.il or and advance to the European Israel surprised Great Britain in israelbaseball.org.

for-word of the original,” said Citron, who called the whole experience “life-changing” because another world of language has opened up to him.

“There is a Tree beside the Road,” from which the book’s title is taken, is Manger’s best-known poem said Citron. He said a version of the poem is a Zionist anthem from the old days in Europe.

The tree, Citron said, represents the Jewish people in the sense that it is still standing.

Although, he said he was never able to write poetry for all the years he practised law – “the use of language … is very different” – it would appear that Citron’s love of literature and poetry is still standing, and taking on new life at that.

Citron has been published in several publications including Modern Poetry in Translation, Outlook: Canada’s Progressive Jewish Magazine, Jewish Currents and Trail & Landscape.

To date, Citron has translated 100 of Manger’s poems and said he intends to keep translating more of them.

A “Breakfast Book Launch” for There is a Tree will be held at Congregation Machzikei Hadas on Sunday, September 25. For information, call Machzikei Hadas at 613-521-9700.

Copies of There is a Tree are available at the Machzikei Hadas Gift Shop. They are also available from Tree Reading Series by e-mailing treereadingseries@live.com or by contacting Murray Citron directly at 613-731-7530.

September 5, 2011 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 19

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Page 20 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – September 5, 2011

A primer on Palestinian statehood

By Uriel Heilman New York (JTA) – On September 20, when the annual session of the UN General Assembly opens, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to ask UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to present a Palestinian request for statehood recognition to the UN Security Council.

The long-anticipated request will kick off a chain of events that some analysts are warning could result in a new paroxysm of violence in the Middle East.

Here is a guide to what might happen, and what it might mean.

What do the Palestinians want the United Nations to recognize?

The Palestinians want recognition of the state of Palestine in the entirety of the West Bank, Gaza and eastern Jerusalem. The West Bank – an area controlled by Jordan from the end of Israel’s War of Independence in 1949 until it was captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War – includes lands on which Jewish settlements now sit. Eastern Jerusalem was effectively annexed by Israel, but the international community views it as occupied territory. In total, more than 600,000 Jews reside in eastern Jerusalem and the West Bank.

What’s the legal process for becoming a state?

The UN Security Council’s approval is required to become a UN member state. The United States, which is one of the 15-member council’s five permanent, veto-wielding members, has promised to veto a Palestinian statehood resolution.

Is there a way for the Palestinians to overcome a U.S. veto?

Not in the Security Council. However, the Palestinians still could seek statehood recognition at the UN General Assembly. While a General Assembly vote in favor of Palestinian statehood would not carry the force of law, the passage of such a resolution would be highly symbolic and represent a significant public relations defeat for Israel.

Is there any benefit short of full statehood recognition that the Palestinians can obtain at the United Nations?

Yes. The Palestinians already have non-member permanent observer status at the United Nations, which they obtained in 1974.

This time, the General Assembly could vote to recognize Palestine as a non-member UN state, which would put Palestinian UN membership on par with that of the Vatican. While being a non-member state wouldn’t give the Palestinians much more than they have now as a non-state observ-

Israeli soldiers scuffle with Palestinians during a demonstration near the West Bank village of Beit Omar, August 13. Some analysts have warned that a UN vote on Palestinian statehood could set off a new wave of Palestinian-Israeli violence.

(Photo: Najeh Hashlamoun/Flash 90)

er, it would be another symbolic victory.

If the Palestinians can get a twothirds majority in support of statehood in the General Assembly, they also could put forward a so-called ‘Uniting for Peace’ resolution. This nonbinding, advisory resolution could provide legal cover to nations wanting to treat Palestine as a state – for example, allowing sanctions and lawsuits against Israel to go forward.

The ‘Uniting for Peace’ option was

first used to circumvent a Soviet veto in the Security Council against action during the Korean War, and it was employed during the 1980s to protect countries that sanctioned apartheid South Africa from being sued under international trade laws.

Why are the Palestinians seeking statehood recognition from the United Nations rather than negotiating directly with Israel?

The Palestinian leadership has eschewed renewed peace talks with Is-

rael, either because Abbas believes that talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won’t produce desired results or because Abbas believes he has more to gain by going to the international arena – or both.

Abbas essentially is gambling that the UN move will give him more leverage vis-à-vis Israel, making it more difficult for the Israelis to stick to their current negotiating positions and establishing the pre-1967 lines as (Continued on page 33)

September 5, 2011 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 21

Page 22 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – September 5, 2011

In support of the Bess and Moe Greenberg Family Hillel Lodge In the Joseph and Inez Zelikovitz Long Term Care Centre

by Claire and Irving Bercovitch

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 wellbeing.

On behalf of the residents and their families, we extend sincere appreciation to the following individuals and families who made card donations to the Hillel Lodge Long-Term Care Foundation between July 27 and August 15, 2011 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.

Ruth and Irving Aaron Family Fund In Memory of: Beatrice Kreisman by Ruth and Irving Aaron In Honour of: Hy Bloom Congratulations on the well-deserved article in the Ottawa Citizen with love by Ruth and Irving Aaron Bill and Leona Adler Memorial Fund In Memory of: Tili Wilner-Atlas by Elayne Adler, Farley, Benjamin and Jordan Stenzler In Observance of the Yahrzeit of: Bill Adler our beloved father by Jeff, Marilyn and Elayne Adler Auxiliary of Hillel Lodge Fund In Memory of: Martin Boyer by Carolyn and Sid Katz In Honour of: Larry Hartman Mazal tov on your special birthday by Carolyn and Sid Katz David Kardish Happy special birthday by Carolyn and Sid Katz Jenny and Murray Citron Endowment Fund In Honour of: Murray Citron With many thanks for your devotion by the Yiddish Group Tania Firestone Family Fund In Honour of: Dr. Philip Firestone With grateful appreciation

Friedberg and Dale Families Fund In Memory of: Tili Wilner-Atlas by Elaine Friedberg and Bob Dale Rise Silverstein by Elaine Friedberg and Bob Dale Malcolm and Vera Glube Endowment Fund In Memory of: Mae Schwartz by Malcolm and Vera Glube Bina Maser by Malcolm and Vera Glube In Honour of: Chuck Merovitz Congratulations on receiving the award for Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser at the AFP Ottawa Philanthropy Awards by Malcolm and Vera Glube Nell Gluck Memorial Fund In Honour of: Ted Overton Happy belated special birthday by Manny Gluck and Cheryle Hothersall Richard Nesbitt Mazal tov on achieving your Masters of Science by Julia Gluck, Ted Overton and Jess Andrea Nesbitt Mazal tov on achieving your Bachelor of Fine Arts by Julia Gluck, Ted Overton and Jess Meira Yan Behatzlachah on making aliyah by Julia Gluck, Ted Overton and Jess In Memory of: Saul Silverman by Henry and Maureen Molot Mother of Rabbi Yisroel Rabinowitz by Henry and Maureen Molot Rise Silverstein by Henry and Maureen Molot Evelyn and Irving Greenberg Fund R’fuah Shlema: Ethel Kerzner by Evelyn Greenberg Gunner Family Fund In Honour of: Ozzie and Sheela Silverman Mazal tov on the birth of your granddaughter by Sol and Estelle Gunner David, Harvey, Victor Kardish Family Fund In Honour of: David Kardish Happy 60th birthday by Phil and Sue Bronsther Dorothy and Maurie Karp Endowment Fund In Honour of: Sandra and Norman Slover Mazal tov on the marriage of your son by Dorothy Karp

Morris and Lillian Kimmel Family Fund In Honour of: Mr. and Mrs. David Siegel Mazal tov on your daughter Penina and Ariel’s wedding by Morris Kimmel, Nathan, Brenda, Jesse and Daniel Levine Morris Kimmel Mazal tov on receiving the Shem Tov Community Volunteer Award by Sonja and Ron Kesten R’fuah Shlema: Marty Saslove by the Kimmel, Kaiman and Levine families Matthew Bobkin by Brenda, Nathan, Jesse and Daniel Levine Joan and Russell Kronick Family Fund In Honour of: Ed and Betty Rose Congratulations on the birth of a grandson by Joan and Russell Kronick Gordon Roston best wishes on your special birthday by Joan and Russell Kronick In Memory of: Libbie Freedman by Joan and Russell Kronick Bill and Phyllis Leith Family Endowment Fund R’fuah Shlema: Marilyn Isenberg by Lisa, David, Sydney and Zachary Leith In Honour of: Anna Cantor Best wishes on your special birthday by Roz and Arnie Kimmel Abe and Bertha Palmer Endowment Fund In Honour of: Larry Hartman Happy special birthday with love by Sunny and John Tavel Shelley and Sidney Rothman Family Fund In Memory of: Risë Silverstein by Shelley Rothman and family Irma and Harold Sachs Family Fund In Honour of: Lew Auerbach Belated birthday wishes by Irma Sachs Stephen and Debra Schneiderman Family Fund In Memory of: Beatrice Kreisman by Stephen and Debra Schneiderman Rise Silverstein by Stephen and Debra Schneiderman Sarah and Arnie Swedler Family Fund In Honour of: Larry Hartman In honour of your 70th birthday

by Arnie Swedler and Rhoda Zaitlin In Memory of: Esi Ebrani by Arnie Swedler and Rhoda Zaitlin Milton and Mary (Terry) Viner Family Fund In Observance of the Yahrzeit of: Cecil Viner by Millie Schaenfield and family

Carole and Norman Zagerman Family Fund In Honour of: Gordon Roston Happy special birthday by Carole and Norman Zagerman Laura Roston Happy special birthday by Carole and Norman Zagerman

***************** Feeding Fund In Honour of: Betty and Ed Rose In honour of your 40th wedding anniversary by Dee and Yale Gaffen Ritual Supplies Fund In Honour of: Henry and Maureen Molot Mazal tov on the birth of your two new girls by Ruth and Dale Fyman Therapeutices Fund In Memory of: Louis Weiner by Jack and Beverley Weiner; by Fred and Maureen Weiner; by Sonja Kesten IN HONOUR OF: Sara Melamed In honour of your birthday by Ruth and Dale Fyman Rhoda Aronson In honour of your birthday by Ruth and Dale Fyman Issie Rabinowitz In honour of your birthday by Ruth and Dale Fyman Carol Pascoe Happy birthday with love by Maureen and Clary Ottman Mira Royz and Brad Gold Best wishes on your upcoming wedding by Tamara and Mikhail Royz Frumie Appotive Happy 90th birthday with love by the Bicks and the Appotives Marty and Ellie Black Mazal tov on Ashley’s engagement by Steve and Roz Fremeth Rachel Maya In appreciation by the Hillel Lodge Auxiliary Sandra, Eli and Aaron Hoffman In appreciation by Shirley Viner Lana and Stephen Tanner In appreciation by Shirley Viner Henry and Maureen Molot Mazal tov on the birth of your twin granddaughters by David and Judith Kalin IN MEMORY OF: Libbie Freedman by Bill and Jane James Beatrice Kreisman by Danny, Rhonda, Sam, Zachary and Shelby Levine; by Bev, Bryan, Alison and Rob Glube; by Ingrid Levitz; by Liz Lesh and family; by Karen, Walter, Steven and Mitchell Fogel; by Seymour, Joy, Jessie, David and Jared Mender Sister of Beatirce Torontow by Sylvia Monson Elizabeth Milk by the Residents, Board and Staff of Hillel Lodge Gordon Viner by Shirley Viner R’FUAH SHLEMA: Eleanor Brotman by Arlene and Norm Glube George Gara by Noreen and Syd Bosloy

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 Bev at 613-728-3900, extension 111, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm Monday to Thursday, 8:30 am to 3:30 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.

September 5, 2011 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 23

Inez Zelikovitz honoured at CHW Mother’s Day Tea

By Ruth Kahane Goldberg Amit Chapter CHW Inez Zelikovitz was the 2011 honouree of the Amit/Mollie Betcherman/Ina McCarthy Chapters Annual Tea held on Mother’s Day. The tea attracted three generations of CHW supporters who celebrated the prominent 94-year-old philanthropist and her contributions to the development of numerous health care and seniors’ projects in Ottawa.

The spirit of Canadian Hadassah-WIZO women working together is an amazing force, said Zelikovitz who had donations to the tea directed to the Sarah Wetsman Davidson Hospital Tower in Ein Kerem, Jerusalem, which will open in 2012 at the Hadassah University Hospital.

“It is my great pleasure to extend thanks, on behalf of CHW and Inez Zelikovitz, for the support the community has given to this endeavour,” said incoming Amit Chapter President Sophie Frenkel. “The tea was a huge success as a result of the efforts of CHW chapter members and the hospitality of hostess Ingrid Levitz. Delectable desserts, party

Presentation to honouree Inez Zelikovitz at the Amit/Mollie Betcherman/Ina McCarthy Chapters Annual Tea: (from left to right) Ruth Kahane Goldberg (Amit Chapter past president), Sophie Frenkel (Amit Chapter incoming president), Candice Wilder (tea co-chair), Inez Zelikovitz, Susana Bleuer (tea co-chair), Esther Kulik (CHW Ottawa president).

sandwiches, fruit, the wonderful company and an extensive silent auction were enjoyed by everyone who attended.”

Amit Chapter’s Fall Opening Meeting, to be held on Thursday evening, September 15, is open to anyone interested in joining CHW.

Guest speaker Dvora Rotenberg will relate her experiences in Uganda with the Pearl Children Care Centre and the Abayudaya, a

Ugandan community that practises Judaism. For information, contact Sophie Frenkel at 613-7261538.

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Page 24 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – September 5, 2011

Tomatoes, a new cure for seasonal affective disorder Forget light boxes or double dosing on St. John’s wort and melatonin. I have discovered an alternate cure for seasonal affective disorder.

Cook up a few batches of Marcella Hazan’s tomato sauce and freeze them for the dark winter days ahead. You will instantly be transported back to the glorious summer we just experienced.

Marcella Hazan is widely credited with introducing North Americans to traditional Italian cooking. Her first cookbook, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, published in 1973, is still relevant and timely today.

With the Parkdale and ByWard Market stalls nearly bursting at the seams with tomatoes of every size and colour of the rainbow, now is the time to stock up and get to work. This recipe recently came to my attention on the food blog, Food52.com. Every Wednesday, Food52 senior editor Kristen Miglore unearths what she calls “genius recipes.”

“There are good recipes, and great ones – and then there are genius recipes. Genius recipes surprise us and make us rethink cooking tropes. They’re handed down by luminaries of the food world and become their legacy. They get us talking and change the way we cook. And, once we’ve folded them into our repertoires, they make us feel pretty genius too.”

The genius of this recipe is that it contains three ingredients and tastes like Italian sunshine on a spoon. All you need are plum tomatoes, butter and an onion.

When I first looked at the ingredient list, I have to admit I thought there was a printing error. Where were the garlic, the oregano and the basil?

And, this is the part you will have to take a leap of faith on and just trust me: Yes, you must put in all five tablespoons of butter called for in this recipe. Do not skimp on the butter or even think about substituting margarine. I will find out about it and hunt you down!

I know that five tablespoons of butter seems like an ungodly amount for a tomato sauce. But, if you do the math (and you don’t have to, I have done it for you – no need to thank me, it’s what I’m here for), you will see that this recipe makes enough sauce to feed six people.

One tablespoon of butter contains 100 calories, so that makes 500 calories in butter for this recipe. But divide that by six and each person is only getting a measly 2 1/2 teaspoons or 82 calories from butter. A small indulgence when you consider the flavour payoff.

In what seems like a culinary sleight of hand, these three simple ingredients create a thick, full-flavoured velvety

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Cindy Feingold sauce. It is pure and rich and luxurious.

The butter gives a soft creamy note while, at the same time, it tempers the acidity of the tomato. The onion adds a slight savoury note, just hidden in the background of this sauce.

Just in case you don’t follow my advice and make this sauce right now while tomatoes are at their peak, you can still make this sauce with canned tomatoes. Try to seek out cans of whole Italian plum tomatoes.

Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter This recipe is from Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Italian Cooking. Serves six, enough to coat 1 1/2 pounds of pasta.

For the sauce 2 pounds fresh ripe plum tomatoes, prepared as described below (or 2 cups canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, cut up, with their juice) 5 tablespoons butter 1 medium onion, peeled and cut in half 1 teaspoon kosher salt Put either the prepared fresh tomatoes or the canned tomatoes in a saucepan, add the butter, onion and salt, and cook uncovered at a very slow, but steady simmer for about 45 minutes or until it is thickened to your liking and the fat floats free from the tomato.

Stir from time to time, mashing up any large pieces of tomato with the back of a wooden spoon.

Taste and correct for salt. Discard the onion. Stir sauce well and toss with pasta. Serve with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

A series of short legends It was well known in Chicago that Jake the Mosquito and his gang buzzed from bank heist to bank heist acquiring a fortune in cash before they were captured by undercover cops in a sting operation.

Atlas, finding the strain on his back intolerable from carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, eventually retired and distributed the weight, unequally, to all of us.

Moses carried the responsibility for the Jewish people and their fate on his back. The real reason he was unable to go into the Promised Land was that his guilt and regret were so heavy by the time he got to Moab, he could no longer lift his feet without direct heavenly assistance. It was rumoured he was so spiritual that, without the weight of this world to hold him down, he would have floated away.

King Canute sat on the beach and gave an order to the tide not to come in, an order that succeeded only because he was a careful student of the phases of the moon, thus proving that in leadership, timing is everything.

The Roman writer Macrobius, wishing to instruct his son Eustacius, left a collection of tales and moral lessons, both large and tubular, for him. Yet, with a slight spelling error,

Made with Love

was accused of using microbial logic to blame the fall of Rome on an infection caused by Germans.

A learned philosopher convicted of murder decided on the day of his execution to apply Zeno’s paradox by marching first half-way to the scaffold, then half-way again, and so on, with the hope of never reaching his goal. But he was surprised and disappointed when his feet proved too large to take infinitesimally small steps and he came close enough for the rope to reach around his neck.

About this nameless man the saying arose that “he marched quickly toward his doom, taking very small steps.”

Although it is known that Samson got his strength from his hair, it has only lately been revealed that Delilah got her ability to charm and enthrall men through the length of her fingernails, a talent she acquired when she was dedicated to the goddess. It was through her indifference and boredom, after absently trimming her nails in the balcony of the Philistine temple, that Samson regained enough hair and strength to bring down the whole edifice.

Ahab, King of Israel, after his final defeat by the Assyrians, accepted a mission from the God of Justice to bring

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Making fresh tomatoes ready for sauce There are three options.

The blanching method: Plunge tomatoes into boiling water for a minute or less.

Drain them and as soon as they are cool enough to handle, skin them and cut into coarse pieces.

The freezing method (from David Tanis via thekitchn.com): Freeze tomatoes on a baking sheet until hard. Thaw, either on the counter or under running water.

Skin them and cut into coarse pieces.

The food mill method: Wash the tomatoes in cold water, cut them lengthwise in half, and put them in a covered saucepan.

Turn on the heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes.

Set a food mill fitted with the disk with the largest holes over a bowl.

Transfer the tomatoes with any of their juices to the mill and purée.

Humour me, please Rubin Friedman God’s judgment on Nineveh and its great white walls.

Changing his name to Jonah, he set off on this errand only to be swallowed by a whale on the way, and to learn, at the end, that God is also merciful. It was a bitter pill for a defeated king, who sat under a shady palm and dozed in the heat of the day, dreaming he was a sea captain in search of a white whale to exact vengeance. It was only when he woke from a nightmare of death and defeat and saw the destroyed palm under which he had been sitting that he understood the necessity of mercy to balance justice.

Some say Jesus and his disciples were followers of a Pharisaic path, which considered God was the only legitimate monarch for Jews. One such group, the Zealots, used arms to achieve their goals while those around Jesus believed God himself would bring about the desired result.

Ironically, this early division between Jews and Christians was reversed because the Zealots were defeated. The lesson taken by the rabbis was to wait for the Messiah. The Christians, meanwhile, saw their religion become the official form of worship in the Roman Empire and promptly set out to conquer the world.

September 5, 2011 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 25

What are we teaching our kids about the Palestinians?

Having been overseas for several weeks this spring, I was recently catching up on back issues of the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin when the front page of the May 30 issue caught my attention. My eyes lingered on a photograph of Ottawa Jewish Community School kids performing on Yom Ha’Atzmaut. I noticed several kids were holding large maps.

The maps depicted the tell-tale long, triangular shape of Israel. But, peering more closely, I noticed that nowhere was the Green Line visible. The 1949 armistice border that separates Israel from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Green Line is the only marker available to signify what is legally Israeli land and what is occupied territory.

It wasn’t the first time in a month I’d seen a map like that around town. In one of the many classrooms my kids frequent on the Jewish Community Campus, I had recently seen a map tacked to a bulletin board that similarly negated any form of Palestinian autonomy.

Many in our community are rightfully distressed about the messages the other side sends to their children about Jews and Israelis. Much is made within the Diaspora Jewish community about the alleged lack of representation of Israel on many Palestinian maps, and of messages about Israel in Palestinian textbooks. YouTube videos showing Palestinian children speaking ill of Jews go viral within our networks.

But, today, I call upon our community to ask ourselves what kinds of messages we are teaching our kids about the Palestinians, and about the reality of Israeli occupation? It seems that we, too, are contentedly playing the same game of denying the other their collective geography, thereby

supporting the continuation of the occupation without thought.

Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan, and the Gaza Strip, as well as the Sinai, from Egypt, in the Six Day War in 1967. In 2005, Israel withdrew its ground troops and all 8,000 settlers from Gaza (while maintaining a ground, naval and air blockade around the area). But, in the West Bank, Israeli military occupation remains (with some parts under the limited autonomy of the Palestinian Authority).

Most importantly, aside from East Jerusalem, Israel never annexed the territory. Palestinians living there are not Israeli citizens. They are stateless. Nor does the area enjoy normal Israeli civil law. Instead, the West Bank is subject to Israeli military law.

Life in the West Bank is one of the most glaring examples of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (The exchange of rocket fire and fighter jets between Hamas and the IDF with their respective civilian populations in between is another tragic and important element.)

West Bank settlers have their own roads, and Palestinian daily life includes regular passages through military checkpoints. The checkpoints are largely determined by the route of the ‘separation barrier’ that snakes through the West Bank (or Judea and Samaria as the Israeli government calls it). Sadly, the barrier does not follow the path of the Green Line, making a two-state solution harder and harder to envision. Settlements are on one side, and Palestinian villages and cities are on the other.

For 70 years prior to 1948, Jews clamoured for international recognition in the form of a Jewish state, which would join the family of nation-states. Here in the Diaspo-

Values, Ethics, Community Mira Sucharov ra, we teach our kids Hebrew, we teach them Israeli folk songs, and we sing “Hatikvah” at community events. Surely we should give them the most minimal of tools to help them realize that our national struggle – fortunately awarded with sovereignty, by dint of international diplomacy and military prowess – has not (and will not) be the only national struggle in which our Israeli counterparts are entwined.

Even intellectually, the least we can do is have the maps in which we wrap our children approach geographic and political accuracy. There is no reason for sowing even more confusion about what is a complex – but not terribly complicated – reality of the post-1967 territorial situation. This is the line that the Palestinians will be demanding the UN recognize as the border of a Palestinian state this month.

This is the border to which successive international peace plans have encouraged Israel to withdraw (with relevant land swaps and annexation of settlement blocs). And this border is clearly shown on the map of Israel – tinyurl.com/IsraeliGovtMap – found on the Israeli government’s own web portal.

At the moral level, the maps we use should at least convey the tiniest hint that there is another people over which our Israeli kith and kin rule, and who desire independence just as our people once did.

Mira Sucharov, an associate professor of political science at Carleton University, blogs at Haaretz.com.

Page 26 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – September 5, 2011

How does the Bible address contemporary issues?

The Bible Now

By Richard Elliott Friedman and Shawna Dolansky Oxford University Press 220 pages Unfortunately, religion is often a muddy prism through which some of society’s most important social debates are refracted. In The Bible Now, biblical scholars Richard Elliott Friedman and Shawna Dolansky, an Ottawa-based religion professor, attempt to illuminate what the Hebrew Bible actually says on a number of hot-button issues: homosexuality, abortion, women, the death penalty and the environment.

The authors are careful to show that they are not here to bring their own personal opinions to bear. Rather, by doing what Bible scholars are trained to do, namely interpret using all the linguistic, anthropological, archeological and critical tools at their disposal, they attempt to let the Bible speak for itself.

Their introductory statement, “We are scholars, not politicians. We may have positions, but they have no business in our scholarship. A scholar’s job is to tell the truth,” gave me some degree of pause. As a scholar myself, I certainly understand their desire to divorce their own beliefs from their trade.

But this passage led me to think about what sorts of demands a society should make of its intellectuals. Is the scholarly task only the naked search for truth, or is there a role for advancing the cause of social betterment? Many colleagues I know would certainly say yes to the latter question (though some would not).

Be that as it may, the authors are scrupulously honest about their task, so the book can be judged easily by the standards

Friedman and Dolansky set. Accordingly, they deliver an excellent, concise and scholarly analysis of each issue. Readers who are new to Biblical criticism will find a treatment that is accessible and non-intimidating, while honouring the depth and breadth of scholarship coming before it. The authors also clarify some popular misconceptions, such as the role of ancient animal sacrifice being more about honouring the capture before eating it, rather than being about animal cruelty.

Drawing on what they refer to as “laws, prose and poetry,” the authors comb the available evidence on each issue, carefully render and defend their analyses, position themselves in the context of other scholarly treatments, and come to clear conclusions. This is the case even when their conclusions sometimes call for more uncertainty (as in whether what is popularly known as the “Rape of Dinah” was actually a rape).

On homosexuality, for example, Friedman and Dolansky conclude the story of Sodom may have been referring to “men” or to “people” (the Hebrew anashim can mean both, that in any event it was about rape, not simply sex; and that there is no reason to assume the poetry about David and Jonathan was about physical love. They ultimately suggest the “prohibition in the Bible applies only so long as male homosexual acts are perceived to be offensive,” and they carefully draw out the legacy of change involving the term toevah, generally understood to mean abomination.

In a telling discussion of the broader role of the Bible, the authors suggest what meaning this prohibition may have for individuals. Some, they argue, may view the Bible as having much wisdom, but may see this particular prohibition as outmoded. Others might take the Bible’s injunctions as a literal guide to their own life’s conduct. And still others might see

Book Review Mira Sucharov the Bible as entirely irrelevant. This last view, the authors argue, is “wrong.” They add the Bible “was composed by 100150 persons, spread over a thousand years for the Hebrew Bible alone and centuries more for the New Testament.” The wholehearted skeptic likely will not be satisfied by their defence of the Bible’s relevance for drawing moral truths. But it is admirable they at least open the debate.

Their discussion of abortion also urges readers to draw their own moral conclusions (they claim it is unclear whether abortion is “murder” or “killing,” for it is only murder that enjoys an outright biblical ban).

It is certainly plausible to think of the Bible as one source of personal and communal morality. But I would submit that in order to properly assess what is at stake in any moral decision, the Bible would need to be complemented very directly by the long and well-honed Western philosophical tradition of ethics. Friedman and Dolansky acknowledge the limits of their task, but readers may still be asking themselves whether discovering what the Bible actually says on a number of major social issues is simply an intellectual, literary and cultural act of curiosity, or whether it has any significant bearing on our everyday life as moral beings.

The Bible Now by Richard Elliot Friedman and Shawna Dolansky will be launched Sunday, September 18, 1:00 pm at the Soloway Jewish Community Centre. Co-author Dolansky will read from the book, and there will be a book-signing and reception. For information, contact Roslyn Wollock at 613798-9818, ext. 254, or rwollock@jccottawa.com.

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September 5, 2011 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 27

Ottawa’s Sasloves featured in book about extended family’s history We genealogists are often asked what we intend to do with all of the materials we accumulate about our families. In my case, assembling a family tree with almost 2,500 members involved locating hundreds of pictures, vital records, newspaper articles and more, and putting them together in a logical format. Most of us use software programs to organize the materials, allowing us to print charts and decipher the complex relationships between members on our trees.

Usually, those of us engaged in this hobby do it for personal satisfaction and to pass down the details of our ancestry to our family members.

A few genealogists take the process a step further and publish a book based on their years of research.

I recently came across such a book that I want to tell you about because it covers one of our community’s prominent families, the Sasloves, and because it’s so well done. Out of Uman: The Zaslavsky Family, Descendants, and Legacy is a 500-page masterpiece compiled by William Saslow of Narragansett, Rhode Island. Saslow brilliantly tells the story of his ancestors and their descendants.

In Saslow’s introduction, he talks about factors that motivated him to begin his research. He thanks his wife, Michelle, who came from a family of 15 siblings, who inspired him to find out more about his own less connected family. He was fortunate to have several cousins who had already done some work recording the history of their branches of the family, and they were happy to share their information with him.

As it should, the book begins with history. Much detail is dedicated to the origins of the family, and talks about the cities of Justingrad and Uman, now in Ukraine, where the Zaslavskys lived. Maps and pictures appear on almost every page and add life to the narrative about the political, economic and social conditions that existed in those communities.

The reader is given a vivid picture of what life was like for Saslow’s ancestors living in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

As with many of our families, the Zaslavskys had to endure the pogroms and unfavourable conditions that influenced their difficult decision to uproot. The next section, “Escape and Emigration,” tells the story of the family coming to their new life in North America. Saslow writes about the ships that brought the family members over, the hardships they encountered on their way, and the uncertainty and stresses the immigrants experienced not knowing what to expect in their new lives. This section is beautifully illustrated with photographs of the ships and copies of the manifests listing the immigrants’ names.

The following section, “Making a New Life,” tells the stories of the immigrants and their descendants in Canada and the United States. Much of the account talks about settling here in Ottawa and covers this branch of the family from arrival until today.

The Ottawa branch of the Zaslavsky family became Saslove. In Canada, they married, and the book tells the stories of family members with such locally known names as Ballon, Slipacoff, Marcovitch, Karp, Lazear, Shapiro, Kimmel and Taller. The tale is told with charts, family pictures, anecdotes, recipes, newspaper articles and more. It is a fascinating history of the Sasloves, and a reflection of the history of our local Jewish community.

As a native Ottawan, I was very interested in this section as it covered many people whom I have known for decades.

Much detail is given to the fact that many in the family went into the food business, particularly as butchers. At one time, there were five ByWard Market businesses operated by, or at

least begun by, Saslove family members.

Saslow then provides a section on the lineage of the family – the names and dates that one usually associates with a family tree, and a very interesting timeline section, which matches events in the family’s history with historical events in Russia, Canada, the United States and Israel. The book concludes with a series of appendices of more than one hundred pages of photographs, transcripts of interviews and anecdotes.

Saslow told me he created the book at no cost using publish-on-demand capabilities. He downloaded Microsoft Word templates and created a Zaslavsky family page on Facebook where cousins could comment and correct PDF versions of the manuscript as it was put together.

The finished book was the 88th such version. Bill chose to

Connecting the branches John Diener forgo any revenues or royalties associated with the book, and ensured that a free downloadable version as well as an inexpensive black and white version would be available.

For those related to the Sasloves, this treasure is a must, something that can and must be handed down to younger family members. Because of its excellent coverage of our local Jewish community’s history, as well as Eastern European Jewish life, it is a fabulous read, even if you have no connection to the Saslove family. The book can be ordered online at lulu.com as a free download or as print copies for purchase. I have read and reread Out of Uman several times and given it a prominent place on my bookshelf.

Eighteen things you may not know about Rhona Levine Let’s get one thing straight, Rhona Levine is a self-professed “Ottawa girl.” Yes, she gave Toronto a try earlier this year, but is delighted to be back in her hometown. And we’re happy to have her back!

So, here is a wonderful opportunity to either meet or remeet this wonderful lady. Here are 18 things you may not know about Rhona Levine …

1. As a child, my parents always called me Rivkah.

2. I love Rosh Hashanah and Pesach because I know that my children, Rachel and Robert, who live in Montreal and Toronto respectively, will always come home and visit. I also really enjoy how Robert leads a seder!

3. For years, I was a teacher’s assistant at Hillel Academy for the junior kindergarten classes and always rented a fantastic full-body costume for Purim. I have dressed up as Cookie Monster, a duck and a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. I loved walking up and down the hallways handing out suckers and knowing that the younger students had no idea that it was me!

4. I was born and raised in Ottawa and love the city, especially the Rideau Canal and ByWard Market.

5. My favourite movie is The Sound of Music and I have seen it ‘a million times.’ When I was in Grade 5, my teacher, who played guitar, taught us all of the songs. I will never forget that he rented a bus and took our whole class to see it downtown at the Nelson Theatre (now the ByTowne Cinema).

6. I love to make lemon meringue pie. This was my late father’s favourite dessert, and I still make it on holidays and think of him.

7. My favourite comfort food is Cherry Blossom ice cream.

8. I have been to Israel four times and my favourite place is Givat Ada, which is about 45 minutes outside Tel Aviv. I have friends who live there and find that it is so nice to leave the hustle and bustle of Tel Aviv and be out in the country. I have even been woken up by a rooster while staying with them!

9. My children would describe me as reliable, organized and honest.

10. My dream trip would be to visit Italy. I am interested in absolutely everything about that country.

11. I have become somewhat of a gym rat over the past few years and love using the treadmill.

18 things ...

Sarah Silverstein 12. I really love shoes. My favourite pair, so far, are my purple suede heels from Pom-Pom. 13. If people comment about my height – I am 5-foot-ish – I tell them that good things come in small packages!

14. I really enjoy singing and have sung in choirs around the city. One Chanukah, my choir sang on CJOH, which was a lot of fun.

15. I am afraid of mice.

16. I am an avid reader. At the moment, I am reading Rich Boy by Sharon Pomerantz and really am enjoying it.

17. One of the best parts of my job is the opportunity to meet new and interesting people from all over the world.

18. My most prized piece of Judaica is a beautiful gold menorah given to me by my cousins. It is special to me because of who gave it to me.

Rhona Levine, self-professed “Ottawa girl.”

Page 28 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – September 5, 2011

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September 5, 2011 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 31

FOUNDATION DONATIONS Our future is in your hands

Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation

IRVING AND BETTY ALTMAN ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Saul Silverman by Betty Altman and family.

To make a donation and/or send a tribute card, call Erin Bolling (613-798-4696 ext. 232) e-mail: donation@ojcf.ca • website: www.OJCF.ca

Join us in building our community by supporting these local agencies AJA 50+ ENDOWMENT FUND Mazal Tov to: Sheela and Ozzie Silverman on the birth of their granddaughter, Rachel by Sonja and Ron Kesten.

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GREENBERG FAMILIES LIBRARY FUND In memory of: Risë Silverstein by Roger Greenberg and Cindy Feingold.

HILLEL LODGE LEGACY FUND Mazal Tov to: Ed and Betty Rose on the birth of their first grandchild, Ira by Elissa and Avraham Iny. OTTAWA JEWISH COMMUNITY ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Beatrice Kreisman by Solly and Felice Patrontasch.

AJA 50+ SCHOLARSHIP FUND FOR THE OTTAWA JEWISH COMMUNITY SCHOOL AKIVA EVENING HIGH SCHOOL ENDOWMENT FUND ADINA BEN PORAT MACHON SARAH TORAH EDUCATION FUND DORIS BRONSTEIN TALMUD TORAH AFTERNOON SCHOOL FUND BARRY FISHMAN OTTAWA JEWISH BULLETIN SCHOLARSHIP FUND

JEWISH MEN’S SOFTBALL LEAGUE FUND JEWISH STUDENTS ASSOCIATION HILLEL FUND JEWISH YOUTH LIBRARY OF OTTAWA ENDOWMENT FUND DAVID “THE BEAR” KARDASH CAMP B’NAI BRITH MEMORIAL FUND OTTAWA JEWISH CEMETERIES ZICHARON FUND OTTAWA JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY FUND OTTAWA LODGE B’NAI BRITH #885 PAST PRESIDENTS FUND OTTAWA LODGE B’NAI BRITH #885 PRESIDENTS SCHOLARSHIP FUND OTTAWA MODERN JEWISH SCHOOL FUND OTTAWA POST JEWISH WAR VETERANS FUND OTTAWA TORAH INSTITUTE TORAH EDUCATION FUND PINCHAS ZUKERMAN MUSIC EDUCATION FUND RAMBAM MAIMONIDES JEWISH CONTINUITY FUND SOLOWAY JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTRE EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION FUND SOLOWAY JEWISH COMMUNITY SUMMER CAMP SCHOLARSHIP FUND SOLOWAY JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTRE ENDOWMENT FUND SOLOWAY JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTRE YOUTH SERVICES FUND TORAH ACADEMY OF OTTAWA TORAH EDUCATION FUND

MARTIN GLATT PARLIAMENT LODGE B’NAI BRITH PAST PRESIDENTS’ FUND

SARA AND ZEEV VERED ISRAEL CULTURAL PROGRAM FUND

MENDEL AND VALERIE GOOD HOLOCAUST CONTINUING EDUCATION FUND HILLEL ACADEMY ENDOWMENT FUND

YITZHAK RABIN HIGH SCHOOL FUND IN MEMORY OF EVA WINTHROP

HILLEL ACADEMY CHILDREN OF THE BOOK AWARD FUND JEWISH COMMUNITY CEMETERY HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FUND JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES AGENCY FUND

The Board of Directors of the Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation acknowledges with thanks contributions to the following funds as of August 16, 2011.

APPOTIVE FAMILY ENDOWMENT FUND Birthday wishes to: Florence Appotive by Jeff Appotive; and by Sharon Appotive.

Mazal Tov to: Sam and Sonya Holtzman and family on the birth of their first granddaughter, Anjali by Carolyn and Stephen Appotive.

IRVING AND ESTHER BELLMAN MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Abraham Stein by Mitchell Bellman and Nicola Hamer.

Risë Silverstein by Mitchell Bellman and Nicola Hamer.

EDITH AND OTTO BRUCK MEMORIAL FUND Mazel Tov to: Maureen and Henry Molot on the birth of twin grandchildren by Carol and Stuart Levine.

TILLIE AND HARRY CHERM MEMORIAL FUND Mazal Tov to: Baruch and Chana Chastkofsky on the Bar Mitzvah of their son Yitzchok by Donald Cherm and Robert Lebans.

HOWARD, JEFFREY, ANDREW, MICHAEL, GREGORY AND ZACHARY COGAN FUND Mazal Tov to: Dr. Sandy and Murray Ages on the marriage of their son Jonathan to Alyssa by Fred and Lisa Cogan and family.

Dr. Sandy and Murray Ages on the engagement of their son Daniel to Marlo by Fred and Lisa Cogan and family.

DAVID AND QUEENIE COHEN MEMORIAL FUND In Observance of the Yahrzeit of: Reuben Kalin, a beloved father and zayde by David and Judith Kalin.

SANDI AND EDDY COOK ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Beatrice Kreisman by Sandi, Eddy and Samantha Cook.

Risë Silverstein by Sandi, Eddy and Samantha Cook.

Birthday wishes to: Eddy Cook by Sharon and Lawrence Weinstein; and by Pam and Sam Handelsman.

Best wishes to: Connie and George Lathouras in the 24-hour Bikeathon at Tremblant by Sandi and Eddy Cook and family.

NATHAN AND REBA DIENER ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Louis Weiner by Joel and Barbara Diener and family.

Beatrice Kreisman by Joel and Barbara Diener and family.

JOSEPH AND JEAN DOVER ENDOWMENT FUND Mazal Tov to: Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Greenberg on the birth of their grandson by Madeleine and Gerry Dover.

MORRIE AND HELEN EISEN ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Susie Grossman by Helen Eisen.

Albert Waxer by Helen Eisen and family.

JOSEPH AND ESTHER EISENSTADT MEMORIAL FUND In loving memory of: Esther, Joseph, and Fern Eisenstadt, a beloved mother, father and sister by Harvey Eisenstadt.

ELLEN AND RAHAMIM FATHI ENDOWMENT FUND Speedy Recovery to: Ruth Freiman by Ellen and Ray Fathi.

ALAN FREED FAMILY FUND Birthday Wishes to: Larry Hartman by Alan Freed and Sharon Rosentzveig.

LAWRENCE AND AUDREY FREIMAN FUND FOR CHILDREN WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES Birthday Wishes to: Gordon and Laura Roston by Marilyn and Willian Newman.

ALFRED AND KAYSA FRIEDMAN ENDOWMENT FUND Birthday Wishes to: Suzanne Cohen by Alfred and Kaysa Friedman.

Laura and Gordon Roston by Alfred and Kaysa Friedman.

Lester Aronson by Alfred and Kaysa Friedman.

GILBOA/MAOZ FAMILY FUND In memory of: Jean Penelope Elizabeth Martire by Tal Gilboa and Hadar Maoz.

In appreciation of: The Kaplinsky Family by Tal Gilboa and Hadar Maoz.

The Blau Family by Tal Gilboa and Hadar Maoz.

ANNE AND BEN GLOBERMAN ENDOWMENT FUND Birthday Wishes to: Anne Globerman by Stella and Norman Beck.

EVA, DIANE AND JACK GOLDFIELD MEMORIAL FUND Speedy Recovery to: Phillip Teitelbaum by Anita Landis.

Ray Fathi by Anita Landis.

Birthday Wishes to Connie Kassie by Anita Landis.

HANSER FAMILY ENDOWMENT FUND In Observance of the Yahrzeit of: Annie Lang, a dear aunt by Isabel and Norman Lesh.

LARRY AND SHEILA HARTMAN ENDOWMENT FUND Birthday wishes to: Larry Hartman by Clara and Meir Shaolian;

by Rabbi Mendel and Dina Blum; and by Sylvia Freeman.

Continued on page 32

Page 32 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – September 5, 2011

FOUNDATION DONATIONS DOROTHY AND HY HYMES ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Tova Menipaz, a dear sister by Dorothy and Hy Hymes.

R’fuah Sh’lemah to: Edward Kerzner by Dorothy and Hy Hymes.

SAMUEL AND TILLIE KARDISH MEMORIAL FUND Anniversary wishes to: Joy and David Kardish by Cheryl and Brian, Elana, Tyler, and Ian Levitan.

HIRAM AND LILLIAN KATHNELSON FAMILY FUND Birthday Wishes to: Mikel Roodman by Stephen and Lois Kathnelson.

LIBBY AND STAN KATZ FAMILY COMMUNITY ENDOWMENT FUND Anniversary wishes to: Libby and Stan Katz by their children and grandchildren with much love.

SHARON KOFFMAN ATHLETIC SCHOLARSHIP FUND In appreciation of: Helen and Paul Hannover by Fay Koffman and family.

SUSAN AND DAVID KRIGER ENDOWMENT FUND Condolences to: Ken Carlson on the loss of his dear mother by Susan & David and Shirley Kriger.

In Observance of the Yahrzeit of: Judith Ain, a beloved mother by Susan Kriger.

RIVA AND ABRAHAM KROLL MEMORIAL FUND In loving memory of: Riva and Abraham Kroll, beloved aunt and uncle by Earle and Vicki Weiss.

ISSIE AND EDITH LANDAU ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Mary Ann Sheinfeld by Edie Landau and Jerrold and Tzippy Landau.

NORMAN AND ISABEL LESH ENDOWMENT FUND R’fuah Sh’lemah to: Jonathan Fisher from Isabel and Norman Lesh.

SALLY AND ELLIOTT LEVITAN ENDOWMENT FUND Mazal Tov to: Sally and Elliot Levitan on the marriage of their granddaughter Shayna and on the birth of their great-granddaughter Gillian by Ruth and Manny Shacter.

ERNEST AND IDA LEVITZ MEMORIAL FUND Condolences to: Derrice Jadis, on the loss of a dear father, by Ingrid Levitz and family.

In appreciation of: Ingrid, Stephanie and Naomi Levitz by Gary and Heather Cohen.

Mr. and Mrs. Ellis Levine by Ingrid Levitz.

Mr. and Mrs. Micah Levine by Ingrid Levitz.

Mazal Tov to: Deborah Bourchier on her FCA designation

by Ingrid Levitz.

SAUL AND EDNA GOLDFARB B’NAI MITZVAH FUND

What do your “kids” really care about?

Do they care about hanging out with their friends? Playing sports?

Playing their musical instruments?

How about helping the homeless in their community? Fighting antiSemitism? Supporting people with disabilities?

Through the Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation, our community’s youth can achieve both! They can be the active individuals that they are all while making a difference through tzedakah, one gift at a time.

Teens can make their Bar and Bat Mitzvah’s an extra special event by opening a B’nai Mitzvah Fund in their name. This gives them the vehicle to support causes dear to their hearts.

Forever!

You can make a difference in your child’s life by encouraging your son or daughter to establish a B’nai Mitzvah Fund. Their participation in the B’nai Mitzvah Club, which is for teens age 12 up to pre-post secondary, will affect the rest of their lives in a positive and philanthropic manner.

Now is the time to encourage your child to become a charitable, responsible member of the Jewish Community.

To obtain information on how to open a B’nai Mitzvah Fund for as little as $250, call the Foundation office today at 613-798-4696 extension 252 or email info@ojcf.ca.

Additional information can be found on our website at www.OJCF.ca.

JOHN AND ESTELLE LIBERMAN ENDOWMENT FUND Thinking of you to: Carl Zidel by John and Estelle Liberman.

JOSEPH AND EVELYN LIEFF ENDOWMENT FUND Birthday wishes to: Eddy Cook by David Resnick and Elissa Lieff.

ARNOLD AND ROSE LITHWICK MEMORIAL FUND Anniversary wishes to: Marieta and Barry Lithwick by Yvonne and Harvey Lithwick and family.

IRVING AND ELLEN LITHWICK ENDOWMENT FUND In loving memory of: Irving and Ellen Lithwick, beloved parents

by Earle and Vicki Weiss.

JACOB MALOMET MEMORIAL FUND Speedy Recovery to: Philip Teitelbaum by Diana and Alvin Malomet.

ANNE (BLAIR) AND HYMAN MAYBERGER ENDOWMENT FUND Mazal Tov to: Paul Finn on his recent retirement by Morris and Shelley Schachnow.

Paul and Sharon Finn on the graduation of their daughter Davina by Morris and Shelley Schachnow.

MORTY MAYBERGER UNITED JEWISH APPEAL GOLF TOURNAMENT FUND Mazal Tov to: Ed and Betty Rose on the birth of their grandchild by Charles Schachnow.

CHUCK AND BONNIE MEROVITZ FAMILY FUND Mazal Tov to: Chuck Merovitz on his receipt of the Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser Award by Sherri and Jack Torjman.

RHODA AND JEFFREY MILLER FAMILY FUND In memory of: Beatrice Kreisman by Rhoda, Jeffrey, Howard and Sara Miller.

Risë Silverstein by Rhoda and Jeffrey Miller.

ELLEN, SHARON, LAWRENCE AND LYNDA NADOLNY FAMILIES FUND In memory of: Beatrice Kreisman by Sharon, Lawrence, Amy, Erica and Jonathan Weinstein.

JEAN AND MAX NAEMARK ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Kris Neilsen by Jean Naemark.

Thinking of you to: Evelyn Monson by Jean Naemark and family.

PINKAS AND YEHUDIT NEWMAN MEMORIAL FUND Anniversary Wishes to: Barbara and Sid Cohen by Marilyn and Bill Newman.

PREHOGAN FAMILY FUND IN MEMORY OF AARON HARRY COHEN Thinking of you to: Marcia and Barry Cantor by Avalee and Ron Prehogan.

SHELLEY AND SID ROTHMAN FAMILY FUND Mazal Tov to: Shelley Rothman and family on the engagement of Stuart to Laura by Sonja and Ron Kesten.

SOL AND ZELAINE SHINDER ENDOWMENT FUND Mazal Tov to: Sheli Braun on receiving the GrinspoonSteinhardt Award for Excellence in Jewish Education by Sol and Zelaine Shinder.

Edward and Betty Rose on the birth of their grandson by Sol and Zelaine Shinder.

JACK AND SARAH SILVERSTEIN FAMILY ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Risë Silverstein by Jean Myers and James Glen; by Dan Bleichman and Erin Bolling; by Phillip and Cathy Stein; by Elissa and Avraham Iny; by The Levitz Family; by Lindsay Rothenberg; by Sylvie Bordeleau; by Andrea and Cyril Tiwari; and by Rick and Helen Zipes.

Abraham Stein by Jack and Sarah Silverstein and family.

STELLA AND LOUIS SLACK MEMORIAL FUND Condolences to: Gail Edelstein on the loss of a dear sister by Myra and Lester Aronson and Family.

Birthday Wishes to: Elaine Citrome by Myra and Lester Aronson.

Allan Schwartz by Myra and Lester Aronson.

Lester Aronson by Carol and Stuart Levine.

MOE AND CHARLOTTE SLACK MEMORIAL FUND Birthday Wishes to: Gordon Roston by Marlene Levine and Andrew Siman.

Laura Roston by Marlene Levine and Andrew Siman.

DORIS AND RICHARD STERN FAMILY FUND In memory of: Solomon Sinyor by Doris and Richard Stern and family.

Birthday wishes to: Gerry Davis by Doris and Richard Stern.

Anniversary wishes to: Debbie and Gerry Davis by Doris and Richard Stern.

SAMUEL AND ANNE TALLER ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Joseph Gottlieb by Marilyn and Wendy Waserman.

CLAIRE AND SAM TANNER MEMORIAL FUND Mazal Tov to: Cantor Pinchus and Sarah Levinson on the upcoming wedding of their daughter Penina to Michael by Lana and Stephen Tanner.

Continued on page 33

September 5, 2011 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 33

FOUNDATION DONATIONS THE TARANTOUR FAMILY FUND Mazal Tov to: Uri and Teena Goldberg on their 50th wedding anniversary by Beth and Tom Grahame.

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

Risë Silverstein by Lise and Mark Thaw and family.

HENRY (HANK) TORONTOW 39TH BOY SCOUTS Anniversary Wishes to: Jerry and Cathy Torontow by Jean Naemark and family.

SARA AND ZEEV VERED ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Tova Menipaz by Reesa Greenberg.

HAZE WAINBERG FAMILY FUND In memory of: Steve Propos by Haze Wainberg.

MIRIAM AND LOUIS WEINER ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Louis Weiner by Marilyn and Daniel Kimmel.

HALTON/WEISS FAMILY FUND In memory of: Abraham Stein by Debbie and Ron Weiss.

SAM AND HELENE ZARET MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Annette Lesonsky-Lithwick by Debi and Neil Zaret, Mark & Simmy Zaret and Families.

Beatrice Kreisman by Debi and Neil Zaret and family.

Mazal Tov to: Sandy and Murray Ages on the upcoming marriages of their sons, Daniel and Jon by Debi and Neil Zaret and family.

ZIPES KARANOFSKY FAMILY ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Beatrice Kreisman by Rick and Helen Zipes.

Manny Melamed, a beloved husband and father by Rick and Helen Zipes.

THE WOMEN’S PHILANTHROPY PROGRAM Providing support for services and programs that directly benefit women and children.

WOMEN’S COLLECTIVE ENDOWMENT FUND Birthday Wishes to: Barbie Shore by Diane Koven.

In Appreciation to: Dr. Art Leder by Bobbi, Rick and Daisy Soderstrom.

THE SAUL AND EDNA GOLDFARB B’NAI MITZVAH PROGRAM RYAN GOLDBERG B’NAI MITZVAH FUND Condolences to: Israel Rabinowitz and family on the loss of his mother by Mary and Len Potechin.

GABRIEL HAMBURG MITZVAH FUND In memory of: Beatrice Kreisman by Cybele and Lyon Hamburg.

LIEFF FAMILY B’NAI MITZVAH FUND In memory of: Risë Silverstein by Norman and Francie Lieff.

Birthday wishes to: Eddy Cook by Norman and Francie Lieff.

Mazal Tov to: Joe and Rhoda Levitan on the recent marriage of their daughter Shayna by Norman and Francie Lieff.

Contributions may be made online at www.OJCF.ca or by contacting Erin Bolling at 613-798-4696 extension 232, Monday to Friday or by email at donation@ojcf.ca.

Attractive cards are sent to convey the appropriate sentiments. All donations are acknowledged with a charitable receipt.

We accept Visa, MasterCard and Amex.

Celebrate the New Year by sending your friends and loved ones a Rosh Hashanah Tribute card

Palestinian statehood (Continued from page 20)

the basis for negotiations.

What tools does Israel have to respond to the Palestinian bid?

Israel’s strategy now is trying to persuade as many nations as possible – as well as the Palestinians – that a UN vote favouring Palestinian statehood would set back the peace track. The argument is that it would make it less likely that Israeli-Palestinian negotiations would succeed, forcing Israel to dig in its heels.

Beyond that, Israeli experts have warned, Israel may consider the unilateral Palestinian bid for UN recognition an abrogation of the Oslo Accords, which stipulated that the framework for resolution of the conflict be negotiations between the two parties. If the Oslo Accords, which provides the basis for the limited autonomy the Palestinians currently have in the West Bank, are nullified, Israel may re-occupy portions of the West Bank from which its forces have withdrawn, end security co-operation with the Palestinian Authority and withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in tax money it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.

What are some of the other possible negative consequences for the Palestinians of UN statehood recognition?

The U.S. Congress has threatened to ban assistance to the Palestinian Authority if it pursues recognition of statehood at the United Nations; that could cost the Palestinians as much as $500 million annually, potentially crippling the Palestinian government.

What’s the plan for the day after the UN vote?

It’s not clear. The Palestinian leadership doesn’t seem to have a plan. The Palestinian public is expected to stage mass demonstrations. Israel is preparing for a host of worstcase scenarios, including violence.

If the United Nations does endorse Palestinian statehood in some form, it will be seen as a public relations victory for the Palestinians.

But, in the absence of progress on the ground in the Middle East, a UN vote could set off popular Palestinian protests against Israel that could

escalate into another Palestinian intifada.

No one knows what another Palestinian intifada will look like. It’s possible that soon after a UN vote, Palestinians will march on Israeli settlements and military positions much like Palestinians in Syria and Lebanon marched on Israel’s borders in mid-May to commemorate Nakba Day – the day marking the anniversary of the “catastrophe” of Israel’s founding.

Or, a UN vote could unleash a new wave of violence, with attacks and counterattacks that destroy the relative calm that has held between Israel and West Bank Palestinians since the second intifada waned in 2004.

The outbreak of violence, however, could undermine Palestinian interests. In the relative absence of Palestinian terrorism in recent years, the Palestinians have managed to get increased economic assistance, established upgraded diplomatic ties with nations throughout the world, rallied more global support for their cause, and seen a considerable rise in their GDP and quality of life in the West Bank. They don’t want to throw that all away.

That may leave the Palestinians and Israel back where they started before talk of UN recognition began: at a standstill.

The unveiling of a monument in loving memory of

Akiva Kriger will take place

Sunday, September 18, 2011 at 10:30 a.m.

Bank Street Cemetery Family and friends are invited to attend.

JEWISH MEMORIAL GARDENS YOUR ONE-STOP RESOURCE CENTRE FOR FUNERAL PLANNING To better serve our community, we have one central number to handle all cemetery enquiries and to arrange for our services

613-688-3530 Gravesite Flower Prepayment Plans

Make your donation online at www.OJCF.ca Call 613.798.4696, ext. 232 Email: donation@ojcf.ca

Interment Rights* Bank Street

Osgoode

* Pre-purchasing of interment rights is only available to members of JMG’s founding synagogues.

Page 34 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – September 5, 2011

Pursuing Jewish dreams in their 40s and 50s, and embarking on second careers as rabbis

By Penny Schwartz (JTA) – Ten years ago, Sonia Saltzman was a frequent business traveller to Latin America for a Boston-based non-profit job in international micro-lending.

Evette Lutman spent more than 10 years working as an attorney representing battered women and serving as a family referee in a Michigan county courthouse.

Charles Friedman worked for nearly 15 years in his family’s business in plastics construction manufacturing.

Today, all three are rabbis, having changed careers midlife to pursue their Jewish dreams.

“Switching to become a rabbi in midlife is not like becoming an engineer,” Rabbi Saltzman told JTA. “It permeates your entire life and changes who you are.”

The three belong to a small group of second-career rabbis who are finding their place in the world of Jewish religious leadership in their 40s and 50s.

Various factors are propelling these individuals into the rabbinate. Some had long-harboured dreams of becoming a rabbi, but wound up pursuing other careers for personal or financial reasons.

Others became interested in the rabbinate later in life, prompted in some cases by something specific.

Not all the new rabbis are pursuing congregational jobs. More professional options exist now for rabbinical school graduates, including in the chaplaincy, education and Jewish communal work.

Pursuing the rabbinate as a second career is not a new story in North American Jewish life, but it’s more common for those in their mid- to late-20s or early-30s after working for some time in professions such as law or medicine, said Jonathan Sarna, a professor of American Jewish history at Brandeis University and the chief historian at the National Museum of American Jewish History.

Sarna said it is unusual for those in their 40s, 50s or 60s to go for the rabbinate, and that it’s more common for older secondcareer clergy members among Christian denominations.

After the tragedy of 9/11, there was a sudden increase in the number of older rabbinical students, Sarna noted – those who were

Rabbi Evette Lutman, 52, who was ordained in 2010 at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, is the rabbi at B’nai Havurah in Denver. She was the student rabbi at the Ottawa Reconstructionist Havurah in 2009.

(Photo: David Zalubowski/Denver Post)

moved to pursue more meaningful careers.

Indeed, Rabbi Friedman, 47, said that the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks were a wake-up call for him.

“It was so horrific, many people were re-evaluating their lives,” he said.

Rabbi Friedman was ordained in 2008 at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, a modern Orthodox rabbinical school in New York. Today, he is the chaplain and director of pastoral care at Englewood Hospital in northern New Jersey.

Rabbi Saltzman received rabbinical ordination from the nondenominational Hebrew College in Boston in 2008 – at the age of 52 when she already had two grown children.

Her road to becoming a rabbi brought about changes at home.

As her level of religious observance deepened, Rabbi Saltzman said she and her husband found themselves negotiating lifestyle changes. In August, she began her second job since being ordained: as rabbi at Temple Ohabei Shalom, a large Reform congregation in Boston and the oldest Jewish congregation in Massachusetts.

Rabbi Lutman, 52, was ordained in 2010 at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia. She has been serving for the past year as rabbi at B’nai Havurah in Denver. In 2009, she served as student rabbi at the Ottawa Reconstructionist Havurah (now Or Haneshamah).

Despite the differences in their backgrounds, the three rabbis revealed, in conversations with JTA, a common sense of answering a call to explore more fully their Jewish spirituality. They faced challenges as well: four to six years of rigorous study and, in some cases, up to a year’s study in Israel.

Sarna pointed to Rabbi Helene Ferris, rabbi emerita at Temple Israel in Croton-on-Hudson, NY, as a pioneer among older second-career rabbis. Ferris, ordained in 1981 at the Reform movement’s Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, was 36 and had children when she attended rabbinical school.

Rabbi Ferris recalled that 35 years ago, when she began studying for the rabbinate, it was difficult to be a pioneer, although she said her classmates were very congenial. When word got out that

she was in rabbinical school, she would receive weekly phone calls from people seeking guidance.

Now, she said, the calls are much less frequent as older second-career rabbis aren’t so unusual.

The prevalence of older, second-career rabbis varies by denomination and rabbinical school.

At Boston’s Hebrew College, 15 students older than 50 have attended since the rabbinical school opened in 2003, said Rabbi Dan Judson, its director of professional development and placement. In recent years, the average age of incoming students has dropped, drawing a more typical age range for rabbinical students – those in their late-20s. Still, Rabbi Judson stressed, it is not unusual for 25year-olds to have study partners in their 40s or 50s.

In the past two years, the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) in New York, Conservative Judaism’s flagship educational institution, has enrolled a handful of students in their 40s and 50s who are pursuing the rabbinate later in life or as second careers, according to Rabbi Daniel Nevins, dean of the JTS rabbinical school.

At the New York campus of the Reform Movement’s Hebrew

Union College (HUC), two of the 12 rabbis who were ordained this year were second-career rabbis in their late-40s or early-50s, according to HUC Associate Dean Renni Altman. She said the number of older students varies from year to year and HUC has always had some older students, but never large clusters.

The average age of rabbinical students at Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary is the mid-20s, according to Rabbi Yona Reiss, dean of the Orthodox, male-only rabbinical program in New York. For the occasional older student, the motivation is generally personal growth as opposed to professional advancement.

By contrast, over the past decade at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC), approximately one-third of the rabbinical students have been in their second careers, including some over 50, according to Rabbi Amber Powers, who oversees admissions at the suburban Philadelphia school.

“Part of what makes classroom discussions so dynamic at RRC is the diverse backgrounds of the students,” Rabbi Powers said.

“Learning Jewish history really comes alive when a student who was an anthropologist brings their expertise to the discussion.”

Of the 75 graduates of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah’s rabbinical school, only three have been second-career students, and they have all been in their 30s and 40s, according to Ruthie Simon Strosberg, director of recruitment and placement for the 11-year-old school in the Bronx.

Rabbi Saltzman said she considers herself fortunate to have found two fulfilling careers that reflect her Jewish values.

Rabbi Friedman similarly said that becoming a rabbi was a good decision. While acknowledging the emotional difficulty of hospital chaplaincy, in which he often counsels gravely ill patients, Rabbi Friedman said he finds pastoral work meaningful and worthwhile.

Rabbi Lutman said she hopes to inspire others as she has been inspired.

“Even if I failed, at least I tried,” she said. “It took a leap of faith.”

September 5, 2011 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 35

Analysis

Terror attacks highlight new challenges on Israel’s border with Egypt

By Leslie Susser JERUSALEM (JTA) – Last month’s multi-front Palestinian terrorist attack along the EgyptianIsraeli border highlighted two major new challenges to Israel’s national security.

First is the breakdown of Egyptian central authority in the Sinai Peninsula, which has created fertile ground for terrorism against Israel. Complicating matters further is a heightened sensitivity in post-Mubarak Egypt to Israeli retaliation, especially if it entails action in territory nominally controlled by Egypt.

If not carefully managed, the twin challenges could bring the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty, a cornerstone of regional stability for over three decades, into question, Israeli analysts say.

In separate interviews on Israel Radio, former generals Giora Eiland and Yisrael Ziv both argued that the top priority for Israel now is to take care to prevent any erosion in the peace with Egypt.

Nahum Barnea, senior political analyst for Israel’s daily Yediot Achronot, expanded on the theme.

“What is at stake,” Barnea wrote August 22, “is: How can Israel help the new Egyptian regime fend off the street pressure to cancel the peace treaty with Israel?”

Ever since former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak’s ouster last February, the Sinai has been in a state of virtual anarchy. Any semblance of order that existed under Mubarak has been eroded.

Scores of terrorists from Gaza and farther afield have been able to move in the area with impunity.

Arms smuggling through the Sinai to Gaza – always a problem – has reached unprecedented levels. The pipeline carrying Egyptian natural gas to Israel has been sabotaged five times since February.

In order to enable the Egyptians to reassert their control, Israeli officials indicate that they may be willing to consider an amendment to the Egyptian-Israeli peace accords to allow a stronger Egyptian military presence in Sinai, close to the border with Israel and in the key area along the border with Gaza. A week before the terrorist attack, Israel agreed to the deployment of an additional 1,000 Egyptian troops in the sensitive area, de-

Eight Israelis were killed when Palestinian gunmen fired at Israeli vehicles, including this bus, near the Egyptian border on August 18.

(Photo: Ariel Hermoni/Israeli Defense Ministry)

spite treaty limitations that allow for only a few hundred lightly armed policemen to ensure that the Sinai never again becomes a staging ground for an Egyptian assault against Israel.

Israeli military analysts say that much will depend on the degree to which the Egyptian forces are willing to take on the smugglers and the terrorists.

Until now, soldiers in the Sinai or lightly armed policemen closer to the border have been taking kickbacks to look the other way.

Without a change in attitude, simply beefing up Egyptian forces will not solve the problem, Israeli analysts say. Indeed, some of the Gaza terrorists who fired on Israeli vehicles last week operated unhindered close to an Egyptian military position, they noted.

Even more worrying for Israel than the danger of having terrorists roaming freely around the Sinai is the potential threat the new situation poses to the peace with Egypt.

In the August 18 exchanges of fire with the terrorists, three Egyptian border policemen were killed. Although it is not yet clear how they died, the Egyptians were quick to blame Israel and demand an apology. The incident sparked angry demonstrations outside the Israeli Embassy in Cairo, where one protester scaled the building to tear down the Israeli flag and replace it with an Egyptian one.

What makes this particularly troubling for Israel is that in the new Egypt, a product of the Arab Spring that has given greater weight to the voice of the people, the country’s new leaders will have to take the widespread popular animosity toward Israel into account.

This, the analysts say, could bring the peace treaty with Israel under review.

Still, for all the public debate on the issue in Egypt, most experts do not anticipate a new Egyptian government abrogating the peace treaty with Israel in the near future.

They point out that the two countries still share common interests – for example, a quiet Sinai, in which forces like al-Qaeda, which also threaten Egypt, are neutralized. More importantly, the Egyptians know that if they cancel the peace treaty with Israel, they will forfeit the huge economic and military aid package they have been receiving from the United States ever since the treaty was signed under American auspices in 1979.

At one point during the current crisis, when the Egyptians appeared to threaten to recall their ambassador from Tel Aviv, the United States reportedly warned that, if they went ahead, some of the aid would be withheld. The Egyptians quickly dialed down the rhetoric. Egyptian Foreign Minis-

ter Mohammed Kamel Amr denied that a recall of the ambassador was ever on the table.

A key element that already has changed, however, is Egypt’s attitude toward Hamas, which controls Gaza. Mubarak’s Egypt strongly opposed Hamas, seeing it as extremist and within the Iranian orbit.

Egypt’s new leaders are far less hostile toward both Iran and Hamas. They’ve used their closer ties with Hamas to create a potentially important role for themselves as mediator – both in matters concerning captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and in negotiating a ceasefire to end the recent round of hostilities.

In the wake of last month’s terrorist attack, which left eight Israelis dead, Israel moved quickly to eliminate the leaders of the Popular Resistance Committees, the group behind the attack. That led to several days of missile, rocket and mortar fire on southern Israeli towns and cities, and sporadic Israeli air raids on Hamas and other militia targets in Gaza. By August 22, however, things quieted down though the rocket attacks did not stop completely after Egypt helped to broker a halt to the hostilities.

Yoram Meital, a leading Israeli expert on Egypt at Ben-Gurion University, says the changes in Egypt have significantly altered the military equation between

Israel and the Gaza militants.

For one thing, Palestinian action from Sinai puts Israel in a very tricky position, because, if Israel hits back hard on Egyptian territory, it risks escalation with Egypt. Secondly, should Israel undertake a major military operation in Gaza, it is likely to encounter much firmer Egyptian censure than it did in Mubarak’s day, given the predominant anti-Israel sentiment in today’s Egypt.

Leaders of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are thinking deeply about this. Over time, military planners say, Israel cannot afford to allow Gaza militants to use the Sinai as a launching pad for operations against Israel precisely because that could lead to conflict with Egypt. At some point, they say, Israel will have deal with the Palestinian terrorist infrastructure in Gaza itself and not in Sinai, to minimize the risk of a confrontation with Egypt.

On August 22, however, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to calls for a new operation against Hamas in Gaza by saying that a full-scale war in Gaza would be inadvisable at this time, and his cabinet voted against further action in Gaza.

In the meantime, Israel has decided to accelerate the completion of a high-tech fence along the border with Egypt that is designed to keep both terrorists and asylum seekers from Africa out. The fence will be approximately 15 feet high and equipped with sophisticated electronic warning devices. The big question is whether Israel will have the resources and the manpower to patrol the fence’s 145 miles from Eilat to Gaza effectively and how much that activity would compromise the IDF’s capacity to act elsewhere.

As for Gaza, for now, it is clear that both sides don’t want to escalate matters. Hamas leaders don’t want to become targets for assassination, and Israel does not want its southern cities bombarded by rockets.

Israeli officials are also working behind the scenes with the Egyptians, primarily to ensure that whatever happens with Gaza or in the Sinai won’t compromise the peace treaty, perhaps the singlemost important element of Israel’s national security doctrine.

Page 36 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – September 5, 2011

WHAT’S GOING ON September 5 to 18, 2011 WEEKLY EVENTS TUESDAYS Israeli Folk Dancing, no experience or partner necessary, Ottawa Jewish Community School, 31 Nadolny Sachs Private, 7:00 pm. Info: judy@ottawaisraelidance.ca.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7 AND THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 An Israeli Love Story – a one-woman play, sponsored by the SJCC, Embassy of Israel, Jewish Federation of Ottawa and Vered Israel Cultural and Educational Program. National Arts Centre, 8:00 pm. Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ca or the NAC box office. Info: 613-7989818, ext. 243.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7 CHW Opening Council Meeting. The community is invited to hear Laurie Dougherty, archivist from the Ottawa Jewish Archives. Dovercourt Community Centre (top floor studio), 411 Dovercourt Avenue, 7:30 pm. Info: 613-521-9092.

CANDLELIGHTING BEFORE Sep 9

✡

7:09 pm

Sep 16

✡

6:55 pm

Sep 23

✡

6:42 pm

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 Oneg Shabbat for Seniors.

Enjoy songs, crafts, challah, and discussion at Embassy

West Senior Living, 1400 Carling Avenue, 2:30 pm. Info: 613-729-4331.

Glebe Shul Shabbat Dinner, sponsored by JET. Jewish young professionals are invited to relax and enjoy Shabbos with Rabbi Michael and Stacy Goldstein in the new shul, 302 Fifth Avenue, 7:00 pm. RSVP: 613-798-9818, ext. 247.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 Soloway JCC Open House. Try classes for free and help celebrate the SJCC’s 13th birthday! Fun activities all day from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm, including a Bar Mitzvah party at 2:00 pm, and “Israel Unplugged,” a celebration of Israeli songs with Cantor Daniel Benlolo at 7:00 pm. Info: 613798-9818.

PJ Library Launch Event. All PJ families, as well as non-registered families with pre-schoolers, are invit-

For more community listings, visit ottawa.jewishottawa.com Select Calendar/Upcoming Events and Click to See More

ed to a birthday party, where the book Today is the Birthday of the World will be read.

Children will enjoy crafts and Rosh Hashanah snacks. In conjunction with SJCC Open House and the Family Life Centre. Book readings at 9:30 and 10:15 am. Info: 613798-4644.

Monster Indoor Garage and Estate Sale in support of Congregation Machzikei Hadas. Many items including housewares, china, glassware, toys, books, small appliances, and sporting goods, 2310 Virginia Drive, 10 am to 4 pm. Info: 613-521-9700.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12 Jewish Federation of Ottawa’s 2012 Campaign Kickoff with Joan Rivers, National Arts Centre, 7:30 pm. Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ca or the NAC box office. Event info: 613-798-4696, ext. 255.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13 Malca Pass Book Discussion Group will review Let the Great World Spin, by Colm McCann. Reviewer: Jack Schecter.

Everyone welcome. Agudath Israel, 1400 Coldrey Avenue, 7:30 pm. Info: 613-829-2455.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 Biking for Bubbies, in support of Hillel Lodge. Riders will bike 54 km to raise money for operations. Starts at 10 Nadolny Sachs Private, 9:00 am. To register or to sponsor a cyclist,

call: 613-820-2213.

Book launch of The Bible Now, sponsored by the SJCC. Co-author Shawna Dolansky will read from the book. Includes book signings and refreshments, 1:00 pm. Info: 613798-9818, ext. 254.

Ladies’ Reception Committee Newcomers’ Tea. All recent arrivals in Ottawa are welcome to attend. Meet other newcomers as well as members of the committee, 14 Parkglen Drive, 2:30 pm. Info: 613727-1917.

COMING SOON TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 March of the Living Information Night.

Students in grades 10 to 12 and their parents are invited to learn about the April 2012 trip to Poland and Israel. 7:00 pm.

Info: 613-798-4644.

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.

Condolences Condolences are extended to the families of: Lillian Freedman, Florida (mother of Marjorie Feldman) Gydalyah Rosenfeld Risë Silverstein, London (mother of Jack Silverstein) Abraham Stein, Montreal (father of Phillip Stein)

May their memory be a blessing always.

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

There is no charge.

For a listing in this column, please call 613-798-4696, ext. 232.

Voice mail is available.

BULLETIN DEADLINES SEPTEMBER 14 FOR OCTOBER 3 OCTOBER 5 FOR OCTOBER 31 OCTOBER 26 FOR NOVEMBER 14 * Community-wide Issue (all dates subject to change)

JEWISH MEMORIAL GARDENS Your one-stop resource centre for funeral planning 613-688-3530

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