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Ottawa Jewish Bulletin, established 1937, celebrating 75 years in 2012.
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ottawa jewish
bulletin 7 5 T H A N N I V E R S A RY 1 9 3 7 volume 76, no. 9 march 5, 2012
21 Nadolny Sachs Private, Ottawa, Ontario K2A 1R9
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Publisher: Mitchell Bellman
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2 0 1 2 adar 11, 5772
Editor: Michael Regenstreif $2.00
‘I Feel Good’: James Brown song provides theme for 2012 Mitzvah Day By Ilana Belfer Seventy-five inches of hair donated to Locks of Love. Two hundred loaves of challah braided for the Kosher Food Bank. Four hundred hygiene kits made for patients at CHEO and Élisabeth Bruyère hospitals. And that’s just a sampling of what the Jewish community was able to accomplish in a mere two hours, February 12, at the Jewish Federation of Ottawa’s sixth annual Mitzvah Day. The Soloway Jewish Community Centre (JCC) and Hillel Lodge buzzed with Mitzvah Day activities. This year, for the first time, Mitzvah Day was affiliated officially with the United Way’s Ottawa Kindness Week, acting as a launch
pad for the February17-24 initiative led by Rabbi Reuven Bulka of Congregation Machzikei Hadas. “It’s grown in terms of participants, it’s grown in number of agencies helped, and it’s grown in terms of what we’ve actually accomplished,” said three-time event chair Stacey Segal. More than 1,500 good deeds were done this year – a step up from 1,100 in 2010, said Segal. Many were carried out by the largest cohort in the room: children. Segal’s own daughters, Talia Freedhoff, 7, and Leah Freedhoff, 5, contributed to making this happen. They donated their hair to Locks of Love, an organization that provides hairpieces to children suffering from medical hair-loss.
Though donating hair is nothing new for the girls – it was Talia’s third time and Leah’s second – it’s not everyday that the mayor wields the scissors. “This is a wonderful tradition,” said Mayor Jim Watson after snipping the girls’ braids. “It’s a lesson we can all learn. We have a responsibility in our society to give back to the less fortunate, whether they’re cancer patients or whether they’re people suffering from unemployment or poverty.” Kitchissippi Ward city councillor Katherine Hobbs and Ottawa Centre MPP Yasir Naqvi also stopped in to thank the Jewish community and show their support for Mitzvah Day. (Continued on page 2)
Talia (left) and Leah Freedhoff with Mayor Jim Watson and hairdresser Melvyn Fields after having their “Locks of Love” cut by the mayor on Mitzvah Day. Fields prepared the girls for the cut and supervised the mayor as he wielded the scissors. (Photo: Peter Waiser)
MPs express support for Israel at IAC event By Ilana Belfer The road to Israel activism was something that “suddenly all fell into place” for Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney. Addressing the crowd at the fourth annual wine and cheese gathering of the Israel Awareness Committee (IAC), February 8, at Beth Shalom, Kenney recalled his days as a college student in California. He had no personal stake in the Middle East conflict and a somewhat hostile attitude toward Israel. “When I turned on the TV, it was clear to me who the Goliath was. It was the IDF [Is-
rael Defense Forces] tanks and David was the underdog throwing the stones,” he said. But, as Kenney explained, as he became more informed about the Jewish homeland, it became one of the most important causes in his public life. “It’s your responsibility to explain those facts [to uninformed Canadians] and, if you do, you can help educate future generations … who will then continue this tradition of Canada as the greatest friend of Israel in the world today,” he said. Liberal MP Irwin Cotler, a former minister of justice, who had just returned from Israel
the day before, echoed the sentiment. Cotler said every time he visits Israel, he’s struck by how Israel and Canada share the same set of values. But, said Cotler, there’s one fundamental difference. “Israel not only lives in a hostile neighbourhood, it is exposed to a critical mass of threat.” Cotler noted the dangerous climate has only become worse recently citing the capability of Hamas missiles to reach Tel Aviv, Turkey’s transition from ally to adversary, and the nuclear threat from Iran. While Cotler said the delegitimization of
Israel is nothing new, it has taken on new form by being masked, or “laundered,” under public and human values like the United Nations, international law, the culture of human rights and – primarily on campuses – the struggle against racism. “The worst thing you can do in the world today is call somebody a racist … no further proof is required,” he said. “It shames the real struggle against the real racism.” New Democratic Party MP Pat Martin agreed. “It’s somehow become fashionable in the (Continued on page 2 )
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