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bulletin 7 5 T H A N N I V E R S A RY 1 9 3 7 volume 76, no. 14 may 21, 2012

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Sharon Reichstein to receive Young Leadership Award

By Cynthia Nyman Engel Sharon Reichstein has been named recipient of the 2012 Freiman Family Young Leadership Award. Established in 1988, the award recognizes a member of the Ottawa Jewish community under the age of 40 who has rendered exceptional service to the community.

The award will be presented at the annual general meeting of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa, Wednesday, June 6, 7:00 pm, at the Joseph and Rose Ages Family Building, 21 Nadolny Sachs Private.

Reichstein is a devoted wife, busy mother of two and dedicated

part-time teacher of children with learning disabilities. She also makes considerable time for leadership roles within the community.

“I cannot imagine my life without volunteering,” says Reichstein.

“And I always choose to volunteer in areas I feel passionate about.”

That she does. As a young bride, she threw her energy into Na’amat “because of all the great work they do.” Na’amat supports educational and social services in Israel and focuses on providing a fuller life for women and children in Israel and the world.

“The Otzma Chapter of Na’amat (Continued on page 2)

President Peres welcomed President Shimon Peres of Israel receives flowers from Ottawa Jewish Community School students during the Rideau Hall welcoming ceremony at the start of his state visit to Canada, May 7.

See pages 4, 7 and 18 for more on the Peres visit.

(Photo: Michael Regenstreif)

No deed too large or too small for Shem Tov Award recipient

By Cynthia Nyman Engel When it comes to doing good works, Issie Scarowsky is definitely a ‘Yes’ man.

Scarowsky has been named recipient of the Shem Tov Community Volunteer Award for 2012. Created in 2003, the award recognizes an outstanding volunteer within the Jewish community who, through many years of service, has contributed to the enrichment of Jewish life in Ottawa.

The award will be presented at the annual general meeting of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa, Wednesday, June 6, 7:00 pm, at the Joseph and Rose Ages Family Building,

21 Nadolny Sachs Private.

“I learned it at home,” Scarowsky says of his passion for volunteerism. “When I was growing up, my father was involved in our synagogue and always helpful when the mishlochim came to the house.”

Home was Montreal where, as a boy, Scarowsky was the newsletter editor for his Jewish youth organization.

“In those days, we actually typed up the newsletter on stencils,” he laughs. “Then we would put it on a Gestetner and print out each issue by hand. And then we had to collate each issue by hand.”

In 1977, Issie and Leah Scarowsky moved to Ottawa where Issie took a position with Bell Canada. They joined the Young Israel Synagogue where his editing background was put to good use.

“We were asked by the leaders of Young Israel if we’d help out and, among the things we did, we worked on the synagogue newsletter,” he smiles.

Issie served on the board of the Young Israel. For many years, the couple also volunteered their help with the synagogue’s bingo fundraisers, among other shul endeavours.

(Continued on page 2 )

Issie Scarowsky, 2012 recipient of the Shem Tov Community Volunteer Award.

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Page 2 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – May 21, 2012

‘I do it because I believe in it and to be a model for my children’ (Continued from page 1)

was a great fit for me in every way,” she says.

“And most of us were newly married, so we were in the same boat. We were a booming chapter.”

Reichstein chaired the organization’s Medical Tea for five years, and, for seven years, chaired the January Fundraising Dinner and Auction and spearheaded the Na’amat School Supplies Project, which involves collecting and stuffing school supplies into more than 200 backpacks for distribution to children living in women’s shelters in Ottawa.

She also chaired the highly successful Mother’s Day Tribute Card Fundraiser.

“And,” she chuckles, “when my oldest child was still pretty little, I was president of the chapter.”

As a university student, she volunteered as a part-time residential counsellor at Tamir. It was through that commitment she realized she wanted to teach the learning disabled. She now teaches at MindWare Academy, a private school for children with learning disabilities.

In 2007, when a friend suggested she join the Tamir Board, she accepted with pleasure.

In typical Sharon Reichstein fashion, she threw herself into the new board appointment with gusto. In 2009 and 2011, she chaired the Chai Tea, Tamir’s major fundraising event.

She also initiated Tamir’s Hero Fundraising Program, which entitles $500 donors to become a Hero. The $500 annual donations allow Tamir participants to enjoy their hobbies and interests as well as other necessities of life. The funds from this program also made it possible for several cast members of Tamir’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat production to attend the Ottawa School of Speech & Drama to continue to fuel their love of the stage.

In 2010, Reichstein was among a 75 women honoured by the Women’s Division of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa for leading by example and making a difference in the lives of others in the community.

Sharon and her husband, Sol, have two children, Noah, 11 and Kayla, nine.

“I’m very lucky,” says Reichstein. “Sol is extremely supportive of my involvement in the community. I do it because I believe in it, and I do it, too, to be a model for my children.”

The benefits have already come home to roost. Daughter Kayla has twice donated her hair to Angel Hair for Kids, and son Noah regularly donates to the Madagascar School Project, a twin educational project affiliated with MindWare Academy, his mom’s employer.

“It’s nice to see how they find their way to help,” says Sharon. “Volunteering is not anything remarkable; it’s just how you live your life.”

The recipient of the Freiman Family Young Leadership Award also receives the Lawrence Greenberg Young Leadership Development Award. This award allows the recipient to attend the General Assembly of United Jewish Communities (GA), where young leaders from across North America are honoured. The GA will be held this year from November 11 to 13 in Baltimore.

Sharon Reichstein, 2012 recipient of the Freiman Family Young Leadership Award.

Scarowsky: ‘Helping is always the right thing to do’ (Continued from page 1)

When the Scarowsky offspring were attending École Maimonides, their dad made it his business to pitch in to make school life better.

“I used to round up used equipment,” he says. “I’d buy used stuff from the school board; things like books, chairs, other discards. It gave the students things they couldn’t have had otherwise.”

Later, when his boys moved on to secondary school studies at the Ottawa Torah Institute and his girls to Machon Sarah, both he and Leah were involved on the boards of the schools.

“Our view always was to help out in any way we could,” he explains.

Several years ago, Scarowsky’s mother came from Montreal to reside at Hillel Lodge. The Lodge not only gained a new resident, it also gained a gabbai for its Shabbat and holiday services.

“Once my mother was here, I began going to services at Hillel Lodge and I’ve been doing it for nine years,” says the devoted son, who is also a past member of the Hillel Lodge Board.

In addition to handing out aliyas at services, Scarowsky makes a point of visiting individual floors on the High Holidays to blow the shofar for those residents who did-

n’t have the opportunity to come down to the chapel. On Sukkot, he visits each resident with the lulav and etrog and, at Pesach, he leads a sample seder at the lodge so that all the residents get a taste of the holiday. He can also be counted on to take photos at the Lodge’s monthly birthday parties.

After he retired in 2005, Scarowsky became active with the Chevra Kadisha. In addition to doing taharas, he sits on the Chevra Kadisha board. He also sits on the board of the Kollel of Ottawa.

Scarowsky lends his time to help other worthy organizations when they have specific needs, and no deed is too large or too small for his consideration. At Purim, he often helps JET deliver Mishloach Manot orders to homes around the city.

Scarowsky is quick to point out that he is not alone in his good works.

“A lot of what I do is done with my wife’s support and co-operation,” he says. “And she, too, is involved in many organizations.

With us, it’s really a family thing.”

Issie and Leah have four children, two in Israel, one in New Jersey and one in Ottawa.

Tragically, a fifth child was killed in an automobile accident. They are also the proud grandparents of 10 grandchildren.

“It’s very nice that the community chooses to recognize its volunteers, but helping is always the right thing to do,” says Scarowsky.

“The award is superfluous, but very nice.

I hope that it serves as an example to others to volunteer their time, too.”

Not too late for two-state solution

By Michael Regenstreif Yariv Oppenheimer, the general director of Peace Now in Israel, visited Ottawa, May 1, and spoke at Temple Israel in an event co-sponsored by the synagogue and Canadian Friends of Peace Now. Oppenheimer’s answer was no, it is not too late. “There is no point at which it becomes impossible.”

In fact, he presented a surprisingly optimistic prediction that “eventually, we’ll win,” meaning that Israel and the Palestinians will eventually arrive at the two-state solution.

A two-state solution, said Oppenheimer, was essential if Israel is to maintain its sta-

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tus as both a Jewish and democratic state.

Without a two-state solution, he said, Israel would eventually have to annex the West Bank under one of two possible scenarios.

“The first option would be to give Israeli citizenship to the Palestinian population.”

This, he said, would be a democratic solution, but one that would spell the end of Israel as a Jewish state. “It would be the end of Zionism.”

“The second option would be to annex the West Bank and not grant citizenship to the Palestinians.”

This option would allow Israel to remain a Jewish state, “but would not be a democratic solution.”

Those options, said Oppenheimer, should not be on the table. There is a broad consensus among Israelis in favour of two states.

The Peace Now director also spoke of the price that would have to be paid in arriving at a two-state solution.

Between 80,000 and 100,000 settlers would have to be relocated, he said, in reference to Israeli settlers not living in the settlements close to the Green Line, which would be ceded to Israel in return for equiv-

alent land swaps to the Palestinians in a peace agreement. Such relocations could ignite clashes between Israelis.

“But the price of not solving the conflict,” he said, “would be one state that is either non-democratic or non-Jewish,” neither of which would be acceptable.

Oppenheimer also warned that a failure to reach a two-state solution would ultimately result in a Middle East left to religious fundamentalists.

“If the conflict continues,” he said, “progressive secularists on both sides will leave.” These, he added, are the people with the financial resources to leave should they decide to.

Oppenheimer also lamented “the limiting of democratic values” reflected in several measures adopted by the Israeli government over the last few years.

“There is a new fight for democracy inside Israel,” he said.

Among the anti-democratic measures Oppenheimer specified were laws aimed at suppressing support for boycotts, including boycotts of settlements, or which would rescind funding from groups who regard the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 as a nakba (catastrophe).

May 21, 2012 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 3

Page 4 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – May 21, 2012

Four Israeli shlichim coming to Camp B’nai Brith

By Louise Rachlis Four of the counsellors at Camp B’nai Brith of Ottawa (CBB) this summer will be shlichim.

Shlichim (Hebrew for emissaries) are Israeli community representatives serving in Jewish communities around the world.

The goal of the Summer Shlichim Program of the Jewish Agency for Israel is to send trained, experienced leaders from Israel to bring Israeli spirit and culture to Jewish summer camps, and to strengthen personal connections between Israelis, campers and staff.

CBB director Jonathan Pivnick was in Israel last month for a training session with the shlichim who will be coming to the camp. There, he taught the Israelis about Canadian kids, camps and customs and what to expect. “Shlichim have come to the camp on and off for years,� says Pivnick, “but we hadn’t had any for four years.

I kept hearing from other camp directors of the Foun-

CBB director Jonathan Pivnick (second from left) at Kibbutz Shefayim in Israel with the four shlichim who will be counsellors at the camp this summer.

dation for Jewish Camps what a good idea it was. They serve two purposes, to fulfil our counsellor needs and to bring some Israeli culture to our Jewish camps.�

There is a giant hiring pool in January in Israel.

While Pivnick didn’t attend that gathering, he inter-

viewed pre-screened candidates via Skype.

The week-long spring training session was held at Kibbutz Shefayim and attended by almost 1,000 shlichim bound for Jewish summer camps around the world – 25 of whom are coming to Canada.

Once again, the Annual Passover Lunch was a definite success.

The Ottawa Chapter of CFHU would like to thank the Sponsors and Patrons whose support makes this event possible.

Our Passover Lunch Event Sponsor

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“We were divided into groups, and I was the only director from Canadian over-

night camps who attended the training session. I brought the Canadian perspective to people coming to Canada, most for the first time.�

CBB is getting three male counsellors and one female.

Or Glazer, Dor Hollander, Nir Dadi and Netta Gampel have all completed their army service recently, so are around 21 or 22 years old. “They will be working with our younger children, age seven to 12.�

Shlichim come to camp highly motivated to contribute effectively on both a professional and social level.

They educate campers and staff about Israel’s culture, history and people.

As well as contributing to communities abroad, shlichim return to Israel with a better understanding of the

diversity of Jewish life. “I was looking for mature, responsible decision-makers who would make good counsellors,� says Pivnick.

He is very pleased with the shlichim who will be working at CBB this summer. “They are bringing a real, modern cultural aspect to Camp B’nai Brith of Ottawa.

We are looking at our Jewish identity, and this is one of the ways we’ll be doing it.�

While he was in Israel, Pivnick also connected with shlichim who sing and dance and will be going to a JCC day camp in Toronto. “I’ve invited them to come and make a shabbaton at Camp B’nai Brith of Ottawa.�

For more information about Camp B’nai Brith of Ottawa, visit cbbottawa.com or call 613-244-9210.

Peres praises Canada during official visit (JTA) – Israeli President Shimon Peres on a state visit to Canada praised the country and the prime minister as “an extraordinary friend.� “Your remarks about Israel are outstanding. It really moved [the] hearts of our people,� Peres told the staunchly pro-Israel Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Ottawa, May 7.

In an earlier meeting with Governor General David Johnston, Peres lauded Canada as a nation that “offers a new beginning, building bridges and closing gaps. Israel, which is a start-up nation,

breathes your air with real thirst.�

The next day, Peres and Johnston presided over the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Royal Society of Canada and the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Peres then planted a tree on the grounds of Rideau Hall.

Peres recalled his first visit to Canada 60 years ago and “the deep friendship that has existed between our peoples from our first day of independence.�

The 88-year-old Peres visited Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal during his five day state visit.

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Page 6 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – May 21, 2012

It’s time to walk or run in support of Jewish education On your mark, get set, let’s go!

On Sunday, June 10, our community will come together to support Jewish education in Ottawa. Walkathon has been an Ottawa Jewish community tradition for more than 40 years, with some exciting new twists that were introduced at last year’s very successful event.

The Am Echad Walk/Run for Jewish Education 2012 is not your typical walkathon. It is set up as a one-kilometre walk/run or a three-kilometre run for those who like the challenge of a little more distance. Registered participants will receive a personalized race bib and a timing chip that will record their actual time in completing the event. Walk for fun or run to set your best time – the choice is yours.

Following the walk/run is the popular Family Fun Zone filled with activities for people of all ages and, of course, the healthy post-run brunch buffet catered by Creative Kosher that is open to all registered participants.

So, why should you participate?

You may want to participate because your friends will all be there. Or maybe because you graduated from one of the Jewish schools the event will support. Or

Federation Report Mitch Miller Walkathon perhaps you are an avid race-participant who wants to take part in the only kosher race in Ottawa. Hopefully, we will see you at the Walkathon – for all of those reasons and more.

I, my fellow co-chairs Cindy Smith and Julie Ross, and our committee, hope you will register, fundraise and participate for the same reasons we were inspired to get involved – because we believe in Jewish education in Ottawa and we believe the choices we make today will impact our children tomorrow.

It’s easy for people to meet behind closed doors and discuss what we should do to promote Jewish education in our community. But, unless we are prepared to put our money where our children’s feet are, we shouldn’t expect those children to grow up with the same sense of

Every dollar raised in pledges will go to the school the registered participant has chosen.

It really is that simple.

Jewish community we enjoyed.

Studies tell us that children who receive a quality Jewish education have a better chance of being connected to their Jewish community when they are older. It seems so simple.

The challenge for many of our Jewish schools is funding. It is not a lack of excellent teachers or an enriching educational experience – the proof is found by looking at the graduates of our schools and where they are today. Graduates of Jewish schools in Ottawa are successful on many levels and many have become community leaders.

It is time that we all stand up, register, fundraise and participate. If you received a Jewish education, we need you to join us for Walkathon on June 10. We need you to do what you are able to, to ensure the next generation – your children and grandchildren, your nieces and nephews – has the same Jewish foundation you received.

It’s easy to register. Just visit amechadwalkrun.com and click on the tab for “registration.” You will be asked to choose a Jewish school in Ottawa to support. Registration fees cover the costs of the event. Participants will fundraise by getting pledges from family and friends around the world. Every dollar raised in pledges will go to the school the registered participant has chosen. It really is that simple.

Last year, every Jewish school in Ottawa participated, and more than 500 community members walked and ran to support Jewish education in Ottawa. This year, we expect every school to participate again – and we are confident we’ll see you there!

See you at the starting line – and at the finish line!

Bells and whistles and Jewish education What would have happened had the Torah been given at Sinai without the accompanying sounds of the shofar, thunder and the appearance of lightning? What if this momentous event we commemorate on Shavuot was anything but momentous?

There is no doubt that the ancient equivalent of the modern day bells and whistles present at Sinai were as essential as the actual giving of the Torah. Drama, excitement and trepidation were experienced by the people of Israel on the sixth of Sivan so many thousands of years ago when they heard God speak the words of the Ten Commandments.

In contrast to the drama of Matan Torah, the instruction students receive in relation to the Ten Commandments and other aspects of the Torah and of our faith is usually, at best, dispassionate and, at worst, downright boring. Unless there is a teacher who displays passion and emotion when he or she teaches our children in the ways of Torah, the likelihood of that student being excited by what he or she learns is slim indeed.

While we focus on the diminishing demographics of Jewish student enrolment in formalized Jewish educational programming ranging from day school to afternoon school, we have not spent enough time examining who is actually doing the teaching of our religious values and tradition. While we concentrate on finding the necessary funds to enable schools to survive financially, we are neglecting the quality and character of the instructor who may not be qualified or committed to teaching the tenets of our faith.

In addition to the shortage of necessary

From the pulpit Rabbi Howard Finkelstein Beit Tikvah funding and falling enrolments, there is a shortage of qualified teaching personnel who can inculcate in our students a love of Judaism. Expertise in Hebrew language instruction does not guarantee Torah teaching competency, much as knowledge of biblical Hebrew does not ensure appropriate teaching qualification in modern conversational Hebrew.

The ultra-Orthodox communities are blessed with teachers and rabbis who are passionate about their teaching tasks and opportunities in their respective schools, even if, at times, they may not be qualified professionally. In many cases, their passion and commitment override any professional shortfall. As of late, the modern Orthodox populations are waking up to the reality of preparing teachers to go into their schools with, ideally, the same passion of their counterparts in the haredi world. The Conservative and Reform movements are doing the same.

But there is a limit as to how many of these teachers can be found and trained.

Large communities attract these individuals, while midsize and smaller ones suffer. In Ottawa, unfortunately, a project to pair our

community with a university Jewish studies teacher training program did not receive the necessary support a few years ago when the idea was presented. We are still suffering from that lack of interest.

School growth does not occur only in increased student enrolment or more monies being raised. The growth has to start from within the school culture. Teachers in our day and afternoon schools must be willing to undergo continued professional development, not only in the latest techniques in technology. Perhaps passion should be taught to our teachers, if such a course could

be envisioned. Teacher study in the various Judaic disciplines should be a sine qua non.

If a teacher refuses to immerse him or herself in intensive Jewish learning in terms of gaining in knowledge and not simply pedagogic technique, that teacher has no business being in this field. Our students depend on our teachers for their Sinaitc inspiration.

When they teach Torah, our teachers today have to be the symbolic lightning, thunder and shofar sounds our ancestors heard at Sinai, so that the words they teach our students will be more than words, but the message of God.

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May 21, 2012 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 7

An inspiring visit by Israel’s elder statesman It was quite extraordinary – if not awe-inspiring – to watch Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shimon Peres, the State of Israel’s remarkable president and elder statesman, in action over the two days he spent in Ottawa during his official state visit to Canada, May 6 to 10.

At 88, Peres is the world’s oldest head of state, but he seems more than able to maintain a gruelling schedule of travel, meetings, speaking engagements and events that would wear out many half his age.

I was on hand for several of Peres’ Ottawa events, beginning with a Monday morning welcoming ceremony in front of Rideau Hall.

The ceremony was filled with pomp and circumstance.

With Governor General David Johnston and a long line of dignitaries, including Foreign Minister John Baird and Israeli Ambassador Miriam Ziv and a Canadian Armed Forces honour guard and military band there to greet him – as well as an invited gallery of Jewish community leaders and students from the Ottawa Jewish Community School – the Israeli president’s car arrived at Rideau Hall accompanied by Mounties on horseback.

Peres was sure-footed as he inspected the honour guard, greeted the dignitaries, listened to the governor general’s speech,

Editor Michael Regenstreif made a speech of his own, and then did a royal-style walkabout to greet the invited guests.

In his remarks, Peres spoke warmly, in both French and English, about “the uninterrupted friendship that your people have shown towards my people from the very first day of our statehood.”

He also recalled his first visit to Canada, more than 60 years ago, when he was sent here by then-prime minister David Ben-Gurion to buy arms for the nascent state.

After the ceremony, the president and governor general held a private meeting inside Rideau Hall. But Peres was soon on the move again – to Parliament Hill where he was greeted by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in front of Centre Block.

Stepping inside, there was another brief welcoming ceremony where Peres signed the Parliamentary guest books before going into a private meeting with Harper in the prime minister’s office.

During his visit to Ottawa, Peres also held meetings with Opposition Leader Thomas Mulcair and Interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae. All three of Canada’s major party leaders are well regarded as supportive friends of the State of Israel.

Other events during the Israeli president’s time in Ottawa included a state dinner in his honour at Rideau Hall, a meeting with academics on joint scientific collaboration between Israeli and Canadian institutions, which culminated in the signing of a memo of understanding between the Royal Society of Canada and the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and a ceremonial tree planting on the grounds of Rideau Hall.

As Canadian Jews, most of us have planted trees in Israel – if not literally, then through donations. But here was the president of Israel planting a tree in Canada. Quite appropriately for a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has dedicated much of his later career to the peace process, the tree was an Eastern White Pine, which the Iroquois call the ‘Tree of Peace.’

His final event before moving on to Toronto and Montreal was a reception for 600 people hosted by Ambassador Ziv at the National Gallery attended by diplomats, cabinet ministers and MPs, Supreme Court justices, academics,

journalists, military officials and Jewish community leaders.

Peres gave a long riveting speech at the reception. Holding the microphone in his hand, he spoke without a script or even notes. He talked about the State of Israel in both historical and contemporary terms, about Israel’s enduring friendship with Canada and about his past visits here. He spoke about a rapidly changing Middle East and, at length, about science and technology, making predictions about breakthroughs a decade or so away. He even cracked a couple of jokes. An amazing performance that earned sustained ovations from the highpowered audience.

As I mentioned, Peres is Israel’s elder statesman. He has been at the very centre of Israeli political life for all of Israel’s history. First as an adviser to Ben-Gurion, and his emissary, and then as a member of the Knesset, influential cabinet minister, and prime minister – he was acting prime minister for several months in 1977 and held the office officially from 1984 to 1986 and 1995 to 1996 – and now as president, Israel’s head of state.

When I heard Shimon Peres speak about the future and confidently envision a Middle East of peace and co-operation, the vision seemed like it really could come to be.

Pride and pigheadedness usually win the day in politics ‘A little out of whack’ is one way to try to describe what’s going on in Canadian politics. After all, the new leader of the NDP is a former Quebec Liberal cabinet minister, while the interim leader of the Liberal Party is a former NDP premier of Ontario. The pieces of the puzzle are not always easy to put together.

Since winning the NDP leadership, Thomas Mulcair must be sleeping well at night. The new leader of the Opposition has a full three years to prepare himself and his party for the next election and has many important attributes working in his favour.

First and foremost, he is a proven professional with noteworthy and proven abilities as a communicator and as a political strategist. On top of that, he has time, 48 months, to mould all that potential to achieve his goal – simply put – to think, sound and look like a prime minister three years from now. He has more than enough time to build his team. He even has the time to make mistakes and learn from them.

With the perfectly bilingual Mulcair ensconced as leader of the Opposition, Bob Rae and the Liberals can’t be sleeping very well. The panel discussions on the news networks, the blogs and the

Jason Moscovitz tweets are all beginning to drum up the same questions in regards to the relevance of the Liberal Party, regardless of who is the Liberal leader. It is the second time in modern political history that the Liberal Party faces questions about its future viability. Liberals also heard predictions of their demise after John Turner’s terrible defeat in 1984.

Going into the 1988 election, Maclean’s magazine had a cover story with a caption suggesting NDP leader Ed Broadbent was poised to become the next prime minister. But, at the time, many people thought anyone who predicted the death of the de facto governing political party in Canada was making a grave mistake, and history proved them right.

This time, I don’t hear a lot of people defending, in the same knee jerk kind of way, the automatic survival chances of the Liberals.

The fact is, on a daily basis, the Liberal Party can only look bad if Mulcair and the NDP look good. As the third party in Parliament, the Liberals have fewer opportunities to shine and, in some cases, little chance to even be heard.

What must really horrify Liberals is the thought that Mulcair, who is hardly a lifelong member of the NDP, can actually make the NDP look more like the Liberal Party. He can move his party to the liberal centre incrementally. If all goes well, NDP hardliners will be smelling 24 Sussex and the hardliners on the left won’t be protesting. The mere thought of being in power is amazing medicine.

The Liberals face a daunting challenge as they look forward to the election three years from now. It is hard to even contemplate going from third to first. The NDP represents the only competition the Liberals have because Bob Rae’s Liberals are not in the same league as the Conservatives, and it is difficult to see that changing anytime soon.

Another factor eating away at Liberal credibility is all the talk suggesting the NDP and the Liberals should merge, or at least not run against each other in every riding.

The argument is simple enough. The

Liberals and the NDP will split the vote and the Conservatives will keep winning majorities.

Because the Liberals are the weak sister in the present context, it is really difficult to see them agreeing to anything before the next election. And, if they ever did, it is hard to see how it would be accomplished in a timely fashion.

The irony here is how Jean Chrétien and the Liberal Party feasted on conservatives splitting the vote when the Reform Party was around. Chrétien won majority governments in 1993, 1997 and 2000 while conservatives – split between the Progressive Conservative Party and the Reform Party – ate each other up. In Ontario, the Liberals were winning more than 100 seats. The combined opposition was winning fewer than 10 seats in Ontario.

It took the two conservative parties three bitter election defeats to get the message. Political pride and pigheadedness will usually win the day in politics regardless of how bitter tasting splitting the vote can be.

And, yes, like Chrétien, Stephen Harper can continue winning majority governments with more Canadians voting against his party than voting for it.

Page 8 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – May 21, 2012

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 e-mail him at mregenstreif@ottawajewishbulletin.com.

Mailbag Jewish Heritage Month On behalf of the Government of Ontario, I am delighted to extend warm greetings to everyone marking Jewish Heritage Month.

Ontario’s tremendous cultural and religious diversity is what gives our province its strength and vitality. The Jewish Canadian community is a dynamic and valued part of Ontario, and contributes greatly to the social, cultural and economic life of our province.

May 2012 marks the first official Jewish Heritage Month in Ontario, following the passage in the legislature of the Jewish Heritage Month Act, 2012. This is an ideal opportunity for Jewish Canadians to honour their history and identity and for Ontarians from all backgrounds to learn more about the many ways in which Jewish Canadians have helped to define and distinguish our province. All Ontarians join the Jewish Canadian community in celebrating this important occasion.

Please accept my sincere best wishes for a memorable inaugural Jewish Heritage Month.

Dalton McGuinty Premier Writing from a safe vantage point Mira Sucharov’s column concerning how Jews in the Diaspora demonstrate their care for Israel brings up many valid points (Values, Ethics, Community, May 7). However, is it possible that, with the best of intentions, she fails to demonstrate her care for Israel herself? In past columns, she has provided background information about who she is as a person to

bulletin@ottawajewishbulletin.com better help us understand her point of view. She has told us that she likes to read a lot of the information provided by the Huffington Post and New York Times both of which promote a particular point of view and probably confirm the things she and her colleagues discuss.

It is hard to be truly impartial, and Sucharov’s Baba has provided a gentle and loving reminder of the obligation that professors and teachers (and columnists) have when presenting information. It can be difficult to maintain a balanced point of view when living in the cosseted walls of academe; forgeting that even well-educated people can be swayed by propaganda (videos of brutality) is also a danger.

Sucharov gives us her opinions from a safe vantage point. She lives in a nice neighbourhood, works in a safe, clean environment with well-mannered, law-abiding citizens around her. She has not chosen to raise her children or expose herself to a rougher neighbourhood. This is all very understandable. She has been lucky enough to grow up here in Canada. Many of our brethren have not and have fled to a safe haven in the midst of a very bad neighbourhood to join those who are brave and patriotic enough to stay there.

Israel may have done things that are worthy of criticism, but criticism alone does not constitute support. Much of the criticism currently on display could well lead to the destruction of Israel.

To Sucharov, I say, choose your words wisely, and perhaps, listen to your wise Baba. She has probably lived in tougher neighbourhoods than you ever have.

Barbara Okun

Women’s service marks Rosh Chodesh

By Donna Strauss and Jenny Roberge for Beth Shalom For more than a year, Congregation Beth Shalom has been marking Rosh Chodesh with a women’s service. Davening is followed by a d’var researched, prepared and presented by a woman of the congregation.

To herald Iyar, and to mark Yom Ha’Atzmaut as well as Shavuot, Muriel Benlolo translated the d’var into a cooking lesson and demonstration calling on the rich and ancient traditions of the Jews of Morocco.

Muriel illustrated each step into the preparation of a complete Moroccan-inspired Jewish meal, from appetizers to couscous to desserts and mint tea, a traditional drink in the Middle East.

As chef, Muriel showed how the various dishes are prepared and the spices and tastes married. She clearly outlined the crucial cooking steps towards the final delicious result: a confluence of blended flavours in potato and spinach phyllo appetizers, Israeli and Moroccan salads, chicken with orange and apricot sauce and couscous served with roasted vegetables, cooked dried fruits and caramelized onions and currants. For dessert, everyone enjoyed dates, prunes and walnuts stuffed with sweet almond paste.

For the occasion, Muriel dressed in a bright Moroccan kaftan, while traditional music played in the background and exotic decorations and carpets transformed the shul’s ballroom.

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May 21, 2012 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 9

Israeli Film Festival returns with five movies starting May 31

Advertorial

JEWISH NATIONAL FUND More than trees 613.798.2411

Oliver Javanpour president

Celebrating Independence Day Those of you attending the Yom Ha’Atzmaut celebrations at the CE Centre in Ottawa who came by the JNF booth must have seen Susan Schwartzman hard at work at the table. Joining Susan from JNF Montreal was David Smajovits who helped me and other board members, along with my daughter, distribute JNF Blue Boxes.

JNF and its trees played a large role in Israel’s Independence Day this year. More than a million visitors filled KKL-JNF’s forests, parks and recreation areas during the celebrations. Together with the two million visitors to KKL-JNF sites over the Passover holiday, KKLJNF saw a record three million visitors at its sites for these two freedom festivals.

The festive torch lighting ceremony on Mount Herzl for the 64th Independence Day of Israel featured the theme of water as the source of life. Moshe Cohen, Director of the KKL-JNF Projects Development Division, was one of the 13 torch lighters this year, in recognition of his work on the construction of reservoirs.

In his words of appreciation as he lit the torch, Cohen said, “I am honoured to light this torch on the 64th Independence Day of the State of Israel, in honour of our ability to create and implement solutions that help alleviate the scarcity of natural resources, fertile soil and available water for agricultural and domestic use; in honour of the donors and employees of the Zionist institutions since their establishment until today, who contribute to the redemption of our people by their daily efforts; in honour of our country, its landscapes and its open spaces, may we have the wisdom to make it a land of milk and honey, as written in the book of books; and for the glory of the State of Israel.”

In a somewhat less poetic mode, KKL-JNF foresters greeted holiday vacationers by distributing garbage bags and instructing their guests on the rules of fire safety.

Over 400 tons of garbage was collected by the end of Independence Day, helping to protect the vegetation and wildlife. Post celebration, KKL-JNF foresters combed the forests and parks all over Israel putting out coals and campfires that had not been totally extinguished, preventing wildfires that might have quickly undone all the work of the garbage collection brigade and many years of tree planting. My guess is that there will be more fire safety training next year.

A more contemplative event was the March of the Living participants in Israel honouring our 110th anniversary as well. This event took place at the Latrun Armored Corps Museum at the conclusion of Independence Day. Thousands of young people, many who participated thanks to KKL-JNF offices worldwide, participated in the moving ceremony. After visiting the death camps and participating in the March of the Living in Poland, they arrived in Israel and were hosted by KKLJNF for a week of events and activities. The March of the Living participants concluded their journey with celebrations for Israel’s 64th Independence Day. 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 Maxine Miska Soloway JCC The ninth annual Israeli Film Festival takes place May 31 to June 14 in the auditorium at 395 Wellington Street.

Four of the five selections depict dysfunctional families, not an unusual theme for Jewish arts and letters, but these Israeli films are laced with biblical allusions both overt and oblique, which provide resonance and depth. Repentance, the concept of teshuvah (return to one’s true self) is threaded through these features.

In the opening film, Mabul/The Flood (Thursday, May 31, 7:00 pm), directed by Guy Nattiv, Yoni is preparing for his bar mitzvah, practising the Torah section, Noah. When Tomer, his autistic brother, is suddenly sent home from an institution, relations in his fragmented family become chaotic. Yoni, the most responsible member of the family, finds a way to communicate with Tomer through his Haftarah portion. The story of Noah and the rituals of Jewish life buoy the community at this small seaside moshav in a test of righteousness.

In Restoration (Sunday, June 3, 7:00 pm), directed by Yossi Madmony, Jacob is a restorer of antique furniture in Tel Aviv being pressured by his lawyer son, Noah, to sell the failing business. Anton, a pianist fleeing his family and musical career, becomes Jacob’s apprentice and wooer of Noah’s heavily pregnant daughter, Chava, a former Israeli teen idol, who no longer sings. While not an allegory of the story of Jacob and Esau, Restoration depicts the struggle for birthright and a father’s blessing.

My Lovely Sister (Sunday, June 10, 7:00 pm), directed by Marco Carmel, depicts the fraught relationship between two sisters through the prism of Moroccan Jewish folk traditions, where the living and dead continue arguments beyond the grave, and death is no obstacle to reconciliation. Rahma is a fierce, bitter woman. Her husband Robert is a philanderer. Rahma refuses to be reconciled with her sister Marie, who she feels disgraced the family by marrying an Arab.

After her death, Marie returns to resolve this unfinished business. The magic realism is counterweighted by the powerful, naturalistic acting of the women who won Ophir – the Israeli Oscar – awards for their performances.

Director Doron Eran and his partner, screenwriter Bili Ben Moshe, were moved to create Melting Away (Thursday, June 14, 7:00 pm) following the brutal shooting at the Tel Aviv LGBT Youth Centre in 2009 and the refusal of parents to visit their wounded children in hospital. When Shlomo

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discovers his teenage son cross-dresses, he locks him out of the house, against the weak protests of his wife Gallia. Four years later, when Shlomo is dying of cancer, Gallia hires a detective to find her son. That son no longer exists, but a young woman, Anna, appears at the hospital as a private nurse and companion for Shlomo and begins a process that returns the family to wholeness and reconciliation.

The documentary Dolphin Boy (Thursday, June 14, 9:00 pm), directed by Danny Menken, is a tale of return, redemption and justice. Arab-Israeli teenager Morad is traumatized by a severe beating, left unable to speak and even look at another human being. His devoted father, unwilling to commit him to a mental institution, sells property and chooses an innovative therapy program involving swimming with dolphins at Eilat’s Dolphin Reef. Over five years, Morad learns to live with the dolphins, entering an underwater world safer than the world of men. Dolphin Boy is a journey propelled by the love of Morad’s dedicated parents and the therapists and trainers who work with him. It is a journey of healing and, finally, of return to his family and village and of justice as Morad successfully testifies against his attackers.

All of the films will be screened with English subtitles.

Tickets will be available at the door for $12 (general admission) or $8 for members of Canadian Film Institute or the Soloway Jewish Community Centre (members must present their membership cards) and seniors and students (with ID).

The Israeli Film Festival is sponsored by the Israel Cultural Forum (Vered Israel Cultural and Educational Program, the Embassy of Israel, the Jewish Federation of Ottawa and the Canada-Israel Cultural Foundation) and the Canadian Film Institute. For more information contact Penni Namer at pnamer@jccottawa.com or 613-798-9818, ext. 243.

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What’s happening at

Congregation Beth Shalom Every Sunday

Rabbi’s Lecture Series

9:30-10:30 am

Rashi on the Torah

First Sunday each Month

Rabbi’s Lecture Series

10:30-11:30 am

Critical Thinkers of the Conservative Movement

Thursday, May 24

Torah on Tap with Rabbi Scott Rosenberg for interns/grad/med/law students

Blue Cactus, 5:30 pm

Saturday, May 26

Torah Learning for Shavuot

9:30-11:30 pm

Join Rabbi Rosenberg, Cantor Benlolo and Michael Kent for a Tikun L’eil Shavuot

Watch for more upcoming Community Traditionalevents Shabbat Dinner

Friday, June 15 6:00 pm

Everyone is Welcome!

Welcoming Anita Almstedt, our new Director of Administration and Operations

For more information, please contact the synagogue at 613-789-3501 or info@bethshalom.ca www.bethshalom.ca

Page 10 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – May 21, 2012

Guest Column

OJCS is running and walking for Jewish education

By Sheldon Friedman Ottawa Jewish Community School One June 10, our community will come together for the Am

Echad Walk/Run for Jewish Education.

At the Ottawa Jewish Community School (OJCS), we are encouraging all our students and

teachers to sign up for this significant community event.

Our goal is to reach 100 per cent participation and to show the larger Jewish community how im-

portant Jewish education is for our school community.

Our students are challenging each other to sign up in order to raise funds for our school. Every

Bob Rae says two-state solution is best

By Louise Rachlis Bob Rae said he is “absolutely convinced” the two-state solution is “the best solution for Israel and the Palestinians” and would allow the two peoples to move forward, living beside each other in security and peace.

The interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada was speaking, April 29, at Temple Israel.

His topic was “The Status of the Middle East.”

Rae, who met with Benjamin Netanyahu when the Israeli prime minister was in Ottawa in March, said the need for clarity is critical for both sides.

“They have two different ideas of what those states would look like. Canada should help define those states …We should be talking to the leadership in the Arab world as well as to Israel … It’s going to take a lot more work.”

Rae first went to Israel as a member of Parliament in 1979.

He prefaced his remarks by saying, “I have to say to everyone in this audience that, when the prime minister says Bob Rae is anti-Israel, that’s outrageous. It’s a big mistake to turn the issue of

Israel into a partisan issue … This is a terrible thing and I intend to challenge it. It’s not possible to have a serious discussion if you take that line of thinking. I still maintain the strongest ties and support of Israel.”

He added, “If I have a disagreement with Nicolas Sarkozy, it’s not because I don’t believe in the state of France.”

Rae has spent a great deal of time travelling in the Arab world. He said the West Bank is “pretty stable” at present. “After all the ups and downs, and violence and terrorist attacks, you now have centred in Ramallah a very viable ‘statelet,’ not a state.”

According to Rae, Israel and the Palestinians are talking with each other.

“There are discussions. Everyone is talking to someone. They just aren’t formal discussions,” he said. “The Palestinians I’ve talked to accept a two-state solution. They say it’s the only way ‘we can be ourselves and they [the Israelis] can be them themselves.’”

Rae said there is no question about Israel’s right to exist. The difficulty is that, until Israel

comes to terms with the settlement issue, it will be hard to determine the boundaries for a twostate solution.”

It won’t be easy, because of the lack of support and consensus among people in the street.

Rae also said he doesn’t think peace and tolerance will emerge from the transformational changes occurring elsewhere in the Middle East.

“Not at all. Fundamentalism represses its own people. A government that takes that approach can’t be sustained in the modern world.”

Iran, he said, is the worst example.

“They treat their people abominably. Every religious and other minority is seriously repressed.”

The clock is ticking, Rae said in regard to Iran’s quest to become a nuclear power and the Iranian leadership’s statements about the extermination of Israel.

“It’s important for us to be very sober in our assessment of what’s going on.”

Rae said Canadian support for secular education and public schools in Afghanistan and elsewhere can help combat indoctrination and hatred.

day, we are pleased to see our participation thermometer rise.

OJCS’ mission is dedicated to enriching the life of our students along with strengthening their character and their love for Israel.

Inspired by Jewish values and heritage, by a love of learning and teaching excellence, our students are reaching for their potential to become the leaders of tomorrow and responsible citizens of the world.

As a lifelong educator and leader in Jewish education, this is something I believe is of primary importance to a thriving Jewish community.

Our students support this goal and understand how attaining it will enrich their lives and the lives of their friends and families.

In the next few weeks, your children and grandchildren may come knocking – or e-mailing – asking for your support.

We hope you will contribute what you can to enhance and improve this important community resource.

To learn more about the walk, visit amechadwalkrun.com.

May 21, 2012 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 11 The Chair and Board of Directors of the Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation cordially invite all fund holders and members of the Community to attend the

OJCF Annual General Meeting Wednesday, June 13th, 2012 Doors Open: 7:00 pm Call to Order: 7:30 pm Dessert Reception to follow proceedings Zelikovitz Family Social Hall of The Joseph and Rose Ages Family Building 21 Nadolny Sachs Private

Prime Minister Stephen Harper presents the Righteous Among the Nations certificate to the family of Karolina Juszczykowska at the National Holocaust Remembrance Day Ceremony, April 23, at the Canadian War Museum.

(PMO photo: Deb Ransom)

Righteous Among the Nations honoured at national ceremony

By Benita Baker Calling anti-Semitism a deadly moral sickness that is a threat not only to Jews, Prime Minister Stephen Harper spoke to Holocaust survivors, politicians, dignitaries, students and members of the public gathered, April 23, at the Canadian War Museum for the National Holocaust Remembrance Day Ceremony.

“Anti-Semitism kills the lives and security of its victims, the consciences of its perpetrators, the integrity of those who fail to speak out, of those who counsel a false peace, of those who seek refuge in moral equivalence,” said Harper.

“Truly remembering the Holocaust must also be an understanding and an undertaking,” the prime minister stressed. “It is an understanding that the same threats exist today. It is an undertaking of a solemn responsibility to fight those threats.”

The emotionally moving ceremony has been an annual event organized by the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem since Parliament passed a bill establishing Holocaust Memorial Day in 2003.

The theme of this year’s ceremony was My Brother’s Keeper. Fran Sonshine, national chair of the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem, described the theme as “taking responsibility for the welfare of others, an idea which sustained many survivors during the Holocaust and helped them endure another day.”

It also undoubtedly describes the actions of Klaas and Jetske Dreijer, and Karolina Juszczykowska, who were recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem for risking their own and their families’ lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. Harper presented their Canadian descendants with a certificate and a medal.

In her remarks, Israeli Ambassador Miriam Ziv paid tribute to the Righteous Among the Nations who acted “simply because it was the right thing to do.” She pointed out that, although hatred still exists, “the Jewish people will not be broken

by those who seek to destroy us.”

Emphasizing that the day was as much about action as it was about reflection, Ziv said, “I am reminded of three powerful words ‘Am Israel chai’ – the Jewish nation lives on.”

“Today, we remember, but we also must remember to act against anti-Semitism and against intolerance, racism and hatred of any kind,” said Opposition Leader Thomas Mulcair. “The National Holocaust Memorial will stand as a living monument to those who lost their lives. We will always remember, but we will also act.”

In a stirring trilingual speech, MP Irwin Cotler, a former minister of justice, also called for action.

“Jews died in the death camps, but antiSemitism did not,” said Cotler.

To honour the six million Jews who perished and to pay homage to Holocaust survivors, the afternoon’s events included a candle lighting ceremony on the six-branched Yad Vashem candelabra. Candles were lit by Holocaust survivors, second and third generation Holocaust survivors, the families of the Righteous honourees, as well as by dignitaries and representatives of the Zachor Coalition, a group of 30 organizations that works with the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem to organize the ceremony. The Jewish Federation of Ottawa, Hillel Ottawa and the Shoah Committee of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa are members of the Coalition.

In an especially poignant moment, all the children in attendance, including some toddlers, walked to the stage carrying yellow flowers and laid them at the base of the candelabra; the flowers symbolizing life after the Shoah and yellow signifying the yellow stars worn by Jews under the Nazi regime.

The sombre ceremony concluded with moving renditions of “Kel Maleh Rachamim” and “Kaddish” by Cantor Moshe Kraus, himself a Holocaust survivor, followed by a moment of silence and the blowing of the shofar

by Rabbi Reuven Bulka.

At this time, the community is invited to nominate candidates for the Board of Directors.

All nominations from members must be submitted in writing to Rebecca Nagrodski at rnagrodski@ojcf.ca up to seven days (no later than June 06, 2012) prior to the election of the Directors at the Annual General Meeting. Successful candidates will serve a three-year term from June 2012 to June 2015. Nominations will not be accepted from the floor at the Annual General Meeting.

Please send your RSVP prior to May 28, 2012 to Rebecca Nagrodski at 613-798-4696 ext. 252 or at rnagrodski@ojcf.ca A copy of the meeting materials will be available on our website prior to the AGM. www.OJCF.ca

“Our Future is in Your Hands”

Page 12 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – May 21, 2012

Ottawan playing on Israeli team in European lacrosse championships

By Ben Silverman Every week, we have kids trying lacrosse I’m from Ottawa and normally study for the first time. and play lacrosse at Bishop’s University in I have also been working with Israel Lennoxville, Quebec. This past semester, Lacrosse to teach lacrosse clinics at schools though, I was studying at Tel Aviv Univer- and youth organizations around the counsity in a city and the country I love so try. much.

Israel Lacrosse is now preparing for the I wanted to continue playing lacrosse European Lacrosse Championships, June during my time here, but I didn’t even 20-30, in Amsterdam. We’re fielding a know if the game was played in Israel. I men’s team and a women’s team. It will be Googled “Israel lacrosse” and found that a the first time that Israeli lacrosse teams play program was being established to grow the in an international tournament. sport in Israel and to develop a team for the Before the tournament, we’ll have a lacrosse world championships in 2014. training camp in Ashkelon with some highSince arriving in Israel in February, I ly regarded American coaches. Then we’ll have been a member of the Tel Aviv play some exhibition games in Turkey beLacrosse Club, and we recently earned our fore the European Championships. first win as an organization with a victory Helping to establish lacrosse in Israel over the Jerusalem Lacrosse Club. over the past three months has been an inAs a team, we practise once a week, and credible experience. And being a member there is a mix of talent and lacrosse back- of Israel’s first lacrosse team to compete Ben Silverman of Ottawa grounds among the players. Some of my internationally will be a tremendous playing lacrosse in Tel Aviv. teammates are sabras playing the game for honour. the first time and there are also American-born players who have played for top NCAA Division 1 teams.

We practise in a public park, often gaining the atBy Linda Senzilet The annual Spring Tea is famous for its tention of Israeli children for CHW delicious party sandwiches, stunning fruit surprised by the new sport.

The Amit, Mollie Betcherman and Ina platters and exquisite desserts. This year, a McCarthy chapters of Canadian Hadassah- guest auctioneer will conduct a live auction of WIZO (CHW) will honour Dave Smith at our such items as Sens tickets, a painting by local artist Fortunée Shugar, a $100 photography 11th annual Spring Tea. Dave is a renowned Ottawa restaurateur package, gourmet wines and foods, a home and philanthropist and has received numerous and garden basket, health and beauty prodawards for his fundraising achievements. At ucts, a variety of gift certificates, and tickets his investiture as a member of the Order of for recreational and cultural events.

In keeping with Dave’s passion for eduCanada in 1996, Dave was recognized by then governor general Roméo LeBlanc as a cating disadvantaged youth, the proceeds supporter of “a host of organizations from the from this year’s tea will be directed to the Heart Institute to the Union Mission to sub- CHW Netanya Technological High School in stance abuse treatment centres to a recreation Netanya, Israel. Students at the school, many OC Transpo will distribute of whom come from difficult circumstances, centre for Native youth in Davis Inlet.”

200,000 PRESTO cards Dave’s special projects currently include choose from a wide range of vocational trainfree between June 10 and the Ottawa Technical Learning Centre, the ing programs including hairdressing, busiOctober 31, 2012—available Dave Smith Youth Treatment Centre, the Wa- ness management, automotive mechanics, in person and online. bano Centre for Aboriginal Health and the hotel management, media and communicaAboriginal Training Centre. tions, and computer programming. CHW’s ongoing support of this exceptional school ensures that Happy to Serve My Community its students will have a very bright future.

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May 21, 2012 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 13

Guest Column

Women’s mission to Israel focuses on Jewish values

By Nikki Shapiro for JET I was fortunate to be one of 18 women from Ottawa who travelled to Israel for 11 days in November as part of the Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project (JWRP), Transform and Grow (TAG) mission. Our Ottawa group, led by Lauren Shaps and Rochel Goldbaum, was joined by women from seven other cities making a group of about 200 women.

Our journey took us to many of the most popular tourist and historical sites, the places in Israel that have formed the fabric of Jewish culture, history and the Jewish soul. We heard world-renowned Jewish speakers and authors share their stories. Each insightful tour and heart-wrenching speaker reminded us of the core of such Jewish values as humility, sanctity of marriage, importance of family, kindness, involvement in community, acceptance and much more. As I travelled each day, I felt a connection to my history and my homeland.

I want to learn more.

Each day was balanced between sightseeing and learning, which creatively connected the learning to the sites we were visiting as well as focusing on our neshama (soul) and understanding of how we relate to others around us.

We learned about living Jewishly and living with Torah values. To a great extent, I was already living this way, but had no under-

standing of why. I live with high moral standards, honesty, integrity, love and commitment because that was what my parents taught me. The classes and learning gave me an understanding that these are Jewish values.

This trip was ideal. I feel my life has always been an uphill Jewish journey. I am always taking baby steps and learning a little more about our wonderful heritage and customs. I have always had lots of questions and I have always looked for answers. This trip started answering my questions and has motivated me to ask even more.

My JWRP-TAG mission was such an amazing flurry of emotions and opportunities.

Even though my mission is over, I feel my journey in Jewish learning is only beginning.

The 17 women I travelled with are continuing to meet each week to discuss, learn and grow together. Each of these women has inspired me to reach deeper and discover more.

Since my return, I have said to everyone that this trip is “a must” for every young Jewish woman because it has given me the key to ignite my future.

Applications for the 2012 trip, being held November 18 to 28, are now being accepted at jwrp.secure.force.com/apply. Other than the cost of airfare, the trip is free for mothers who have at least one child under the age of 18 living at home. Here’s hoping that together we can light the way for a brighter future for our community and the Jewish people.

(From left) Audrey Kreisman, Margo Blostein, Dawn Molot, Nikki Shapiro, Lisa Tapper during the JWRP-TAG mission to Israel, November 2011.

Employment Opportunity JNF OTTAWA DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT JNF seeks a full time, hands-on Director of Development to oversee the day-to-day operations and to set the stage for continued presence and future growth in Canada’s capital.

Elliot Finkelman ECC - Norma Hochberg - Elissa Cohen - Heidi Pivnick - Lisa Booth

From the perspective of furthering the cause of JNF in Ottawa, this includes identifying new prospects and volunteers, supervising, planning, coordinating, fundraising, and administering the above-described and also includes any suchlike activities, while maintaining a direct link with the office of the JNF Executive Director for Eastern Canada.

For a copy of the full job description, please email: eastcan@jnf.ca.

SUBSCRIPTION LAPSING? MOVING? Don’t miss one issue! Call in to subscribe or with your change of address TODAY!

613-798-4696, ext. 256 or 242

To apply in confidence, please send a cover letter and curriculum vitae to: Gail Grief, Executive Director, Eastern Canada: gail.grief@jnf.ca.

Only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

Page 14 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – May 21, 2012

Die Folkshpieler retrospective celebrates 10th anniversary

By Pamela Rosenberg Soloway JCC The spotlight will shine bright next month on Die Folkshpieler, the Yiddish theatre troupe at the Soloway Jewish Community Centre (JCC), as they take centre stage with their 10th anniversary performance.

Writer and director Shirley Steinberg and Die Folkshpieler have spent a decade entertaining the community with their light and freilach shows comprising skits, music and songs with audience participation, all centred on a particular theme.

“I take a theme like Yiddish proverbs and write a scene that applies to the proverbs,” explains Shirley. “I hesitate to use the word, but it’s street Yiddish; an audience that is not fluent in the language can pick it up and understand.”

This year’s performance Fun Nechten, Biz Heint (From Yesterday Until Today) is a retrospective in which actors perform highlights from past shows including The Un-

married Daughters of Fishel Shechter and Neier Premier Minister, one of the director’s favourites, which centres on a dream.

“In the year 2040, due to the political situation in Europe, many Jewish immigrants came to Ottawa, formed their own political party and won the election,” explains Shirley.

“They elect the first Jewish prime minister and Yiddish is going to be the official language of Canada.”

For Shirley, inspiration comes from everywhere, including from the performances themselves. And, while she writes the majority of the scripts, she says it’s a co-operative process with troupe players Reuben Friedman and David Michaelson lending their talents as well.

“It’s such a joyous and enthusiastic group,” says Shirley of her amateur thespians. “We have a 10year-old boy in the group and his Yiddish sounds great.”

Shirley says she has a love for languages including Spanish, Hebrew and French, but, to her, the

A rehearsal scene from Die Folkshpieler’s 10th anniversary show, to be performed June 17, at the Soloway JCC.

most colourful of them all is Yiddish.

Although she didn’t grow up speaking Yiddish at home, her interest in the language began when she was a young girl listening to her rel-

Shiru Lach Choir to present closing concert, May 29

By Roslyn Wollock Soloway JCC The Shiru Lach Choir will present its annual closing concert, A Musical Mosaic, Tuesday, May 29, 7:30 pm, at the Soloway Jewish Community Centre (JCC).

Conductor Ellen Asherman and accompanist Aviva Lightstone have assembled an eclectic array of songs from genres ranging from liturgical to jazz, sung in Hebrew, Yiddish and English.

The concert marks the end of another successful season during which the choir sang at numerous

Jewish community events and Ottawa retirement residences. For a second year, the Orpheus Choral Group, led by Anne Axworthy, will share the stage as guest choir.

Popular favourites such as Paul Simon’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” and “Bring Him Home” and “I Dreamed a Dream” from the musical Les Misérables are just a few of the songs that promise to delight and entertain audience members of all ages.

The evening culminates with both choirs, 90 voices strong, harmonizing on “The Lion Sleeps

Tonight,” the 1961 hit adapted from Solomon Linda’s South African song, “Mbube,” and a three-part round of the Hebrew folksong “Shalom Chaverim.”

Participation in the Shiru Lach Choir is open to members and nonmembers of the Soloway JCC. To find out more about Ottawa’s largest Jewish folk choir, call 613798-9818, ext. 254.

Tickets for the concert are $10 (adults) and $5 (children 12 and under) and are available at the Soloway JCC front desk and at the door.

atives speak and hearing her father read a love story from the Yiddish newspaper to her mother.

“My mother was reduced to tears and I asked him what made her cry. So I said, ‘read it to me,’ and I picked up some of the vocabulary.”

The Yiddish theatre troupe has a long history at the JCC going back to the Chapel Street years when an informal group first gathered weekly to sing songs, converse and tell stories in Yiddish. They were first

known as Mama Loshen Chevre, then Gelechter Un Gesang. In 2003, they officially became known as Die Folkshpieler.

Die Folkshpieler’s 10th anniversary performance takes place Sunday, June 17, 2:00 pm at the Soloway JCC and will be followed by a reception. Tickets are $10 and available at the Soloway JCC front desk. For more information, contact Roslyn Wollock at 613-798-9818, ext. 254, or rwollock@jccottawa.com.

Fiddler on the Roof in Arnprior James Hrkach as Tevye and Kirsten Carroll Somoza as Golde in a scene from Two Rivers Musical Productions’ community theatre production of Fiddler on the Roof.

The cast and crew are drawn from a variety of local communities including Arnprior, Braeside, Carleton Place, Castleford, Constance Bay, Pakenham, Kanata, Renfrew and Stittsville.

The musical will be performed June 7 to 9, 7:00 pm, nightly, at Arnprior District High School, 59 Ottawa Street, Arnprior, ON. Tickets are available at the Arnprior Book Shop, the Ice Shack and online at tworiversmusicals.ca.

Shiru Lach Choir will sing in Hebrew, Yiddish and English at closing concert.

May 21, 2012 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 15

Rabbis Steven Garten of Temple Israel and Howard Finkelstein of Beit Tikvah at the Yom Ha’Atzmaut celebration.

Many Jewish community organizations had information booths at the Yom Ha’Atzmaut celebration.

Ottawa celebrates 64th Yom Ha’Atzmaut

By Josh Zeliger Ottawa’s Jewish community came out in droves to celebrate the 64th anniversary of the State of Israel as more than 700 people took part in the Yom Ha’Atzmaut festivities, April 26, at the CE Centre.

The family event, organized by the Soloway Jewish Community Centre (JCC) and the Vered Israel Cultural and Educational Program, included buskers, carnival games and inflatable slides.

“We want to attract the young families in Ottawa, the next generation,” said organizer Penni Namer.

Canadian and Israeli flags surrounded the main stage where a DJ played upbeat music and a dance troupe entertained. At the crafts

tables, kids were guided by representatives of the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum.

Jennifer Greenberg, a mother of threeyear-old twins and a five-year-old son, said she has been coming to the event for three years.

“It’s just so much fun for the kids,” said Greenberg. “They have such a good time running around and I don’t have to worry about them in this environment.”

Greenberg brought her whole family, including her husband and mother-in-law.

Namer, an Israeli who moved to Ottawa eight years ago, said the event started at 5:00 pm so that families could spend the evening enjoying the festivities.

“That’s what we do in Israel,” she said.

“Everyone has a big party in the streets together with music, dancing and food.”

An Israeli style buffet catered by Creative Kosher Catering was available for purchase and there was a screening of the film Israel Inside: How a Small Nation Makes a Big Difference in a room adjacent to the main hall.

Many of Ottawa’s Jewish community organizations had booths at the CE Centre during the celebration.

Earlier in the day, Israel’s flag was raised in a ceremony at Marion Dewar Plaza in front of Ottawa City Hall attended by about 150 people. The Yom Ha’Atzmaut flag-raising ceremony marked a return of the event to

a public space. In recent years the flag-raising has taken place on the Jewish Community Campus, but, before the construction of the campus, it was held at the old city hall.

A small group of protesters from Neturei Karta, a fringe group of anti-Zionist haredi Jews based in Monsey, New York, demonstrating near the flag-raising at City Hall and at the entrance to the CE Centre, was largely ignored.

The Yom Ha’Atzmaut celebrations came the day after Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of terror. A solemn Yom Hazikaron ceremony was held, April 24, at the Soloway JCC. (Michael Regenstreif contributed to this report.)

Harvey Glatt: Father of the Ottawa music scene

By Lynne Cohen for the Ottawa Jewish Historical Society Reading through Harvey Glatt’s resumé was like taking a stroll down memory lane for me.

As a teenager, I used to browse through the hundreds of record albums on sale at Glatt’s Treble Clef music store in the Carlingwood Mall.

And with my older brother, I’d go to his Le Hibou coffee house in the ByWard Market to hear listen to musicians and poets perform. I listened to his new CHEZ-FM radio station with a bunch of high school friends as we drove around the neighbourhood in an overcrowded car with absolutely nothing to do but drift away with the music. And with my friend Margot, Glatt’s daughter, I’d walk into his home – the same one he lives in today – and marvel at his vast music collection.

Back in those days, I had no idea of the impact Glatt was having – and would continue to have – as the father of Ottawa’s music scene.

Glatt’s reach, over more than half a century, has encompassed everything from startup businesses to the personal management of famous musicians, from television to philanthropy, and from cultural development to soup kitchens and addiction treatment centres.

He has won many awards and was inducted into the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame in 2007.

Born in Ottawa in 1934, Glatt played piano in a local dance band as a teenager. He also played five-string banjo, drums and guitar. During summer vacation one year, he was an all-night DJ at CFRA, where he was the sole on-air personality, engineer, programmer and newscaster.

He graduated from the Clarkson College of Technology in Potsdam,

New York, in 1956 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.

That same year, he married New Yorker Louise Jaffee, a music and performing arts major who became an accomplished pianist and author.

The couple had three musically talented children.

In 1957, he opened the first Treble Clef record store on Slater Street.

Five years later, a second Treble Clef was opened on Rideau Street. Treble Clef eventually grew into a 15-store chain, which he sold in 1979.

But that was only the beginning.

To learn more about this remarkable man, join the Ottawa Jewish Historical Society for an evening featuring Harvey Glatt in conversation with Ottawa broadcaster Ken Rockburn on Wednesday, June 6, 7:30 pm, at Agudath Israel Congregation, 1400 Coldrey Avenue. There is no charge and refreshments will be served.

Harvey Glatt will discuss his life in the music business at an Ottawa Jewish Historical Society event, June 6.

Page 16 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – May 21, 2012

Guest Column

Canada could lead the way in changing UNRWA mandate

By David Bedein Center for Near East Policy Research Editor’s note: David Bedein, head of the Center for Near East Policy Research in Jerusalem, will give an audiovisual presentation on the Center’s research into UNRWA on Sunday, June 16, 6:00 pm, at Congregation Machzikei Hadas, 2310 Virginia Drive.

For 20 years, Canada has chaired the Refugee Working Group (RWG) in Middle East negotiations and is in a unique position to influence the future of Arab refugees and their descendants who have wallowed in “temporary” refugee facilities run by UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) since

1948 under the premise of a right of return to villages which no longer exist.

Representatives of the Center for Near East Policy Research, which has been investigating UNRWA since 1987, were in Ottawa on March 27 and made an audiovisual presentation on Parliament Hill to MPs on the need to reform UNRWA. A video of the presentation is online at Israelbehindthenews.com.

At the presentation, Canada was encouraged to lead donor nations in stopping the promotion of the right of return. Indeed, UNRWA education now focuses on the right of every descendant of every Arab refugee to realize their right of return by means of

In support of the Bess and Moe Greenberg Family Hillel Lodge In the Joseph and Inez Zelikovitz Long Term Care Centre Card Donations Card donations go a long way to improving the quality of life for our residents. Thank you for considering their needs and contributing to their well-being.

On behalf of the residents and their families, we extend sincere appreciation to the following individuals and families who made card donations to the Hillel Lodge Long-Term Care Foundation between April 18 and May 2, 2012 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 Observance of the Yahrzeit of: Sara Aaron by Ruth and Irving Aaron Bill and Leona Adler Memorial Fund In Memory of: Fanny Gosevitz by Marilyn Adler Elsie Baker Endowment Fund In Honour of: Barb and Andy Benninger by Polly and Jackie Moran and Sammy Jenny and Murray Citron Endowment Fund In Memory of: Lou Goldmaker by Murray Citron R’fuah Shlema: Inez Zelikovitz by Murray Citron

Friedberg and Dale Families Fund In Honour of: Rabbi Zischa and Mrs. Lauren Shaps Mazal tov on the birth of your latest grandson by Elaine Friedberg and Bob Dale Nell Gluck Memorial Fund In Honour of: Stan Labow In appreciation by Manny Gluck and Cheryle Hothersall Barbara Sugarman by Manny Gluck and Cheryle Hotherhsall R’fuah Shlema: Will Newman by Manny Gluck and Cheryle Hothersall Gunner Family Fund In Memory of: Kenny Ain by Sol and Estelle Gunner Morris and Lillian Kimmel Family Fund In Memory of: Linda Devries by Morris Kimmel, Brenda and Nathan Levine and Janet and Steve Kaiman and families Lou Goldmaker by the Kimmel, Kaiman and Levine families R’fuah Shlema: Lily Feig with love by the Kimmel, Kaiman and Levine families In Honour of: Issie Scarowsky Mazal tov on receiving the Shem Tov award by the Kimmel, Kaiman and Levine families Joan and Russell Kronick Family Fund In Memory of: Doris Leibovitch by Joan and Russell Kronick

“armed struggle.”

There are many examples of incitement in the textbooks used in UNRWA schools.

For example, a passage in the Grade 8 textbook, Reading and Texts reads: “Your enemies killed your children; split open your women’s bellies, took your revered elderly people by the beard, and led them to the death pits.”

In these school books, all Israeli cities – Haifa, Ramle, Jerusalem, Acre, etc. – are shown as Palestinian Arab cities.

In 1950, the United Nations Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR) was founded to protect the inherent right of any refugee to be rehaIrma and Harold Sachs Family Fund R’fuah Shlema: Evelyn Greenberg by Irma Sachs Sandra Levinson by Irma Sachs Ruth Tal by Irma Sacs Sarah and Arnie Swedler Family Fund In Honour of: Mark Zunder Best wishes on your 80th birthday

by Arnie Swedler and Rhoda Zaitlin Louis and Diane Tannenbaum Family Fund In Memory of: Joe Lieff by the Honourable Mr. Justice Louis and Mrs. Diane Tannenbaum Eric Weiner and Arlene Godfrey Family Fund In Memory of: Lou Goldmaker by Miriam Weiner; and by Eric Weiner and Arlene Godfrey Toby and Joel Yan Family Fund In Honour of: Fran Klodawsky Mazal tov on your appointment as a full professor with love by Toby and Joel Yan Barbara Lieberman Happy 80th birthday with love by Toby and Joel Yan and family Carole and Norman Zagerman Family Fund R’fuah Shlema: Willie Newman by Carole and Norman Zagerman Shirley Cohen by Carole and Norman Zagerman and Andrea Aaron Franceen Shier by Carole and Norman Zagerman In Honour of: Sol Shabinsky Happy special birthday by Carole and Norman Zagerman In Memory of: Kenny Ain by Carole and Norman Zagerman Doris Leibovitch by Carole and Norman Zagerman ************ Feeding Fund In Memory of: Irving Taylor by Sara Shabsove Sue Slack by Pat and Rosa Sergi; by Mario, Lisa and Romano Sergi, by Saverio and Carmela Spangnola; and by Ruth Levine Lou Goldmaker by Seymour and Joy Mender;

bilitated in a permanent state of resettlement.

UNRWA could easily adopt UNHCR principles to help refugees find solutions so that they might get on with their lives with their lives. Yet UNRWA has refused to do so.

Canada, as head of the RWG, could ask donor nations to UNRWA to demand UNRWA adopt UNHCR principles so that the refugees would be resettled rather than continue to live under the illusion of “return.”

Such an initiative to change the UNRWA mandate does not require a UN General Assembly resolution. It is the donor nations, led

by Canada, who can change the UNRWA mandate. and by David and Sharon Appotive Bob Archambault by Sharon Appotive and Joy Mender In Honour of: Rhoda and Joe Levitan Mazal tov on the birth of your granddaughter by Joy, Seymour, Jess, David and Jared Mender; and by David, Sharon, Ryan, Jaye and Brody Appotive In Honour of: Issie Scarowsky Mazal tov on receiving the Shem Tov award and the Thelma Steinman award by Shelley and Morris Schachnow Bess Swedlove Happy 98th birthday by Laura Greenberg Rhoda and Joe Levitan Mazal tov on the birth of your granddaughter Eliasheva by Steven and Roz Fremeth Alyce and Alan Baker Mazal tov on the birth of your new granddaughter by Steven and Roz Fremeth Syd Bosloy best wishes on your 85th birthday with love by Karyn and Bernie Farber, Gary and Mary, Jon and Judy and families In Memory of: Brother of Karl Brot by David and Sharon Appotive, Howard and Sharron Appotive and Sid and Debbie Bick and families Minnie Milson by Anne and Terry Smutylo Harry Kofsky by Bonnie, Bruce, Matt, Hana and Sabrina Engel; and by Steven and Roz Fremeth Fanny Gosevitz by the Residents, Board and Staff of Hillel Lodge; by Dr. Philip Gosewich; by Anna and Louis Friendly; by Elaine Slone; and by Sylvia Bronsther Sue Slack by Judy and David Brener and family; and by Barb and Jeff Farber and family Lou Goldmaker by the Residents, Board and Staff of Hillel Lodge; by Dr. Philip Gosewich; by Clair Krantzberg; by Carol and Larry Gradus; by Ingrid Levitz; by Sylvia Gold Kutzin; by Morley Goldfield and family; by Lawrence Pleet; and by Irvin Hoffman Joan and Harry Langsner by Jonathan Langsner R’fuah Shlema: Sandra and Jacie Levinson by Cally and Sid Kardash Evelyn Greenberg by Barbara and Larry Hershorn; by Carol and Larry Gradus; and by Monica and Alvin Stein

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 7283900, extension 111, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday. You may also e-mail your orders to donations@hillel-ltc.com or online donations can be made through CanadaHelps.org. All 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.

May 21, 2012 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 17

Walking to cure diabetes

By Sharon Letovsky Ottawa Chapter Weizmann Canada My daughter, Cynthia Rand, has a dream that, by the time her own four-yearold daughter Samantha gets married, she will no longer need her insulin pump.

Samantha was 18 months old when she caught a cold during a family vacation. It passed after a few days, but Samantha remained lethargic. When Cynthia put her down on the floor to play with her toys and Sammy did not have the strength to stand, Cynthia knew something was wrong.

Sammy had been drinking a lot and soaking

through her diapers for a few months, but the doctor had not been concerned.

But the lethargy was a new development and the doctor took notice. She took a urine sample and drew blood and sent Cynthia and Sammy home with instructions to pack a bag for the hospital.

On Sunday, June 10, our family will be participating in the annual TELUS Walk to Cure Diabetes. The walk is an outdoor celebration where families, friends and organizations raise funds and awareness and make a difference in the lives of the more than 300,000 Canadians living with Type 1 diabetes. This JDRF (Juvenile

Diabetes Research Fund) signature fundraising event raised more than $7.5 million in 2011, and the goal this year is $7.9 million, directing more funds to research than ever before.

The JDRF is very selective about which research organizations it funds. At Weizmann Canada, we are honoured that one of the places to which these research funds go is the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel. Scientists there are involved in a variety of studies aimed at paving the way for a cure.

A new drug, DiaPep277, developed by Dr. Irun Cohen and his team at the Weizmann Institute, has

Check out the special section celebrating Jewish education in Ottawa included with this issue of the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin.

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Four-year-old Samantha Rand is one of 300,000 Canadians living with Type 1 diabetes.

Page 18 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – May 21, 2012

Guest Column

What, not who, is a Jew?

By Daniel Gordis Editor’s note: Daniel Gordis is the Koret Distinguished Fellow at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem. One of Israel’s most respected commentators, he is the author of 10 books and his columns appear regularly in the Jerusalem Post and New York Times. He is also a dynamic speaker and will give the keynote address at the Jewish Federation of Ottawa Annual Campaign launch, September 9, at Centrepointe Theatre.

Lev Paschov, an Israeli soldier who immigrated to Israel under the Law of Return from the former Soviet Union, was killed while on active duty in Southern Lebanon in 1993, and buried twice. He was first interred in a regular Israeli military cemetery, but, after it was discovered that his mother was not Jewish, his body was exhumed and buried in a cemetery for non-Jews.

For many Israelis, the macabre end of Paschov’s brief life journey was deeply disturbing. How was it possible that someone could be welcomed to Israel under the Law of Return, serve the Jewish state’s army, die defending his adopted homeland, and still not be considered Jewish enough to be buried alongside his comrades?

But Jewish law is clear, traditionalists responded. Jews are either those who are born of a Jewish mother, or those who have converted to Judaism in a halachically valid fashion. Yet others wondered: Had Jewish nation-

al sovereignty rendered classic halachic standards insufficient? What, in our increasingly conflicted and nuanced world of identity formation, should being a Jew mean? What should joining the Jewish people require?

Those questions, more than anything, are at the heart of the now relentless debate surrounding conversion, a debate that often threatens to tear the Jewish people asunder.

This vehement, often nasty, debate is not new. Even Talmudic sources are divided. A well-known baraita (Yevamot 47a) says that converts should at first be turned away: “Our rabbis taught: If at the present time a man desires to become a proselyte, he is to be addressed as follows: ‘What reason have you for desiring to become a proselyte? Do you not know that Israel at the present time is persecuted and oppressed, despised, harassed and overcome by afflictions?’ If he replies, ‘I know and yet I am unworthy,’ he is accepted immediately.” After he is accepted, he is instructed in some of the commandments, but his acceptance comes first.

But another source (Bekhorot 30b) insists that a convert who rejects a single iota of Jewish law may not be accepted. These sources can be made to agree, but doing so clouds the question that their apparent contradiction raises. Is being a Jew fundamentally about the observance of every detail of Jewish law as Bekhorot implies, or does converting mean joining a covenantal community

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that sees itself as marginal, a community in which commandments are central, but perhaps not the defining characteristic as in Yevamot?

Today’s liberal Jewish communities, in which rigorous observance of the ritual commandments is no longer part of the fabric of daily Jewish life, insist that a genuine desire to join the Jewish people and share in its fate ought to be a sufficient standard for conversion. Many Orthodox communities, alarmed by what they see as the dilution of Jewish content in liberal Judaism, in general, and liberal conversions, in particular, have responded by adhering ever more rigidly to classic conversion standards. Valid conversions must be accompanied by a genuine commitment to observe the commandments – “for the sake of heaven” (Geirim 1:3) – they insist, and conversions that lack that are simply null and void.

Although pronouncements of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate and some leading Orthodox authorities seek to convey the impression that Orthodox standards for conversion are monolithic and always have been, the truth is much more complex. There has long been disagreement, even within Orthodox circles, about what constitutes “for the sake of heaven.”

Rabbi David Zevi Hoffmann (1843-1921), for example, ruled that a gentile man could be converted, even though he would not be observant, because his Jewish partner was already pregnant. (Melamed L’ho’il, Yoreh De’ah 83) That the prospective convert wanted to be Jewish, though he could have stayed with her regardless, was sufficient for the conversion to be considered “for the sake of heaven.” Hoffmann introduced moral considerations, as well. If the man abandoned this woman because the court declined to convert him, she would still have a child and, without

Daniel Gordis

a husband, she would become a social pariah.

But Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (1895-1986), America’s greatest halachic authority, railed against such conversions and the Orthodox rabbis who performed them. “What value are they bringing to the Jewish people by accepting converts like these? For it is obviously not good for either God or the Jewish people that converts like these should be mixed into the Jewish people.” (Iggerot Moshe, Yoreh De’ah 157) Rabbi Feinstein’s certainty about what is good for God and the Jewish people evades most of us. Ours is an era of unprecedented complexity in the formation of identity. What we need now is a conversation with each other about what Jewishness is at its very essence and about how the changing face of world Jewry should and should not be reflected in conversion policy. We may not necessarily agree, but we will, one hopes, protect the unity, and therefore the survival, of the very people to which committed prospective converts still seek to dedicate their lives.

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Israeli President Shimon Peres signs the House of Commons guest book, May 7, as House Speaker Andrew Scheer, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Senate Speaker Noël A. Kinsella look on.

(Photo: Michael Regenstreif)

May 21, 2012 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 19

New edition of Ottawa Jewish Telephone Directory will be available in June

By Judy Field Na’amat Canada Ottawa Sixty-two years ago, a group of young women banded together and set out to collect the names, addresses and telephone numbers of Jewish Ottawans.

As members of Pioneer Women, their goal was to launch the first ever telephone directory for the local Jewish community.

Not only did these determined young women collect several hundred names, they brought advertisers on board to help cover the printing costs for the Ottawa Jewish Telephone Directory. The directory became a major fundraising project for the organization.

Six decades and two years later, members of Na’amat Canada Ottawa (formerly Pioneer Women) have been helping to update local addresses and gather advertisers for the 62nd edition of the Ottawa Jewish Telephone Directory, which will be available in June 2012.

The directory continues to be Na’amat Canada Ottawa’s major fundraiser. Directory sales go toward improving the quality of life for women, children and families in Israel.

Women are able to work, while their children are welcomed at safe and nurturing daycares; teens have the opportunity to learn vocations; and those in need can seek shelter from abusive relationships.

Visit naamat.com for more information on the services provided by Na’amat.

Over the years, advertising in the directory has

evolved, and specific sections have been added to cater to families, seniors, those planning a special event or contemplating home renovation. As well, the Handy Reference section is an excellent resource of local organizations, schools, synagogues and a calendar of Jewish holidays.

Na’amat Canada Ottawa volunteers will be selling the 2012 Ottawa Jewish Telephone Directory for $22.00 on Monday and Tuesday, June 4 and 5, 8:30 am to 12:30 pm, and on Wednesday and Thursday, June 6 and 7, 5:30 to 7:30 pm, at the Soloway Jewish Community Centre.

Stop by to purchase your directory during these special advance sale dates and save on the delivery cost.

If you’re on our annual distribution list and can’t make it to the advance sale dates the directory cost will be $26.00 with delivery between June 18 and July 19.

In addition to purchasing the directory, we also ask a small favour.

If you move during the year, contact us at ojteldirectory@yahoo.ca or 613-722-2932 with your new contact information so that we can keep the directory up to date.

The Jewish community in Ottawa has grown substantially since the Ottawa Jewish Telephone Directory was launched 62 years ago.

We at Na’amat Canada Ottawa are proud to continue providing the directory as a service to the community.

0DUN <RXU &DOHQGDU Purchase your copy of the 2012 Ottawa Jewish Telephone Directory (the nd edition)

at the Soloway Jewish Community Centre for $22.00 during the following sale days: Monday, June 4: Tuesday, June 5: Wednesday, June 6: Thursday, June 7:

8:30 am - 12:30 pm 8:30 am - 12:30 pm 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm

Home copies distributed after the above dates will be $26.00 each (includes a $4.00 handling fee).

Keep your address up-to-date by advising us of any changes you may have during the year. Are you new to Ottawa?

Contact us to include your listing in the next directory [note: there’s no charge for residential listings in the directory].

Email us at ojteldirectory@yahoo.ca or call our office at 613.722.2932.

The Ottawa Jewish Telephone Directory is published annually by

JEWISH MEMORIAL GARDENS YOUR ONE-STOP RESOURCE CENTRE FOR FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS 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 $145 (HST included) - single year or $3,850 (HST included) - care guaranteed for 25 years

Interment Rights* Bank Street Osgoode

$3,750 $2,400

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

Prices subject to change at any time.

Page 20 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – May 21, 2012

May 21, 2012 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 21

Page 22 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – May 21, 2012

‘You don’t make peace with your friends’ With the death of Benzion Netanyahu, the father of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, on April 30, an article about his legacy, “Bibi’s Political Inheritance” (Tabletmag.com, May 1), by Yossi Klein Halevy, has been shared widely. Halevy wrote of the legacy of Revisionist Zionism, the hawkish version of Zionism peddled by Ze’ev Jabotinsky through to Menachem Begin through to today’s Likud party. “Don’t be a fool,” according to Halevy, is the take-away message of Revisionist Zionism.

Israeli slang changes frequently. But one term that has remained for decades is the word fryer. One of the worst things you can be in Israel is a fryer, a fool, someone who is taken advantage of. No wonder the right wing Zionists I know shared the article on Facebook almost immediately.

But there’s another side to the story. During his visit to Ottawa, May 2, I spoke with Yariv Oppenheimer, the general director of Peace Now in Israel. During the interview, as well as at the talk he gave that evening at Temple Israel, Oppenheimer painted a bleak picture of the state of Israeli democracy. Both within Israel and via the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, the peace camp is sorely needed.

In Israel, two recent laws threaten to undermine Israeli democracy.

The Nakba law, declaring that any publicly funded organization attempting to commemorate the Palestinian Nakba (the Arabic word meaning ‘catastrophe’ that Palestinians use to describe the violence and dispossession surrounding the Palestinian exile of 1948), is liable to have its funding cut.

The boycott law entails any Israeli who calls for a boycott of settlement products would be subject to a civil suit without the plaintiff having to prove damages. In response to the boycott law, Peace Now launched a campaign, which quickly went viral, called “So sue me – I’m boycotting products of the settlements.”

Talking about budget discrimination against the Arab sector and widespread racism within Israeli society, Oppenheimer said, “I think Arab Israelis are more loyal to Israel than Israel is to its Arab citizens.”

The Revisionist Zionist philosophy that motivated Netanyahu’s father, and today Netanyahu and most of his governing coalition, warns Israelis away from playing the fool.

Revisionist Zionists surely were not troubled over the military administration Israel extended to its Arab minority citizens until it was repealed in 1966; they do not lose sleep over Israel’s 45-year-long occupation of 2.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank that continues apace; nor are they distressed by the apparent erosion of the free-speech principles integral to Israeli democracy.

It’s all good and fine to retreat behind fortress Israel, shutting our ears to Palestinian suffering at the hands of Israel’s occupation policies, and chalking up anti-democratic legislation as necessary for security. But we must realize that there is a great moral and strategic cost to not questioning why Palestinian commemoration of their history is a threat, and why Israelis challenging their country’s settlement policies with their wallets needs to be stifled.

One of the most striking things Oppenheimer relayed in his public talk was about his meetings with Israeli teens.

Most of the teens he talks with no longer have a concept of the Green Line and no longer seem to realize the West Bank is an entirely separate entity from democratic Israel.

Neither do these teens seem troubled by the occupation.

“If we have the power to enforce an occupation, we should,” these teens tell him.

He responds by telling them that, one day, they may very well find themselves studying abroad and sitting next to a Palestinian student at university. “What are you going to tell that Palestinian student?” he asks them. “How will you pos-

Values, Ethics, Community Mira Sucharov sibly be able to defend the occupation then?”

That morning, I asked Oppenheimer a question I often hear from the right: How can Israel contemplate a withdrawal from the West Bank, given the ongoing rocket fire following the 2005 pullout from Gaza?

Oppenheimer’s answer was this. He rightly pointed out that both Israeli-Arab peace treaties – with Egypt in 1979 and with Jordan in 1994 – have held. Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza was a unilateral move, unaccompanied by a peace treaty.

I would add that neither was it a full withdrawal. While Israel did remove its ground forces and all 7,000 settlers, Israel still maintains a naval blockade and control over airspace as well and borders.

In Hebrew, ‘Yariv’ means adversary, opponent, or “he will fight.” It’s an odd name, perhaps, for someone who leads the main grassroots peace camp movement in Israel.

But we shouldn’t forget that Peace Now was founded by Israeli army officers in the late 1970s, officers who understood the value of security as well as the urgency of making peace with their country’s adversaries. You don’t make peace with your friends, after all.

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

Israeli politics: Juxtapositioning leadership, elections and coalition What you are about to read is the third major rewrite of this column. The piece was to be about the volatility of Israeli politics and, admittedly, the situation was so volatile that even key players were unsure of the outcome.

The significant event that caused most of the analysts and speculators to stop and come up for air is that Shaul Mofaz, the new leader of Kadima, reached an agreement to join Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition.

This event, on its own, reversed the inevitability of a September election in Israel.

If you have been scratching your head reading or hearing about the sparring over the past several months between high ranking Israeli government officials and highly respected retired security and military officials, you are not alone. A circus-like atmosphere has been building since January.

The three Israeli poster boys, former Mossad chief Meir Dagan, former Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin and former IDF chief Gabi Ashkenazi have planted themselves firmly in opposition to the government on certain issues.

Sometimes this opposition has taken place on speaking tours in the Diaspora where speeches have sometimes ended in name-calling. To make things more interesting, throw into the mix a former prime minister, a rising Likud minister and the prime minister himself, as well as the Kadima party’s leadership election. The circus is complete.

On April 27, Diskin accused the country’s government of making decisions based on “messianic feelings.” Then, on April 29, former prime minister Ehud Olmert – who is currently on trial for corruption and fraud in Israel – gave a speech at the Jerusalem Post conference in New York criticizing current Prime Minister Netanyahu and urging

World Affairs Oliver Javanpour restraint in confrontations with Iran.

And for those of you who really followed this, you probably noted Dagan has been voicing his criticisms of bombing Iran, and about the possible implications of such actions, since January.

Then there is the Kadima party. Former leader Tzipi Livni lost the leadership race to Shaul Mofaz – like me, an Iranian-born Jew – who is working hard to help the party rebuild and return to power in the next election. Some recent polls showed Kadima neck and neck with Likud and there was a significant chance that Mofaz would have been a real threat to Bibi.

Do Dagan, Diskin and Ashkenazi have political ambitions? Based on the events of past few months, let’s assume they do. Based on what they are advocating and their war of words and accusations, one would assume that they are aiming to join Kadima and Shaul Mofaz. Even as a seasoned Middle East observer and strategist, it is becoming a difficult task to separate facts from fables.

The cancelled fall Israeli election would have certainly influenced the November election in the United States.

President Barack Obama would not have wanted to compete in a re-election bid in which his administration’s track

record on Iran, and the survival of Israel, would have overshadowed other issues. Instead, Netanyahu has created a broad coalition with 94 of the Knesset’s 120 members.

This will enable him to set longer term agendas and shape legislation without depending on a single party with high demands.

The newly formed coalition also has sent signals to the Israeli public that Netanyahu is open and inclusive and, most importantly, a signal to the United States and the international community that he now has a broad-based mandate from his people. The Americans or Europeans can no longer marginalize the Israeli prime minister simply by blaming his right wing coalition.

Most importantly, Netanyahu is no longer at the mercy of the right-wingers who have had significant influence on forming the “Bomb Iran” agenda. Netanyahu has bought some time – both at home, and for the international community – to deal with Iran. While bombing Iran is certainly not off the table, the decision is now one that would be taken with the broad-based coalition partners.

The secret coalition deal, which took most of political establishment by surprise and jolted most of us awake, is testament to the conviction and resolve of both men.

This is a significant event in the recent political history of Israel, one that has and will require strong leadership personalities such as Mofaz and Netanyahu. While the preceding events around the would-have-been election left behind a trail of confusion and bewilderment both in Israel and in the Diaspora, it resolved itself into a highly strategic advantage for Israel.

Oliver Javanpour is a senior partner at Cyrus Echo, a public policy and international relations consulting firm in Ottawa.

May 21, 2012 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 23

FOUNDATION DONATIONS Our future is in your hands

Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation To make a donation and/or send a tribute card, call Jessica Borenstein (613-798-4696 ext. 274) e-mail: donation@ojcf.ca • website: www.OJCF.caa

Join us in building our community by supporting these local agencies AJA 50+ ENDOWMENT FUND R’Fuah Sh’lemah to: Sandra Levinson by Elaine and Norman Wolfish.

SHIRLEY AND SHIER BERMAN FUND FOR OTTAWA JEWISH ARCHIVES Birthday wishes to: Dr. Ed Sussman by Shirley Berman.

HILLEL ACADEMY ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Harry Kofsky by Cally and Sid Kardash.

Mazal Tov to: Kayla Estrin and Wayne Moore on their son Jonah’s Bar Mitzvah by Jackie, David, Rachel, and Zev Lyman.

HILLEL LODGE LEGACY FUND In memory of: Ethel Murray by Shirley Strean-Hartman.

AJA 50+ DAVID SMITH OTTAWA JEWISH COMMUNITY SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIP FUND 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 MARTIN GLATT PARLIAMENT LODGE B’NAI BRITH PAST PRESIDENTS’ FUND MENDEL AND VALERIE GOOD HOLOCAUST CONTINUING EDUCATION FUND GREENBERG FAMILIES LIBRARY FUND HILLEL ACADEMY CHILDREN OF THE BOOK AWARD FUND JEWISH COMMUNITY CEMETERY HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FUND JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES AGENCY 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 COMMUNITY ENDOWMENT 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 SARA AND ZEEV VERED ISRAEL CULTURAL PROGRAM FUND YITZHAK RABIN HIGH SCHOOL FUND IN MEMORY OF EVA WINTHROP

The Board of Directors of the Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation acknowledges with thanks contributions to the following funds as of May 1st, 2012.

COOPERMAN-SHUSTER FAMILY FUND Mazal Tov to: Glennie and Nathan Lindenberg on the engagement of Joanna and Adam by Earl and Bruria Cooperman.

ABELSON FAMILY ENDOWMENT FUND R’Fuah Sh’lemah to: Blanche Osterer by Tracey Kronick and Alan Abelson.

BARBARA CROOK AND DAN GREENBERG ENDOWMENT FUND R’Fuah Sh’lemah to: Evelyn Greenberg by Barbara Crook and Dan Greenberg.

ROSE AND LOUIS ACHBAR MEMORIAL FUND Mazal Tov to: Dr. Susan Lieff on being awarded a professorship in Psychiatry at the University of Toronto by Zelda Freedman.

MARY AND ISRAEL (AL) ALLICE MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Edith Krupski by Beverly and Irving Swedko.

CAYLA AND MICHAEL BAYLIN ENDOWMENT FUND Condolences to: Rhoda Blevis and family on the loss of her brother Kenny by Cayla and Michael Baylin.

Patsy Fyfe on the loss of her husband Nick Fyfe

by Cayla and Michael Baylin.

JACK AND DORIS BAYLIN ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Jack Baylin by Julia, Jeff and David Royer.

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

JAMIE BEREZIN ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Harry Kofsky by Shelley, Gary and Jamie Berezin Beatrice Glube by Shelley, Gary and Jamie Berezin Mazal Tov to: Mendy Taller on his engagement to Lori Loeb

by Shelley, Gary and Jamie Berezin.

R’Fuah Sh’lemah to: Mendy Taller by Shelley, Gary and Jamie Berezin.

MARTIN AND ELLIE BLACK ENDOWMENT FUND Condolences to: Ellie Black and family on the loss of her mother

by Debbie and Sheldon Wiseman.

Mazal Tov to: Rhoda and Joe Levitan on the birth of their first grandchild Eliesheva by Martin and Ellie Black.

SANDI AND EDDY COOK AND FAMILY COMMUNITY ENDOWMENT FUND In honour of: Dr. Susan Lieff’s award in professorship in Psychiatry at the University of Toronto by Sandi and Eddy Cook.

Mazal Tov to: Allan and Alyce Baker on the birth of their granddaughter by Sandi and Eddy Cook.

In memory of: Nan Janks-Sanua Goldberg by Sandi and Eddy Cook.

Danny Pozitsky by Sandi and Eddy Cook.

Birthday wishes to: Lynn Shabinsky by Sandi and Eddy Cook.

MORRIE AND HELEN EISEN ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Harry Kofsky by Helen and Morrie Eisen.

ELLEN AND RAHAMIM FATHI ENDOWMENT FUND R’Fuah Sh’lemah to: William Newman by Ellen and Rahamim Fathi.

HENRIK AND WILMA GELBERGER HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FUND In observance of the Yahrzeit of: Cornelia Engel by Magda Robicsek.

GILBOA/MAOZ FAMILY FUND In memory of: Harry Kofsky by Helen and Chaim Gilboa.

HERB AND DENA GOSEWICH ENDOWMENT FUND In appreciation to: Dr. Michael Landau by Dena Gosewich.

Gordon Schwartz by Dena Gosewich.

PAULINE AND IRVING GOTTHEIL MEMORIAL FUND In observance of the Yahrzeit of: Irving Gottheil a beloved father, father in-law and grandfather by Ellen, Art and Jordana Leader; and by Florence, Anita Rosenfeld and Jocelyn Slatt.

LARRY AND SHEILA HARTMAN ENDOWMENT FUND R’Fuah Sh’lemah to: Evelyn Greenberg by Sheila and Larry Hartman.

Sandra Levinson by Sheila and Larry Hartman.

Shirley Molot by Sheila and Larry Hartman.

RHEA AND JEFF HOCHSTADTER FAMILY FUND In memory of: Sylvia (Sue) Slack by Rhea, Jeff, Elana and Lorne Hochstadter.

Irving Taylor by Rhea, Jeff, Elana and Lorne Hochstadter.

DOROTHY AND HY HYMES ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Jack Baylin by Dorothy and Hy Hymes.

Irving Taylor by Dorothy and Hy Hymes.

Sylvia (Sue) Slack by Dorothy and Hy Hymes.

R’Fuah Sh’lemah to: Sandra Levinson by Dorothy and Hy Hymes.

JEREMY KANTER MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Doris Leibovitch by Julie Kanter.

Continued on page 24

Page 24 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – May 21, 2012

FOUNDATION DONATIONS SAMUEL AND TILLIE KARDISH MEMORIAL FUND In memory of : Harriet Greenman by Cheryl KardishLevitan and family.

Sylvia (Sue) Slack by Cheryl KardishLevitan and family.

KRANTZBERG KRANE FAMILY FUND Birthday wishes to: Leiba Krantzberg by Michelle and Richard Sachs.

JOAN AND RUSSELL KRONICK FAMILY FUND Mazal Tov to: Andrea Borer on the engagement of Adam to Sharon by Joan and Russell Kronick.

ISSIE AND EDITH LANDAU ENDOWMENT FUND Condolences to: Mel Mannis on the loss of his brother by Edie Landau.

In observance of the Yahrzeit of: Ethel Goldberg by Edie Landau.

Erratum: The Foundation apologizes for an error published in the Max and Dora Karp Kapinsky Memorial Fund in the May 7 edition of the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin.

We acknowledge the donation that Deanna Sadinsky made in memory of Arthur Max.

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

Harry Kofsky by Norman and Isabel Lesh.

SANDRA AND JACIE LEVINSON ENDOWMENT FUND R’Fuah Sh’lemah to: Sandra Levinson by Sandra and Norman Slover.

Sandra Levinson by Shirley Strean-Hartman.

RHODA AND JOE LEVITAN AND FAMILY COMMUNITY ENDOWMENT FUND Mazal Tov to: Rhoda and Joe Levitan on the birth of their granddaughter Eliesheva by Rick and Helen Zipes; and by Bonnie and Chuck Merovitz.

JOSEPH AND EVELYN LIEFF ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Sylvia (Sue) Slack by Evelyn Lieff.

Mazal Tov to: Sally and Elliott Levitan on the birth of their great-granddaughter Eliesheva by Evelyn Lieff.

Rhoda and Joe Levitan on the birth of their granddaughter Eliesheva by Evelyn Lieff.

R’Fuah Sh’lemah to: Evelyn Greenberg by Evelyn Lieff.

Sandra Levinson by Evelyn Lieff.

CHUCK AND BONNIE MEROVITZ FAMILY FUND In memory of: Doris Leibovitch by Charna and Mittelman.

Sunday, May 27, 2012 has been declared

Foundation Day in recognition of the OJCF’s vital role of providing donors the vehicle to contribute to the long term financial stability and support of the needs of the agencies that serve the Ottawa Jewish Community.

The Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation invites you to celebrate

Foundation Day as a special event at participating shuls throughout Ottawa.

Come celebrate with us! www.OJCF.ca

Joe

JACK AND MIRIAM PLEET ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Molly Zavalkoff by Miriam Pleet.

Mazal Tov to: Dorothy and Hy Hymes on Barbara’s engagement by Miriam Pleet.

Dorothy and Hy Hymes on their 60th anniversary by Miriam Pleet.

Sally and Elliott Levitan on the arrival of their great-granddaughter Eliesheva by Miriam Pleet.

Evelyn Lieff on all of Susan’s achievements by Miriam Pleet.

BOBBY STEINBERG MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Nick Fyfe by Jane Steinberg.

In honor of: Robert Gould receiving the Governor General’s Caring Canadian Award by Jane Steinberg and family.

GERALD AND MARY-BELLE PULVERMACHER FAMILY ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Harry Kofsky by Gerald and Mary-Belle Pulvermacher and family.

CASEY AND BESS SWEDLOVE ENDOWMENT FUND R’Fuah Sh’lemah to: Blanche Osterer by Carol-Sue and Jack Shapiro.

PHYLLIS AND ALAN RACKOW ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Bill Shragge by Phyllis and Alan Rackow.

Minnie Milson by Phyllis and Alan Rackow and family.

R’Fuah Sh’lemah to: William Newman by Phyllis and Alan Rackow.

Sandra Levinson by Phyllis and Alan Rackow.

FLORENCE AND GDALYAH ROSENFELD ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Bill Cullinan by Florence and Anita Rosenfeld and Jocelyn Slatt.

RICHARD ROTH AND RIVA LEVITAN FAMILY FUND In memory of: Harry Kofsky by Richard Roth and Riva Levitan.

SHELLEY AND SID ROTHMAN FAMILY FUND Mazal Tov to: Rhoda and Joe Levitan on the birth of their granddaughter Eliesheva by Shelley Rothman.

LAYA AND SOL SHABINSKY ENDOWMENT FUND Birthday wishes to: Sol Shabinsky by Shirley Strean-Hartman.

FAY AND JOSEPH SHULMAN ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Harry Kofsky by Nadine and Brian Mordfield and family.

SAM AND SUE SLACK ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Sylvia (Sue) Slack by Ken and Tina Koffman.

DORIS AND RICHARD STERN FAMILY FUND Mazal Tov to: Henry and Paula Pukier on their grandson’s Bar Mitzvah by Doris and Richard Stern.

IRVING AND ETHEL TAYLOR ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Irving Taylor by Chuck and Andi Edelstein; and

by Barbara Crook and Dan Greenberg.

RUTH AND JOSEPH VINER ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Sylvia (Sue) Slack by Gary and Debra Viner.

HAZE WAINBERG FAMILY FUND Birthday wishes to: Harvey Steinwald by Haze Wainberg and Merv Blostein.

Marla Johnson by Haze Wainberg.

In memory of: Harry Kofsky by Haze Wainberg and Merv Blostein MICHAEL WALSH AND LISA ROSENKRANTZ ENDOWMENT FUND In appreciaton to: Lisa Rosenkrantz by Amanda Klein and Michael Bornstein.

Continued on page 25

An unveiling in memory of

Irving Gencher will take place

Sunday, June 10, 2012 at 11:30 am

Bank Street Cemetery

LAURA AND GORDON SPERGEL ENDOWMENT FUND Birthday wishes to: Laura Spergel by Libby and Stan Katz.

Family and friends are welcome to attend.

In Appreciation The family of the late Avie Rapoport wishes to express its sincere gratitude to family and friends for your kind words of sympathy, many donations, beautiful cards, shiva meals, and phone calls. Your generosity, kindness, and warm outpouring of support are greatly appreciated and will always be remembered.

May 21, 2012 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 25

FOUNDATION DONATIONS MILDRED AND PERCY WEINSTEIN ENDOWMENT FUND Birthday wishes to: Abe Bookman by Millie Weinstein.

Mazal Tov to: Rhoda and Joe Levitan on the arrival of their granddaughter Eliesheva by Millie Weinstein.

R’Fuah Sh’lemah to: Sandra Levinson by Millie Weinstein.

HALTON/WEISS FAMILY FUND In memory of: Steffi Halton by Barbara Crook and Dan Greenberg.

marriage by Lynne Oreck-Wener and Bob Wener and family.

Rhoda and Joe Levitan on the birth of their granddaughter Eliesheva by Lynne Oreck-Wener and Bob Wener.

Barbara Hymes-Fine and Steve Levinson on their engagement by Rhoda and Joe Levitan.

THE SAUL AND EDNA GOLDFARB B’NAI MITZVAH PROGRAM MARA BOSLOY B’NAI MITZVAH FUND Birthday wishes to: Bernie Farber by Judy, Jonathan, Mara and Rebecca Bosloy.

PINCHAS ZUKERMAN MUSICAL EDUCATION FUND In memory of: Vivian Caplan by Manny and Mia Bernard.

ANNA FRENKEL B’NAI MITZVAH FUND Birthday wishes to: Liane Freedman by Irina Frenkel and family.

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

CHARLOTTE HAMBURG MITZVAH FUND In memory of: Harry Kofsky by Cybele and Lyon Hamburg and family.

WOMEN’S COLLECTIVE ENDOWMENT FUND Birthday wishes to: Clare Krantzberg by Carol and Mark Froimovitch.

Condolences to: Mark Levine on the loss of his mother Freda by Rhoda, Joe, Shayna, Yoni and Josh Levitan.

Happy Mother’s Day to: Bonnie Merovitz by Chuck Merovitz.

Dekel Podolsky by Rony Podolsky and family.

Evelyn Wener by Lynne, Bobby, Taryn, Eleni and Hart Wener.

Helen Zipes by Fredrick Zipes.

Lynne Oreck-Wener by Hart, Taryn and Eleni Wener.

Marcia Koven by Diane Koven.

Riva Levitan by Jared and Aaron Roth.

Ruth Levitan by Richard, Riva, Jared and Aaron Roth.

Shayna Levitan by Rhoda and Joe Levitan.

Shirley Melnick by Eileen, Stuart, Josh and Amanda McCarthy.

Sheila Roth by Richard, Riva, Jared and Aaron Roth.

Thelma Moher by Vivien Frenkel and David Moher and family.

Zoe Oreck by Lynne, Bobby, Taryn, Eleni and Hart Wener.

Mazal Tov to: Annette Werk on her granddaughter Leah’s

DAHLIA AND ZACHARY SHABSOVE B’NAI MITZVAH FUND In memory of: Harry Kofsky by Adrienne, Chuck, Dahlia and Zachary Shabsove.

R’Fuah Sh’lemah to: Leanne Greenberg by Adrienne, Chuck, Dahlia and Zachary Shabsove.

Contributions may be made online at www.OJCF.ca or by contacting Jessica Borenstein at 613-798-4696 extension 274, 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.

Erratum: The Foundation apologizes for an error published in the Sue and Sam Slack Endowment Fund in the May 7 edition of the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin.

We acknowledge the donation that Sheila Senman made in memory of Sylvia (Sue) Slack.

Random stories from the drawer of life I saw my grandson dump some old Kleenex through the gate to downstairs.

When I went to check on it, I also found a kippah and a telephone. This, apparently, is one of his favourite activities. Someone said he’d gladly dump random objects into a drawer, if he had one.

That reminded me I had such a drawer at home – and how I thought of it as a metaphor for life as a series of random events and stories. Here, then, is a collection of such stories that did happen or could have happened to me.

When I woke up in the hospital, I was informed that I had been walking through the park, looking in joy and wonder at the treetops, the blue sky and the amazing cloud patterns, and had walked straight into a ditch. A week later, when I woke up in the hospital again, I was told that I was walking on the sidewalk, so bent on avoiding every crack and mindful of not stepping on any gum or other detritus, I didn’t notice I walked under a scaffold and was hit by a brick.

I was visiting Chicago for a baseball game when I started to feel uneasy. The team that came out on to the field was the Chicago Black Sox. My unease and suspicion grew when I saw the newspaper announcing the Chicago White Hawks had won the hockey game in overtime. But, the thing that finally convinced me I was either in another world or in a dream was when the radio sportscast lamented the losing streak of the basketball team, the Chicago Mad Cows. I forced myself to wake up. Luckily, I came awake to watch the baseball game on TV between the Chicago White Sox and the Toronto Blue Herons.

I found myself in a courtroom of a strange kind. My lawyer and I were sitting on a small stage surrounded by an amphitheatre with the judge, jury and prosecuting attorney seated on pedestals. My

Humour me, please Rubin Friedman wife and children were there in the audience, holding hands and looking distraught. Spotlights flashed on and off depending on who was speaking. I stood accused of not being a nice person. Every time I denied the charge, everyone laughed. And the laughter and disdain grew when the prosecutor played video evidence of my behaviour. My lawyer – a relative – advised me to plead guilty and throw myself on the mercy of the court. I tried to explain that each incident was shot from the wrong angle or left out crucial information, but everyone laughed. The judge leaned over, his teeth glinting in his smile. He looked like the rabbi from my Hebrew school.

I woke up in a sweat. It was morning. I went to the bathroom and splashed water on my face, then went down to the kitchen where my father was making coffee.

“Good morning, Dad,” I said, “I’m sorry.”

My father looked at me in complete bewilderment at first, but then gradually shaped his mouth into a rueful grin.

“Of course,” he said and continued smiling.

I was standing in the living room with my two sons, their children in the background playing with my daughter. A highpitched voice came from behind us.

“Daddy?” it said.

We all turned at the same time and, speaking together, answered, “Yes?” When we laughed and looked at each other, we noticed, not for the first time, that we all had the same smile.

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Page 26 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – May 21, 2012

Author reinforces predetermined conclusions The Men’s Section: Orthodox Jewish Men in an Egalitarian World

By Elana Maryles Sztokman Brandeis University Press 269 pages During the winter of 2007, while studying in rabbinical school in Jerusalem, I arranged to work as a rabbinic intern at Shir Chadash, an English-speaking congregation located in the Katamon neighbourhood. After a few weeks, when speaking about the internship with friends and colleagues, I would invariably add the following caveat: “That’s Shir Chadash, not Shira Chadasha!”

Like many of my Orthodox peers, I was wary about being associated with Shira Chadasha, the flagship ‘egalitarian Orthodox’ congregation located in the nearby German Colony.

Founded in 2002, Shira Chadasha’s unique davening style enables women to layn from the Torah, receive aliyot and lead certain parts of the services, while retaining the traditional mechitza structure. It is a controversial place, and I felt the need to go above-and-beyond to make it clear that I was not affiliated with it.

As a longtime participant in Shira Chadasha-style minyanim, also known as partnership minyanim, Elana Maryles Sztokman was intrigued by the question of what motivates some Orthodox men to join that movement, and what motivates others, like me, to avoid it so forcefully. For the women of the movement, the motivation to participate is clear. But, for the men, who don’t stand to benefit personally from the changes to the davening style, what draws them in? Her exploration of this question takes centre stage in The Men’s Section: Orthodox Jewish Men in an Egalitarian World.

Sztokman conducted interviews with 54 male participants of partnership minyanim and found there are three primary reasons for their participation. The first group is drawn by the-

Book Review Rabbi Michael Goldstein ological factors, meaning they genuinely believe in the halachic framework of the minyan. The second group is drawn by the sincere spirituality and powerful singing typically found in partnership minyanim. And the third group is drawn by the strong sense of community, camaraderie and friendship typically found in these minyanim.

Interestingly, most of the men fell into either the second or the third categories, meaning most of the men were drawn to partnership minyanim for reasons that had nothing to do with theology, egalitarianism or feminism. Rather, they were drawn to the minyan for ancillary reasons: good singing and warm community, both of which are elements that are present in other congregations as well. Conversely, there are those who support the theological foundations of partnership minyanim, but who choose to daven at traditional synagogues because of secondary factors such as the davening style, length of services and community. In particular, it is interesting to note that Rabbi Mendel Shapiro, whose 2001 article, “Qeri’at ha-Torah

by Women: A Halakhic Analysis,” was the catalyst for the founding of Shira Chadasha, and who lives just a few minutes away, chooses to daven at the very traditional Hildesheimer synagogue, not at a partnership minyan.

While this sociological investigation is an interesting one, the book is marred by the animosity with which Sztokman writes about traditional Orthodoxy, masculinity and several individual members of her synagogue. At best, this animosity

merely serves as a minor distraction for the reader. At worst, it compromises the quality and intellectual integrity of her research as it leads her to misinterpret interviews with subjects in ways that fit her strongly held views, but which are clearly distortions of the subjects’ intentions.

In Sztokman’s view, there is a “cold, elitist masculinity that dominates Orthodoxy.” So, when an interviewee expresses a desire to “teach the women of the congregation proper nusach (cantorial tunes),” she interprets that desire to mean “he expresses a strong impulse to control the women’s incorrect nusach,” where she might as easily have interpreted it to mean ‘he genuinely wants to empower the women of his congregation to achieve success in their new roles as chazzanim, roles which they have never before encountered in their Orthodox lives.’

Sztokman also cites an episode where one man’s rabbi aggressively demanded he follow the rabbi’s advice. From this episode she concludes “Doing what ‘feels’ right is not part of Orthodox masculinity … An Orthodox man does not think on his own.”

These are bold conclusions, which she arrives at based on the actions of one rabbi. To generalize from that one episode is a dishonest, misleading leap and is nothing more than the author reinforcing her predetermined conclusions. She is painting the bull’s-eye on her target after she’s already shot the arrow. This approach makes for frustrating reading and shoddy research. As an Orthodox rabbi currently on parental leave to stay home with my child, I find her negative stereotyping of Orthodox men to be particularly misplaced.

The Men’s Section provides valuable anecdotal insight into the emerging world of the partnership minyan. For those interested in learning more about the history, operations and participants of this new synagogue brand, this book will likely satisfy. As for the author’s broader conclusions about Orthodoxy and masculinity, I would take them with a grain of salt. You might need the entire jar.

Dear Gloria answers your fitness questions When I was a child, I wrote a letter to Dear Abby. I still have the autographed photo and letter that she sent me in 1975. It’s helpful to seek advice from a trusted source. I receive questions on a wide variety of topics from readers. Here are some recent questions I think will be of interest to many.

Dear Gloria, I’ve heard about interval training, but don’t really understand the benefits. I’d like to lose a few pounds. Should I add intervals when I do cardio?

Confused Dear Confused, Interval training is when you perform multiple, short, high intensity bursts of speed followed by slow recovery phases. In running, it’s called speed play or fartleks (yes, we all laugh at that word). During training, runners can alternate short periods of fast running (for example 30 seconds for beginners) and longer periods of slower running (several minutes).

Interval training helps improve cardiovascular efficiency and builds speed and endurance. During the short, high intensity periods of exercise, you burn more calories. If you want to lose weight, change your cardio routine to include intervals.

Most exercise machines, such as treadmills and ellipticals, have different programs, including interval training.

Because it’s demanding on the heart, lungs and muscles, make sure you have basic aerobic fitness or your doctor’s approval before you add interval training to your workouts.

Dear Gloria, I’m a woman in my late-40s. In the past year, I’ve noticed that I’m slowly gaining weight around my midsection even though I exercise and eat well. What should I do differently?

Middle Age Spread

Dear Middle Age Spread, I’m in the same age group, so I know what a challenge this can be! Women in perimenopause and those in menopause commonly gain weight, especially around the abdomen. There are several contributing factors, including behavioural, physical and emotional ones.

As women get older, they tend to exercise less. Muscle mass also declines with age. Without adequate exercise, muscle gets replaced with fat. Loss of muscle mass, coupled with diminishing estrogen, causes women’s metabolism to slow down. As a result, they burn calories less efficiently.

One pound of fat equals 3,500 calories. In theory, if you eat 100 fewer calories per day – for example, eliminate one slice of toast – you can lose about 10 pounds in one year.

Well, it may not be that simple. According to the Mayo Clinic, women in their 50s need 200 fewer calories than in their 30s or 40s. The solution may be to reduce your caloric intake and increase your exercise.

Chronic stress, which can happen at any stage of life, triggers higher than normal levels of the hormone cortisol.

This, in turn, can contribute to a number of problems including increased abdominal fat. After a stressful day, try decompressing with relaxation techniques or yoga. In fact, any exercise is great for combating stress.

You may want to check with your doctor to rule out possible underlying medical conditions as the reason for unexplained weight gain.

Dear Gloria, What are the best exercises for upper arms? I hate mine.

I’m a woman in my 60s.

Up in Arms Dear Up in Arms, I can suggest a couple of beginner level exercises to tone

Focus on Fitness Gloria Schwartz your arms. I recommend doing 12 to 15 repetitions. Rest for 30 to 60 seconds and then do a second set. If you can’t complete a set with good form, switch to lighter dumbbells.

Let’s start with bicep curls. Stand straight with your feet hip-width apart and your arms down at your sides. Hold a five-pound dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing forward and elbows close to your body. Tighten your abs.

Keep a slight bend in your knees to reduce strain on your lower back. Slowly curl all the way up, pause, then lower forearms all the way down.

Next, we’ll work the triceps. Hold a three-pound dumbbell in each hand, arms at sides and knuckles facing outwards. Lean forward at the waist about 45 degrees, bend elbows and raise upper arms so they are parallel to the floor.

Imagine that your upper arms are glued to your sides. Pivot your forearms backwards from the elbows. You should feel your triceps flex as your arms straighten. Return dumbbells forward in a controlled manner by bending elbows.

I hope that, as you start to see results, you’ll have a more positive body image. Many studies have found that simply doing exercise greatly helps with one’s self-esteem.

Need advice?

Send your questions to gloria.schwartz@rogers.com.

May 21, 2012 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 27

Shavuot feature

Pie-in-the-sky thinking: Putting pizzazz into pizza

By Jamie Geller (JTA) – The mere mention of Shavuot sends images of cheesecakes dancing before my eyes and calling my name. I love cheesecakes and they love me – so much they plant themselves on my hips forever.

On the two-day festival, which this year begins on the evening of May 26, the Jewish people became the People of the Book. When we accepted the Torah, we created a bond – like marriage, our sages say – with our Creator that will never be broken.

So, in honour of my marriage to a man who does not like cheesecake and my waistline, I’m forsaking the cheesecake and making his favourite dairy delicacy, pizza, to satisfy the custom of enjoying dairy delights on Shavuot.

When I met my hubby-to-be eight years ago, I was a bachelorette on a perpetual diet. My go-to foods were salad, fruit and yogurt. Bachelor food looks more like a slice (or two or three) of pizza daily – could be for breakfast, lunch, dinner or all three.

So, as a cultured pizza connoisseur, my future spouse introduced me to pizza shops all over New York: the good, the great and the fabulous, complete with running commentary on the specialties of each. I discovered that a New York pizza

shop is so much more than just plain pies. It was almost surrealistic to experience fries and onion rings and fried eggplant on a pizza, even salad. I pretended, especially, to go for the salad pizza, but I must confess I loved, loved, loved those onion ring pies and all the rest!

Plain pizza is so yesterday, I concluded. And, since that time, I must have my slice all dressed up, piled with everything, like it’s going to the pizza party of the year.

Of course, now I make my own. There’s no point to standing in line at the pizza place when it’s so easy to do it yourself. I have developed some amazing pizzas that are healthy and quick; and an oh-so yummy carb-fest for my other half.

You won’t find these at your local pizzeria.

First up is Onion Lovers Pizza. Eat it with those you love and serve Listerine for dessert. This one takes the prize for colour: the red onions give it a real splash, and, combined with shallots, Vidalias and chopped chives, it’s a sure winner.

I’ve never seen a local pizza shop put potatoes (that aren’t fried) or avocado on a pie – so I thought I should be the first.

The avocado, as I see it, is one of God’s gifts to this world. My goal, before 120, is to try it on everything. Hey, I just saw Martha Stewart put zucchini ribbons on a Bundt cake, so why not throw avocado on a pizza? Heavenly!

Onion Lovers Pizza

Potato and Avocado Pizza

Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 15 minutes Ready time: 30 minutes Servings: 4

Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 15 minutes Ready time: 30 minutes Servings: 4

1 small Vidalia or sweet onion, thinly sliced 1 cup sliced shallots 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 frozen pizza dough, defrosted (9-ounce) 2 to 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1/4 cup ricotta cheese 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 cup diced red onion 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese 2 tablespoons chopped chives Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 medium Yukon gold potato, scrubbed 1 frozen pizza dough, defrosted (9-ounce) 2 to 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced 1 tablespoon olive oil 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese 1 green onion, chopped 1/2 medium avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced

In a medium sauté pan, sauté Vidalia onion and shallots in olive oil over medium high heat for 8 to 10 minutes, or until softened and beginning to caramelize.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 450 degrees. Sprinkle a rimless baking sheet with 1 tablespoon flour and set aside.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out pizza dough to a 10-inch circle and transfer to prepared baking sheet.

Prick dough all over with a fork to help prevent large bubbles from forming during baking. Spread dough evenly with ricotta cheese and sprinkle with salt. Top with sautéed onion mixture, red onion and mozzarella cheese.

Bake for 12 to 16 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly. Garnish with chives and pepper, and slice into 6 to 8 wedges to serve.

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In a small saucepan, cover potato with 1/2-inch water and bring to a boil. Simmer until just tender when pierced with a fork, about 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool until comfortable to handle. Slice into 1/4-inch thin slices and set aside.

While potato is cooking, preheat oven to 450 degrees. Sprinkle a rimless baking sheet with 1 tablespoon flour and set aside.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out pizza dough to a 10-inch circle and transfer to prepared baking sheet.

Prick dough all over with a fork to help prevent large bubbles from forming during baking. Sprinkle with sliced garlic, olive oil and salt. Layer potato slices all over pizza and top with cheese and green onion.

Bake for 12 to 16 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly. Top with avocado slices once out of the oven. Slice into 6 to 8 wedges and serve immediately.

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Try this super summer concoction: Peach and Arugula Pizza. It’s not too sweet, as the arugula has a bit of a bite, but it’s summer perfection in a pie.

The idea here is to be so satisfied that you won’t even crave the cheesecake for dessert. Maybe I’ll bum a slice off my neighbour.

Happy Shavuot!

Jamie Geller is the author of the Quick & Kosher cookbook series and creator of the Joy of Kosher with Jamie Geller magazine. She is the host of the Quick & Kosher cooking show online at youtube.com/joyofkosher.

Cindy Feingold’s Made with Love will return.

Peach and Arugula Pizza Peach and Arugula Pizza Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 15 minutes Ready time: 25 minutes Servings: 4 1 frozen pizza dough, defrosted (9-ounce) 2 to 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons sour cream 1 small yellow peach, pitted and cut into 10 slices 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1 cup arugula, washed and dried thoroughly 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Sprinkle a rimless baking sheet with 1 tablespoon flour and set aside.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out pizza dough to a 10-inch circle and transfer to prepared baking sheet.

Prick dough all over with a fork to help prevent large bubbles from forming during baking. Top with sour cream, peach slices, cheese and pepper.

Bake for 12 to 16 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly. Top with arugula and drizzle with olive oil. Cut into 6 to 8 wedges and serve immediately.

Is there a wedding in your future?

In honour of your marriage, the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin is pleased to present you with a six-month subscription.* For details on how to apply, call Barry Silverman 613-798-4696, ext. 256 * Must have been married within the previous six months

Page 28 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – May 21, 2012

WHAT’S GOING ON May 21 to June 17, 2012 WEEKLY EVENTS MONDAYS Motorin Munchkins for children 5 and under, sponsored by the Family Life Centre.

Children must be accompanied by an adult, 9:00 am to noon.

Info: 613-798-9818, ext. 294.

CANDLELIGHTING BEFORE May 25 ✡ 8:17 pm 1st DAY OF SHAVUOT AFTER May 26 ✡ 9:22 pm 2nd DAY OF SHAVUOT May 27 ✡ AFTER 9:23 pm Jun 1 ✡ 8:24 pm ✡ 8:29 pm Jun 8 ✡ 8:33 pm Jun 15 Jun 22 ✡ 8:39 pm ✡ 8:35 pm Jun 29

TUESDAYS Mommy and Me Playgroup for babies and toddlers up to 3 years of age, Rambam Day School, 31 Nadolny Sachs Private, 11:00 am to 12:00 pm.

Info: 613-806-7700.

Israeli Folk Dancing, no partner necessary, Ottawa Jewish Community School, 31 Nadolny Sachs Private, 7:00 pm. Info: judy@ottawaisraelidance.ca.

WEDNESDAYS Playgroup for babies and toddlers, sponsored by the Family Life Centre. Children must be accompanied by an adult, 9:00 to 11:30 am. Info:

For more community listings, visit jewishottawa.com Select “Click to see more months”

tion, June 3; My Lovely Sister, June 10; Melting Away, June 14.

Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington Street, 7:00 pm. Info: 613-798-9818, ext. 243.

613-798-9818, ext. 294.

FRIDAYS Shabbat Shalom for children 5 and under, sponsored by the Family Life Centre. Children must be accompanied by an adult, 9:30 to 11:00 am.

Info: 613-798-9818, ext. 294.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6 78th Annual General Meeting of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa. All community members welcome. Presentation of the Annual Report and community awards, 7:00 pm.

Info: 613-798-4696, ext. 236.

TUESDAY, MAY 29 Malca Pass Book Discussion Group: Deborah Saginur will review The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal, Congregation Agudath Israel, 1400 Coldrey Avenue, 7:30 pm. Info: 613-829-2455.

pm. Info: 613-820-8343.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13 Annual General Meeting of the Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation. Fund holders and community members are invited, 7:30 pm. Info: 613-798-4696, ext. 252.

SUNDAY, JUNE 10 Run/Walk for Jewish Education annual event which benefits our Jewish community schools. Support the school of your choice.

Info: info@amechadwalkrun.com.

Hadassah-WIZO Annual Tea for the Amit, Mollie Betcherman and Ina McCarthy Chapters. Honouree is Dave Smith. Home of Ricki and Barry Baker, 31 Okanagan Drive, 2:00

WEDNESDAY, MAY 30 Hillel Lodge Annual General Meeting, 10 Nadolny Sachs Private, 7:00 pm. Info: 613-728-3900.

MAY 31 TO JUNE 14 9th Annual Israeli Film Festival: The Flood, May 31; Restora-

SUNDAY, JUNE 17 10th Anniversary Die Folkshpieler performance.

SJCC’s Yiddish Theatre Troupe, under Shirley Steinberg, presents “the best of Die Folkshpieler” in theatre, comedy, music, and skits. 2:00 pm.

Info: 613-798-9818, ext. 254.

COMING SOON TUESDAY, JUNE 19 JNF CAARI program celebrates 30th year.

Speaker Susan Horwitz, program director, 7:30 pm.

Info: 613-226-3311.

MONDAY, JULY 16 19th Annual Jewish Federation of Ottawa Golf Tournament, Rideau View Golf Club.

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

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1 2nd Annual Women’s Golf Tournament, Canadian Golf and Country Club.

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

Unless otherwise noted, activities take place at The Joseph and Rose Ages Family Building, 21 Nadolny Sachs Private.

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

Condolences Condolences are extended to the families of: Kenneth Ain, Toronto (brother of Rhoda Blevis and Anna Feldman) Louis Paul Goldmaker Fanny (Bubie) Gosevitz Diana Hershorn (née Young) Natalie Polonsky Laroche, Toronto (sister and sister-in-law of Marlene and Seymour Dubrow)

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. 274.

Voice mail is available.

BULLETIN DEADLINES MAY 30 FOR JUNE 18 JULY 4 FOR JULY 23 AUGUST 1 FOR AUGUST 20

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JEO Page 2 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – May 21, 2012

Jewish Education in Ottawa

Much is new at OJCS

By Ilana Belfer Veteran educator Sheldon Friedman joined the Ottawa Jewish Community School (OJCS) last summer as its principal. Since then, there is much that is new and different at OJCS. At the beginning of his term, Friedman told the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin his top priority is to “establish this as one entity, the Ottawa Jewish Community School, whatever I can do to project and popularize that image.

(Sheldon Friedman is new principal at Ottawa Jewish Community School, September 19, 2011).”

He attributed his past successes to fulfilling the mission statements at the schools where he’s previously served.

Though Hillel Academy and Yitzhak Rabin merged to form OJCS in 2008, Friedman stressed the importance of amalgamating their mission statements as well. That has now been done and the completed mission statement hangs on the wall of the school.

“It’s driving what we do,” Friedman said.

Rebranding has been a major task on Friedman’s to-do list. He hired Sara-Lynne Levine as director of communications and public relations.

“I think there’s an expectation from our parent body that they want to be kept informed,” said Levine.

Principal Sheldon Friedman (seated, lower left) with the students and staff of the Ottawa Jewish Community School.

Levine said OJCS now has a new letterhead, a new logo, which students helped create, and new custom tailored brochures “to really celebrate what’s going on.” They also have a new Facebook page, and are about to start a website redesign.

OJCS has also been holding assemblies and activities such as Chanukah and Purim carnivals for the entire school.

Such activities extend beyond the classroom and are continuing to expand, said Friedman, who calls them the school’s “extended or hidden curriculum.”

Mock stock markets, moot beit dein,

tikkun olam projects and social programs take place at various grade levels. At lunchtime, teachers and older students run clubs from origami to basketball.

Inside the classroom, Friedman has brought in a squad of “new blood,” which, he said, has made a huge difference.

Stacey Veadury, who teaches English and French, is one of six new teachers this year at OJCS. She said her Grade 7 class loves that she’s brought a Shakespeare play – something they hadn’t done before – into the mix.

“I talked a lot at the beginning of the year with the kids … so I took what they liked, took what they’ve done, and modified it a bit, putting in a bit of my own flare,” she said.

But even the veteran teachers must adapt to changes.

OJCS is in the process of purchasing a new web-based administrative system, which will be used for automated scheduling, timetables, attendance, grading and more.

SMART boards – computerized whiteboards – are now in 70 per cent of OJCS classrooms. Friedman said teachers are being encouraged to use technology in lesson plans.

For example, Mathletics is an onlinebased program that allows students to do math pertaining to their class unit at their own individual level. In the high school, students are assigned laptops to borrow and use in class each day.

The curriculum itself is also being tuned up continually.

While students currently have physical education twice a week, as well as art or music once a week, Levine said the administration and teachers are looking at adjusting next year’s timetable to allow for more.

The admin team has also been tweaked, adding teachers Brian Lamb and Heather Graham as operations advisers, which Friedman said contributes to organizational structure.

“We opened enrolment March 1 and we’re ahead of where we were last year,” said Levine. “I’m hoping people come in and look at the school and see that it’s different than it was 10 years ago, five years ago … there are a lot of great things happening here.”

For information, contact Ellie Kamil at e.kamil@theojcs.ca or 613-722-0020, ext.

333.

For more information please call: Sandy Deyo, RECE

Jewish Education in Ottawa

May 21, 2012 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – JEO Page 3

Jewish education in Ottawa: a community’s responsibility

By Michael Regenstreif Editor Over the past several years, we’ve devoted much space in the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin to coverage of the various Jewish schools in our community – both day schools and the various supplementary schools. Our focus has parallelled the priority placed on our educational institutions by the Jewish Federation of Ottawa.

Certainly, one of our major topics in the Bulletin has been the amalgamation of Hillel Academy and Yitzhak Rabin High School to form the Ottawa Jewish Community School (OJCS) and the many steps – both small and giant – that the school has been taking to ensure its short- and longterm stability and its continued growth as a school of excellence in both general and Judaic studies.

To be sure, recent years have not been easy for Jewish schools throughout the Diaspora. The declining enrolment and funding crises we’ve witnessed at Ottawa’s Jewish schools are being faced almost everywhere and in Jewish communities of almost every size. Over the past decade, Jewish schools have closed in some communities and struggle near the edge in most others.

They struggle even in the largest of Jewish communities like Toronto and Montreal.

Studies have recognized that an excellent Jewish education is among the most important components – if not the most important component – to ensuring thriving Jewish communities in the future. The students being educated in our community’s schools today will be the leaders in our community in the future. The investment their families and the community make now in their Jewish education will be paying dividends for decades to come. The commitment to Jewish values that students develop now will remain with them for a lifetime.

From my own experience, I know that the Jewish day school education I received at the Calgary Hebrew School and Vancouver Talmud Torah in the 1960s has stayed with me throughout my life, helping to draw me toward Jewish community involvement, to kindle my interest in pursuing Jewish studies courses at the university level and to choose a career path in Jewish community journalism.

In Ottawa, over the past several years, the OJCS has been working hard in collaboration with Federation leadership on the school’s renewal in the present and its long-term viability for the future. But the situation remains precarious.

Despite the great improvements to the school, and to all of its programs and services,

both inside and outside the classroom, and despite the fact that standards at OJCS meet or surpass those of public schools or other private schools, enrolment levels remain much lower than they need to be. That needs to change.

Amy Katz, executive director of Partnership for Jewish Education (PEJE), a Boston-based organization dedicated to helping Jewish day schools throughout North America, spent several days in Ottawa earlier this month and addressed a Federation members meeting on May 2.

Katz spoke passionately about the importance of day schools to Jewish communities.

“Day schools matter because they not only give us a chance at eternity, they also contribute to the creation of communities of meaning,” she said. “Communities imbued with the values of chesed (loving kindness) and caring for all segments of our people.

Communities rich in values … communities dedicated to tzedek (social justice), to tzedakah (philanthropy) and communities built on our Jewish heritage, history and experience.

“Would we imagine, as citizens of the world, not being knowledgeable of our history, literature, science? Jewish life has survived for thousands of years because of our connection to our history, ancient and contemporary texts, philosophers and commentators that anchored us in a past and prepared us for a future … because we understood not only the value of Jewish education, but the value of Jewish community.

“Day schools are partners with our synagogues, parents, camps and informal Jewish organizations to not only educate our chil-

Amy Katz, executive director of Partnership for Jewish Education

dren but to embrace them in the warm arms of a community: a community of meaning.

“What would our communities be without day schools? Do we dare imagine?”

Katz went on to say that sustaining Jewish day schools is, indeed, a community responsibility – a shared responsibility of school administrators, teachers, parents, alumni, community leaders and the

• • • • • • • • •

community-at-large.

“Schools of excellence,” she said, “require excellent support … as they create a vibrant community. So we have to partner to sustain them.”

Katz challenged our community to think about the role of day schools in Ottawa – particularly the Ottawa Jewish Community School – and to think about the role of community partners in sustaining Jewish education in the city.

As I noted earlier, the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin has and will continue to devote significant attention to Jewish education in our city. While much of our attention in the past, and, indeed, in this special supplement, has focused on OJCS, we also recognize that the community day school option is not suited to all students and families. So our pages are also open to the other day schools and supplementary schools in our community. They are all part and parcel of the Jewish education ecosystem in Ottawa and complement each other in providing various options suited to Jewish families from across the religious spectrum – from the fervently Orthodox to the secular.

In this supplement, we present several articles about the Ottawa Jewish Day School, about each of the other day schools, and an overview of the supplementary schools. We hope these articles will help your family find its best option for your children’s Jewish education.

Individual Student Attention Experienced Faculty Members Spacious Facility Providing Students with Excellence in Judaic & General Studies Kindergarten Learning Centre Hebrew & French Languages Taught Program for 3-year-olds Early & Late Dropoff/Pickup Scholarships Available

Torah Academy of Ottawa Producing Graduates who are “Honourable Menschen” Call or email now to arrange a visit or for registration information Rabbi Yisroel Goldbaum, Principal Rabbi Zischa Shaps, Executive Director 1119 Lazard Street, Ottawa 613-274-0110 • torahacademyottawa@gmail.com www.torahacademyofottawa.com

JEO Page 4 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – May 21, 2012

Jewish Education in Ottawa

OJCS teachers furthering their own educations

By Josh Zeliger Keren Gordon has been teaching since she was a child. Standing in front of a large chalkboard in her bedroom, she would place her dolls on little chairs in a line and teach them her homework.

“It was an interesting way to learn,” said the 35-year-old teacher at the Ottawa Jewish Community School (OJCS).

Gordon is one of five teachers at OJCS who has returned to school in the past year to further their education, while remaining in the classroom.

She has remained both a student and teacher over the 10 years since she graduated from York University with a bachelor of education degree and moved back home to Ottawa.

Her first job was teaching French and general studies at Hillel Academy, now part of OJCS. “I had a classroom with a diverse population of needs and I realized I was handling it one student at a time,” she said.

When a student in her class had a learning disability, she would research how to support the individual child. She said being able to cater the curriculum to each student is a fundamental part of being a teacher because all students have different needs.

Influenced by her passion for teaching special needs students, Gordon enrolled in courses in special education studies at the University of Ottawa and finished her train-

ng i ir u q n I

s d in m

OJCS teacher Brian Lamb with his Grade 4 French class.

ing a year later.

Now she is a specialist working with students from Kindergarten to Grade 8 and advises the staff at OJCS on the best practices for teaching students with special needs.

“We need to make lemonade for ourselves and for our students and we do that by knowing as much as possible,” said Gordon.

Brian Lamb, who teaches French, math and science, and is one of the school’s two

ed t an w

operations advisers, enrolled in the master of education (MEd) program at the University of Ottawa last year.

“It’s tough to go back to school after you’re 40,” said Lamb, who returned to university to become accredited as a principal.

Lamb, 47, said he has implemented coursework from his MEd program directly to the classroom.

One of his assignments involved creating a website that explains the importance

of learning French and offered resources for students and parents. Lamb shared the website with his Grade 4 French class.

Lamb thinks it should be mandatory for teachers to take courses once every three to five years. He said it is important to stay current because new ideas are infectious.

“In my [master’s] class I had to write a paper discussing what the French Department is at the Ottawa Jewish Community School. Once it was written, all the teachers read it, and so they all benefited from my taking one class,” he said.

Lamb said when teachers aren’t staying current, it shows.

Heather Graham, a French, English and math teacher, and the school’s other operations adviser, agrees it is important for teachers to go back to school. She completed her MEd at the University of Ottawa this year.

“Otherwise you get stuck in a routine and you do the same things over and over again,” said Graham.

“When my daughter was in Grade 11 English, she had a teacher who was close to retirement and she told me, ‘Mom, my teacher must be so bored. He just hands out sheets with the lesson number on the bottom and sits and reads the newspaper.’”

“That’s not teaching,” said Graham. “It’s babysitting.”

For information, contact Ellie Kamil at e.kamil@theojcs.ca or 613-722-0020, ext.

333.

e! r he

A SCHOOL OF EXCELLENCE ADK - GRADE 12 www.theottawajewishcommunityschool.ca

Set up a visit to see the great things happening here 613-722-0020

Jewish Education in Ottawa

May 21, 2012 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – JEO Page 5

Each Jewish preschool offers a unique approach

By Benita Baker The three Jewish preschool programs in Ottawa – Ganon, Westboro Jewish Montessori and Early Beginnings – have much in common. They all offer flexible schedules, Judaic content and theme-based programs. But, this is where the similarities end.

Ganon, a play-based preschool located inside the Soloway Jewish Community Centre (SJCC), is the largest.

It offers programs for children aged two to four. A cornerstone of its curriculum is An Ethical Start, a program developed by the JCC Association of North America based on the values taught in the Pirkei Avot.

School director Jenny Shinder explains the program using the following example: When the focus was Mishna #14 – “If I am not for myself, who is for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?” – classroom activities concentrated on taking care of yourself as well as taking care of others. Children learned about hygiene, healthy eating and brushing their teeth.

They also learned about life in Africa by becoming pen pals with students at a school in Zimbabwe. And, when they joined their parents and teachers at a fun event that raised $3,000 to help rebuild the damaged African school, they learned that, even at three or four years old, they could help others.

Because it is located inside the SJCC, the preschool can take advantage of the

building’s facilities, including the swimming pool and gymnasium. The children also regularly visit Hillel Lodge, either in small groups or sometimes school-wide, to celebrate Shabbat with the residents.

Afternoon enrichment programs at Ganon, available for older children, include pottery, acrylic painting, photography, karate, dance, sports, swimming lessons and science.

For further information, contact Jenny Shinder at ganon@jccottawa.com or 613-798-9818, ext. 280.

Early Beginnings Multicultural Child Development Centre is a full-time childcare program that accepts children between 18 months and five years. Located on the Jewish Community Campus, it is the only daycare in Ottawa with a kosher kitchen.

As its name implies, attendance is not restricted to Jewish children only. Consequently, while its programming incorporates Judaic themes, it also includes holidays and traditions of the community-at-large.

As a daycare, Early Beginnings caters to full-time working parents and operates year-round with long opening hours. Its capacity is 63, and there is a long waiting list.

In theory, the primary function of preschools is learning, while in daycares it is supervised activity. This is not the case at Early Beginnings. Although it may not follow a specific curriculum, its programming is based on

Judaic content is an important component of the Ganon preschool at the SJCC.

Students perform with visiting musicians at the Westboro Jewish Montessori Preschool.

the philosophy that “young children learn through action, and that a positive environment for learning should be one that exercises and challenges the developing potentials of each child.”

The theme-based programs include art and crafts, storytelling and puppets for toddlers and field trips and computer-based activities for preschoolers.

Sandy Deyo, Early Beginnings’ new director, is especially proud that the facility offers French classes once a week to the JKs and weekly music classes to all the children. “Some of our JK programming is more educational than the school system,” she says.

For further information, contact Sandy Deyo at earlybeginnings@bellnet.ca or 613-722-5157.

The Chabad-affiliated Westboro Jewish Montessori Preschool is singular because its teaching methods, based on the philosophy of Maria Montessori, differ from traditional approaches.

Underlying the Montessori approach is the notion that young children should be independent to learn at their own pace. The key elements of this teaching style include freedom of movement, mixed-aged classrooms and active learning.

“The children learn using all their senses,” says school director Devora Caytak.

“When they learn the alphabet, they play with letters made from different textures.

They feel the letter, trace the letter, say the letter.”

What makes this unique program even more distinctive is that Judaism is at the foundation of the Montessori instruction. Learning Hebrew and praying daily is as much a part of the program as is singing, dancing and music.

Children learn about Jewish holidays and traditions, as well as basic math concepts such as measuring and mixing, by baking a honey cake for Rosh Hashanah or mak-

Children at work on an arts and crafts project at the Early Beginnings Multicultural Child Development Centre.

ing matzo for Passover.

The school is small – maximum capacity is 28 – and accepts children from two-and-a-half to five years.

Recently introduced is a toddler program beginning at 18

months. Because it is located in a converted house in Westboro, the school feels cozy rather than institutional.

For further information, contact Devora Caytak at 613-729-7712.

JEO Page 6 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – May 21, 2012

Jewish Education in Ottawa

Special programs at OJCS

By Benita Baker Public speaking, stock market analysis, lectures from visiting scientists, how nonprofits function, running a fundraising campaign, making informed philanthropic decisions, examining how Jewish law affects contemporary issues – topics one might associate with a university-level curriculum. But they are just some of the special subjects and programs offered to students at the Ottawa Jewish Community School (OJCS).

Remember the science fair of old, when elaborate science projects were allegedly created by the students but were undoubtedly made by the parents? Not anymore. As early as Kindergarten, visiting scientists teach students about basics, like pulleys, levers and angles. In Grade 3, OJCS students begin learning about the fundamentals of science and science fairs, including forming a hypothesis, undertaking experiments and designing a presentation board.

Parents who are concerned that their child is spending too much time in front of a computer should consider that they may be playing Mathletics games, which aid students in Grades 2 to 8 learn math.

OJCS classroom teachers can tailor the

games to meet the needs of the individual student, who can then go online and play against 25,000 students from across Canada during Canadian Math Week. Six OJCS students placed in the top 100 of the 2012 completion.

Adults who don’t know how the stock market operates can get tips from the budding entrepreneurs and financiers in Grades 6 to 8, who spent three days preparing for the annual stock market challenge. The students learned about shares, analysis and cash flow, created their own stock market firms and conducted transactions.

The annual public speaking competition is another big event in the elementary school.

Beginning at the individual class level, speakers are judged on criteria such as research, content and presentation. The best from each class are narrowed down until two winners emerge – one from Grades 4 to 6 and one from Grades 7 and 8.

Eight years ago, Patrick Mascoe, a teacher at Charles H. Hulse Public School, began educating his predominately Muslim Grade 6 students about the Holocaust. He initiated a pen pal exchange between his students and Hillel Academy’s Grade 6 students and an annual Cultural Day of Understanding, which

Students Itzy Kamil (left) and Michaela Sadinsky in a scene from the OJCS production of Death of a Salesman.

(Photo: Howard Sandler)

brings the students together for a day of fun and learning.

An overview of some of the special programs offered to OJCS high school students validates the school’s claim of being atypical

Torah High reaches out to Jewish students in public high schools

By Ilana Belfer For six years, Torah High has provided after-school classes for Jewish students attending public high schools. Students completing the Torah High program acquire ministry-approved high school credits.

Classes are capped at 12 students in order to keep the learning environment intimate, explained Bram Bregman, Torah High’s executive director and cofounder.

Each year, there have been between 65 and 101 students. This year, it’s in the low range. Bregman said this is the first time enrolment has gone down.

Bregman said teenagers who drift away from the Jewish community often have a misunderstanding of what Judaism is or no one’s taken the time to answer their questions, which is essential during the “identity formation” years.

He and the other teachers encourage students to ask as many questions as possible and strive to make everyone feel “warm and welcome,” regardless of background or affiliation, he said.

Torah High, said Bregman, seeks out teachers “who are fairly young and with it, but who also

have a strong knowledge base of Torah and Judaism.”

Bregman said he takes it upon himself to adjust his own teaching style, if something’s not working in the classroom, by being more interactive or engaging. He said participation and group activities are favoured over lectures.

But, for Bregman, the Torah High system is all worth it, and Gaby Scarowsky, a teacher and the director of programming, couldn’t agree more.

“There’s a whole experiential component where they come on weekend conventions, Shabbatons and Shabbat dinners, combined with the in-class learn-

ing,” Scarowsky said.

“Inspiring Jewish students who are in public school to find Jewish meaning in their life is incredibly challenging, but, at the same time, it’s one of things that makes Torah High unique.”

For information, contact Bram Bregman at bram@ncsy.ca or 613-262-6279.

Rabbi Yehuda Simes, the popular Torah High cofounder and teacher seriously injured in a 2010 highway accident, returns to Torah High whenever possible to guest lecture.

and unique. As a member of RAVSAK: The Jewish Community Day School Network, an organization dedicated to strengthening and sustaining Jewish day schools, the school has access to its impressive programs.

Project ROPE: Roots of Philanthropic Education is one of these programs. It aims to provide students with a comprehensive and hands-on understanding of philanthropy that includes an appreciation of how non-profits operate, the social needs they address and how funds are raised and allocated. The focus this year, social services for seniors, had students working with Hillel Lodge and Jewish Family Services.

As noted at ravsak.org, the goal of the program is to enable students “to make philanthropic decisions informed by the head and the heart, guided by Jewish values and taking account of needs both in their local communities and in Israel.”

Another RAVSAK program is the Moot Beit Din, in which students analyze how traditional Jewish laws can be applied to contemporary issues such as capital punishment, abortion and the environment.

The intensive exercise culminates in an international competition, where teams from hundreds of North American schools present and defend their conclusions to a panel of judges. This year, the subject was trade unions and the competition took place in Florida. The OJCS students received a commendation for their performance.

Theatre in high schools took on a whole new relevance when the Cappie Awards were introduced in Ottawa. Because OJCS is a small school, the decision to participate in the Cappies meant that every student got involved. Those not acting on stage were behind the scenes doing lighting, sound and direction, or were trained as theatre critics. In the past two years, OJCS students were nominated for four acting awards. In 2010, Itzy Kamil won the award for best comedic actor.

For information, contact Ellie Kamil at e.kamil@theojcs.ca or 613-722-0020, ext.

333.

Jewish Education in Ottawa

May 21, 2012 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – JEO Page 7

Temple Israel Religious School (TIRS)

Producing Life Long Jews

“Our children feel a great sense of attachment to the Jewish community through their involvement with TIRS, and with our synagogue.” – Michelle Lajzerowizc and Bruce Gottfred Education in Jewish Life Skills Education to Promote Social Justice Education to Bond with Israel Education to Participate in Jewish Life Education Preparing for Bar/Bat Mitzvah Exciting High School and Youth Programming K-Grade 10 Classes Open to the Entire Community

“Temple School is much more than a place to learn Hebrew reading. It has given our children membership in a unique community.”– Penny Gershon-Giaccone and Roberto Giaccone

“TIRS has a warm, inclusive, welcoming atmosphere that fosters learning, growth, and pride in a Jewish identity.”

– Marie Carmen Berlie and Charles Khazzam

Temple Israel Religious School TIRS 1301 Prince of Wales Drive, Ottawa, ON K2C 1N2 613-224-3133

•

www.templeisraelottawa.ca

JEO Page 8 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – May 21, 2012

Jewish Education in Ottawa

Ottawa Talmud Torah Afternoon School offers: • Highly qualified and passionate teachers • Fun and engaging lessons • A traditional, comprehensive alternative to Jewish day school at an affordable cost • Programs for Junior Kindergarten through Grade 8 with Bar/Bat Mitzvah instruction included • Nearly 90 years of experience serving the Ottawa Jewish community Our community-minded program is designed to instil students with a firm sense of pride in their Jewish identities while making our rich heritage relevant to today’s modern world.

Every school day is an open house day!

For more information, to arrange a visit or to register, please contact us at 613-722-8827 • ottas@ottas.ca University of Ottawa

The Vered Jewish Canadian Studies Program An academic program promoting the understanding of Jewish life, culture, language, An academic program promoting the understanding of Jewish life, culture, language, literature and history in Canada.

literature and history in Canada.

Minor in Jewish Canadian Studies

Courses being offered in the upcoming year: Minor in2012: JewishIntroduction Canadian Studies FALL to Jewish Canadian Studies (CDN 1300)

Courses being offered in the upcoming year:

Tues. 1:00-2:30 p.m., Thurs. 11:30-1:00 p.m. • Professor Rebecca Margolis Jewish Canadian Writers: The Making of a Tradition (CDN/ENG 3383) Fall 2010: Introduction to YiddishSeymour LanguageMayne and Culture 1; Wed. 5:30-8:30 p.m. • Professor

NEW: Sociology of Contemporary Canadian Jewish Life.

WINTER 2013: History of the Jews of Canada (CDN/HIS 2105A)

Winter 2011: Introduction to Yiddish Language CulturePierre 2; Introduction to Jewish Tues.

4:00 - 5:30 p.m., Thurs.

2:30-4:00 p.m. • and Professor Anctil Canadian Studies; History of the Jews in Studies: Canada.

Selected Topics in Jewish Canadian Canadian Responses to the Holocaust (CDN 3102A) Instructors: Anctil, Rebecca Margolis RandalRebecca Schnoor. Margolis Mon. 11:30 Professors a.m.-1:00 Pierre p.m., Thurs., 1:00-2:30 p.m. • and Professor Members of the community may also choose to audit these courses.

For more information, contact our program coordinator, Professor Seymour Mayne 613-562-5800 ext.1148 | Email: mayne@uOttawa.ca | www.Vered.uOttawa.ca

A group of Ottawa Torah Institute students.

Ottawa Torah Institute and Machon Sarah

By Nicola Hamer The Ottawa Torah Institute High School for Boys is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. The high school is currently in the old JCC in Sandy Hill. Its sister school for girls, Machon Sarah High School for Girls, is in its 22nd year. The schools were created to provide an Ottawa option for Orthodox students after they graduate elementary school, so students wouldn’t need to leave Ottawa to continue their education.

It is a long school day for the boys, who start at 8:00 am by getting breakfast together at Rideau Bakery and begin davening at 8:30. The rest of their day is split between general studies and Judaic studies, with an hour a day for gym.

“We have access to this huge gym from the original JCC. It seemed crazy not to take advantage of that,” says board president Aaron Sarna.

The boys’ school day ends at 5:30 pm, so an hour of running off steam helps them

keep focused on their studies.

The girls’ school day runs from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. They only have gym once a week. Their curriculum is the same as the boys, says Sarna, but without learning Talmud. They graduate “knowing how to run a Jewish household.”

The schools’ graduates go on to postsecondary education, most of them to secular universities.

The schools are very small, with 15 students in total this year. Their size makes it difficult to attract more students, says Sarna, since many people feel it is too small. Cost is also a huge problem, something facing all Jewish day schools in Ontario. However, he points out, the small size provides for a quality education, allowing frequent one-on-one learning: “We graduate proud and literate Jews.”

For information, contact Rabbi Eliezer Ben-Porat at ottawatorah@gmail.com or 613-244-3939.

Rambam Day School

By Nicola Hamer What started as a tiny preschool in 1977 in the home of Rabbi Dovid and Chana Hayes is now a preschool-to-Grade 8 Chabad day school on the Jewish Community campus.

Previously a French immersion elementary school called École Maimonides, it became an English-language school almost a decade ago and changed its name to Rambam Day School.

The school now resides in a basement wing of the Ottawa Jewish Community School, sharing the gym and playground.

The 65 boys and girls students are taught together until Grade 4 and then in separate girls’ and boys’ classes until the graduate on completing Grade 8.

The school’s program has the students learning Judaic studies for half the day and general studies the other half. They don’t

have any extracurricular activities, but art is built into the curriculum and, this year, they started a music program, teaching students from Grade 1 and up to play an instrument.

Principal Chana Hayes says moving to their location on the Jewish Community Campus has been very good for the school, not only in allowing them easier access to the Soloway Jewish Community Centre and Hillel Lodge, but in raising awareness of what their school offers.

“It put us on the map,” she says, explaining that while they are a Chabad-run school, their goal is to reach out to the broader community.

“Over half our families are not Chabadaffiliated,” she adds. “Our goal is to teach Torah and graduate well-rounded Jews.”

For information, contact Chana Hayes at 613-820-9484, ext. 348.

Jewish Education in Ottawa

May 21, 2012 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – JEO Page 9

Parents drawn to ‘community’ aspect of OJCS

By Nicola Hamer While all other provinces provide some funding to all faithbased day schools, Ontario does not fund non-Catholic religious schools. Therefore, the Ottawa Jewish Community School (OJCS) requires a significant financial commitment from the school’s parents.

So, why do parents choose OJCS for their children?

The most common response is “community.”

But “community” means different things to different people.

Pamela Frank, who has children in Grades 1 and 4, says she herself went to public school, but lived in a Montreal neighbourhood so predominantly Jewish she never felt different. For her kids to have that feeling in Ottawa, she realized sending them to day school was her only option.

Rena Kimea, whose children are in Grades 4 and 7, agrees and adds that OJSC’s location on the Jewish Community Campus provides added value.

“That the kids visit the residents at Hillel Lodge and are right next to the JCC connects them to their larger community.”

For Marnie Stein, that feeling of community comes from sending her kids to a small, close-knit school. Her daughters are in Grades 3 and 5 and she herself attended Hillel Academy as a child.

“You grow up with the same group of people. I wanted my kids to have that security.”

Stein says her closest friends are still those she made at Hillel.

Andrea Stevens, whose children are in Grades 1, 5 and 8, says she finds it frustrating when people suggest children in Jewish day schools are in a bubble, away from the real world.

“Why do I have to be in such a hurry for my kids to face all the complications of the world?”

Her eldest daughter is heading into Grade 9 at the OJCS high school next year.

“I know it is small and protected,” says Stevens. “That’s good.

I’d like my kid to be as mature as possible before she has to face everything life has to throw at her.”

Learning Hebrew and Jewish values is also important to those who choose day school.

“There’s something about how a Jewish education teaches a child

to think that is very valuable. They are taught to question, but it comes from a solid base of Jewish knowledge,” says Leila Ages, whose daughters are in Grades 3 and 5.

Pamela Frank encapsulates many parents’ opinions on choosing day school education: “The school we choose to send our children to needs to be a place of excitement about learning and en-

thusiasm for challenges grounded in the values and morality that are important to our family …

“As parents, we need to ask ourselves if the school we chose is instilling a passion for education and high moral values in our children.”

Jodi Gitter, the mother of two young children at OJSC, agrees: “I happen to think that my kids are getting a great education at OJSC

– they have small classes and some really great teachers.

“But that’s just a big a bonus.

What matters is that they are at a school where people care about them and care about Judaism.

What matters is that my kids are proud of being Jewish, and that they are happy.”

For information, contact Ellie Kamil at e.kamil@theojcs.ca or 613-722-0020, ext. 333..

Torah Academy of Ottawa

By Nicola Hamer In 1997, a group of parents got together and opened a Jewish day school for Ottawa’s Orthodox community. Today, Torah Academy of Ottawa has 75 students, from preschool to Grade 8.

Since 2003, Torah Academy has been housed in a former public school building in Bel Air Heights, a few minutes from the Jewish Community Campus.

The space gives them lots of room for a small preschool class – something new this year – as well as all-day junior and senior kindergarten. Boys and girls are taught together until Grade 6 and then in separate classes for Grades 7 and 8.

As with other Jewish day schools, half the day is spent on the Ontario curriculum, the other half on Judaic subjects, including Hebrew language. There is also 30 minutes of davening each day. Art and drama are built into both the general and Judaic curriculums.

The Torah Academy goal, says Executive Director Rabbi Zischa Shaps, is to produce a well-rounded Jewish child: “We want to make a mensch.”

Despite the small size, or perhaps in some ways because of it, Torah Academy offers a range of extracurricular activities by way of school clubs. Since the teachers offer the clubs based on their own skills, the topics vary. For example, this past winter, they built a skating rink in the playground and taught the students to skate.

Rabbi Shaps says the school is not really affected by the general decline in enrolment in Jewish education that many day and afternoon schools struggle with as the Torah Academy enrolment is based on the number of Orthodox families in the city in any given year. The numbers have been as high as 85 students and as low as 65.

For information, contact Rabbi Zischa Shaps at torahacademy@rogers.com or 613-274-0110.

Ottawa Modern Jewish School Educating a Diverse Jewish Community For More Than 50 Years

OMJS and YOU!

Ottawa Modern Jewish School is a contemporary school which provides a stimulating, enjoyable and high quality Jewish education. We are a secular school inclusive of all elements of Jewish society, a school which recognizes the principle of individual choice. OMJS fosters a sense of community. Our school is not affiliated with any synagogue or branch of Judaism. All are welcome.

OMJS offers a broad-based curriculum:

• Parent Guided

• Modern Hebrew

• Conveniently Located at the Soloway JCC

• Holidays

• Proud to offer Yiddish Language & Culture

• Jewish History • Israel News & Current Events

• 20% SJCC Membership Discount for all OMJS families

• Jewish Art & Music • Bar/Bat Mitzvah Orientation

• 10% OMJS Discount for all SJCC Members • One Month Trial for New Families • Discount for 2 or more children in the same family

• Synagogue Skills

Teaching Traditional Jewish Values in a Non-Traditional Way www.omjs.ca

613-798-9818, ext. 234

JEO Page 10 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Ottawa Jewish Bulletin â&#x20AC;&#x201C; May 21, 2012

Jewish Education in Ottawa

Each supplemental school takes a unique approach

By Josh Zeliger Supplemental Hebrew schools come in all shapes and sizes in Ottawa, so parents have a wide range of choice when choosing a supplemental Hebrew school education for students enrolled at public and secular private schools.

Ottawa Talmud Torah Afternoon School Ottawa Talmud Torah Afternoon School is Ottawaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s oldest supplemental school, dating back more than 80 years. The school has about 40 students enrolled and classes take place in the Ottawa Jewish Community School building.

Talmud Torah is the only supplemental school that offers programs three times a week, on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and Sunday mornings; however, kindergarten students attend one day a week and Grade 1 students attend two. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our philosophy has always been about providing the most comprehensive alternative to day school,â&#x20AC;? said Rabbi David Rotenberg, the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s principal.

Rabbi Rotenberg, who is finishing his first year as Talmud Torah principal, said the school doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t align itself with a particular Jewish movement and is adopting new programs to make Judaism come to life for both students and parents.

For information, contact Rabbi David Rotenberg at principal@ottas.ca or 613-7228827.

Ottawa Modern Jewish School â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are a contemporary school, offering an inclusive high quality Jewish education that covers all elements of Jewish society and recognizes the principles of individual choice,â&#x20AC;? said Janet Kaiman, principal of Ottawa Modern Jewish School.

The school, whose classes take place at the Soloway Jewish Community Centre, includes Yiddish learning as part of its curriculum.

Kaiman said the school also teaches synagogue skills, focusing on the prayers students are most likely to hear, as well as Hebrew vocabulary and reading.

Students are taught Bible stories from a historical rather than dogmatic perspective, according to Kaiman.

The Ottawa Modern Jewish School partnered with Hillel Lodge this year. Once a month, one of the classes visits the Lodge to play games with the residents. Kaiman said students learn about honouring their elders and ethical values during the visits.

There are about 40 students enrolled at the school from junior kindergarten to Grade 7.

For information, contact Janet Kaiman at principal@omjs.ca or 613-798-9818, ext.

234.

Temple Israel Religious School The Temple Israel Religious School is, itself, as old as the Reform synagogue, dating back to 1967.

Classes for Grades 7 to 10 are held on

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principal and a teacher at the Star of David Hebrew School.

Honigman has been involved with the school since its inception 35 years ago.

The school has classes on Mondays and Wednesdays between 4:15 and 6:15 pm at Machzikei Hadas Synagogue.

Honigman said she prides herself on the reading skills of the graduates of her school.

The Star of David Hebrew School also puts emphasis on tzedakah. Students bring change to every class to fill the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tzedakah boxes.

At the end of the year, the A group of Chabad Hebrew School students. money is counted and the Monday nights; classes for Grades 2 to 6 are students decide where to donate the funds.

Last year, the students donated a portable held on Wednesday nights; and kindergarten and Grade 1 classes are on Sunday mornings. stretcher to the Magen David Adom.

For information, contact Hennie HonigNinety-seven students are enrolled at the man at itchheb@aol.com or 613-733-6168 school this year. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We want to create a community and promote the reading of Hebrew, and the prayers Chabad Hebrew School and what they mean, so that students can parThe Chabad Hebrew School began in 2005 ticipate in our services,â&#x20AC;? said Penny Giaccone, with a Grade 1 class. Since then, the suppleprincipal of the school. mental school has grown to 80 children from The curriculum allows students to learn at kindergarten to Grade 7. their own pace and focuses on prayers and Classes are held Sunday mornings from blessings. There is also a one-on-one remedi- 9:30 am to noon at the Ottawa Torah Centre. al tutorial, if children require extra help.

Once a month, a Shabbat service and dinFor information, contact Temple Israel Re- ner is held with students and parents so that ligious School at tirs@templeisraelottawa.ca students can practise what they have been or 613-224-3133. learning. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our program caters to children of all afStar of David Hebrew School filiations and backgrounds,â&#x20AC;? said Dina Blum, â&#x20AC;&#x153;We offer a modern core curriculum of Chabad Hebrew School principal. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We teach Hebrew knowledge, Jewish customs and ritu- authentic Judaism in a hands-on authentic als, with a strong emphasis on proficiency in way.â&#x20AC;? reading and writing, working towards a bar or For information, contact Dina Blum at bat mitzvah,â&#x20AC;? said Hennie Honigman, dinabl@sympatico.ca or 613-843-7770.

Jewish Education in Ottawa

May 21, 2012 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – JEO Page 11

Differentiated instruction and gifted program at OJCS

By Benita Baker Passive learning – where the teacher stands in front of the classroom talking to students sitting at desks – is no longer the way students are taught at the Ottawa Jewish Community School (OJCS). It has been replaced by a teaching method called differentiated instruction, which recognizes that every child has different learning needs, so the way they are taught should vary accordingly.

Traditional teaching methods have been replaced by group work, shared and independent learning. In many classrooms, blackboards have been replaced with SMART Boards, interactive whiteboards that use touch-screen technology, which helps challenge and stretch the critical thinking skills of students.

An innovative teaching approach in the primary classroom, especially for math, is called Think/Pair/Share. After the teacher has demonstrated a math concept on the SMART Board, students partner up to explain their understanding of the concept to each other.

When they return to their desks, a math problem geared to their level is waiting, which they can solve using the knowledge gained from both the teacher and their partner, or by using manipulatives, objects that help them to visualize the answer. They then present their solution to the class.

At the Kindergarten level, differentiated instruction includes screening students for appropriate speech, language, reading readiness

and fine motor development. ReGrades 2-6, which meets weekly. mediation, if necessary, is avail“The goal of this program is to enable in small groups, through to courage the students to research and Grade 3. explore topics of interest and then At the high school level, difdesign and carry out a project relatferentiated instruction detered to that topic,” explains Gordon. mines not only how students When the topic was the Canadian learn, but also what courses they political system, the project culmitake. The range of teaching nated with a tour of Parliament Hill methods is far more flexible and and observing Question Period in can include discussions, debates, the House of Commons. One group field trips and guest speakers. chose magic as its topic and invited The student’s individual learning a magician to the school to teach needs are identified and paired them tricks. One group built a solarwith their long-term career goals panelled robot and another learned in order to guide the selection of about computer programming by appropriate courses. creating and writing their own Some students have a prob- OJCS students work together as part of the differentiated in- blogs. struction teaching method. lem taking tests. It may be nec“The gifted are always curious, alessary to read the test questions out loud, to grade-level that matches their intelligence, re- ways questioning,” says Gordon. “They canrephrase them or to have them answer orally. gardless of how the age difference may affect not be tied to a curriculum.”

The school uses the same criteria as the A quiet room is available for students at all the students’ socialization.

Within the differentiated instruction Ottawa Carleton District School Board to delevels who may have these special needs.

Differentiated instruction changes how framework, gifted students remain with their termine giftedness, which includes high teachers teach. Since they must cater to the peers as much as possible, requiring the scores on the Canadian Cognitive Abilities individual needs of each student, every lesson teacher to differentiate their instruction by in- Test (CCAT) as well as assessment by a psyrequires them to present the information in creasing the difficulty or assigning a different chologist. more than one way. In order to stay current, project. Keren Gordon, the school’s special Once identified, an Individual Education OJCS teachers receive regular professional services co-ordinator, works with teachers to Plan (IEP) is written for each student identidevelopment and work with an in-house math provide additional resources or, when neces- fying his or her unique program, services and sary, directly with gifted students to ensure learning expectations. consultant.

OJCS has also adopted a fresh approach to they are adequately challenged.

For information, contact Ellie Kamil at Gordon oversees the Special Interest e.kamil@theojcs.ca or 613-722-0020, ext. dealing with gifted students. Traditional methods have placed gifted students at the Learners Program for gifted students in 333.

JEO Page 12 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – May 21, 2012

Jewish Education in Ottawa