Ottawa jewish bulletin 2012 09 24

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Daniel Gordis: Israel should be seen as a model for other countries, a place of pride for all Jews

By Diane Koven Though the reasons may differ from those of a generation ago, the State of Israel still matters to today’s Jews. Its existence is of the utmost importance and that message must be transmitted to the next generation, said Daniel Gordis to enthusiastic response at Centrepointe Theatre.

Gordis, the keynote speaker at the Jewish Federation of Ottawa’s Annual Campaign Kickoff, September 9, emphatically said Israel is no longer just a place of refuge.

It is a strong, productive, modern country with much to offer the world.

Gordis, an American-Israeli who made aliyah in 1998, began his address with anecdotes from his own family’s life in Israel, describing the angst of parents whose young sons are serving in the army and the fear of the latenight telephone call from a son calling to say he was “going out”

and not knowing if he would return safely.

He told the audience there is now a box of gas masks at the entrance to his synagogue, a stark reminder of the threats from Iran that we in the Diaspora only read about in newspapers.

Gordis compared the situation of Canadian parents listening to the radio in the morning to find out if school is cancelled because of a snow day to Israeli parents wondering if their children should go to school when rockets have fallen in the area.

“No snow, but rockets were falling on undisputed, Israeli sovereign territory because of Israel’s existence,” he said.

Gordis, a Conservative rabbi and senior vice-president and the Koret Distinguished Fellow at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem, is a prolific author, columnist and speaker. He described some of the many personal challenges and

fears involved in day-to-day life in Israel. “Is it worth it?” he asked rhetorically.

“I would like to propose to you this evening that that conversation about whether or not it is worth it and, more important, why it is worth it, is a conversation we are not having ... The conversation about Zionism has effectively been hijacked and we have allowed it to be hijacked,” said Gordis.

In the past, when Israel was thought of only as a place of refuge, and the Jews as underdogs, the conversation was very different. Today’s Jews, according to Gordis, are more comfortable discussing the Arab Spring, “but there is nothing we can do about what happens in Egypt ... or in Syria,” he said.

“We can affect how it is that Jews think about Israel ... to begin to frame a conversation in which I (Continued on page 2)

Daniel Gordis speaks at the Annual Campaign Kickoff, September 9, at Centrepointe Theatre.

(Photo: Peter Waiser)

British Muslim Zionist to speak in Ottawa

By Louise Rachlis Kasim Hafeez says he grew up as an anti-Semite who hated the State of Israel. Browsing in a bookstore in his hometown of Nottingham, England, at age 21, he spotted Alan Dershowitz’s The Case for Israel.

“I picked it up on the premise that Israel has no case; that it will be easy to disprove,” Hafeez told the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin in a

telephone interview.

After reading Dershowitz’s book debunking many untruths about Israel, Hafeez entered a period of soul-searching and research, which culminated in life-changing trip to Israel at the age of 23.

Now 28, the British-born Muslim of Pakistani origin is now a Zionist with a deep respect and admiration for what Israel represents.

Hafeez will speak about his journey to Zionism in Ottawa on October 17.

On seeing the blind hatred for Israel in so many facets of society, Hafeez feels he has the responsibility to stand up, speak the truth and convey the facts.

He describes the views of his relatives regarding his efforts as quite mixed.

“There are some members of

my family who are very supportive, and there are some I have nothing to do with,” he said.

Hafeez has a full-time job in the admissions department of a Nottingham college. He also runs the Israel Campaign and blogs at theisraelcampaign.org. He is a fellow at the Lawfare Project, is on the advisory board of StandWithUs U.K., is a co-director of (Continued on page 2)

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Page 2 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – September 24, 2012

(From left) Women’s Campaign Chair Susan Viner-Vered, Campaign Kickoff Co-chair Ian Sherman, keynote speaker Daniel Gordis, Campaign Kickoff Co-chair Randi Sherman and Annual Campaign Chair Michael Landau at the Annual Campaign Kickoff.

(From left) Campaign Kickoff Co-chairs Adam, Matthew and Jonathan Sherman speak about their family’s tradition of volunteerism at the Kickoff event.

(Photos: Peter Waiser)

‘Reframe the conversation’ about Israel, urges Gordis (Continued from page 1)

remind myself why does the country matter. What is the point? ...

Our obligation tonight and beyond, as people who care deeply about Israel, is to reframe the conversation.”

Because of the State of Israel, Jews around the world can stand tall and hold our heads up, said Gordis. Israel today has much to offer the world and should serve

as a model to other countries, an example of what can be accomplished by such a small country even in the midst of tremendous stress and turmoil.

“Israel is locked in a conflict because the Arab world has decided it would rather destroy it than copy it,” said Gordis, challenging the Palestinians to improve their situation by learning from Israel.

In their brief remarks, Annual

Campaign Chair Michael Landau and Women’s Campaign Chair Susan Viner-Vered urged audience members to become involved in the community.

The Campaign Kickoff was chaired by Ian and Randi Sherman and their sons, Jonathan, Matthew and Adam.

The Sherman brothers spoke about the importance of being involved in the Jewish community,

the values they learned from their parents and grandparents, and of their plans to carry on the family tradition of volunteerism. One of the new campaign initiatives this year is the Emerging Generation Campaign directed at young adults in Ottawa’s Jewish community. They are being urged to contribute just 50 cents per day to the campaign. Lack of finances should not be a deterrent to com-

munity involvement, they said.

The 2013 Campaign video was also shown during the event.

Highlighting such programs and beneficiary agencies as PJ Library, the Ottawa Jewish Community School, Jewish Family Services of Ottawa and AJA 50+, the video gave just a few examples of how individuals, agencies and the community benefit from the funds raised by the Annual Campaign.

Hafeez: Israel is ‘what’s right’ in the Middle East (Continued from page 1)

the British Israel Coalition Public Affairs Committee, and has toured U.K. campuses giving a talk entitled, “The Day I Stopped Hating Israel.” He has also spoken throughout the U.K., Canada and Israel.

“The most important thing to realize is how important Israel is not only to the Middle East, but also to the wider democratic world,” Hafeez said.

“If you really open your eyes, you’ll come to the conclusion that Israel is not what’s wrong with the Middle East; it’s what’s right at the moment.”

With the current situation in the Middle East, “it’s easy to be bleak,” he said, “but there has to be hope.

“The international focus has to change and you can’t always blame Israel or we’re not going to

move forward. Without challenging the hatred being taught in other countries, there’s no hope for the future.”

Although most of the audience hearing him speak in Ottawa will agree with his message, it’s vital, he says, that they go out and spread the word.

“I think it’s so important that people actually do something.

We’re dealing with barrages of negativity. It can really help when people discuss the issues.”

Hafeez is looking forward to speaking in Ottawa. Canada, he said, is a favourite destination.

Kasim Hafeez will speak Wednesday, October 17, 7:00 pm, at the Soloway Jewish Community Centre.

The program is presented by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and the Jewish Federation of Ottawa. Admission is free.

Disabled Israeli veterans visit Ottawa Israeli Ambassador Miriam Ziv (far right) hosted a delegation of disabled Israeli veterans from the Beit Halochem rehabilitation centres at her residence, August 30, during their visit to Ottawa.

September 24, 2012 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 3

Jewish Youth Library

By Devora Caytak The year was 1981. We had just moved to Ottawa and I was expecting our first of 12 children. We had purchased a small house on Switzer Avenue, off Kirkwood.

Our home had a finished basement and I wanted to start a children’s library. My husband wanted to start an adult library. We compromised and started both!

In 1989, with about $50 in the bank, and a blessing from the Lubavitcher Rebbe, the library, a registered non-profit organization, purchased its own building across the street, and we opened the Jewish Youth Library. The Reichmann family in Toronto had kindly given us an interest-free loan for our down payment.

Slowly but surely, with the support of the Ottawa Jewish community, the Jewish Youth Library paid off its mortgage and expanded its programming to reach more individuals and families. Our little library grew into a Jewish Montessori Preschool and our successful Camp Gan Israel, which provides campers with unique summer

Camp Gan Israel provides your child with a rich and wholesome summer vacation of fun and excitement along with friendship and meaningful educational experiences.

experiences steeped in Jewish values and traditions.

In September 2006, the library received a grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation to start the Friendship Circle – a program where we match teen volunteers with families who have a child with special needs.

Future plans for the Friendship Circle include building a Life Town, a miniature village built to child’s scale. The idea is

to create an environment to help children with special needs develop self-esteem and confidence while mastering specific life skills.

Our licensed Jewish Montessori Preschool was the recent recipient of Montessori equipment valued at $25,000, conferred by a very generous donor. We also received a matching grant from the City of Ottawa and now have bamboo floors and a

beautiful new playground.

The library was the recent recipient of a $100,000 grant from Citizenship and Immigration Canada, which was used towards a special commemoration of the MS St. Louis Project, which included publishing a children’s book and a parent and teacher guide and commissioning a mural that now hangs in the Jewish Youth Library.

While the library has been extremely successful, with G-d’s help, in obtaining government funding, the struggle to maintain the quality and excellence of programs continues as does the hard work to overcome many challenges.

Our five-year plan includes a five million dollar Capital Campaign to fund an expansion and provide ongoing support for our many programs. We look forward to serving the community for many years to come, with joy, simcha and good health.

For more information about the Jewish Youth Library and its programs, please call 613 729 1619 | 613 729 7712 or visit www.jewishyouthlibrary.com.

Page 4 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – September 24, 2012

High Holidays feature

Confessing our sins on Yom Kippur – and remembering to act nobly

By Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman (JTA) – Few prayers are as well known to Jews as Ashamnu (“We have sinned ...”) and Al Chet (“For the sin ...”), the twin confessions of Yom Kippur. Belief in human sinfulness is more central to Judaism than we think. Sin may not be original, as it is in Christianity – inherited from Adam, that is, as a sort of genetic endowment ever after. But it is at least primal: It is there, patent, indelible and unavoidable. We may not be utterly depraved – the teaching with which American Protestantism grew up – but we are indeed sinners.

Talmudic practice, therefore, was to say a confession every single day, a precedent that continued into the Middle Ages and still survives in Sephardi synagogues. Ashkenazi Jews also announce

that sinfulness daily in a part of the service called Tachanun (supplications), which includes a line from Avinu Malkeinu, “Our Father, Our King, be gracious and answer us, for we have no deeds.”

That translation misses the theological point, however. Classical Christianity believed that we are too sinful to be of any merit on our own. We depend, therefore, on God’s “grace,” the love God gives even though we do not deserve it. Jews, by contrast, preach the value of good deeds, the mitzvot. But Avinu Malkeinu hedges that bet. At least in Tachanun, and certainly from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur, we proclaim “we have no deeds” and rely on God’s “gracious” love instead.

Our two Yom Kippur confessions appeared in Seder Rav Amram, the first

comprehensive Jewish prayer book (circa 860), and became standard thereafter.

But do Jews really believe we are as sinful as the confessions imply? Nineteenth century Jews, recently emancipated from medieval ghettos, doubted it. For more than a century, philosophers had preached the primacy of reason as the cognitive capacity that makes all human beings equal. These two influences, political equality and the fresh air of reason, paved the way for a century when all things seemed possible. And, indeed, scientific advances and the industrial revolution did seem to promise an end to human suffering just around the corner.

It wasn’t just Jews who felt that way. For Europeans in general, the notion of human sin, whether original (for Christians) or primal

(for Jews), lost its plausibility. Far from bemoaning human depravity, it seemed, religion should celebrate human nobility. Enlightenment rabbis began paring away Yom Kippur’s heavy accent on sin.

From then until now, new liturgies – usually Reform and Reconstructionist – have shortened the confessions, translated them to lessen their overall impact, and created new ones that addressed more obvious shortcomings of human society. But traditionalist liturgies also tried to underscore human promise and explain away the aspects of the confessions no one believed anymore. Al Chet “is an enumeration of all the sins and errors known to mankind,” said Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, the founder of modern Orthodoxy. It is not as if we, personally, have done them, but some Jew somewhere has, and, as the Talmud says, “All Israelites are responsible for one another.”

Some would say today that as much as the 19th century revealed the human capacity for progress, the 20th and 21st centuries have demonstrated the very opposite. Perhaps we really are as sinful as the traditional litur-

Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman.

(Photo: Hebrew Union College)

gy says. Religious progressives respond by saying we suffer only from a failure of nerve and, more than ever, Yom Kippur should reaffirm the liberal faith in human dignity, nobility and virtue.

At stake on Yom Kippur this year is not just one confession rather than another, but our faith in humankind and the kind of world we think we are still capable of building.

I am not yet ready to throw in the Enlightenment towel. Back in 1824, Rabbi Gotthold Salomon of Hamburg gave a sermon in which he said, “All of us feel, to one extent or other, that, in spirit and soul, we belong to a higher order than the ephemeral. We feel that we are human in the most noble

sense of the word, that we are closely connected to the Father of all existence, and that we could have no higher purpose than to show ourselves worthy of this relationship.”

Those words ring true for us today. We have something to gain from the Enlightenment’s belief that acting for human betterment is the noble thing to do, and that acting nobly is still possible.

Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, the Barbara and Stephen Friedman professor of liturgy, worship and ritual at Hebrew Union CollegeJewish Institute of Religion in New York, is the author most recently of We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism – Ashamnu and Al Chet (Jewish Lights).

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Page 6 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – September 24, 2012

Ensuring Ottawa’s Jewish community remains strong and vibrant With summer over and the High Holidays upon us, this is the time of year for reflection and renewal. This is even more pronounced for us this year as we each have a son away at college for the first time.

As we enter our second year at the helm, it is a good time to pause and reflect on the essence of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa’s Annual Campaign, to be thankful for our success over the past year, and to renew our goals for the 2013 Campaign.

Most donors expect a call at this time of year and feel a duty to give as they understand the impact their donation has on the continued success of Ottawa’s Jewish community.

Asking people for money is a very difficult task. For canvassers, it is important to remember we are not asking for money for ourselves, but rather for people and community institutions in need of our support. With this in mind, the task takes

on a very different meaning and each successful canvass invariably bolsters a volunteer’s confidence, providing a sense of pride in performing a good deed or mitzvah on behalf of the community.

While the Annual Campaign window specifically runs from September through the end of November, the entire year is filled with many events and activities requiring volunteers. Whether it’s Choices, the Lion of Judah brunch, Mitzvah Day, two golf tournaments, Campaign Kickoff or our telethons – all of these Federation activities would not be possible without our dedicated volunteers working tirelessly to ensure our fundraising efforts are successful.

We would like to say Yasher Koach to all of our volunteers who have contributed their time, energy and ideas. We would also like to express our gratitude and thanks to the Federation staff who work hard to make everything run smoothly.

Federation Report Michael Landau, Campaign Chair and Susan Viner-Vered Women’s Campaign Chair They answer our many questions, provide valuable input and assistance when needed, and do whatever is asked of them, from meeting to meeting, to ensure a successful campaign.

Our 2012 Campaign was successful in the amount of dollars pledged. We value the tremendous enthusiasm generated by all involved and we take great pride in saying we are well positioned for the future.

The emerging generation – young adults between 22 and 35 – is a growing segment within our community and many are volunteering their time and assuming leadership roles. They have recently formed the Emerging Generation Campaign Division and are flexing their energetic fundraising muscles by appealing to their peers to give 50 cents per day to help support exciting and innovative programs such as the Social Action Mission to Israel, jnet, Young Women’s Leadership Council, Birthright Israel and campus life

through Hillel Ottawa. We should champion their efforts and nurture their success within our community.

We are also very excited to welcome Charles Schachnow and Leiba Krantzberg, the incoming Annual Campaign and Women’s Campaign chairs for the 2014 and 2015 campaigns. They are already generating fresh ideas and enthusiasm, which will ensure greater success for years to come. We look forward to working with them this year.

With fundraising for the 2013 Campaign underway and 21 beneficiary agencies in need of our support to meet the many needs of the community, we simply ask that you help. Whether you give monetarily and/or of your time, let’s work together, to ensure Ottawa’s Jewish community remains strong and vibrant for many years to come.

We would like to wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year filled with much success and generosity.

Drawing inspiration from the guests we invite into our sukkot Inviting spiritually significant guests to join us in our sacred observances is a timehonoured Jewish tradition. The guest we invite most often is Elijah the prophet, herald of the Messiah.

We invite Elijah to join us each week as we mark Havdallah at the end of Shabbat.

We pray for a time when every day is Shabbat, when our world will be redeemed. Elijah joins us when we welcome our children into the covenant as an expression of hope that our children will join in the sacred mission of redeeming our world.

Elijah is also a welcome guest at the Pesach seder as we celebrate our redemption from slavery. Elijah is invited to join us as we hope that, just as we once were redeemed from Egypt, so, too, will we be redeemed at the time of the Messiah.

But Elijah is not the only guest we invite to be with us at spiritually significant times.

I have always found it interesting that Elijah is not one of the seven guests we invite to join us in our sukkot. From that omission one might conclude Sukkot is not a festival associated with messianic redemption.

If that were the case, then why do we include an additional prayer for messianic redemption – “May the all merciful re-estab-

From the pulpit Rabbi Scott Rosenberg Beth Shalom lish for us the fallen sukkah of King David!” – every time we recite the grace after meals during Sukkot?

Elijah didn’t make the guest list for Sukkot for a different reason. Traditionally, the seven Sukkot guests are Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph and King David. Why those seven? They were selected because each endured and eventually overcame the problems of exile.

Abraham was told, “Go forth from your homeland, from your birthplace and from the house of your father.”

For Isaac there was a famine in the Land, “And Isaac went to Avimelech, King of the Philistines, in Gerar.”

Jacob is instructed “Arise therefore, and go to Aram, the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father.”

Joseph was sold as a slave to Egyptians.

Happy Sukkot from the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin!

Moses and Aaron led the B’nai Israel in the 40-year trek through the desert.

King David fled from his enemies and lived in the Judean Desert.

These seven guests bring a different focus to our table. They remind us that, when life is challenging, we must persevere. They remind us of the importance of maintaining our long-term goals and vision.

They join us each day as we sit in our sukkot contemplating life’s transient nature and remind us that obstacles can be over-

come and challenges can be met with faith and perseverance.

What a powerful and spiritually significant message this is; and, how timely, given the introspective focus of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, which we are about to complete. So, as we sit in our sukkot this year, I hope we can draw spiritual inspiration from the guests we invite to join with us. Their spiritual message speaks to every generation.

Chag Sameach!

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September 24, 2012 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 7

Why did Canada suddenly break diplomatic relations with Iran?

As I write this column on the morning of September 14, it is exactly one week after Canada suddenly broke off diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The federal government had already quietly evacuated what was a skeletal diplomatic staff in Tehran when it ordered Iran’s diplomats in Ottawa to leave the country within five days. We hadn’t had ambassadorial level relations with Iran since 2007, and relations have been particularly strained since 2003, when Zahra Kazemi, an Iranian-Canadian photographer, was arrested, tortured and killed by the Iranian regime.

In Ottawa, it was big news in January 2011, when officials at Library and Archives Canada cancelled the Free Thinking Film Society’s screening of Iranium, a documentary critical of Iran’s efforts to acquire a nuclear bomb, bowing to pressure from the Iranian embassy. The federal government was quick to recognize how wrong it was to allow the Iranians to exert any such influence and the screening was rescheduled when Heritage Minister James Moore stepped in.

There was no shortage of reasons to break off relations with Iran. As Foreign Minister John Baird said in his statement, Iran is “the most significant threat to global peace and security in the world today.”

Editor Michael Regenstreif As Baird went on to explain, “The Iranian regime is providing increasing military assistance to the Assad regime; it refuses to comply with UN resolutions pertaining to its nuclear program; it routinely threatens the existence of Israel and engages in racist anti-Semitic rhetoric and incitement to genocide; it is among the world’s worst violators of human rights; and it shelters and materially supports terrorist groups, requiring the Government of Canada to formally list Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism under the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act. “Moreover, the Iranian regime has shown blatant disregard for the Vienna Convention and its guarantee of protection for diplomatic personnel. Under the circumstances, Canada can no longer maintain a diplomatic presence in Iran.”

While the list of Baird’s reasons for cutting our last remaining diplomatic ties to Iran’s Islamist government were spot on, the question turned on the suddenness of the announcement, which came while

both Baird and Prime Minister Stephen Harper were in Russia attending the AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ conference.

All the reasons Baird cited would have been just as valid months ago and almost all of them years ago. Why the suddenness on September 7? With the situation vis-à-vis Iran such as it has been for such a long period of time, why didn’t we make this move before or why couldn’t it have waited another 10 days when the announcement could have been made in the House of Commons?

I would have to assume the government decided to act when it did because it was aware of an imminent threat – or the real possibility of a threat – to our diplomats.

There was some media speculation, denied by Baird, that we had advance knowledge of an impending attack on Iran

by Israel. Baird said the safety of our diplomats was a primary concern.

Indeed, concern for the safety of Western diplomats in Iran has been a major consideration since the Islamist regime came to power in 1979 and Iranian students took control of the American embassy and held American diplomats hostage for more than a year. The United States has not had diplomatic relations with Iran since.

And, just 10 months ago, Great Britain

closed its embassy in Tehran and expelled Iranian diplomats from London after mobs stormed and vandalized the British embassy in Tehran.

Canada acted just four days before the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Might we have been aware of a particular threat tied to the anniversary?

As it happened, much of the Islamic world exploded on September 11 – when the American ambassador to Libya and three members of his staff were brutally murdered – and in the few days since in riots sparked by a crude, pathetic depiction of Muhammad, the founder of Islam, posted to YouTube. The insulting video – which was actually online for more than two months before the riots broke out – was obviously meant to inflame Muslim fundamentalists.

Early media reports accepted the filmmaker’s claim that his name was Sam Bacile, an Israeli-American. It turned out that Bacile was one of many aliases of a Coptic Christian Egyptian-American with previous convictions for financial crimes.

Despite that revelation, as I write, PressTV, the Iranian regime’s Englishlanguage propaganda agency, is reporting the film to be the work of “more than 100 Zionists.”

Given what has transpired in the Middle East in recent days, Canada’s decision to act on Iran when it did seems timely.

‘Will Trudeaumania again sweep the country?’

As I write, Justin Trudeau is still thinking about running for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada. It is assumed he will run.

‘Assume’ is an interesting word, when it comes to this interesting candidate.

Can we assume Justin might be the next Liberal leader because he is so handsome and because he is the son of a legend?

Can we assume he is so charismatic and so good at boxing, all he has to do is say he is interested to win hands down?

Can we assume his beautiful family will make for such good photo opportunities that no other potential Liberal leadership candidate could possibly match the photogenic equivalence of sheer beauty?

Can we assume having the right name and a beautiful face is enough to win the leadership of a once great political party?

Feeling old is about having covered the father, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, and never having had a conversation with the son. I only know of Justin from what I have seen and heard. Like many Canadians, I especially remember the eulogy he delivered at his father’s funeral on October 3, 2000. It was that good. No, correct that, it was that spectacular!

Jason Moscovitz We need to remember that Justin studied and taught acting. The well-rehearsed eulogy was a masterful theatrical performance. I remember thinking to myself in Notre Dame Basilica that I didn’t know what to make of it. In a way, it seemed too theatrical for someone who had just lost his father. But I gave him the benefit of the doubt.

Leaving the church, a CBC colleague asked, “Did you like the beginning of junior Trudeau’s leadership race?”

I told him I thought he was being too cynical.

Twelve years after the state funeral, Justin Trudeau is getting ready. I would bet anything Bob Rae would have contested the leadership had he been assured Justin would stick by his original plan of staying close to his young family rather than selling his soul to leadership politics.

Pierre Trudeau came to prominence as

an ardent believer in a strong federal government that would stand up to the sovereignty movement in Quebec. With the Parti Québécois back in power, one could wonder if Justin would champion the same cause while advancing his leadership hopes in the same way his father did.

The good news for the country is that slimmest of minority wins for the Parti Québécois will lessen the need for a Canadian unity knight in shining armour named Trudeau, or anyone else.

Canadian unity aside, choosing Justin Trudeau as leader makes no sense right now. He hasn’t proven himself worthy, either politically or intellectually. He lacks experience. He has shown himself to lack judgment. Can the charm and charisma sweep away the shortcomings?

The Liberals have a long tradition of choosing and then flocking to a front runner. Over the years, that pattern has hurt them. It happened with John Turner and Paul Martin, as well as with Michael Ignatieff. And it looks as if the pattern could repeat itself.

Over the years, in delegated conventions, the Liberals had a limited number of elected delegates vote for their leaders.

The establishment – Liberals who had jobs in the party or Senate seats – had ex

officio votes. If there was ever any doubt that someone other than the frontrunner might win, the establishment almost always came forward in unison to confirm his victory.

The Liberals have gone from a closed shop to opening the barn door and letting virtually anyone vote. But they could still get the same frontrunner result. To vote for the next leader, people don’t have to be members of the Liberal party. They can just say they are supporters of the party – no proof needed.

As of the end of August, more than 20,000 supporters had already identified themselves and party officials were still trying to come up with rules for the leadership race they could all agree on.

Will Trudeaumania again sweep the country?

It’s hard to see that happening in parts of Western Canada where the intense dislike for Pierre Trudeau and his policies is still talked about from the oil patch (National Energy Program) to the wheat fields (“Why should I sell your wheat?”).

As for the rest of the country, Justin might easily win a beauty contest and be crowned Liberal leader.

Should that happen, it would be up to the Liberals to deal with the fallout.

Page 8 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – September 24, 2012

301-1589 St Bernard Street, BLOSSOM PARK $186,000, MLS 840434 Cozy multi-level 2 bed, 1.5 bath condo apartment feat. hdwd floors, a woodburning fireplace, a private 2nd level balcony, & more! www.301-1589StBernard.com 48-1821 Walkley Road, GUILDWOOD ESTATES $219,900, MLS 838707 Bright 3 bedroom, 1.5 bathroom condo END UNIT garden home. Spacious principal rms, fin. rec room, & more! Underground parking! Fenced rear yard! Outdoor pool! Immed. poss. www.48-1821Walkley.com 2542 Hunters Point Crescent, EMERALD WOODS $299,000, MLS 843112 Great beginnings in this 3 bed, 3 bath family home! This home features an open concept living/dining room area, a main level family room, a fin. lower level, & more! 5 appliances included! www.2542HuntersPoint.com 1403 Chatelain Avenue, CARLINGTON $359,000, MLS 832046 Opportunity for renovation! Spacious 3 bed detached home boasts open concept living & dining rms w/hdwd flrs & more. Immed. poss. www.1403Chatelain.com 40 Raftus Square, BARRHAVEN $379,000, MLS 842581 Impressive 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom single family home with many recent renovations! Private rear yard! 60 day possession. www.40Raftus.com 379 Wilmont Avenue, WESTBORO $449,000, MLS 824944 The possibilities are grand on this 51' x 66' lot in the heart of Westboro. R3S zoning provides for a mix of residential building forms. www.379Wilmont.com 1193 Whitmore Avenue, BEL AIR HEIGHTS $489,000, MLS 843782 Wow! Renovated 3 bed, 2 bath split level w/no rear yard neighbours on a mature 55’ x 100’ lot! This special home feat. an open concept floor plan w/hdwd floors, a fin. lower level, & so much more! www.1193Whitmore.com 3536 Cambrian Road, HALF MOON BAY $524,900, MLS 844628 Sun-filled & upgraded 4 bed w/2 ensuite baths in choice location! This family home boasts 2900+ sq. ft. w/a large great room & main level den. www.3536Cambrian.com 99 Queensline Drive, QUALICUM $529,000, MLS 836824 Impeccable 4+1 bed, 4 bath family home on a 65' x 100' lot feat. large principal rooms & a fully fin. lower level!

Many upgrades! www.99Queensline.com 86 Insmill Crescent, KANATA LAKES $529,000, MLS 843359 Beautifully maintained 4 bed, 2.5 bath family home w/ main level family room, and a main level den too! Many features include 5-pc ensuite bath, hdwd flooring, oversized 2 car garage, & more! www.86Insmill.com 805 Kingsmere Avenue, MCKELLAR HEIGHTS $835,000, MLS 840316 Multi-level 3 bed townhome w/versatile living spaces, & a private elevator too! This executive family home boasts 3,000+ sq. ft. plus a feature-packed rooftop terrace. Immediate possession! www.805Kingsmere.com 38 The Masters Drive, HUNT CLUB $995,000, MLS 840293 Impressive 4 bed executive family home backing on a golf course, feat. entertainment-sized principal rms, a main level den, a 4 season solarium, a versatile fin. lower level, & much more! Private & picturesque rear yard! www.38TheMasters.com

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Mailbag Israeli democracy eroded by occupation Jess Sadick and Golda Feig Steinman present a highly misleading case when they place all responsibility for the Palestinian-Israeli stalemate on the Palestinians (Palestinians can end the ‘occupation,’ August 20).

The current Israeli government merely pays lip-service to a two-state solution while trying to ensure it never happens. Under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s watch, the settler movement has received unprecedented moral, financial and political backing. The settlers are now 350,000 strong – almost double the number of 12 years ago – in a plethora of outposts, villages and towns on the West Bank.

Their leaders are resolved never to relinquish an inch. Settlements that even the government concedes are illegal are winked at until the Israeli courts rule against them, at which point foot dragging over evacuation begins. And, if an evacuation does occur – for example the recent evacuation of the Migron outpost – the lawbreakers are compensated through resettlement in a West Bank settlement.

Contrast this to the prompt bulldozing of Palestinian houses built without permits. The short-lived settlement freeze at the beginning of Netanyahu’s term was farcical in that it led to construction frenzy within existing settlements and east Jerusalem. Palestinian moderates can hardly be expected to gain footage among their people when the land for their proposed state is fast disappearing.

But the greatest fallacy is to believe Israel can afford to let the status quo continue. It is in Israel’s own interest to take initiatives to end the occupation. Settlement expansion and the natural increase in the West Bank Palestinian population make the situation ever more intractable and untenable. Sooner or later, violence will break out again. In the meantime, Israeli resources and democracy are eroded by an expensive and morale-sapping occupation.

Gabriella Goliger (Gabriella Goliger is Ottawa co-chair of Canadian Friends of Peace Now.) Support for United Church boycott The recent decisions made at the United Church General Council in Ottawa, which called the occupation a “major contributor to the injustice that underlies the violence of the region” and voted for a boycott of products made in Israeli settlements, mark a courageous and positive step in the direction of justice and peace in Israel/Palestine.

Israel’s continuing expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied territories is a serious violation of international law as the Fourth Geneva Convention states, “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” Israel has been doing this for more than 40 years, and has not shown any signs of letting up. The Canadian government also deems Israeli settlements to be illegal and calls for their dismantlement.

Meanwhile, violent Palestinian resistance in the West Bank has come to a screeching halt, as Palestinian civil so-

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bulletin@ottawajewishbulletin.com ciety and its supporters have engaged in widespread nonviolent resistance to Israel’s policies. One of the forms of non-violent resistance has been through the boycott of products coming from the illegal Israeli settlements. As a non-violent tactic, this form of resistance should be welcomed by all parties who are interested in justice and peace in the region.

Certain Canadian Jewish organizations, such as the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and B’nai Brith Canada, have responded to this tactic with outrage. It is sad to see this kind of reaction towards an internal decision made by Canada’s largest Protestant church.

The United Church took serious notice of the Israeli occupation when Palestinian Christians made a desperate plea for support from their Christian allies abroad. Despite condemnation from certain pro-Israel organizations, the Church courageously took a stand in support of human rights and solidarity with the Palestinians’ struggle for selfdetermination.

Several Jewish organizations in Canada, such as Independent Jewish Voices Canada and the Jewish Community Centre of the Eastern Townships, expressed their support for the United Church position, acknowledging the deeply entrenched occupation of Palestinian lands, and the enormous obstacle this presents for any hope of a two-state solution to the conflict. As Jews concerned with human rights and peace in the Middle East, we have a duty to acknowledge the United Church’s moral courage on this issue.

Dylan Penner (Dylan Penner is an Ottawa member of the national steering committee of Independent Jewish Voices Canada.)

Letters welcome Letters to the Editor are welcome if they are brief, signed, timely and of interest to our readership.

The Bulletin reserves the right to refuse, edit or condense letters.

The Mailbag column will be published as space permits.

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

September 24, 2012 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 9

Be part of our search for a new community leader

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Negev Dinner: Rex Murphy Keynote Speaker “As far as commentators go, they don’t really make them like Rex Murphy anymore. He’s articulate, well read, clever, even sarcastic at times. But Rex doesn’t just say things to be provocative. He’s thoughtful, honest, and is always willing to listen to other opinions,� reads the bio of Rex Murphy on the CBC website.

They really don’t make keynote speakers like Rex Murphy anymore. The same wit and insight that make him such an engaging commentator on television and radio will engage us at our Negev Dinner. As entertaining as he is, listening to Rex Murphy always makes me challenge my own thinking, so I look forward to a challenge on November 20.

I am also very glad JNF Ottawa has chosen to honour a unique friend of Israel this year. Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said it best himself when he explained how he views Israel’s relationship with Canada: “Israel is a beacon of light in a region that craves freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Canada does not stand behind Israel; Canada stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Israel.�

Mr. Baird has asked that, in honouring him, we support the seven JNF agricultural research stations in the Negev desert.

Dedicated researchers at these stations study the unique Negev conditions and develop farming methods specific to this region. The research conducted is shared with the global community through an international agricultural training centre. Thanks to these research stations, Israeli farming methods are among the most advanced in the world and are exported to other countries as much as the agricultural products they help to grow. The economic benefits are clear, with the approximately 3,650 people of the Arava region producing about 60 per cent of Israel’s total crop fresh vegetables for export.

Save the Date – Tuesday, November 20, 2012 is the date to set aside in your calendar and the National Gallery of Canada is the place. We are looking forward to an outstanding Negev Dinner and we hope you can participate with us in honouring a great friend of Israel. The response to our Negev Dinner program and honouree has been tremendous. Please join our Dinner Chair Barbara Farber and the JNF campaign committee team for a spectacular event. Please book your tickets early as seating is limited!

Sponsorship, Advertising & Tribute Opportunities – This year, there are multiple ways to show your support for the event by sponsoring various components of the Dinner. As always, we welcome your tributes and advertising in the Negev Dinner Tribute Book 2012. Thank you to those who have already come forward to help us get the fundraising part of the Dinner off to a rousing start.

For tickets or corporate sponsorship, please call Susan Schwartzman at 613-798-2411 or Gail Grief, Executive Director, Eastern Canada at 1-514-934-0313, ext. 240.

Sefer Bar Mitzvah Inscriptions Justin Benjamin Rapp, by his loving parents, Susan Margles and Michael Rapp; Max Moss Silverman, by his loving parents, Evelyn and Howard Silverman.

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 Steven Kimmel Vice-Chair Jewish Federation of Ottawa This is a time of year for introspection and renewal. While Jews are observing the High Holidays, taking stock and mapping out our spiritual path for the year ahead, Ottawa’s Jewish community, as a whole, is on a similar journey. With the recent resignation of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa’s chief executive officer, we have been given an opportunity to help shape and strengthen our collective future.

Immediately following the news of Mitchell Bellman’s planned departure, after 15 years as Federation CEO, members of the Federation Board began the process of ensuring a smooth transition and kick-starting the hiring process. Chair Debbie HaltonWeiss asked me, as incoming chair, to lead the search committee for our next CEO. We have asked the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) to provide us with an experienced human-resources consultant who will guide us through the search and hiring process.

As a member of JFNA, this service and the organization’s expertise are

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provided to us at no cost (aside from travel expenses).

Members of the Federation Board have worked hard over the past few weeks to create a search committee, which is representative of our diverse community, with talented and respected people who will bring value to our group and to the community-at-large.

Stephen Greenberg has agreed be vice-chair and the other members are Debbie Halton-Weiss, Rabbi Reuven Bulka, Sari Cantor, Linda Kerzner, Leiba Krantzberg, Stephanie Levitz, Lynne Oreck-Wener, Jason Shinder and Mike Shahin.

The JFNA consultant, Beth Jenis, will be in Ottawa for a couple of days during the first week of October to facilitate focus groups, which will help us determine what people want in our next community leader. This is your chance to be heard! Focus groups will include representatives from agencies, Federation staff, rabbis, young leadership, top donors and the general public. By the time you read this, details of the focus groups should be confirmed and will have been announced by email and posted on the JFO website at jewishottawa.com. Please con-

sider participating, as we need and value your input.

Based on these meetings, Beth Jenis and the search committee will craft a job posting, which will be widely advertised and circulated throughout North America, hopefully by early November. The exact timeline is still being determined, but we hope to be interviewing candidates by the end of the year and to select a new CEO by next spring.

This is a complex and challenging process and the Federation Board is putting all of its efforts into making sure we find the best candidate for the position. We view this as an opportunity for community-building, a chance for us all to have a say in what the Jewish Federation of Ottawa will look like for years to come. We encourage you to be part of this journey.

If you have any questions or comments about the search process, or about how to get involved in the focus groups, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact me at skimmel@westboroflooring.com.

I’ll keep you posted on our progress in the weeks to come.

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Page 10 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – September 24, 2012

INSIGHT INTO JUDAISM An Educational & Spiritual Journey Held each Monday evening beginning early Fall of 2012, at Temple Israel, each Insight Into Judaism session will feature a speaker on a specific aspect of Jewish faith, Jewish culture and Jewish life.

Together, we will explore Torah and Talmud, the history of the Jewish people, Jewish holy days, ritual, and life-cycle events. We will cook together, sing together, celebrate “simchas” together, and explore Jewish heritage as it is expressed in film and literature.

Insight Into Judaism includes a weekly Hebrew language component, taught by a native-speaker, that will have all participants comfortably reading the Siddur and common Hebrew prayers.

Insight Into Judaism is ideal for anyone who is interested in learning more about Jewish life and Jewish heritage or for those seeking conversion under Reform auspices.

If you are interested in enrolling in the course or for any other inquires, please contact Tova Brito & Angus Smith. This course runs each Monday evening from October 2012 to June 2013. insightintojudaism@gmail.com 1301 Prince of Wales Drive, Ottawa, ON K2C 1N2 www.templeisraelottawa.ca

613-224-1802

Rabbi Charles Popky leads High Holiday services at Adath Shalom Congregation

By Sylvia Greenspoon Adath Shalom Adath Shalom Congregation is pleased to welcome Rabbi Charles Popky as our guest rabbi for the High Holidays. Following Rosh Hashanah, Rabbi Popky will lead Yom Kippur services this week.

The High Holiday youth programs are being led by Miriam Friedman and Alison Popky.

The tot program, led by Miriam, a certified early childhood education (ECE) teacher, includes stories and games.

Alison, also a certified ECE teacher, is leading a special program for older children.

A snack will be provided mid-morning for all children.

Adath Shalom’s High Holiday services are being held at the Soloway Jewish Community Centre, 21 Nadolny Sachs Private, beginning at 9 am. Childcare is available from 10 am on.

Our weekly Shabbat services are held in the chapel at the Ottawa Jewish Community School beginning at 9:45 am. Membership is $250 per year for families with children enrolled in a Jewish school. High Holiday (Tishrei) membership may be applied toward a full membership fee of $499. University students may attend free.

If you are seeking a close-knit family atmosphere in a Conservative, egalitarian service, where each individual can contribute

Rabbi Charles Popky

and make a difference, Adath Shalom is the congregation for you.

We are thrilled to have Alison Popky providing monthly services for our youth of all ages. Alison welcomes parents to her programs and encourages participation of family members.

For more information, call 613-232-7107 or 613-521-0170 or visit adath-shalom.ca.

Campaign launching to find Canadian and American heirs of unclaimed Holocaust victims’ assets in Israel (JTA) – A non-profit entity set up by the Israeli government is launching a campaign to find the North American heirs of Holocaust victims entitled to unclaimed assets.

The Hashava Company, which was established by a 2006 law, is seeking to find the rightful heirs of more than 60,000 unclaimed assets held in Israel.

Thousands of Jews across Europe had invested in pre-state Israel prior to the Second World War, and those investments have continued to grow.

The Company for Location and Restitution of Holocaust Victims’ Assets in Israel, or Hashava – the Hebrew word for restitution – is responsible for finding heirs to the investments and has set up an online database allowing individuals to search for

family names.

The campaign, which is scheduled to last until mid-November, includes media advertisements, as well as outreach to synagogues and Jewish organizations in the United States and Canada.

“What differentiates Hashava from other Holocaust restitution companies is that the assets are currently located in Israel and are waiting to be claimed by rightful heirs,” Israel Peleg, CEO of Hashava, said in a statement. “We want to honour the ideals and legacy of those who perished in the Holocaust by making sure their investments reach their relatives, along with some part of their legacy.”

Visit hashava.org.il/eng/ for more information and to access the searchable database.

Please support our advertisers and tell them you saw their advertisement in the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin!

September 24, 2012 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 11

Jewish teens participate in Paramedic Awareness Week Camp

By Hana Shusterman Ottawa Paramedic Service The Ottawa Paramedic Service welcomed 19 teen participants to our second annual Paramedic Awareness Week (PAW) Camp, August 13-17.

Run as part of the Ottawa Paramedic Service Diversity Champion Program, this year’s PAW Camp included teens from the Jewish and Inuit communities.

The camp was a great success and took place at Ottawa Paramedic Service Headquarters where participants had access to areas usually off-limits to the public. The campers became first aid and CPR certified and learned how to splint, bandage and immobilize patients on backboards.

Among many other things, the campers learned about triage, how to take vital signs (heart rate, breathing rate and blood pressure) and did a table-top multi-casualty incident exercise.

A highlight for the kids was learning about the various Ottawa Paramedic Service specialty teams, including the bike, marine and tactical teams, as well as the police support unit and

urban search and rescue teams.

The week concluded with a closing ceremony filled with excitement. The kids showed off their newly acquired skills in a scenario demonstration, and then the crowd witnessed the professionals at work when a simulation scenario unfolded as a patient in the audience had a seizure.

The Diversity Champion Program aims to promote and advance the principles of a welcoming, diverse and respectful workplace, and a service that connects paramedics with diverse communities.

Earlier in the year, paramedics had an evening session with Rabbi Reuven Bulka, of Congregation Machzikei Hadas, who spoke about unique challenges we might face when responding to emergencies in Jewish homes.

Guest speakers from community groups and initiatives such as the PAW Camp help to achieve our goal of better preparing and training Ottawa paramedics to care for our diverse community.

Visit ottawa.ca/paramedics for more information about the Ottawa Paramedic Service.

Paramedic Awareness Week Camp participant Samuel Benzaquen with (from left) Ottawa Paramedic Service Deputy Chiefs Brent Winchcombe, Kevin Newell and Jeremy Doherty.

Page 12 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – September 24, 2012

Books and Bagels returns to Temple Israel

By Anne Alper For Temple Israel A new season of Temple Israel’s popular Books and Bagels discussion series is scheduled to begin this fall. Three sessions have been confirmed and more will be announced in the coming months.

The program begins with a bagel breakfast at 9:30 am followed at 10 by a presentation and discussion of a book. All sessions are at Temple Israel, 1301 Prince of Wales Drive. Registration is not required.

While there is no charge; a voluntary donation of $3 to cover the cost of breakfast is appreciated.

The following sessions have been scheduled.

Sunday, October 28 – Sharon Abron Drache will read from her new book, Barbara Klein-Muskrat, Then and Now. This book of interrelated stories is a pseudomemoir introducing readers to Barbara Klein-Muskrat, a successful author of fiction and book reviews.

Drache is a writer of poetry, fiction and children’s stories, and journalist who lives in Toronto. This event is co-sponsored by Adath Shalom and copies of the book will be available for sale.

Sunday, November 18 – Rabbi Steven Garten will review In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin by Erik Larson.

The story of the rise of Nazi Germany is

Sunday, October 28

Sunday, November 18

Sunday, January 20

told as seen through the eyes of William Dodd, chosen by U.S President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 to be the American ambassador to Germany when Paul von Hindenburg was still president and Adolf Hitler was his chancellor.

Rabbi Garten, spiritual leader of Temple Israel since 1995, teaches widely in the community and is active in interfaith dialogue.

Sunday, January 20 – Rebecca Margolis will review Songs for the Butcher’s Daughter by Peter Manseau. The awardwinning author known for his masterly prose weaves 100 years of Jewish history, the sad fate of an ancient language, and a love story shaped by destiny into his novel.

Margolis is an associate professor in the Vered Jewish Canadian Studies Program at the University of Ottawa. She is author of

Jewish Roots, Canadian Soil: Yiddish Culture in Montreal, 1905-1945, which won a Vine Canadian Jewish Book Award.

In the Garden of Beasts and Songs for the Butcher’s Daughter are available from the Ottawa Public Library.

For more information about Books and Bagels, contact Shayla Mindell at shaylamindell@rogers.com or 613-5944556.

September 24, 2012 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 13

Guest column

Young Leadership and Parliamentary Mission to Israel

By Samantha Banks Director of Initiatives for the Emerging Generation Jewish Federation of Ottawa “This trip will be like nothing you have ever experienced before,” Rachel Chertkoff of the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee (CJPAC) told me the night before I left on the Young Leadership and Parliamentary Mission to Israel.

The mission, August 27 to September 3, was the culmination of a year-long program jointly sponsored by CJPAC, UIA Federations Canada and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, designed to engage the next generation of young Jewish leaders with the Canadian political sector. Participants included young Jewish leaders from across Canada and several members of Parliament. Everyone, from Avi, our bus driver, to Avi, our tour guide (do you see a trend?), brought their unique personalities and perspectives to our jam-packed Israel adventure.

The journey began in Jerusalem where our days were filled with scrumptious meals and captivating briefing sessions from some of Israel’s most acclaimed speakers.

On the first day, we trekked through the Western Wall tunnels and received an in-depth update on the Middle East. Our second day began with a detailed review of Israeli politics followed by a visit to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The rest of the week continued similarly. We met and heard from key representatives of the Palestinian Authority and from reporters covering the current crisis.

We also tasted wine in the Golan, test drove electric cars

Participants in the Young Leadership and Parliamentary Mission to Israel at Beit She’an National Park. Author Samantha Banks is in the front row, second from the right.

and visited strategic lookout points, Christian archeological sites, Masada and Yad Vashem.

What separated this mission from others was the opportunity it provided to spend all day conversing with people you might otherwise never imagine spending more than 20 minutes with. Listening to – and learning from – members of Parliament was fascinating. Seeing their reactions at the Western Wall on Shabbat, or laughing as we all washed off the mud from the Dead Sea were moments when I recognized how much I truly appreciate what I take for granted as a young Jewish adult living in the Diaspora.

We are offered so much: a free trip to Israel when we turn 18 and numerous opportunities to return on subsidized missions while most of the population will never set foot there. It was shocking to hear the parliamentarians re-

late their personal experiences in politics to the day-today challenges faced in Israel.

This helped me to recognize that many of us share similar goals; we all just have very different ways of achieving them.

My fondest memory is sitting with the MPs after dinner, sipping on Israeli wine, asking them personal questions and receiving the most brutally honest answers. They acted and spoke in such a way that they became at once mentors, professors and friends. Hearing how they

juggle the work/life balance and how they maintain cohesion amongst their constituents and ridings made me realize the applicability of these political skills to life in general. I learned so much more from them about the Canadian political arena than I was ever taught in a classroom.

I also loved the friendships formed among my fellow young adult leaders during the trip. We came from all walks of life, yet we all seemed to have a distinct purpose for being on the trip.

There was a nice balance of work and play, which allowed us time to dive into deep conversations on topics such as policy, economic decline, Israeli innovation, the nuclear threat and peace negotiations.

The awareness of the importance of these issues made me realize the pervasiveness of politics in all our lives.

Aside from the briefing sessions and tours, this mission was about the human connection. The networking and one-on-one time was invaluable. Each stage of the trip was so thoughtfully

planned and executed. I pray it will continue to run in years to come for the benefit of both future generations of young Jewish leaders and Canadian MPs. It is crucial that our politicians visit Israel. Regardless of the number of books and articles one can read, it is almost impossible to understand the nuanced dynamics and love we have for our homeland without setting foot on Israeli soil. I believe this trip truly allowed the participants to rethink their ideologies toward Israel, to ask challenging questions and to speak up for what they believe.

Israel is a country of a billion puzzle pieces. However, with continued support and investment from the Canadian and international Jewish communities, we will continue to try to put the puzzle pieces back together.

I strongly believe, despite the spectre of the current nuclear crisis and the economic decline, there is still hope for the peace process and a solution for this state we all call home. People say I hum to my own tune, whether it’s a bit of a different style or talk. This mission taught me never to lose the qualities that keep me from blending in. If you want to be an extraordinary leader, you need to be followed and there is no better way of attracting someone’s attention than to be a little unique.

Page 14 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – September 24, 2012

Allies walk with Keshet in Capital Pride Parade

By Gabriella Goliger Keshet Jewish leaders and young families joined Keshet members at the Capital Pride Parade, August 26, creating the strongest Jewish presence ever at Ottawa’s annual celebration of sexual diversity.

The 25 participants included representatives from three congregations – Agudath Israel, Temple Israel and Adath Shalom – and from the Metivta of Ottawa. Parents, both gay and straight, pushing strollers, young children passing out jelly beans, and a float car blasting Israeli music were part of the small-but-lively Keshet contingent. We marched with thousands of other participants from all walks of life in a parade that has become known for its colour, energy and enthusiasm.

Keshet, a social group for Jewish gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans people invited straight allies from the Jewish community to join us this year.

“I was thrilled at the number of allies who came to the parade,” said Anna Maranta, a Keshet member and spiritual leader of the Glebe Minyan. “This was our first year of outreach to the greater

Members of Keshet gather for the Capital Pride Parade, August 26.

Jewish community. I look forward to our further involvement with allies in the future.”

The allies, most of whom had never been in a pride parade before, were also pleased.

Jack Klein, president of Agudath Israel Congregation, said he felt very welcomed and included, and fulfilled his goal of demonstrating his shul “is a welcoming and caring place for all Jews.”

Community activist Mira Sucharov said she was pleasantly surprised by the wide range of participants and by the cheers, waves and high-fives from thousands of onlookers lining the streets.

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“It used to be about straights watching gays – an exhibition,” said Sucharov. “But now, at least in Ottawa, it’s more about people creating a sense of community together. About affirming the kind of community we believe in, celebrating openness, diversity and inclusivity.”

Andrea Lobel and Mark Shainblum and their five-year-old daughter, Maia, who recently moved to Ottawa from Montreal, were delighted to participate in such a celebration in Canada’s capital.

Andrea, the new director of Congregational Learning at Temple Israel, said it was an important educational experience for her daughter.

“To be an ally is not just to be a sympathizer, a well-wisher. It’s to be connected. Gay/lesbian sexual orientation is part of human nature and has been since the beginning of time. It’s not other. It’s important for our daughter to experience gays and lesbians as part of us.”

Sucharov echoed this sentiment. She said her eight-year-old daughter, Rory, nailed it when she said the message of the parade was “happy to be me.”

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September 24, 2012 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 15

Enrolment increases at Torah Academy of Ottawa

By Rachel Gray for Torah Academy Despite depressing statistics published in recent years about falling enrolment in North American Jewish day schools, Torah Academy of Ottawa is seeing a promising reversal of this trend. Enrolment this school year has increased by 15 per cent over last year, bringing it to its highest level in six years.

Torah Academy of Ottawa is an elementary day school that welcomes Jewish children from diverse backgrounds.

The mission is to provide students with an excellent general education and Judaic instruction rooted in Jewish values.

The school aims to instil all students with a love of learning, enabling them

to become responsible and caring individuals who make positive contributions to society.

Executive Director Rabbi Zischa Shaps credits the increased enrolment, in part, to several new initiatives. A prekindergarten program for three-yearolds, with both full- and half-day options, as well as the availability of before- and after-school childcare for all grades, has made the school an attractive option for working parents whose schedules do not necessarily fit with school hours.

Several years ago, the kindergarten program switched to a successful centre-based learning system in which children learn by rotating through educational play centres they choose them-

selves. This year, the kindergarten has a new language initiative in which French and Hebrew are used extensively in the classroom, giving the children a head start in the language learning important to the Torah Academy curriculum.

There have also been many upgrades to the computer room, which will provide improved learning opportunities for all students.

The school itself had a facelift. Parents and community volunteers teamed up over the summer to help paint the school and fix up the yard, creating a warm, bright and welcoming atmosphere in time for the first day of school.

For more information, visit torah academyofottawa.com or call the school at 613-274-0110 to arrange a visit.

Torah Academy teacher Kristin Schmidt with her junior kindergarten students in their newly renovated classroom.

Rabbi Tuvia Hoffman joins JET staff

By Ilana Albert Novick JET Rabbi Tuvia Hoffman is the newest addition to the JET (Jewish Education through Torah) staff.

Rabbi Hoffman, his wife Ariella and their three daughters recently moved to Ottawa from Montreal, where he served as spiritual leader of Beth Zion Congregation.

In Montreal, he was also a founding member of Jewish Experience, where he taught everything from Jewish philosophy and Halachah to Chumash, Hebrew language and self-improvement courses.

Rabbi Hoffman and Ariella were involved with students and young professionals and organized many inno-

Rabbi Tuvia and Ariella Hoffman with daughters (from left) Baila, Naomi and Gila.

vative programs. One of their most unique programs was tent services for the High Holidays, which drew more than 300 people. Rabbi Hoffman is helping to lead JET’s High Holiday services in the social hall of Young Israel of Ottawa.

Rabbi Hoffman’s extensive knowledge of Torah, life-cycle topics and computers gave him the opportunity to answer questions for the popular Ask the Rabbi column on the Aish.com website, where he worked for more than seven years.

As an undergraduate student in the United States, he founded his own theatre company and wrote and produced a wide variety of award-winning plays.

In addition to his role of teaching and programming for JET, Rabbi Hoffman will also be teaching two evenings per week at Torah High.

Ariella comes to Ottawa with an eclectic background in finance, marketing, catering and design. Born in Houston, Texas, she received an undergraduate degree from the University of Texas and went on to make aliyah, where she studied at Midreshet Rachel and Neve Yerushalayim. In June, she organized and led a Montreal group on the Jewish Women’s Rennaissance Project trip to Israel. In addition to her involvement in JET programs, Ariella will be working as office manager for NCSY.

Page 16 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – September 24, 2012

Torah High reaches milestone with 300th enrolment

By Gaby Scarowsky NCSY Torah High has reached a tremendous milestone.

The 300th student has enrolled in the popular after-school Jewish educational program run by NCSY. Many of the students come back year after year, equalling more than 500 full-year courses and 50,000 hours of total Jewish education accumulated.

Opened in 2006, Torah High strives to provide a meaningful supplementary Jewish education to students attending public high schools in Ottawa. The program is accredited by the Ministry of Education of Ontario to offer high school credits.

“We are so incredibly proud to educate and inspire over 300 local Jewish teenagers and connect them to our wonderful Jewish community and to Israel,” said Bram Bregman, executive director of NCSY. “We have designed a Jewish educational program that is cool and relevant to the typical life of a Jewish teenager living in Canada in the 21st century.”

Torah High takes full advantage of contemporary technology. The classrooms are outfitted with wallmounted TVs connected to the In-

Students and staff at Torah High’s fifth anniversary celebration, June 14, 2011.

ternet to provide online Jewish educational content. Students can login to the Torah High web portal to see their marks and handouts are posted in private Facebook groups. Instead of a final exam, students make video essays covering everything they have learned during the school year.

“I truly believe that Torah High has enhanced my appreciation and

understanding of Judaism and the Jewish practice in one way or another,” said Michael Rogov, who is starting university and attended Torah High during his four years of high school.

“Whether it was showing me the importance of Israel or how important Jewish unity is, I am truly thankful for the opportunity to have had the chance to be a part of Torah

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High. I still find it amazing how Torah High manages to balance Jewish learning with a fun and interesting atmosphere.”

As with any milestone, there are fun statistics that reflect the journey. Torah High runs four youth conventions per year, which have logged more than 25,000 km of travel by our students. Among the hundreds of Jewish youth who have

participated in Torah High, the most common first name was Jordan and the most common last name was Cohen. But there has never been a Jordan Cohen.

For more information about Torah High, to register a student, or make a donation, contact Bram Bregman at 613-262-6279 or bram@ncsy.ca, or visit torahhigh.ca/ottawa.

September 24, 2012 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 17

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 August 15 and September 5, 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 Honour of: Sam Ages Mazal tov on your 90th birthday with love by Ruth and Irving Aaron Esther and Irving Kulik Mazal tov on the birth of your grandson with love by Ruth and Irving Aaron Bill and Leona Adler Memorial Fund R`fuah Shlema: Sheila Bahar by Marilyn Adler In Memory of: Max Lobel by Marilyn Adler Tillie Levine by Marilyn Adler

Sandy Scott Happy special birthday by Polly, Jackie, and Sammy Moran Jenny and Murray Citron Endowment Fund In Memory of: Pearl Bossin by Murray Citron Morrie Konick by Murray Citron Sid and Barbara Cohen Family Fund In Honour of: Sid Cohen Happy 85th birthday by Barbara Fine and Steve Levinson Joel and Sharon Edelson Family Fund In Memory of: Tillie Levine by Joel and Sharon Edelson Friedberg and Dale Families Fund In Memory of: Don Glimcher by Elaine Friedberg and Bob Dale Malcolm and Vera Glube Endowment Fund In Honour of: Malca Polowin Congratulations on your special birthday

by Malcolm and Vera Glube Alyce and Allan Baker Congratulations on your daughter Lauren’s marriage by Malcolm and Vera Glube Sandra and Norman Slover Congratulations on your 45th anniversary by Malcolm and Vera Glube Fran and Mort Ross Mazal tov on the birth of your grandson, Rogan Saul by Malcolm and Vera Glube Janet and Norman Ironstone Mazal tov on the birth of your grandson, Augustus by Malcolm and Vera Glube R’fuah Shlema: Janet Ironstone by Malcolm and Vera Glube Archie Cogan by Malcolm and Vera Glube In Memory of: Gerald Edward Murray by Malcolm and Vera Glube Richard Gerber by Malcolm and Vera Glube Laurie Mariasine by Malcolm and Vera Glube

Samuel and Jean Akerman Memorial Fund In Honour of: Simmy Gardner and family Happy, healthy and peaceful New Year with love by Sheila and Larry Hartman and family Evelyn Lieff and family Happy, healthy and peaceful New Year with love by Sheila and Larry Hartman and family Rhoda and Bert Blevis and family Happy, healthy and peaceful New Year with love by Sheila and Larry Hartman and family

Nell Gluck Memorial Fund In Memory of: Joe Miller by Julia Gluck, Ted Overton and Jess In Honour of: Richard Nesbitt Mazal tov on your new job by Julia Gluck, Ted Overton and Jess Robin Mader Mazal tov on the birth of your granddaughter by Julia Gluck, Ted Overton and Jess Henry and Maureen Molot Mazal tov on your 45th wedding anniversary by Julia Gluck, Ted Overton and Jess Tim Overton Mazal tov on your 50th birthday by Julia Gluck, Ted Overton and Jess Sarah Bregman Mazal tov on your graduation by Julia Gluck, Ted Overton and Jess

Elsie Baker Endowment Fund In Honour of: Sam Ages by Ken Kavanat Andrew Levitan and Julian Tagliavento Congratulations on your marriage by Polly, Jack and Sammy Moran

Gunner Family Fund In Honour of: Sol and Estelle Gunner Mazal tov on your 50th wedding anniversary by Sheila and Morton Baslaw; by Cyril and Dodie Teplinsky; by Sandra and Jacie Levinson; by Cally and

Sid Kardash; by Gary and Heather Cohen; by Yaffa and Haim Gunner; by Irving Nitkin; by Beverley and Irving Gershkovitch; by Toby and Tedd Nathanson; and by Annette Albert and Lew Perelmutter Ozzie and Sheela Silverman Mazal tov on your 50th wedding anniversary by Sol and Estelle Gunner Sandra and Jacie Levinson Mazal tov on the marriage of Steven and Barbara by Sol and Estelle Gunner Ernie and Fenja Brodo Mazal tov on your 50th wedding anniversary by Sol and Estelle Gunner Nordau and Roslyn Kanigsberg Family Fund R’fuah Shlema: Malcolm Glube with love by Roz and Nordau Kanigsberg In Honour of: Sandra and Norman Slover Happy anniversary with love by Roz and Nordau Kanigsberg Morris and Lillian Kimmel Family Fund In Honour of: Joseph and Valerie Lieberman Mazal tov on the marriage of your daughter Iris to Jordan by Nathan, Brenda, Jesse and Daniel Levine In Memory of: Don Glimcher by Steve, Janet, Tobin and Aaron Kaiman Joan and Russell Kronick Family Fund In Memory of: Laurie Mariasine by Joan and Russell Kronick Ida and Sydney Lithwick Fund In Memory of: Sydney Lithwick’s birthday by Marilyn Lithwick Shelley and Sidney Rothman Family Fund In Honour of: Roz and Steve Fremeth Mazal tov on your 40th wedding anniversary by Shelley Rothman and family Stephen and Debra Schneiderman Family Fund In Memory of: Mildred Bick by Stephen and Debra Schneiderman Harold and Lillian Shoihet Memorial Fund R’fuah Shlema: Sara Levinson by Dovid Shoihet and family In Honour of: Milton and Joyce Kimmel Mazal tov on your 50th wedding anniversary by David Shoihet Louis and Diane Tannenbaum Family Fund In Memory of: Murray Backler by Honourable Mr. Justice Louis and Mrs. Diane Tannenbaum Milton and Mary (Terry) Viner Family Fund In Observance of the Yahrzeit of: Ida Schleider by Millie Schaenfield In Memory of: Hy Hymes by Millie Schaenfield Eric Weiner and Arlene Godfrey Family Fund In Memory of: Tillie Levine by Carol and Lawrence Gradus Maxwell Lobel by Carol and and Lawrence Gradus

In Memory of: Rella Rubin by Bryna and Murray Cohen Feeding Fund In Honour of: Carol and Laurie Pascoe In honour of your 40th anniversary by Arnie and Chevy Fine Sam Ages In honour of your 90th birthday by Arnie and Chevy Fine Elliott Levitan Mazal tov on your 85th birthday by Barbara Fine and Steve Levinson In Memory of: Alex Garfield by Carol and Larry Gradus IN HONOUR OF: Ann and Mark Dover Mazal tov on your 50th wedding anniversary by Mark and Heather Evenchick Ralph and Lynda Levenstein Happy anniversary by Bill and Laurie Chochinov Sheela and Ozzie Silverman Mazal tov on your 50th wedding anniversary by Joyce and Seymour Bellman Seymour Isenberg Happy special birthday by Valy and Gaby Terkel Marilyn Adler Welcome back by Barry Bokhaut and Barbara Greenberg Steve Levinson and Barb Fine Mazal tov on your marriage by Shayna David-Macy Fran and Mort Ross Mazal tov on the birth of your grandson, Rogan by Ed and Betty Rose Ann and Mark Dover Best wishes on your 50th wedding anniversary by Syd and Noreen Bosloy Helen Gilboa Best wishes on your special day by Syd and Noreen Bosloy Milton and Joyce Kimmel Mazal tov on your 50th wedding anniversary by Claire and Irving Bercovitch Brenda and Nathan Levine and family Happy and healthy New Year by Lily Feig Martin and Barbara Snyder Mazal tov on your son Aaron`s marriage and happy and healthy New Year by Lily Feig Claire and Irving Bercovitch Mazal tov in your new home by Dorothy Karp Claire and Irving Bercovitch Happy and healthy New Year with love by Dorothy Karp Norma and Phil Lazear Happy and healthy New Year with love by Dorothy Karp Vi and Irv Cutler Happy and healthy New Year with love by Dorothy Karp IN MEMORY OF: Hy Hymes by Lorraine, Michael, Jamie and Cara Levinson Morrie Konick by Evelyn Monson and Robert Elder Mother of Yuri Frenkel by Golda and Ned Steinman and family Tillie Levine by The Residents, Board and Staff of Hillel Lodge; by Andree Gruslin; by Hedy and Alan Gutman; and by Edie Landau Laurie Mariasine by Arlene and Norman Glube; and by Ed and Betty Rose; by Marica Rak Maxwell Lobel by the Residents, Board and Staff of Hillel Lodge; by Gert Leyton; by Belle Gitterman; and by Morris Shapiro Gordon Viner by Shirley Viner

**************

R’FUAH SHLEMA: Sheila Bahar by the Residents, Board and Staff of Hillel Lodge

Biking for Bubbies Event In Honour of: Steve Levinson and Barbara Fine In honour of your marriage by Benita and Steven Baker

IN OBSERVANCE OF THE YAHRZEIT OF: Pearl Scope by Golda and Ned Steinman and family

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 728-3900, 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.

Page 18 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – September 24, 2012

Chabad Student Network kicks off the school year

By Sammy Hudes CSN Carleton President Our executive made sure every detail was taken care of while planning the Chabad Student Network (CSN) opening barbecue for the new school year.

We had more than enough hamburgers and hot dogs, veggie options, chips and salsa, watermelon and, of course, beer. We had hundreds of CSN shirts and pens to distribute and an audio system for music. The only thing we didn’t anticipate was the weather. On September 4, it poured.

Despite the rain, nearly 150 students from Carleton University, the University of Ottawa and Algonquin College made their way to Chabad House at 59 Sweetland Avenue to kick off the year.

We moved the party inside where old friends were reacquainted and new friends were introduced to Jewish student life in Ottawa.

My fellow executives helped welcome everyone back as we outlined some of the key Shabbat dinners, guest speakers and events Chabad will host throughout the year.

“We have an array of activities,

Students attending the CSN barbecue escaped the rain by moving indoors at the Chabad house.

both educational and social, as well as community service. We’re trying to engage as many students as possible in Jewish life on campus,” said CSN co-director Rabbi Chaim Boyarsky.

Providing food, Rabbi Boyarsky joked, is the most important strate-

gy Chabad uses to attract students.

“We have speakers ranging from medicine and law to politics and so on,” said Kaitlyn St. Pierre, CSN’s uOttawa president, who was instrumental in organizing many of the CSN events this year.

“We have holidays, bar and bat

mitzvahs and all types of events.”

Already this month, Richard Marceau, author of A Quebec Jew: From Bloc Québécois MP to Jewish Activist, spoke at a CSN Shabbat dinner, and dinners and services were held to observe Rosh Hashanah.

(Photo: Peter Waiser)

“Going to Rosh Hashanah dinner here makes me feel like I am now part of a big family,” said Franny Weigensberg, CSN’s Carleton vice-president.

“I enjoyed all the Shabbat dinners because Chabad treats you like family.”

September 24, 2012 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 19

Page 20 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – September 24, 2012

Exercise is key to living a healthy life This summer, I took advantage of downtime to catch up on reading. Fifty Shades of Grey was not on my reading list.

In Healing through Exercise, author Jorg Blech reinforces the notion our bodies were designed for movement and our genetic makeup hasn’t caught up with our modern, sedentary lifestyle. He reminds us the hundreds of muscles and bones in our bodies weren’t meant for sitting all day. They’re stimulated to grow and strengthen by motion and strain. He asserts that exercise is much more than just a way to improve our health, it is “necessary for the human body to work normally.”

Traditionally, doctors recommended physical activity as a preventative measure for healthy patients. Exercise was typically contraindicated for people with health issues. In recent years, though, the medical paradigm has shifted away from rest and in favour of movement.

Prolonged bed rest creates complications such as muscular atrophy, poor circulation and a depressed mood. Exercise is good for a variety of ailments. It can strengthen the heart and improve cardiovascular efficiency of people with heart disease. It can strengthen the immune system of cancer patients. It can strengthen the muscles, ligaments and tendons surrounding osteoarthritic joints, thereby reducing pain and increasing range of motion.

The author criticizes doctors for still being quick to pull out their prescription pads and slow to help patients become more active.

We can improve our bodies at any age, according to Blech, even if we’ve neglected them for most of our lives. We can delay or undo some of the deterioration we associate with old age. He cites a study of people in their 80s and 90s who were instructed to exercise at 80 per cent of their maximum capac-

Focus on Fitness Gloria Schwartz ity. They increased their muscular strength by 10 per cent and improved their walking abilities. “Even old and habitually sedentary people still can reap the benefits of exercise if they simply put themselves in motion,” he concludes.

In The Great American Heart Hoax: Lifesaving Advice Your Doctor Should Tell You About Heart Disease Prevention (But Probably Never Will), Dr. Michael Ozner takes a strong position against the American medical industry’s practice of relying on expensive, invasive and often potentially risky procedures such as angioplasties and bypass operations. He reviews a number of studies that suggest patients with stable coronary artery disease have better outcomes with lifestyle changes coupled with medical therapy. He concludes that 30 minutes of daily cardio exercise and healthy eating can prevent heart disease in healthy people and even reverse heart disease in those already afflicted.

These books got me thinking about the kinds of information our physicians communicate, or fail to communicate, to us. Does your doctor discuss lifestyle changes you can make as part of a comprehensive preventative maintenance or health improvement strategy?

A prescription for exercise as a way to prevent, delay, re-

duce the symptoms of, or even cure, some diseases, is not as recent a concept as some would have us believe. Physical fitness for health purposes has been encouraged in many cultures throughout history. One example is the 5,000-year-old practice of yoga.

While travelling in Spain in August, I stopped in Cordoba, birthplace of 12th century Torah scholar, rabbi and physician Moses Maimonides. I visited Casa de Sefard, the Jewish museum that showcases his life and work. Best known for his Judaic scholarly writings, he also wrote medical works. I was fascinated to learn that Maimonides was an advocate of exercise, nutrition and personal hygiene. Among the museum’s displays is a list of specific foods Maimonides recommended eating or avoiding. Many of his ideas still make sense today.

Skip ahead 800 years. Remember Susan Powter, the charismatic queen of the early-1990s Stop the Insanity infomercials? Her book of the same name and era seems a bit dated, especially the photos of her working out in bra tops and leotards. Nonetheless, her personal success story about overhauling her body and mind is packed with bittersweet and laugh-out-loud moments. In recalling her weight-loss goals, Powter admits health was not initially at the top of her list: “As I was changing my body, I thought about what I wanted … Here’s what I visualized … Looking better than my ex-husband’s girlfriend.” Of course, along the way, she was rewarded with many health benefits and a hot body!

If I had to choose one message to share with you from my summer reading, it would be a profound statement made by Martha Gulati and Sherry Torkos in their book, Saving Women’s Hearts. “Physical inactivity is second only to cigarette smoking as the leading cause of preventable deaths …

We just need to move!”

Gay students alienated from Jewish campus life must be welcomed Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are times for self-reflection and, consequently, times to create goals for self-improvement.

Perhaps it was the spirit of the New Year that got me thinking about our accomplishments, and – even more so – our shortcomings as a Jewish community on campus.

Or, perhaps it was the presence of Israel Advocacy Co-ordinator Emile Scheffel at Capital Pride, Ottawa’s gay pride celebration, at the end of August.

“Hundreds of people were thrilled to learn about GLBTQ rights and culture in #Israel,” Scheffel tweeted, posting pictures of sunglasses and shot glasses branded by the pro-Israel Size Doesn’t Matter campaign.

This excited me a great deal, particularly because of some Facebook statuses I’d recently seen posted by fellow students.

One advocated bringing Queers Against Israeli Apartheid to Ottawa and another asked everyone to “stop pinkwashing Israel.”

Pinkwashing is a term that means to say Israel is promoting gay rights as a marketing strategy designed to portray itself as a progressive state while deflecting from human rights abuses and occupation of Palestinian territories.

See, I can understand opposing Israel’s politics, but I’ve never been able to grasp why, for some people, acknowledging Israel’s failures requires neglecting its achievements. Gay rights and Palestinian rights are two separate issues, and they should be treated as such.

But what about being gay and Jewish? Are they mutually exclusive attributes or can they be reconciled? While I’d seen Israel’s support for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer (GLBTQ) community recognized in the Size Doesn’t Matter campaign, I’ve not yet witnessed very much support for gay Jews on campus.

I texted a friend who frequents Carleton University’s GLBTQ Centre, “Do you know of any gay Jews at Carleton?”

I asked.

“No, I don’t,” she replied. “Most people at the centre aren’t religious.”

Here’s the thing, though. From my elementary school days at Hillel Academy to my recent Jerusalem Fellowships trip, I’ve grown up with the idea that Judaism is not only a religion, but also a culture, and a nationality – and I believe it.

So, when I realized that I, too, couldn’t think of anyone I knew in Ottawa who was both openly gay and openly Jewish, I was floored.

A chat with Remy Attig confirmed my suspicions. Attig is a graduate student at the University of Ottawa, a Pink Triangle Services volunteer, a drag queen, a Jew, and he was the 2009-2010 Israel Advocacy Co-ordinator for Hillel Ottawa.

He said he knows a lot of young, gay, Jewish people in Ottawa who are out on campus, but not at Hillel.

He attributes this to a lack of activities targeted toward queer students and to Hillel’s neutrality toward GLBTQ issues.

“In their minds, there weren’t very many people affected by this. … On other hand, if you’re not trying to engage a group, you don’t know how many there are,” he said.

He also brought up the consensus that Jews should marry Jews and procreate. Even if he wanted to attend an event like a jnet gala, Attig said he worries people might stare due to the sex of his date, making them both feel uncomfortable.

Even if Attig is mistaken, that fear exists because he and other young, Jewish gays perceive there are no signs of support, acceptance and welcome coming from the young, Jewish scene.

In larger, more diverse communities, there are Jewish groups specifically for gay students. In January, Hillel of Greater Toronto launched LGBTQ Jews.

While we do have Keshet Ottawa, described on its website as a “Jewish non-profit social group for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer (or Questioning) individuals and their allies,” most of Keshet Ottawa’s membership seems to be age 40-plus.

Campus Life Ilana Belfer So, where are gay, Jewish youth to turn in Ottawa?

“In my experience … they just end up not doing Jewish stuff … [and] eventually disconnect from the community,” Attig said.

However, this doesn’t have to be the case. Last year, Hillel Ottawa brought gay, Orthodox Rabbi Steven Greenberg to Carleton to speak. Granted, he was already in town visiting Congregation Agudath Israel, but it’s a start.

Scott Goldstein, Hillel Ottawa’s new executive director, told me he has a lot of experience working with the GLBTQ community on campuses and is looking for ways to continue doing so in Ottawa.

Citywide Hillel Ottawa President Cheryl Sweigman told me she’d love to have more events relating to GLBTQ students and asked for suggestions.

Here’s one – maybe this year would be the time to have a Purim drag show, an idea Attig once proposed, but which Hillel Ottawa rejected at the time. He feels it wouldn’t alienate religious people because Jewish law permits cross-dressing on Purim.

While things are looking up for the New Year, we must remember to follow through on this goal of improving JewishGLBTQ relations on campus. It’s fine to support gay rights in Israel, but it would be akin to pinkwashing, if we’re not, first and foremost, opening our arms to members of the tribe here at home.

September 24, 2012 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 21

Bringing down barriers to accommodation and participation I am a huge fan of Camp Ramah in Canada, which was why I was particularly saddened to see a July 18 post by Michigan-based Rabbi David Krishef titled, “Why My Blind Son is Returning from Camp Ramah in Canada a Month Early,” on his Embodied Torah blog at embodied torah.wordpress.com.

According to Rabbi Krishef, Ron Polster, Camp Ramah’s director, decided the camp could no longer provide the necessary accommodations to son Solomon, 15, for the remainder of the summer.

The camper was heartbroken, and his father, a veteran Ramah parent, decided to turn to the power of social media.

With the blog post gone viral and a 250-signature petition started at camp by Solomon’s 12-year-old sister, Sarah, the director soon apologized and reversed his decision. For reasons that aren’t entirely clear, the young man decided to leave anyway.

I hesitated to write a column drawing even more attention to this unfortunate story at a camp for which I have great affection. But, less than a week later, the story had been covered by the New York Jewish Week, JTA, the Canadian Jewish News, the Times of Israel, and eJewish Philanthropy, and had circulated on Facebook and Twitter. Given that small firestorm, I think it is appropriate to contemplate a few big-picture takeaway lessons, now that the dust has settled.

The first lesson I draw is that, to thrive, organizations require countless supporters, some who need to provide enthusiastic public relations, and others who may sometimes need to be critical to make that organization better. And, yes, sometimes, criticism needs to be done publicly to generate vigorous debate and policy change where appropriate.

The second lesson is that there needs to be a constant dialogue between those who make the policies and those who carry them out. Rabbi Mitchell Cohen, national director of the Ramah Camping Movement, told the New York Jewish Week (Rabbi’s Blind Spot Fuels Inclusion Debate, July 24) that he does not believe Camp Ramah of Canada’s policies of inclusion need to be re-examined. I take Rabbi Cohen’s remarks to mean this incident was an aberration, probably complicated by some extraneous circumstances to which we are not privy, given that the camp, understandably, does not discuss individual camper cases publicly.

The third lesson is that, since leading an organization requires countless judgment calls, the question is whether and how nimble leaders are as new information and perspectives present themselves. As Rabbi Jason Miller tweeted, “Mistakes & poor decisions happen to all of us. Camp Ramah Canada’s new director apologized & reversed decision.”

The fourth lesson is that those who complain publicly about organizational decisions often have an inherent advantage over the organization itself. Because of camper confidentiality, Ramah simply couldn’t reveal its side of the story. One Ramah board member posted a comment on an article on the eJewish Philanthropy website urging readers to understand the case was much more nuanced than the father’s blog had implied.

Which leads me to my conclusion: Sometimes it takes a single incident to force us to reflect on a larger issue. Many of those who jumped into the fray were genuinely concerned about what they viewed as an unsavoury and demeaning decision. But I challenge everyone to reflect on the state of inclusion and accommodation at all the other institutions with

Values, Ethics, Community Mira Sucharov which we are, separately or together, affiliated.

When Rabbi Steve Greenberg came to my shul for a Shabbaton last year, his Shabbat sermon spoke of the tragic injustice of keeping someone with physical impairments on the margins of a community. As he spoke, he came down off the bimah and moved among the worshippers. At that point, I looked beyond his left shoulder at the stairs leading to the bimah. It was only then I realized that a person in a wheelchair would not be able to open the ark or physically enjoy an aliyah at my shul.

It was a powerful moment, one that led me to reflect on the paradox of difference. As much as people tend to obsess about the difference and exceptionalities of others, our human tendency is, so often, to single out rather than to embrace. So often, those who are different suffer the reverse curse of invisibility.

I understand from the shul president and the fundraising co-ordinator that plans for a ramp and other accessibility retrofits are in development at Agudath Israel. I look forward to that day and will mark it knowing that we all learn as we go.

What may have been obvious to someone in need was not at all obvious to me, until a wise person drew it to my attention. I wonder how many other invisible issues around barriers to accommodation are in our midst waiting to be addressed.

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

The three Cs of genealogical research When evaluating a diamond, experts use the Four Cs – cut, clarity, colour and carat weight – to determine the beauty and value of the stone. Recently, while working on genealogical projects, I have noticed the importance of three Cs: contacts, collaboration and computer. Two recent examples demonstrate this observation.

In July, I was contacted by Stuart Rosenblatt, of Dublin, Ireland, who is the world authority on Irish Jewish genealogy. His daughter recently moved to Ottawa, and Stuart and his wife were planning to visit her for three weeks in August. By contacting the Jewish Ottawa InfoCentre, he was put in touch with the Jewish Genealogical Society of Ottawa. Hymie Reichstein and I met with him at the Soloway Jewish Community Centre and showed him the collection of Yizkor books and other materials in our library. We also showed him our database of Jewish burials in Eastern Ontario.

Stuart had his laptop with him and gave us an overview of his research. He has compiled records on more than 45,000 Jews who had some kind of presence in Ireland. His database is highly searchable and an enquiry using the word ‘Ottawa’ produced records on about a dozen people with Irish connections. A quick check of these hits showed that some of the people in his Irish database also turned up in our society’s database of Ottawa Jewish burials.

Two weeks later, Stuart asked if we could meet again.

We met at my home and he told me that, a couple of days earlier, he had walked into the sales office of the building his daughter was living in and struck up a conversation with a woman working there. She noticed his Irish accent and said she had Irish roots. When Stuart asked what her surname was, he was surprised to hear an obviously Jewish name. A quick check of his computer showed he had

Connecting the branches John Diener records on her family and was happy to share his findings with her.

Being a genealogist, Stuart was not content to stop with what he had. Since the woman’s family had come to Canada early in the 20th century, Stuart suspected our society had information on the family in the Ottawa database. Together, we went through the names Stuart had and matched them to family members buried in the Bank Street cemetery. Our photos of the graves not only provided names and dates, but also gave fathers’ names. We also checked Ancestry.ca and some online obituary notices and quickly had facts and figures on about two dozen people. Needless to say, Stuart’s new friend in the sales office was thrilled when he presented her with a small family tree.

The second example began with a conversation in July at the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies Conference in Paris. Pamela Weisberger, a longtime friend, and president of Gesher Galicia – the special interest group for Galicia – told me the organization had come into possession of some archival records from my family’s town of Grzymalow. Among other things, she had photographs of a 1926 census of children and was pretty sure she had seen my father’s name on one of the pages.

After returning from the conference, I decided to database the census and have been deciphering the poor images and difficult handwriting and entering the data into a spreadsheet. The pages contain about 1,200 names and give dates of birth, all between 1913 and 1925, fathers’ names, and ethnic origins. Roughly one-third of the names are Jewish. I did locate my father’s name and was surprised to discover he was apparently born one year earlier than we believed.

I started to wonder about the Jewish children found on the lists. They would have been between 14 and 25 when the Second World War broke out. Who, like my father, survived, and who, like my grandparents, aunts and many of my cousins, perished? If children on the list died in the Holocaust, did someone record their deaths with Yad Vashem? I picked two names and checked them on the searchable database at yadvashem.org. Entering their names and the town name of Grzymalow, I was saddened to see that indeed, both were listed as victims. At the same time, though, I was pleased to see someone survived who remembered them and took the time to memorialize them through a Page of Testimony.

When I finish databasing the children’s list, I intend to compare all of the Jewish names to the information at Yad Vashem and make the combined information available to other genealogists researching Grzymalow. The merging of the two sets of data will provide a much clearer understanding of what may have happened to their family members.

While the Irish-Canadian family project differed in scope from the study of a lost Jewish community in Poland, both were made possible by taking advantage of contacts, collaboration, and computer – the important three Cs.

Page 22 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – September 24, 2012

Jürgen’s political jokes are just enough to fill this space Jürgen, the political maven, called me. I had challenged him to make up some jokes about politics that we haven’t yet heard. In snippets, he left the rant below on my answering machine.

“I just tuned in to the Republican Convention and started to have visions of the end of days. They had a split screen showing speakers thundering out their vision on one half of the screen and Hurricane Isaac just thundering out on the other half.

“I thought, one if by water and two if by fire and brimstone. And, if you dip the fire and brimstone into the water, do you get a Tea Party?

“Michelle Bachmann, now there’s the kind of Christian who can just love you to death. Literally. She’s the kind of Christian they should have thrown to the lions because she would have eaten them alive. Not that I have anything

against lions since they became civilized and formed a service club.

“On the other hand, this is in some ways better than a three-ring circus. Too bad there’s just one large grey elephant.”

BEEP! “Just enjoy the spectacle. How many times are we going to have a candidate named after a baseball glove? But has he been worked in yet? Will he catch all the strikes thrown at him?

“Actually, his real name is Milt, but he changed it for the presidential race because it sounded too Jewish. He would have kept it, if they had allowed him to change his last name to Friedman.

“And what about Ryan? He used to be Jack Ryan, until he got into trouble for proposing sexual shenanigans to Jeri Ryan, who was his wife!

He’s going to be in a new movie called The Hunt for Red November.

“But he too changed his name so no one would remember his other life as the GOP candidate who could have beat Obama in Illinois.

“Now he has a name in keeping with his revived Christian values, taken directly from The Fountain Head. It’s Paul or as I call him, Rabbi Saul.”

BEEP! “You think I forgot the Make a promise to yourself this New Year to learn about the future other guys? First, there’s of modern medicine and the potential to enjoy a longer, healthier life. the guy who is named after the Hebrew word for lightning, Barack. That’s Thor to you comic book fans.

But, since he killed Osama

SAVE THE DATE Tuesday October 30, 2012

Guest Speaker: Dr. Ido Amit, Department of Immunology, Weizmann Institute of Science Moderator: Michael O’Byrne, News Anchor, CTV News Co-Chairs: Mrs. Esther Kulik and Dr. Sharon Letovsky

The Ottawa Hospital - Civic Campus Amphitheatre 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm - Followed by a dessert reception alexa@weizmann.ca 613.236.3391 $18 minimum donation

Humour me, please Rubin Friedman as an Avenger, he’s gone all military on us, so we call him Bar(r)ack. I think he should be known in a way that reassures American voters that he’s out to get terrorists. How about Hussein? If he calls himself Barry again, everyone will think he’s a crooner.

“And, finally, Joe Biden: now, there’s a guy who takes ordinariness too far, as any Joe will tell you. We here at the Central Registry have decided to add to his nomenclature to increase his name recognition.

“How about Joe Biden Histime. Who me? I’m just waitin’ to see what happens.

“Whether he wins or loses the next election, his future has retirement written all over it.

“He and Obama make a good team: Joe is the schlemiel, the awkward guy, the waiter who trips and spills soup on the customer. That makes Obama the schlemazel, the customer who gets the soup spilled all over him.”

BEEP! “You know if you want to laugh, there’s a lot of choice. I could easily have changed channels and watched the Quebec election. That’s where the winning party acts like it’s a massive victory when it has a lead of less than 1 per cent over the party in second place. And there’s the senator’s wife who was arrested for yelling at her husband on a plane. Why didn’t she wait ‘til she got home like everybody else?”

Silence.

“OK, that’s all I’ve got.”

BEEP! Thanks Jürgen, that’s just enough for this column.

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September 24, 2012 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 23

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Page 24 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – September 24, 2012

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September 24, 2012 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 25

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Page 26 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – September 24, 2012

Summer’s last hurrah!

Don’t get me wrong, I love fall as much as the next chunky sweater-loving, apple-picking, pumpkin-carving woman, but I intend to hold onto summer for as long as I can. I am usually dragged kicking and screaming into fall and then the inevitable winter that follows way too quickly.

It takes me way too long to abandon my sandals and succumb to unshaved legs, socks and shoes.

That being said, there is still a plethora of late summer produce out there, and I want to help you take advantage of it for as long as possible. The last of summer’s peaches and corn are still available.

The first recipe is for Charred Corn Slaw. Often recipes featuring charred corn have you cook it on the barbecue. I find the corn kernels tend to dry out and become quite leathery and unpleasant to chew when you grill corn. Some people recommend grilling in the husk, but I find husking grilled corn difficult and messy.

I like to peel the corn, cut the kernels off the cob and sauté them in a pan. They retain their fresh crunch and become even sweeter after caramelization when the corn is browned.

This is a slaw with attitude. The dressing is made with canned chipotle chilies in adobo sauce (a tomato-vinegar based sauce). A chipotle chili is nothing more than a smoked jalapeño pepper. They are readily available at any supermarket. They are quite hot and a little goes a long way.

Made with Love Cindy Feingold I take the chilies and sauce out of the tin, remove the seeds from the chilies and purée the seedless chilies and sauce in the food processor. Then I store it in a plastic bag in the freezer. I just break off a small piece whenever I need it. It’s a fantastic addition to grilled salmon or chicken. Just mix up a teaspoon or so of the frozen chipotle with some maple syrup and soy sauce and use as a glaze.

The second recipe is for Grilled Peach and Green Bean Salad. I first had grilled peaches at my friend Sandy’s cottage this summer. She simply halved the peaches, brushed them with a little olive oil and grilled them flesh side down for about 5 minutes. She served them as a side dish with barbecued chicken.

Grilling the peaches imparts a slightly smoky flavour to them and they become quite silky and sweet. The crunch of the green beans, purple onions and almonds is a wonderful complement to the peaches.

Charred Corn Slaw Serves 6 Slaw 3 cups of fresh corn kernels (cut from 3 ears of corn) 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1/3 purple cabbage thinly sliced 1/3 green cabbage, thinly sliced 3 carrots, grated on a box grater (large holes) 2 stalks celery, diced into 1/4 inch pieces 4 green onions, thinly sliced 1/4 cup cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped Dressing Juice of 1 lime 2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons mayonnaise (light is OK, just don’t use fat-free) 1-2 teaspoons finely chopped chipotle chile in adobo (seeds removed before chopping) 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper Heat a large non-stick sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add vegetable oil and let it heat up for a minute.

Add corn kernels and cook, tossing often, until lightly golden brown, about 4 minutes. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Set aside to cool.

Place all the dressing ingredients in a blender and process on high speed until thick and creamy.

Place all slaw ingredients in a large bowl and pour dressing over the top. Mix well to combine.

Green Bean and Grilled Peach Salad Late season (August-September) peaches are known as freestone. This means that the pit separates easily from the flesh. Early season peaches tend to be clingstone, which means the flesh clings to the peaches. Try to find freestone peaches for this salad.

Serves 4 1/4 cup whole unblanched almonds 4 peaches cut in half and pit removed 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 pound green beans, trimmed and washed (or half pound yellow beans and half pound green beans) 4 freestone peaches cut in half and pit removed 1/4 purple onion, thinly sliced Dressing 1 shallot, finely chopped 1/2 jalapeño pepper, finely diced 1 tablespoon lime juice 1 Tablespoon champagne vinegar (or white wine vinegar) 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Preheat oven to 350 F. Place almonds on a baking sheet and toast until fragrant, about 8-10 minutes. Let cool and coarsely chop. Set aside.

Preheat gas grill on medium heat. Brush vegetable oil over cut side of peaches. Grill peaches, cut side down, for about 5 minutes, until they have grill marks and are slightly soft. Remove peach halves from grill.

Cut each half into 8 wedges. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon of kosher salt and the beans and boil for 3-4 minutes, until tender crisp. While beans are boiling fill a large bowl with cold water and ice cubes. Drain beans and immediately plunge them into the ice water. Drain and pat dry. Set aside.

Place all dressing ingredients in a jar and shake well to emulsify.

Put beans, peach slices and purple onion in a mixing bowl. Add dressing and mix well. Transfer to serving platter and sprinkle with chopped almonds just before serving.

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September 24, 2012 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – Page 27

A Book of Great Worth is a book of great worth I read A Book of Great Worth, a collection of short stories by American-born, Regina-based writer Dave Margoshes just after some short stories and novels by Don DeLillo.

The contrast in style and content could not have been greater. DeLillo uses contemporary language and references to depict the surface of the world today, almost, it seems, as it is becoming the world of tomorrow. Beneath the smooth surface of the well-chosen words and the rhythms of modern speech lies a seeming reality of chaos, random chance and meaninglessness.

While I enjoy the ride of reading fiction of this sort, I am biased in favour of Margoshes’ short stories of a world that no longer exists: the secular Yiddish world of newspapers, union politics, petty gangsters and the entertainment business in New York and the northeast states.

It’s a background I am half-familiar with, having grown up the son of an immigrant tailor in Toronto from the late-1940s to the mid-‘60s, the tail end of an era when Yiddish-speaking men played clobyush and poker while smoking cigarettes and drinking beer or little shots of schnapps, and talking of politics and the latest scandals, in private homes, on weekends at picnics with their families, or in brief snatches at restaurants and cafés on Spadina Avenue or College Street.

Margoshes paints a loving portrait of New York’s equivalent of this world. His stories never descend into sentimentalism,

Book Review Rubin Friedman but set this world’s problems and negative aspects into proper context. Using his father or, as we later learn, a fictional character based on his father, he gives us a series of related tales that centre on the ups and downs, generous gestures and foolish mistakes of a Yiddish newspaper reporter whose dream is to become a novelist.

We are plunged into the midst of this world in the opening sentence of the first story, “The Proposition,” when Margoshes writes, “‘I did something stupid,’ the rabbi told my father.”

How the narrator’s father, Harry Margoshes, known as Morgenstern, solves the rabbi’s dilemma is amusing and Damon Runyanesque. We instantly get a feel for a man who is there to help his friends, but who is not a saint.

The stories do not unfold chronologically. Rather, they spiral into the moments when the author’s avatar, the son of the journalist, is there to directly witness the interplay of human weakness and strength in the strivings of his parents in stories such as “A Book of Great Worth” and “The Family Circle.”

Margoshes displays a wonderfully delicate touch in controlling the technique of narration, transitioning from objective third person narrator with insight into a character’s thoughts, to reporter of his father’s actions, to creator of dialogue, to direct witness.

There is always an effort to understand and draw out the meaning of what is happening in the story and what it implies about the virtues and frailties of the characters.

The tales are infused with a kind of marvellous nostalgia, an affection for the past that has all but disappeared with the decline of the secular Yiddish world and its newspapers and radio stations. And yet, the stories also acknowledge the inevitability of the decline.

Although Margoshes’ father never became a novelist he wanted to be, the author, in his own explication of what he was about, concludes, “Most importantly, I tried to honour my father. The best way to do that, I knew, was to get it right.”

I believe he did get it right and highly recommend the book.

Baird in Mumbai Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird lights a candle of remembrance during a tour of Chabad House in Mumbai, India, September 10.

The house was one of the locations targeted during the Mumbai terrorist attacks in 2008. Baird conveyed condolences on behalf of the Government of Canada to the friends and families of those who lost their lives in the attack.

Community Milestones Dr. Yosef and Devora Caytak are very proud to announce the marriage of their son Dovid Caytak to Mussia Sirota.

The wedding took place in Brooklyn, NY, in June.

The young couple is living in Brooklyn for the year.

Dovid is studyingin a Kollel and Mussia is teaching Preschool in Beth Rivkah’s Headstart Program.

Mazal Tov to Tom Podolsky on his recent Bar Mitzvah.

Proud parents are Rony and Dekel.

FREE

A Book of Great Worth

By Dave Margoshes Coteau Books 255 pages

Send us notices of your important family milestones – an engagement, wedding, special birthday, birth announcement or other significant events!

Email your photos to: bsilverman@ottawajewishbulletin.com.

Community Milestones will be published on a space-available basis.

Page 28 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – September 24, 2012

WHAT’S GOING ON September 24 to October 14, 2012 CANDLELIGHTING BEFORE YOM KIPPUR Sep 25 ✡ 6:35 pm Sep 28 ✡

6:29 pm

First Day SUKKOT Sep 30 ✡ 6:25 pm Second Day SUKKOT ✡ after Oct 1 7:25 pm Oct 5

✡

6:16 pm

SHEMINI ATZERET ✡ 6:12 pm Oct 7 SIMCHAT TORAH ✡ after Oct 8 7:12 pm Oct 12

✡

6:03 pm

Oct 19

✡

5:51 pm

WEEKLY EVENTS MONDAYS Motorin Munchkins drop-in program for children 5 and under. Kids expend lots of energy, supervised by a parent or guardian, 9:00 am to 11:45 am.

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

TUESDAYS Israeli Folkdancing: No experience or partner necessary, Ottawa Jewish Community School, 881 Broadview Avenue, 6:30 pm. Info: judy@ottawaisraelidance.ca.

WEDNESDAYS Drop-in Playgroup for newborn to 3 years old. Parents and kids romp and play and make new friends, 9:00 to 11:00 am.

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

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 Shalom Ottawa community TV show on Rogers 22, 6:00 pm.

(Repeats Sep. 26 at 6:30 pm.)

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

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 FRAMED, jnet’s fashion show fundraiser for the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation.

An urban grassroots networking initiative, jnet connects young Jewish professionals and graduate students. Mansion Night Club, 400 Dalhousie Avenue, 9:30 pm. Info: 613798-4696, ext. 270.

and Palestinian women.

Writer/director Lisa Gossels will be present for a question period. Hosted by Peace Camp Ottawa and the TOV Team-Tikkun Olam volunteers from Agudath Israel Congregation, Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington Street, 7:00 pm. Info: 613-2332565.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3 Sukkot in the Air, a family celebration sponsored by Ottawa Torah Centre, including a show by professional stunt motorcycle riders defying the laws of gravity and a delicious dinner in the Sukkah, 111 Lamplighters Drive, 6:00 pm.

Info: 613-843-7770.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 8 Ottawa Torah Centre’s Famous Simchat Torah Party, followed by Kiddush and Hakafot. Dancing, flags and treats for the kids, 111 Lamplighters Drive, 6:45 pm.

Info: 613-843-7770.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4 “My So-Called Enemy” film looks at the consequences of conflict through the eyes of six young Israeli

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11 Jewish Cemeteries Information Session, hosted by Jewish Memorial Gardens and the Jewish Federation of Ottawa, 7:00 pm. RSVP & Info: 613-798-4644.

COMING SOON TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16 Ottawa Jewish Community School AGM, 31 Nadolny Sachs Private, 7:00 pm.

Info: 613-722-0020.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23 Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation Annual Power Breakfast, with keynote speaker former Mayor Jim Durrell, 7:30 am.

Info: 613-798-4696, ext. 252.

Jewish Family Services AGM, Agudath Israel Congregation, 1400 Coldrey Avenue, 7:00 pm.

Info: 613-722-2225.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 21 The Auxiliary of Hillel Lodge Annual Tea and Fundraiser, 10 Nadolny Sachs Private, 2:00 pm.

Info: 613-728-3900.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24 CHOICES, Women’s Campaign annual dinner, with Dr. Livia Kapusta from Save A Child’s Heart.

Agudath Israel Congregation, 1400 Coldrey Avenue, 6:00 pm.

Info: 613-798-4696, ext. 232.

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: Kati Ajzensztadt, Toronto (mother of Sid Eisenstat) Irving Betcherman Don Glimcher, Winnipeg (father of Manuel Glimcher) Tillie Levine Maxwell Lobel

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 OCTOBER 10 FOR OCTOBER 29 OCTOBER 24 FOR NOVEMBER 12 OCTOBER 31 FOR NOVEMBER 26* * Community-wide Issue (all dates subject to change)

JEWISH MEMORIAL GARDENS Your one-stop resource centre for funeral planning 613-688-3530 www.jewishmemorialgardens.org

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