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| CJC on the Federal Election |
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 As the lead domestic advocacy agency of the Jewish community of Canada, Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) always gears up for action upon the calling of a federal general election. For the October 14th federal election, which falls on the first day of Succoth, we have worked with Elections Canada, which prepared a letter to the community outlining the options for voting in advance of the election. CJC sent an e-mail throughout the community with this information, and we have been working with federations across the country and with the Canadian Jewish Political Action Committee (CJPAC) to get the word out. We encourage you to click on the Elections Canada link on our website, www.cjc.ca, to learn more about advance polls and special ballots and to visit CJPAC's election website, www.itsup2you.ca, to learn about various ways of getting involved in the democratic process. Under CIJA's aegis, CJC and our sister organization, the Canada-Israel Committee, produced the " Federal Election 2008: Guide to the Issues for the Community," which highlights priority items for the Jewish community, summarizes policy recommendations and provides recommended questions for candidates. The Guide and a one-page summary are available on the CJC website in both English and French. These Guides will be used in events across the country with candidates seeking election. Check your local community calendar for the dates of these events. CJC has always promoted civic engagement within the community, but we do not tell people for whom to vote. Rather, we encourage everyone to vote, and we urge you to get involved and cast a ballot in the current general election to make your voice heard. |
Rosh HaShanah Message from the CJC Co-Presidents
Rabbi Reuven Bulka and Sylvain Abitbol
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 Dear Friends, We share these thoughts with you right in the midst of a federal election. Election time is decision time. For those running, it is an odd feeling. On the one hand, all who are elected will have some power, even if the party they represent is not part of the government. On the other hand, the only way that they can have any power is by truly representing their constituents. So, until the voters say yes to them, they have no real power. For us, Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur are similar to an election. We are all in a campaign, with the desire to gain a vote. The vote we all really want, the only vote that ultimately matters, is God's vote for us. We want God to vote us "in" to life, health, vigour, contentment, meaning, and more.
The question before us is a simple one: how do we earn that vote? Interestingly, the same way as candidates try to earn votes: by making promises and firmly embracing commitments.
There is one catch - the promises must be ones that we genuinely resolve to keep. Otherwise, it is an empty charade.
It does sound somewhat odd, even problematic, to see the Days of Awe as election time. Look at it another way. Whatever wishes we have for ourselves and our families are just that - wishes. We dare not demand, because demand suggests entitlement. And entitlement borders on arrogance.
We wish, we humbly ask, and we combine the "ask" with the awareness that simultaneous with our asking of God, we must ask of ourselves. It cannot be a one-sided relationship of all ask and no give. After that, we leave the rest to God.
What should we be asking of ourselves? Generally, to be our best, to do our best. This means taking life seriously, living up to our sacred calling, faithfully living up to our responsibilities, and to add a bit of seasoning to all this, allocating some time to helping others.
It makes Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur all the more meaningful if we give it our best, if we make the best possible "pitch."
In the year we have served as Co-Presidents of Canadian Jewish Congress, we have met many volunteers both inside and outside the Jewish community who are deeply devoted to others. These are people we greatly respect and admire. And we have gained an intensified appreciation for the professionals at Canadian Jewish Congress who eat, sleep, and breathe for the community.
There is much more to do, and we are looking forward to the challenges, made all the more achievable because of the great team of professionals and volunteers.
We all have within us the power to do significant things with our lives. That is an endearing power which along the way will gain for us God's vote that this be a year of good signs for all - Tehay Shenat Siman Tov - Tav Shin Samekh Tet.
The writ has been dropped. Let the voting begin. Shanah Tovah to you and all.
Sylvain Abitbol and Rabbi Reuven P. Bulka
Co-Presidents,
Canadian Jewish Congress
Photo: Rabbi Bulka and Sylvain Abitbol, CJC Co-Presidents
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Toronto Police Service --- Thank You
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Propane explosion site in Toronto, Aug. 10 2008
Photo: courtesy of CityNews | On Sunday, August 10, 2008, first responders from Toronto Police Service (TPS) and Toronto Fire Department (TFD) rushed to the scene of a massive explosion at a propane facility in the northern part of the city. Both TPS and TFD were hard-pressed to bring the fire under control and assist in the evacuation of residents. We note with sadness that District Chief Bob Leek fell in the line of duty, and we extend our condolences to his family and to all first responders. We would also like to send our deepest sympathies to the family of Parminder Singh Saini who also died in the explosion.
While much media attention has focused on the cause of the explosion and praise for the TPS and TFD teams has been plentiful and well-deserved, there is a small story that deserves to be told.
A significant portion of Toronto and Thornhill is enclosed within an Eruv - an "enclosed" area in which Jews can carry objects and undertake other activities otherwise prohibited on Shabbat and Yom Tov. In Toronto, the Eruv is composed of such commonplace structures as hydro wires and the fences that run along highways and railroad tracks.
The Eruv, in one form or another, has been in existence since 1922 and is maintained and inspected on a regular basis by members of the Toronto Eruv Committee.
A few days after the explosion, the Committee contacted UJA Federation of Greater Toronto and Canadian Jewish Congress, requesting our assistance. A portion of the fence that runs parallel to the CN tracks along Keele Street had been destroyed, breaking the Eruv.
Both the Eruv Committee and CJC understood that the police had their hands full with the situation at the site of the explosion. And yet, we wondered, would it be possible for one or two committee members to inspect the damage and quickly repair it before Shabbat? To the credit of Toronto Police Service, especially Inspector John Wallace of 32 Division, this challenging task was made simple. Inspector Wallace took a few minutes out of his very busy day to speak with CJC about this matter. Once the situation was explained, he made the necessary arrangements and within an hour the Eruv was repaired. CJC thanks the Toronto Police Service, which enabled our community to observe Shabbat with the continued presence of the Eruv. |
Important Guide for Survivors
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 Canadian Jewish Holocaust Survivors (CJHS) is pleased to announce the publication of the Canadian Guide to Programs and Services for Holocaust Survivors. A joint initiative of CJHS, Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) and UJA Federation - Jewish Information Service of Greater Toronto, this guide is the first national directory to list all services and programs available to Holocaust Survivors across the country. It was created out of a need to help survivors navigate the many social services available to them within the Jewish community. Sidney Zoltak, Co-President of CJHS, explains that the guide is a very important information tool that will assist the aging survivor community in learning about the services and activities available to them. "As a result of our organizations' conference call meetings with Holocaust survivors from coast to coast, we found that one of the most important things missing was information and communication. I think that this guide will be very helpful," said Zoltak. The guide will help survivors and their families connect to services such as homecare, restitution services, emergency financial assistance, social recreational programs and Holocaust commemoration activities. To order free copies of the guide, please contact Melanie Simons, National Social Policy Coordinator, Canadian Jewish Congress at: Telephone: (416) 635-2883 ext. 5252 or dial toll free: 1-888-407-5548 Email: Melanie Simons at msimons@on.cjc.ca or email jinfo@ujafed.org. The guide is also available on the CJC website at www.cjc.ca and at www.jewishtoronto.com, click on Doing Jewish in Toronto and look for "Survivors Services." |
Living With Differences
Victor C. Goldbloom M.D.
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photo: Saint Agathe, Quebec | Saint Agathe, Quebec is no longer the place of barriers and discrimination that some of us remember from our youth. It is a town of tolerance and mutual respect, and when an incident occurs of religious or racial aggression or discrimination, the municipal authorities and the police rise up to denounce and combat it. The last three years particularly have seen notable progress in interreligious relations in Saint Agathe.
Yes, there have been some problems in recent times, relating in particular to the presence of an ultra-orthodox Jewish community. Yes, last month there was an episode of physical aggression. The indications are, however, that the perpetrators were a group of adolescents, and that they have no support whatever in general public opinion.
Mayor Laurent Paquette and the entire municipal council have been solidly supportive of the local Jewish community. Captain Gilbert Lafrenière of the Quebec Provincial Police has been assiduous and responsible in pursuing the investigation of the aforementioned assault and taking preventive measures against other incidents. Rabbi Chalom Chriqui and Rabbi Emanuel Carlebach have been unstinting in their praise of the police and the municipal council, and have expressed profound regret that some people have sensationalized the unfortunate episode which occurred.
Since the beginning, Canadian Jewish Congress, Quebec Region has been in steady communication with the community, the municipal authorities and the Sureté du Québec. When a police investigation is in process, it is preferable to avoid public statements until the facts are clarified and the person or persons responsible have been identified and charged.
When an incident of this kind occurs, it is important to analyze its causality. It is even more important to take that analysis from a study of the past to a preventive program for the future. CJC, QR has therefore undertaken to meet not only with Mayor Paquette and the municipal council and with Captain Lafrenière, but also with the school authorities of Saint Agathe, notably at the polyvalente, in order to encourage the intensified teaching of knowledge of the other and respect for differences. Antisemitism today is no longer the mainstream phenomenon that it was seventy years ago, but it has not disappeared and it must not be allowed to flourish. We must educate young people against it - and not-so- young people as well - and against every form of racism or discrimination into which we can too easily and too thoughtlessly slide.
Quebec is a good place to live, and the vast majority of us have every intention of keeping it that way.
Victor C. Goldbloom, M.D.
President, Canadian Jewish Congress , Quebec Region
Note: The above editorial contains excerpts of an Op-ed that originally ran in the Montreal Gazette on September 5, 2008
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CJC Photo Gallery
Rabbi Reuven Bulka, CJC Co-President, at the police station in Sderot, inspecting exploded kassam rockets
Major-General Galant briefed delegates on the security situation in Ashkelon, Israel and participants were later taken on a tour and shown security installations, including an IDF base.
Left to right: Bernie M. Farber, CEO CJC; and Major-General Yoav Galant, commander of the Israel Defense Forces' Southern Command; Ashkelon, Israel
On Aug. 17 Heritage Toronto unveiled a plaque recalling the riot at Christie Pits park 75 years ago.
Left to right: Councillor Joe Mihevc; Fredelle Brief, Chair,Community Relations Committee CJC; Cyril Levitt, Co-Author, The Riot at Christie Pits; Peter Ortved, Board Chair, Heritage Toronto; and MC Judy Stoffman, Chair, Christie Pits.
Rosalie Simeone, Jo-Anne White and Sandra Ireland were recently honoured for their accomplishments in promoting tolerance in their community of Charlottetown, PEI.
Left to right: Sandra Ireland, Rosalie Simeone, Edna LeVine (Atlantic Jewish Council), and Jo-Anne White.
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Letters to the Editor
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Congress Amcha is always interested in your feedback. Please feel free to email your comments or suggestions to jkerbel@on.cjc.ca. We will try to include them in future editions.
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