|
|
|
|
Canadian Jewish Congress
is Celebrating 90 Years with a Remarkable Line-up!!
Celebrating 90 years 1919 - 2009
|
Canadian Jewish Congress 29th Plenary Assembly
Sunday, May 31, 2009 from 9:15 am - 3:30 pm
Beth Emeth Bais Yehuda Synagogue | 100 Elder Street, Toronto, Ontario
Join CJC as we proudly honour Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Julia and
Henry Koschitzky with two of
Canadian Jewry's most prestigious awards. Hear from keynote speaker Michael Ignatieff, Leader of the
Official Opposition; and policy
addresses from NDP Leader Jack Layton
and BQ M.P. Carole Freeman on
matters of importance to the Jewish community. Come see Israel's Vice Prime Minister, Silvan Shalom, make his first North
American address at the CJC plenary.
Don't miss this remarkable opportunity to
hear from the leaders of our national political parties on matters of
importance to the Jewish community.
Reserve early. Space is limited.
Registration Deadline: May 25, 2009
Registration Fees: (including luncheon)
VIP - $252 + GST (reserved seating)
general - $54 + GST
students-$18 + GST
Register online
For updated information or to register visit www.cjc.ca or e-mail canadianjewishcongress@cjc.ca or call 1-888-407-5548 ext 232.
|
Canadians
Come Out Strong to Commemorate Yom Hashoah
|
 Two thousand people packed Earl
Bales Park
in Toronto for
the annual community Yom Hashoah commemoration. This year's ceremony paid
special tribute to the child survivors of the Holocaust. Joe Gottdenker, who
was a child in hiding in Poland,
delivered a memorable keynote address.
Photo: Joe Gottdenker, child survivor, speaks at Yom Hashoah program in Toronto.
|
|
 In Ottawa, the keynote
speaker was Sarah Niemoeller, Baroness
von Sell, the widow of Reverend Martin Niemoeller. Reverend Niemoeller was a Lutheran pastor who
led the clerical resistance against Hitler and wrote the famous poem "First
they came for the Jews." The commemoration included a moving candle-lighting
ceremony with six survivors lighting memorial candles as a photo montage
relayed their stories.
Photo: (l-r) Sarah Niemoeller Baroness von Sell, guest speaker and Elly Bollegraaf, a child survivor who was
hidden in Holland during the war and who is a
member of Ottawa's Shoah
Committee.
|
|
 Holocaust survivor Max Eisen
was the guest speaker at the Yom Hashoah service in Halifax, which also featured an art
exhibit called "Holocaust and Memory" by local artist Lynn Rotin. The
Atlantic Jewish Council also participated in "Unto Every
Person There is a Name," with a public reading of the
names of child victims of the Holocaust.
Photo: Violinist Viktoria Brunets and Max Eisen at Yom Hashoah program in Halifax
|
|
 About 1200 people crammed
into the Tifereth Beth David Jerusalem Synagogue in Montreal. Survivors lit six candles to
commemorate the six million Jews who perished. Joining them were their children
and grandchildren, who all spoke of the importance of passing on the Survivors'
testimonials.
Photo: Yom Hashoah program in Montreal
|
|
 In Edmonton, over 400 people
attended a service on the grounds of the Provincial Legislature. There were a
record number of politicians in attendance including Premier Ed Stelmach, Mayor
Steven Mandel and a number of city councillors.
Photo: Premier Ed Stelmach at Yom Hashoah services in Edmonton
|
|
 More than 700 people
attended a memorial service in Calgary. That was followed by a moving program
presented by participants in the 2008 March of the Living. The guest speaker was
David Shentow, a survivor of Auschwitz who now lives in Ottawa and who accompanied
the students on the March.
Photo: A Holocaust Survivor places a stone on the Holocaust Memorial Monument at the Calgary JCC
|
|
 More than 350 people turned
out to the ceremony in Vancouver.
The keynote speaker there was Holocaust survivor and Canadian Jewish Congress
Pacific Region Officer, Robbie Waisman, who moved the audience with a powerful
account of his liberation from Buchenwald Concentration Camp at the age of 14.
Photo: Yom Hashoah program in Vancouver
|
World Premiere of I Believe with the Winnipeg Symphony
Orchestra
|
I Believe is a dramatic musical piece composed by Zane Zalis, a well known Winnipeg composer. Zalis
was asked to compose a song for the opening of the Arthur Mauro Centre for
Peace and Justice at the University
of Manitoba a number of
years ago. His research led him to focus his energy on one of the most heinous
genocidal tragedies the world has ever seen ---The Holocaust. Hours of
interviews with Winnipeg
survivors combined with intensive research and reflection form the backbone of
the project. The work itself is for a complete symphony, full adult chorus, children's
chorus and soloists. The musical style defies definition; the appeal is
universal.
I Believe will have its world premiere with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra on
May 21, 2009 at the Centennial Concert Hall in Winnipeg. Excerpts of the work
have already been performed in Winnipeg, at a
summer festival in Murau, Austria, and as part of a Holocaust educators'
conference in Jerusalem.
The response thus far has been tremendous. For more information and a sneak
preview, please go to www.ibelieveproject.com.
|
Poverty --- A Jewish Issue Too
|
On April 20,
2009, Canadian Jewish Congress Ontario Region and UJA Federation of Greater
Toronto joined forces to present a joint deputation to the government of Ontario in the matter of Bill 152 - An Act respecting
a long term strategy to reduce poverty in Ontario. The presentation, delivered by
CJCONT Chair Dr. Frank Bialystok,
David Spiro, Chair of Public
Affairs Committee UJA Federation of Greater Toronto and Stephen Adler, UJA Director of Public Policy and Governmental
Affairs, provided an overview of the Jewish community response to the Bill and
specific recommendations for its improvement.
UJA Federation
and CJCONT have worked collaboratively on the poverty file for more than a year
and in September 2008 jointly submitted a report - Transforming Lives: A
Comprehensive Strategy to Combat Poverty - to Deborah Matthews, Ontario
Minister of Children and Youth Services. That report laid out the foundation of
our community's recommendations: that a successful fight against poverty required
a multi-faceted approach focussing on income and employment, housing, and
community support services.
Despite
stereotypes to the contrary, poverty is very much a Jewish concern. According
to a 2001 community census, more than 11% of the Jewish community in Ontario live beneath the
poverty line. The Jewish community of Ontario
will continue its commitment to working towards eradicating poverty in our
province.
Photo (L-R): Frank Bialystok, Chair,
CJC Ontario Region; Melanie Simons, Director of
Social Policy, CJC Ontario Region; Stephen
Adler, Director of Public Policy and Government Affairs, UJA Federation of
Greater Toronto; and David Spiro, Chair, Public
Affairs Committee UJA Federation of Greater Toronto
|
|
Internationally renowned Cartoonists
for Peace Drawing a Big Crowd in Montreal
|
The Canadian Jewish Congress Charities Committee,
Quebec Region (CJCCC, QR) played a pivotal role in bringing Cartooning for Peace, an internationally
renowned cartoon exhibit, to Canada
for the first time beginning on March 12th.
Cartooning
for Peace was born out of a meeting
in 2006 between Le Monde's celebrated cartoonist, Jean Plantu, and then U.N.
secretary, Kofi Annan. The exhibit was an unqualified success, capturing both
public and media attention.
More than 150 specially invited guests participated
in the exhibit's high profile launch. They were treated to a rare opportunity
to meet two of the world's most famous cartoonists, Jean Plantu and the Israeli
cartoonist Michel Kichka of Courrier International, and to get an advance look
at 70 cartoons drawn by Cartooning for
Peace's international roster of celebrity illustrators.
On March 15th Plantu and Kichka, along with
their Canadian colleagues Michel Garneau (Le Devoir) and Guy Badeaux (Le Droit)
took part on a panel discussion before
an enthusiastic audience of over 100 people. Each in turn sketched messages of
peace and hope which were warmly applauded.
Photo: (l-r): Michel Kichka, Israeli cartoonist; Daniel Amar, Regional Director CJCCC, QR; and Victor
Goldbloom president CJCCC, QR |
Background to a name change
by Victor Goldbloom
|
Let me begin by
making a clear distinction: our new name is Quebec Jewish Congress, A DIVISION
OF CANADIAN JEWISH CONGRESS. We have not concealed or diminished our commitment
to the Canada-wide organization, or to Canada.
In
recent years, repeated public opinion polls have shown that the Jewish
community is less well regarded in Canada
than the United States, and
less well regarded in Quebec than in other
parts of Canada.
We
had two choices: to shrug our shoulders and accept this reality, or to analyze
it and devise a strategy for coping with it.
Is
Quebec an antisemitic society? Our analysis says no. It reveals, however, that our
community is little known, and what is known is often inaccurate. Yes, there is
antisemitism - and we must be vigilant and react to it whenever it rears its
head - but it is far less prevelant than it was when I was growing up, and it no longer
has any political or religious endorsement.
What antisemitism there is, however, grabbed the microphone at the public
consultations of the Bouchard-Taylor Commission on reasonable accommodation of
minorities, and made a strategy all the more necessary.
As
well, in the debate, all minorities tended to be lumped together, whether they
began to grow in Quebec in the last decade or two or, as in our case, have been here for
2-1/2 centuries. It is not in our interest to be perceived as a foreign body
within Quebec society.
In
the aftermath of the presentation of our brief to Gérard Bouchard and Charles
Taylor, I decided to undertake a speaking tour of the province. I have been to
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Drummondville, Trois-Rivières, Quebec
City, Joliette, Valleyfield and Mont-Laurier, and I had a
session with a group of former members of the National Assembly. As well,
Congress recently held a demonstration Seder in Sainte-Agathe.
This
has been a thoroughly positive experience, and I have every intention of
continuing it.
I
speak about our community, beginning with its 249 years as an integral part of Quebec society. I speak
of its diversity, of its growth through immigration from Europe, and more
recently from North Africa, and of its talent.
I respond candidly to the questions I am asked.
I
enter these encounters with two hopes, and so far they have been fulfilled
every time. People tell me two things: "I learned a lot about your community,
and your religion, that I didn't know" and 'You corrected a lot of wrong
impressions that I had had before." Most rewarding, however, is when they say,
"Goodness, you are Quebecers just like us."
It's the feedback
from these and other encounters, from conversations with public figures and
from interviews with the media that caused us to reflect on our name. The
designation Quebec
region got a lot of negative reaction, because, indeed, we are not a region, we
are a province that has regions of its own.
We
felt, therefore, that we would have more positive impact on public opinion, on
the leadership of this province and on journalists if we underlined our
integration into Quebec
society. Our board was unanimous, the two national co-presidents were strong in
their support, and the national board endorsed the change with a single
dissenting vote.
The
mention of the change was applauded in Sainte-Agathe. The Mayor of Montreal
went out of his way to congratulate us. The National Assembly adopted a
unanimous motion of felicitation. We feel that we have made a constructive
decision that will significantly serve the best interests of our community.
Victor Goldbloom
Chair of the
Quebec Jewish Congress, a division of Canadian Jewish Congress
Active in
Congress for 43 years.
NOTE: This article first appeared in the Canadian Jewish News
|
|
|
CJC Photo Gallery
YOM HASHOAH  (l-r) Bernie M. Farber, CEO Canadian Jewish Congress and Michael Ignatieff. Leader of the Official Opposition at the National Yom Hashoah Day program in Ottawa. Candlelighting with the Righteous Among the Nations in Toronto. Catharina (Tina) Develing (centre) accepted the distinction on behalf of her late mother. With Tina are her two sons Bill and Andy and John Sanders whom Tina's mother saved during the Holocaust.  Yom Hashoah program, Edmonton
Cantor Moshe Kraus, a survivor, lights a
memorial candle in Ottawa. He is assisted by Yitzhak Rabin
High School student Elishua
Ben Choreen
Candle lighting ceremony at Yom Hashoah program in Montreal
(l-r) Eva Hoffman and Terry Groner, co-chairs of Calgary Jewish Community Council's
Holocaust Remembrance, Education and Human Rights Committee, with Rose and David
Shentow at the Yom Hashoah commemoration.
CARTOONING FOR PEACE
(l-r) Marc Gold, president of the Federation CJA;
Daniel Amar, Regional director of
CJCCC, QR; and Jean Plantu, cartoonist
(l-r) Enza Martucelli, Director of Community Relations, CJCCC QR and Marcel Tremblay, Councillor, City of Montreal
|
Letters to the Editor
|
|
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.
| |
|
