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bulletin volume 74, no. 12

april 5, 2010

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Sara Vered honoured at sold-out Negev Dinner

By Michael Regenstreif “We are honoured to honour her,” said Rabbi Reuven P. Bulka, the event MC, as the sold-out crowd of 471 at the Fairmont Château Laurier stood and cheered Sara Vered.

Vered was the honouree, March 22, at the Jewish National Fund (JNF) of Ottawa’s annual Negev Dinner. Although the event was held on an early spring night in 2010, it was actually the 2009 edition of the Negev Dinner, which is normally held in the fall.

Vered was selected for the JNF

honour – which, she said, she was tempted to decline because she prefers to be behind the scenes – “in recognition of achieving excellence in social and communal leadership, for her commitment to education, for her tireless dedication to the community of Ottawa, for demonstrating an ethic of hard work, for her fundraising initiatives and many accomplishments, and for her lifelong dedication to the State of Israel and its people.”

Speaking without notes or prepared text, Vered, a sabra, talked about her childhood in Palestine be-

fore the State of Israel declared its independence and of her service in the 1948 War of Independence.

“Growing up in Jerusalem, we hoped we’d have our own country.”

But, Vered said, the tenuousness of the Zionist dream became clear to her on a visit to the German Holocaust museum in the Wannsee villa where the Nazis put the Holocaust into motion.

“There, I saw where they were planning to put the gas chambers in Palestine,” she said.

But, the State of Israel was destined to be and Vered, still a teenager and not yet finished high school, served as a wireless operator in the War of Independence. Stationed first at the Hebrew University, Vered was in Jerusalem during the siege.

(Continued on page 2)

Negev Dinner honouree Sara Vered with (left to right) sons Ron, Gillie and Arnie Vered, the dinner co-chairs.

(Photo: Howard Kay)

Shalom Bayit Women’s Seder

Kashering for Passover Rabbi Levy Teitlebaum of the Ottawa Vaad HaKashrut (OVH) kashers a kiddush cup for Passover. The OVH offered a free kashering for Passover service, March 24 and 25, behind the Soloway JCC. (Photo: Francie Greenspoon)

By Diane Koven Why was this night different from all other nights? The question took on a special meaning for almost 250 women who gathered for a prePassover seder this year.

The first difference was that it was not yet Passover. The second was that all the participants were women. Women’s seders have grown in popularity over the past number of years, with the traditional Haggadah being re-written to emphasize the female heroes of the Passover story.

The Fifth Annual Shalom Bayit Women’s Seder, March 24, at Congregation Agudath Israel, was organized by Shalom Bayit, a program of

Jewish Family Services (JFS) that seeks to inform, educate, provide resources and raise awareness about domestic violence in the Jewish community.

What began as a gathering of a dozen people at the home of Yaffa Greenbaum has grown from year to year in size and scope. Greenbaum, a social worker with experience in the area of domestic violence, had been involved with women’s seders in Los Angeles before moving to Ottawa. As a volunteer with the Shalom Bayit committee, she suggested holding the first one in her home as “a nice way for our committee to bond.”

That first evening was “magical

... we really connected and I said that, if each of us could invite 10 people the next year, we could do it as a fundraiser for Shalom Bayit and transform this into an event that could help educate people about domestic violence,” said Greenbaum.

Greenbaum began to collect Haggadahs from women’s seders and to adapt one for her group’s use. The seders have grown each year and the Haggadah evolved as well. This year’s seder, the largest ever, attracted women of all ages from all segments of the Jewish community. The one common denominator was that they were all Jewish women.

Greenbaum led the seder with (Continued on page 2)

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Page 2 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 5, 2010

Stockwell Day: Canadian neutrality not an option (Continued from page 1)

“I witnessed the surrender of the Jewish Quarter in the Old City,” she told the large crowd hanging on her every word.

“Then I was sent to the southern front, and it was there that I fell in love with the desolate, but magnificent, country.”

Vered said every person and every nation should have a vision that contributes to the world and recalled how she was inspired by the vision articulated by David BenGurion, Israel’s founding prime minister.

“Now Israel has a magnificent culture and is a leader in the arts and sciences. Because Ben-Gurion believed, the Negev has bloomed,” she said.

Vered chose two projects that will benefit from the funds raised by the Negev Dinner in her honour.

Vered’s main project, the Sara and Zeev Vered Pioneer Grounds, will surround Ben-Gurion’s historic cabin near Kibbutz Sde Boker in the Negev. According to the JNF description, the grounds will be “landscaped with a paved path, benches, and a variety of trees and shrubs symbolizing Ben-Gurion’s vision of greening the desert. The path will lead to four points where shady pergolas with stone benches will welcome visiting groups of students, tourists and Israelis who can gather and learn about the desert in Israel and the great man who resided there.”

The second project will enhance the Ran Kochva Lookout at Nabi Yosha Forest in the Naftali Mountains. The lookout is where Major Ran Kochva’s helicopter crashed during the Second Lebanon War in

2006. Sara and Zeev Vered had been among the major JNF donors whose efforts led to the establishment of the lookout.

It was obvious Vered’s lifelong dedication to the State of Israel has not gone unappreciated by Israelis.

Ambassador Miriam Ziv spoke on behalf of Israel in expressing appreciation and admiration for all that Vered has accomplished.

In addition to Ziv, two of Israel’s retired ambassadors to Canada journeyed to Ottawa from Israel because they wanted to participate in the Negev Dinner honouring Vered.

Alan Baker led the singing of Hatikvah and David Sultan spoke about the importance of the Ron Kochva Lookout to the bereaved families of soldiers who have been lost defending Israel.

Sultan, whose son-in-law was Kochva’s brother, noted that the Negev Dinner happened to fall on Kochva’s birthday.

The keynote address was delivered by Treasury Board President Stockwell Day, who paid tribute to Vered and reiterated Canada’s strong stance of solidarity with the State of Israel.

Day pointed to the designation of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization – for which he credited Vered for having brought the need for the designation to the government’s attention – the boycott of the Durban II conference and the rejection of Hamas as a legitimate Palestinian government as examples of that solidarity.

“Any time Israel is threatened by any terrorist group or organization, for Canada, neutrality will never be an option,” declared the minister.

Sara Vered accepts the JNF citation at the Negev Dinner from (left to right) Frank A. Wilson, president, JNF of Canada; Joe Rabinovitch, executive vice-president, JNF of Canada; Mark Mendelson, executive director, JNF of Eastern Canada; Brian Pearl, president, JNF of Ottawa; and Rabbi Reuven P. Bulka, (Photos: Howard Kay) Negev Dinner MC.

Treasury Board President Stockwell Day addresses the Negev Dinner.

Women’s seder raises awareness of domestic violence (Continued from page 1)

assistance from various committee members and volunteers as well as from several roving singers. It was participatory with each table assigned various readings and everyone joined together for the singing and dancing.

Amit Gil-Bayaz, deputy head of mission at the Embassy of Israel, brought greetings from Ambassador Miriam Ziv, and spoke about biblical stories in which women were oppressed. She shared a personal story of a woman who arrived at her

home for a seder with a child and confided that she was being abused.

“I realized how important it is for women not to feel alone and to feel normalcy,” she said.

Julie Jacobson, spouse of U.S. Ambassador David Ja-

cobson, spoke about being the first girl in her congregation to celebrate her Bat Mitzvah in the same way as the boys’ Bar Mitzvahs, including reading from the Torah.

What would a seder be without food? In that sense, this seder was not different

from all other seders. A lavish buffet dinner was an ideal complement to the four traditional cups of wine.

“When you tell people you were at the Shalom Bayit Women’s Seder, say it was about domestic violence because then you give permission to people to speak,” committee member Lynne Oreck-Wener urged the participants.

Domestic violence does exist in the Jewish community, but there is help available.

If you, or someone you know, need help, contact Sarah Caspi of the JFS Shalom Bayit program at 613722-2225, ext. 246 or scaspi@jfsottawa.com.

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Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 5, 2010 – Page 3

Page 4 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 5, 2010

Visiting scholar at Agudath Israel to explore Jewish tradition and challenges of modernity

By Estelle Melzer for Agudath Israel Rabbi Harvey Meirovich, a renowned thinker and teacher in the Conservative movement, will be scholarin-residence at Agudath Israel Synagogue on the weekend of April 23 to 25. He will present three lectures focusing on how Jewish tradition can respond to issues of modernity.

On Friday evening, after Shabbat dinner, his topic will be The Battle for Tolerance and Pluralism.

Among the great threats to Jewish creativity and endurance are factionalism and polarization within Jewish communities in Israel and the

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Diaspora. Rabbi Meirovich will explore what lessons and values might be extracted from the vast reservoir of Jewish experience and learning that could contribute to a more congenial atmosphere of coexistence and mutual respect.

On Shabbat morning, during services, he will discuss The Building Blocks of Jewish Identity.

His talk will explore what makes a Jew a Jew by asking us to think about the following questions: How would you construct a curriculum to teach a non-Jew what it means to be Jewish? In order of priorities, what would be the most essential items in building your lesson plan? Is there a difference in the way Jewish identity comes alive inside Israel and in the communities of the Diaspora?

Rabbi Meirovich will discuss how the teachings of the Talmud shed light on these questions.

At a brunch on Sunday morning, his topic will be

Jews by Choice: Through the Lens of History. As a leading member of the Masorti (Conservative) Movement in Israel, Rabbi Meirovich has thought deeply about conversion, which has become such a divisive issue in Israel in recent years.

“Conversion to Judaism is all about transformation of identity,” he explains.

Historically, the debate over whom to accept as a convert revolved around two core issues: the motivation of someone who wants to become a Jew; and the requirement that a convert must agree “to accept the obligation to observe the commandments.”

Rabbi Meirovoch’s talk will focus on these two issues, which stand at the centre of the current conversion controversy that has surfaced in Israel and is having a profound impact on Jewish communities around the world.

Rabbi Harvey Meirovich is rabbi at Beth Tzedek Con-

gregation in Toronto and his biography can be read on the Beth Tzedek website at tinyurl.com/meirovich.

Everyone is welcome to attend this exciting weekend exploring some of the most

important issues facing Judaism today.

Shabbat dinner on Friday, April 23 is at 7:00 pm, following Kabbalat Shabbat services at 6:00. Sunday brunch on April 25 is at 9:15

am. Cost for Shabbat Dinner is $35, $20 for students and seniors, and free for children under six. Cost for brunch is $5. To reserve, call the Agudath Israel office at 613-7283501.

Faith communities work together to combat malaria

By Erica Bregman Jewish Family Services Representatives of the Tony Blair Faith Acts Fellows, working with the Multi-Faith Housing Initiative, Hillel Ottawa, Jewish Family Services of Ottawa, the Muslim Student Association and Student Christian Movement, will be holding a malaria awareness and fundraising event, Wednesday, April 21, 7:00 pm, at the Shenkman Arts Centre in Orleans in advance of World Malaria Day (April 25).

London North Centre MP Glen Pearson, an advocate for Canadian involvement in African development, will give the keynote address and speak about his work with development projects in Sudan and about his personal experience with malaria.

Established in 2009, the Tony Blair Faith Acts Fellowship, a social action program of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, engaged 30 young leaders of faith to spearhead multi-faith action in the U.K., U.S. and Canada. The initial focus of the faith acts fellows is the elimination of deaths from malaria.

Bed nets are an effective tool in combating malaria. However, malaria continues to claim the lives of close to one million children a year, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. It affects 40 per cent of the world’s population, putting 3.2 billion people at risk.

In an effort to reduce malaria-related

deaths, former British prime minister Tony Blair has called on faith communities to increase the impact of the work they are already doing in this area.

“The Qur’an states that if someone saves one life, it’s as if they saved all humanity. All faiths care for the dignity of a human being and it’s time to act on the value of preserving a life, and malaria is a place to start,” said Sara Eftekhar, one of the two faith acts fellows in Ottawa.

“Too many people lack basic necessities, and protection from malaria falls under that umbrella,” added Emma Weizenbluth of Hillel Ottawa. “Those of us who are privileged to live in countries like Canada share the responsibility to help.”

Through this collaboration process, I’ve discovered a new meaning to the moral imperative of Leviticus, “Do not stand idly by while you’re neighbors blood is shed.” It’s up to us, to all communities, to scale up existing anti-malaria strategies. With many partners we can reduce malaria-related deaths.

Tickets for the event are $20 and are available by calling 613-722-2225. Entertainment will be provided by Baobab Drumming Group.

Net ticket sales will be matched personally

by Blair and proceeds will purchase bed nets through the Spread the Net Foundation.

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Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 5, 2010 – Page 5

Employment Opportunity

Summer Student Ottawa Jewish Bulletin The Ottawa Jewish Bulletin, under the auspices of the Barry Fishman Ottawa Jewish Bulletin Scholarship Fund, is seeking a university student with a flair for writing and reporting to work at the Bulletin this summer.

Minister of Transport John Baird at the Western Wall tunnels in Jerusalem in February.

Baird briefed on airport security techniques during visit to Israel

By Diane Koven Those who have travelled to Israel may soon notice that Canadian airport security screening is becoming more like Israel’s, according to John Baird, federal minister of transport, infrastructure and communities.

Baird, the Ottawa West-Nepean MP, spoke to the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin following his recent trip to Israel and said he was extremely enthusiastic about what he had learned there.

In his whirlwind tour from February 10 to 12, Baird, and his senior policy adviser, Adam Blinick, met with a variety of Israeli security experts and hammered out some preliminary bilateral agreements.

“We had an amazing trip,” said Baird. “We had a significant number of security briefings, met with representatives of Shin Bet, with people involved in aviation counter-terrorism, and learned a tremendous amount ...

“We learned about security for cargo, people and the airport. Obviously, the threat in Israel is different, but there is much we can learn, particularly about behavioural analysis.

That was worth the trip in and of itself.”

Baird also met with his counterparts in Israel’s cabinet: Yisrael Katz, minister of transportation, and Uzi Landau, minister of national infrastructure. They agreed to work together on a Canada-Israel Blue Skies Agreement to allow more links between the countries, providing more accessibility for Air Canada in Israel and El Al in Canada.

Baird said he told the Israeli ministers: “You can’t have a better friend of Israel than Canada – and especially me – so if we can’t come to an agreement that helps both of us, we never will!”

Other items on Baird’s agenda included briefings about Canada’s involvement in the West Bank where, he said, “we provide work, but don’t provide money directly.” He said the economy in the West Bank is showing some positive signs, which, he feels, will lead to an easing of tensions.

Also on Baird’s itinerary was a visit to a company working on an electric car, which, Baird says, would be a great investment and reduce our reliance on the internal combustion engine; a meeting with the private operator of the main north-south highway, which was built with Canadian assistance; and, a meeting with Nir Barkat, the mayor of Jerusalem.

Baird said the highlight of his trip was the time spent in Jerusalem, in particular at the Western Wall.

“I had been to Jerusalem before, but this was remarkable,” he said.

Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, who, Baird said, “is only 39,” blessed the Canadian cabinet minister and gave him a tour of the tunnels.

“We went down into rooms that had been unearthed as recently as two weeks [earlier].

Incredible – it is 1800 years old! It shows the huge Jewish presence in Jerusalem going back millennia. We were able to go where visitors and tourists cannot usually go. We stood on the Wall and saw the Dome of the Rock. This is the centre of civilization, the front line of civilization.”

Baird’s enthusiasm was palpable as he described his trip, including Tel Aviv, Herzliya, Yad Vashem, lunch in Abu Ghosh, as well as dinner with the Canadian ambassador to Israel.

Duties will include researching and writing news reports and feature articles on various topics of interest to the Jewish community; proofreading; and some clerical work.

To apply, please send a cover letter, résumé, and writing samples, by April 15, to: Michael Regenstreif, Editor Ottawa Jewish Bulletin 21 Nadolny Sachs Private Ottawa, ON K2A 1R9 or via e-mail to mregenstreif@ottawajewishbulletin.com.

Notice of Annual General Meeting The Jewish Federation of Ottawa will hold its 76th Annual General Meeting on Wednesday June 2, 2010 at 7:00 pm in the Social Hall of the Joseph and Rose Ages Family Building.

The entire Jewish community of Ottawa is invited to attend.

For more information contact Dawn Paterson 613-798-4696, ext 236 or dpaterson@jewishcottawa.com

Page 6 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 5, 2010

Amazing Dream Coat: Tamir is turning dreams into reality The stage is set. Cast and crew wait impatiently in the wings as members of the orchestra tune their instruments. The lights are dimmed and the buzz of the crowd turns to a hush. After a year-and-ahalf of planning, and four solid months of rehearsal, the night of nights for Tamir is finally here. The packed house breaks into applause in anticipation of a memorable experience for everyone present!

We’re not talking about the National Ballet, Pinchas Zukerman or Canadian Idol. Tamir is marking our 25th anniversary with a theatrical production of the Broadway hit Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. Theatre professionals, volunteers, students and, most notably, Tamir participants and their families will come together to create something very special which, to our knowledge, has never been done before.

For the first time, a professionally managed, fully integrated theatrical production is being created involving people with developmental disabilities alongside people from professional and amateur theatre, culminating in a live performance

Federation Report Howrd Yegendorf Tamir before an already sold-out house at Centrepointe Theatre on May 13.

In addition to the theatre production, we are also chronicling the journey of our Tamir participants with the production of a film documentary, The Making of Joseph, which we will be unveiling this fall.

Symbolizing the growth and development of our organization during the past 25 years, these productions will highlight Tamir’s leadership in promoting the inclusion of people with developmental disabilities into all aspects of community activity. As Tamir points the way into the next quarter-century, we look forward to turning new dreams into reality.

It is at times like this, a momentous sil-

ver anniversary, when we particularly feel and appreciate the support Tamir has received over the years – support that has made our 25 years of achievements possible.

Tamir’s success would not be possible without the enthusiastic, generous and consistent support we receive from our many members. Lily and Gerry Penso are the founding mother and father of Tamir.

Their vision and drive over the last 25 years, along with the steadfast support of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa, the Ottawa Jewish community and the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services, has created an organization that is one of the strongest and fastest growing beneficiary agencies of the Federation. I am proud to say that Tamir is also a model for the greater developmental disability services sector – in all of Ontario.

And as Joseph dreams, so does Tamir.

While we are proud of what has been achieved in the past 25 years, Tamir is a dynamic organization with dreams for the future. And that is because the job is never done.

For the developmentally disabled, there remain many needs in our community.

There are still too many families waiting for their loved ones to be placed in a residential or supported independent living setting, or for temporary respite care.

Many of these people are parents or other family members who are approaching old age and have spent their entire lives caring for a loved one with developmental disabilities. It is crucial for Tamir that these families be relieved of their unremitting responsibilities as caregivers as soon as possible. In this regard, Tamir is constantly lobbying and negotiating with the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services.

Tamir will always advocate for the rights of people with developmental disabilities, both adults and children, so they can more rightfully contribute to and take their place in the larger community.

We hope to see you at Centrepointe Theatre on May 13. Please join us in celebration of Tamir’s 25 years of achievement and enjoy an amazing theatrical production.

‘Yom Ha’Atzmaut should be our community’s Olympics’ Passover is almost over and the Jewish community’s next world-wide celebration is Yom Ha’Atzmaut.

I have consciously skipped Yom HaShoah. I never use the term “celebrate” when referring to Yom HaShoah, so, if it seems out of chronological order to speak of Yom Ha’Atzmaut as “the next worldwide celebration,” it is intentional.

This year marks the 62nd anniversary of the founding of the modern State of Israel. Most of us would like to celebrate this wonderful moment with unbridled joy.

However, this year, like past years, the joy of the celebration is muted by the knowledge that the State of Israel is still in engaged in a struggle for peace and recognition.

We are very aware of the often violent struggles Israel engages in with its Palestinian neighbours in order find a way to cut the Gordian knot that has bound them together in a constant state of warfare. Israel is also in a struggle with much of the world to be recognized and accepted as a Jewish state that behaves no better or no worse than any other country.

If these two struggles are not enough to dampen a birthday party, add in the struggle between the State of Israel and world Jewry over issues of conversion and strategies for peace, and it seems nearly impossible to break out streamers, hats, noise makers and party favours.

During the recent Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canadians were able to sublimate their ongoing squabbles and have a nationwide party. Though there were some who railed against the perceived inequality

From the pulpit Rabbi Steven Garten Temple Israel of English and French, most Quebecers were happy to celebrate the successes of all Canadians, regardless of their province of birth. That did not mean that issues of francophone culture and Quebec independence were forgotten, but they were placed on the backburner in order to celebrate a national victory.

There were some Aboriginal Canadians who marched against the Olympics taking place on native land, but the four First Nations whose land was used were willing to join with the Olympic organizers for a national party without ceding their land claims.

We were all able to see that downtown Vancouver had not solved the problems of poverty, homelessness, drug abuse and urban violence; and it is true that some Canadians protested against the Olympics and in support of social welfare reforms.

However, almost 85 per cent of all Canadians tuned in to watch the gold medal hockey game and celebrated Sidney Crosby’s winning goal in overtime.

Sometimes, important squabbles and valid concerns are sublimated in the name of a greater goal. The Vancouver Olympics may be remembered by many for the number of Canadian gold medals; yet, it will

be remembered by most for the ability of all Canadians, regardless of skin colour, religious practice, country of birth, economic status or age to join together in a celebration of national pride.

Yom Ha’Atzmaut should be our community’s Olympics. It should be our opportunity to celebrate the survival of the Jewish people manifest in the miracle of Eretz Yisrael. Yom Ha’Atzmaut should be the one time of the year when those who want to cede land for the establishment of a Palestinian state, and those who want to hold on to captured land, can sing “Am Yisrael Chai” together. Yom Ha’Atzmaut should be when we recite “Tefilat L’Medi-

nat Yisrael” together, and it should not matter that day whether or not we wear a kippah, or which of our parents was Jewish, or if any of our parents were Jewish, or how we choose to be Jewish. It should not matter if our homes are kosher, or whether we walk or drive on Shabbat. On Yom Ha’Atzmaut, we should be able to say “I am a lover of Israel,” regardless of whether we belong to Peace Now or Betar.

At my age, when one celebrates a birthday, it is a time to acknowledge achievements, not missed opportunities. At my age, a birthday is a moment to reflect on how far one has come, not how far one has (Continued on page 7)

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Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 5, 2010 – Page 7

Ann Coulter played Ottawa like a violin It could have – should have – been an insignificant event.

Ann Coulter, the American far rightwing demagogue, blew through Ottawa as we were working on this issue of the Bulletin and managed to grab a whole lot of international attention for a speech she didn’t make at the University of Ottawa.

A chain of events, that began with an e-mail sent by uOttawa Provost François Houle to Coulter warning her that freedom of expression in Canada is not seen as quite the same as freedom of speech in the United States, and inviting her to “educate yourself, if need be, as to what is acceptable in Canada and to do so before your planned visit here,” eventually led to Coulter’s organizers cancelling her Ottawa appearance at the last minute because, they said, they feared for her safety

Editor Michael Regenstreif in the wake of an anti-Coulter demonstration outside the uOttawa theatre at which she was to speak.

Here we go again, I thought, it’s just like last year’s George Galloway case, but from the other end of the winged spectrum.

Galloway is the fringe British MP and far left-wing demagogue – and commentator for Press TV, the Iranian government’s English-language propaganda network – who has delivered highly

publicized cash gifts to Hamas and was denied entry into Canada for a fourspeech tour. So, instead of playing to, perhaps, a couple of thousand people in total, Galloway got a platform to spout his views on every newscast and interview program in the country and was seen and heard by millions.

So it was with Coulter.

Houle’s e-mail, and, then, the cancelled speech, became huge stories that allowed Coulter to paint herself as a victim of repression being denied the right to speak.

Without the e-mail, and the fuss that almost anyone could have predicted Coulter would have made about it, she might have generated a little bit of local coverage at her three stops. Instead, all the national TV networks were there for Coulter’s London and Calgary speeches

– and for the Ottawa speech that never was – and she generated coverage in literally thousands of publications around the world, on talk radio and TV, and on countless websites and blogs.

Coulter, like Galloway before her, was handed a violin. And she played it for so much more than it was worth.

The e-mail to Coulter from the uOttawa provost seems to have been unprecedented. And, while Coulter has a habit of saying hateful things – Muslims should ride camels instead of airplanes, Jews should convert to Christianity to become perfected – seemingly for the sole purpose of being offensive, there is no evidence the university has ever sent a similar warning to other speakers, like some of the Israeli Apartheid Week firebrands, who also have records of saying things that are hateful and offensive.

‘Pop’: the sound of trial balloons bursting One of the first times anyone ever launched a trial balloon, things didn’t go perfectly well.

Back in 1783, the famed Montgolfier brothers, inventors of the hot-air balloon (which is still called a montgolfière in French), had been experimenting with levitating air-filled silk balloons in their hometown of Annonay, in southern France. Word of their experiments soon reached the French Academy of Sciences in Paris and one of the brothers was summoned north to report on their discoveries.

But, before Étienne Montgolfier was able to do so, a rival inventor named Jacques Charles launched his own trial balloon – this one hydrogen-filled – into the Paris sky.

By some accounts, the launch itself was a success. Hundreds of awestruck onlookers watched the balloon rise heavenward.

But a storm soon blew in and carried it miles away into the countryside. Charles’ balloon landed in a small village, where peasants mistook it for an evil demon attacking from the sky, panicked and destroyed it with pitchforks and knives.

That’s the way it goes sometimes with trial balloons.

Flash forward some 227 years to the present day. Now, the trial balloons that get launched are metaphorical. Politicians float unmanned ideas into the public realm, hoping the rest of us will keep our pitchforks

Alan Echenberg and knives away, and instead gaze awestruck and heavenward at their proposed policies.

But, as in 1783 France, things don’t always go perfectly well.

Look at some of the trial balloons our own federal government has floated in recent weeks.

Last month, on the very day that Parliament came back after a lengthy prorogation, in an otherwise unmemorable speech from the throne, the government announced plans to “ask Parliament to examine the original gender-neutral English wording of the national anthem.”

The government was apparently proposing that “in all thy sons command,” from “O Canada,” be changed back to its original lyric of more than a century ago: “thou dost in us command.”

The proposal caught the country by surprise. Canadians had just spent two weeks happily singing the national anthem over and over again during the Winter Olympic

Games.

It didn’t take too long for the pitchforks to come out. The backlash from citizens was so quick and so virulent that, a mere two days after the speech from the throne was read, the prime minister’s press secretary came out with the following statement: “The government will not proceed any further to change our national anthem. We have offered to hear from Canadians on this issue and they have already spoken loud and clear. They overwhelmingly do not want to open the issue.”

Not pretty. But that’s the way it goes sometimes with trial balloons.

Then a few weeks later, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon seemed to float a trial balloon of his own. He announced that the government’s plan for aid targeted to women and children in developing countries – the “signature” initiative of this year’s coming G-8 and G-20 meetings hosted by Canada – would not include contraception.

“It does not deal in any way, shape or form with family planning. Indeed, the purpose of this is to be able to save lives,” Cannon told a parliamentary committee.

Opposition politicians, media commentators and health experts quickly pounced on the minister’s comments, pointing out that family planning is central to maternal and child health in the world’s poorest coun-

tries. Critics accused the government of taking a page from the policies of former U.S. president George W. Bush, and putting socially conservative ideology before science and health.

Whether the minister was floating a trial balloon or simply misspeaking, it only took two days – again, two days – for the government to announce it wasn’t excluding contraception from its plan after all.

“We are not closing doors against any options, including contraception,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in the House of Commons.

Another balloon popped.

And those are simply two of a number of possible examples of a trend that seemed to define the first few weeks back at work for a government that had prorogued Parliament in order to “recalibrate” its agenda.

Other burst trial balloons included public statements on government-funded Internet access and on political flyers MPs send out at taxpayers’ expense.

If the government indeed recalibrated its agenda, it’s hard to understand why there are still so many trial balloons floating around.

And if you’re going to float those balloons, it’s probably a good idea to check for pitchforks ahead of time.

Alan Echenberg is TVOntario’s Parliamentary bureau chief.

Many accomplishments to celebrate on Yom Ha’Atzmaut (Continued from page 6)

to go to reach perfection.

Israel’s birthday is such an occasion. Israel has taught the world how to make the desert bloom and has shared that knowledge with the world.

Israel has absorbed people of many na-

tionalities and has helped them learn to accept a shared identity. It offers that model, though not perfect, to nations still struggling with disparate immigrant groups.

Israel has built an educational system, a health care system, an economic infrastructure that started with nothing and now

is producing Nobel Prize-winning scientists, world renowned authors, skilled workers and even a few Olympic medal winners and an NBA basketball player.

We may not have a gold medal hockey game to bring us to together, but we do have one heck of an achievement to be

proud of. I hope that you’ll be there, April 20, for the Yom Ha’Atzmaut celebration in the Aberdeen Pavilion at Lansdowne Park, and join in one heck of a birthday party.

All the important issues yet to be fixed or resolved can wait 24 hours; they have already waited 62 years.

Page 8 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 5, 2010

Torah morality requires defensive war against aggression

By Aaron Sarna OTI Chair Jews are not pacifists, yet they love peace; they are not militarists, yet they fight wars. The Solomonic wisdom literature that “there is a time for war and a time for peace” is expounded in Judaic law to mandate war as the moral response to an act of armed aggression by an enemy.

These were some of the themes articulated at the annual Jewish ethics lecture, presented February 8 by the Ottawa Torah Institute High School (OTI) at the Soloway JCC. The topic this year was The Morality of War: A Jewish Ethical Perspective.

OTI Dean Rabbi Eliezer Ben-Porat, the commander of a reconnaissance unit during the Yom Kippur War, covered legal aspects of war, as codified by Maimonides in Mishneh Torah, relating them to the Israel-Hamas war waged in Gaza in late2008 and early-2009.

My presentation centred

on the saturation of history with wars and the Judaic influence on the regulation of warfare through domestic and international law.

Rabbi Ben-Porat noted that the biblical mitzvot to wage war against the ancient idolatrous Canaanites and demonic Amalekites in the Holy Land were no longer operative and that a Jewish ruler could not undertake a discretionary war without the approval of the judicial Sanhedrin, which no longer exists.

“The only type of war that can be considered a mitzvah today, according to the Rambam [Maimonides], is one of self-defence against an enemy bent on the destruction of the Jewish people,” he said.

Similarly, Jewish law also requires the elimination of a rodef, a pursuer bent on murder, if other physical means of disabling him fail. This is in fulfilment of the biblical commandment not to stand aside when your fellow’s life

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Co-lecturers Aaron Sarna (left) and Rabbi Eliezer Ben-Porat respond to questions at the OTI’s annual ethics lecture.

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is being taken. And it applies both at the individual and collective levels, he stated.

Rabbi Ben-Porat detailed the rules of conduct in a war situation including first proffering peace. Even if such offer is rejected, the wanton destruction of food, clothing and property in combat is prohibited and civilians not assisting the enemy war effort are protected.

In cases like the Gaza war, where the terrorist enemy is embedded in areas saturated with civilians, the lives of Jewish forces must not be endangered to prevent the loss of enemy civilian lives, he said.

Nevertheless, said Rabbi Ben-Porat, Israel went to extraordinary lengths to minimize civilian casualties in

the Gaza war by telegraphing its moves in advance by phone and leaflet. He upbraided the UN-sponsored Goldstone report for maligning Israel’s war effort.

“The war was just. We defended ourselves. We did not go beyond that. It was a Kiddush HaShem and it should be made clear to the world,” Rabbi Ben-Porat stated.

My presentation highlighted the international community’s buy-in of both the prophetic Judaic vision of the abolition of war and the halachic regulation

of warfare evidenced by the creation of the United Nations, which adopted Isaiah’s credo of beating swords into plowshares and by the liberal transference of rabbinic concepts of legitimate and illegitimate wars into international law by the 17th century Dutch theologian and jurist Hugo Grotius.

Scanning the panorama of Jewish history, I noted that the Torah does not authorize the Jewish polity to engage in extraterritorial wars to spread the faith such as jihads and class wars. The beauty of Judaism spreads

by its spirit, not by force as expounded by our prophet Zechariah.

The Torah, I said, does mandate the mitzvah of repelling an aggressor. Self-defence is a basic principle of Jewish law. Failure to do so is suicide and suicide is always forbidden.

In this regard, Israel has fought wars of self-preservation since its creation and incorporated the Judaic precepts of combat morality known as tohar ha-neshekh.

I attributed the paralysis of Israel in living up to the self-defence paradigm in the days before the Yom Kippur War, and during Saddam Hussein’s Scud missile attacks in 1991, to a costly cognitive dissonance on the part of the Israeli leadership.

I concluded by drawing attention to Canada’s initiative at the UN to amend its charter to allow humanitarian wars to stop genocide after what has occurred in Rwanda, Bosnia and Kosovo, Sudan, the Congo and Cambodia. Known as the “responsibility to protect” doctrine, this is none other than the Torah’s binding morality of not standing idly by while a fellow human being’s blood is being shed.

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Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 5, 2010 – Page 9 Advertorial

JEWISH NATIONAL FUND More than trees 613.798.2411

Brian Pearl president

Negev Dinner honouring Sara Vered surpassed all expectations The Negev Dinner honouring Sara Vered on March 22 at the Fairmont Château Laurier was a meaningful occasion with a full house, and a financial success that surpassed our expectations; an outcome that required the hard work and dedication of many people.

The todah rabahs begin with the outstanding work of the planning and fundraising committee. From the moment Sara agreed to be our 2009 Negev Dinner honouree, she has enthusiastically worked and planned together with the JNF Planning Committee. Thanks to the hard work and the generosity of a truly wide representation of the Ottawa community, JNF/KKL will preserve and enhance the grounds around the cabin in Sde Boker of David Ben Gurion and his wife Paula – a site of great historical and cultural significance. In addition, enhancements will be made to the Ran Kochva Lookout, a JNF project that Sara spearheaded a few years ago along with other Ottawa supporters.

All this could not have been accomplished without the extraordinary leadership of Arnie Vered, along with Ottawa’s (and always JNF’s) Man of the Year, Rabbi Dr. Reuven Bulka, and our Honourary Chairs, Dr. B. Norman Barwin, C.M. and Norman Zagerman.

Special thanks to the Dinner Arrangements Chairs Felice Patrontasch, Susan Viner Vered, Liz Vered and Jennifer Innes Vered as well as to the Tribute Gifts and Advertising Chairs Jackie Sitwell and Liz Petigorsky.

Thanks to all the JNF canvassers who did a terrific job this year gathering advertising and tributes for the excellent souvenir book.

I must say a thank you, Yasher Koach and merci beaucoup to our incredible JNF staff: Susan Schwartzman, Ottawa Co-ordinator (who did a fantastic job on her first Negev Dinner); Marion Bouthillier, Ottawa Negev Dinner Temporary Assistant to the Co-ordinator; Michèle Richman, Assistant to the Executive Director and Events Coordinator; and Heather Foley, Project Co-ordinator, Eastern Canada.

A special thank you goes to Kim Gilbert, Executive Assistant to Arnie Vered, for her excellent help. Saving the best for last, I salute our most intrepid and dedicated professional leader, Mark Mendelson, Executive Director, JNF of Eastern Canada. While he often reminds us how much “JNF mileage and experience” he has incurred over the past 16 years, he never tires of the 110 per cent effort he puts into it, year in, year out, providing astute leadership and guidance.

On behalf of Ottawa JNF I wish everyone chag kasher v’sameach, Happy Passover, and L’shana haba’a b’Yirushalayim.

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).

JET celebrates 18 years of Jewish learning with gala event, May 5, at National Gallery

By Hannah Dayan for JET Eighteen years ago, following a successful pilot project of four classes, Rabbi Zischa Shaps formed an organization, Jewish Education through Torah (JET), which has come to be one of the pillars of Jewish adult education and outreach in our community.

Today, JET has five divisions: Jewish adult education, trips to Israel, special events, the JETsetters program for young adults and JET on Campus for university students.

To mark 18 years of providing Jewish adult education in Ottawa, JET has invited members of the community to bank their Torah learning hours since November 15 in order to reach a goal of 18,000 learning hours by this year’s Jewish Unity Live gala event on Wednesday, May 5, 7:00 pm, at the National Gallery.

Motivational speaker Lori Palatnik from Washington, D.C. will be the guest speaker at the gala. She can be seen every week on Lori Almost Live, her popular video blog at aish.com.

She has also authored three books including Gossip: Ten Pathways to Eliminate It from Your Life and Transform Your Soul. Along with her regular speaking engagements, she is also the director of the Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project, where she inspires women over the world to embrace their heritage.

The gala will be a unique opportunity to hear Palatnik as she speaks on the four essential tools for Jewish liv-

Lori Palatnik will be the guest speaker at JET’s Jewish Unity Live gala.

Comedian Marc Weiner will entertain at JET gala.

ing. With her usual humour and insight, Palatnik will clear some common misconceptions about Judaism and will offer simple ways to live a life full of meaning.

No Jewish evening would be complete without a bit of humour and JET’s 18th birthday celebration will include Marc Weiner’s popular oneman comedy show.

Weiner made his television debut in 1980 on Saturday Night Live, has since appeared on many shows, and has provided the voices for several characters on the Nick Jr. animated series, Dora the Explorer. Weiner’s comedic performance is guaranteed to be hilarious and unforgettable.

JET’s success can be attributed to the passion and dedication of its staff as

well as to 18 people who will be recognized at the gala: Rabbi Dovid and Suzanne Burger; Rabbi Yisroel and Rochel Goldbaum; Steven and Linda Kerzner; Alec Mills and Sari Zelenietz; Stanley and Cathy Levine; Irwin Schweitzer and Kathi Kovacs; Jeff and Adele Sidney; Mark and Barbara Siegel; and Glen Wolff and Penny Torontow. They opened their homes for JET classes, participated on JET’s board and planning committees and have been active participants in JET events.

A dessert reception will follow the main event.

Tickets to the Jewish Unity Live gala, May 5 at the National Gallery, are $36.00 each and are available at jetottawa.com or by calling 613-7989818, ext. 247.

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Page 10 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 5, 2010

Former director of education runs for school trustee

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Lorne Rachlis, former director of education for the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board has announced he is running for school trustee on the board in zone 9 (Capital and Rideau-Vanier wards).

Public school board elections will be held October 25 as part of the municipal elections throughout Ontario.

As the board’s director of education from 2003 to 2008, Rachlis was chief executive officer of the school board and is now aiming to move from chief bureaucrat to policy maker and politician.

“After 37 years in public education, as a teacher, principal and senior official, I know how to get things done in the school system and at Queen’s Park,” he says. “That will help me as I work with parents and school councils to make our schools better.”

There are very few examples of former directors of education running for school board trustee in Ontario.

“Lorne is creating quite a stir in the education community,” says Tim Stanley, vicedean of academic programs at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Education.

Rachlis pledges to “hit the ground running on issues that matter, such as ensuring local schools are kept strong and vibrant” and believes it is important that most children can attend their community school “for the programs they want, for help if it is needed, and for a broad range of activities that will excite them and give them skills to last a lifetime.

“But I also feel there must continue to be specialized programs or schools for students who have talents or academic needs, whether these are remedial or gifted, beyond what the local school can meet,” he says.

Rachlis has been active throughout his life

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in promoting equity and anti-racism, and has been honoured for this work by the Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization with a lifetime achievement award.

Since retiring from the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, Rachlis has returned to teaching as a visiting professor in the postgraduate program of the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Education and has continued to be active in community work, serving on the board of Tamir and as a member of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa’s committee overseeing the amalgamation of Hillel Academy and Yitzhak Rabin High School, sits on the combined Jewish Community Day School’s visioning committee, and has been invited to sit on the school’s board of directors. He is also first vice-president of Temple Israel.

Contact Rachlis at rachlis@rogers.com or 613-232-8163.

His website is lornerachlis.blogspot.com.

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By Roslyn Brozovsky Wollock Soloway JCC The Soloway Jewish Community Centre (JCC) will offer a rich assortment of Yiddish cultural programs this spring, including language classes, a klezmer concert and Yiddish dance session, a Yiddish film festival and the annual Folkshpieler theatre production.

The film festival and the Folkshpieler production will honour the memory of Lea Kalin, a beloved Yiddish teacher, mentor and friend to many in our community.

In following a decade-long tradition started by Lea, the Soloway JCC will continue to offer Yiddish classes with Rebecca Margolis of the Vered Jewish Canadian Studies Program at the University of Ottawa and Shaina Lipsey.

The April 8 to June 3 session will take place in a fun, relaxed environment and will offer basic grammar and the opportunity to apply newly learned skills and vocabulary through conversational activities, games and

Yiddish songs. No previous knowledge of Yiddish is required.

The Yiddish film festival, co-sponsored by the Greenberg Families Library, opens Sunday, April 25, 1:00 pm, with a concert by the Michael Winograd Klezmer Trio and a Yiddish dance session with instructor Avia Moore. The first film, Green Fields, will be screened at 3:30 pm.

The film festival continues Wednesday, April 28, 7:00 pm, with Without a Home, and Sunday, May 2 with The Light Ahead at 4:00 pm and American Matchmaker at 6:30 pm.

The film screenings will be facilitated by Rebecca and Shaina.

The Folkshpieler theatre production, Altz iz Meglach, a Yiddish variety show of humorous skits and freilach music written and directed by Shirley Steinberg, will be presented by community members on Sunday, June 13.

For more information, call 613-798-9818, ext. 254.

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 5, 2010 – Page 11

Srugim: Israel’s hit TV series comes to Ottawa

By Pamela Rosenberg Soloway JCC The most talked about show on Israeli TV has garnered rave reviews and a cult-like following across the U.S. Now, the series, along with the director Laizy Shapira, is coming to the Soloway Jewish Community Centre (JCC).

Srugim, applauded for its true-to-life portrayal of the modern Orthodox commu-

nity in Israel, follows five single, educated young friends looking for love in the Katamon neighbourhood of Jerusalem while adhering to their religious lifestyles.

“Srugim” refers to the style of knit kippah often worn by Modern Orthodox men in Israel.

The series, in Hebrew with English subtitles, will be shown on the big screen

The hit Israeli TV series Srugim will be shown at the Soloway JCC, starting Tuesday, April 13 at 7:00 pm.

at the Soloway JCC starting on Tuesday, April 13 at 7:00 pm with the first three of 15 episodes.

Three episodes per evening will then be screened on April 29, May 4, 11 and 13, all beginning at 7:00 pm.

Director Shapira will be on hand for one of the May screenings to discuss his groundbreaking series and answer questions from the audience.

Barbara Crook is sponsoring the screenings and Shapira’s trip to Ottawa.

She met the director five years ago while on a tour of the Ma’ale School of Film and Television in Jerusalem, where he was screening his film Eicha.

“We stayed in touch. I brought him to Ottawa that fall and we have become very close friends. I was at the premiere of Srugim in Tel Aviv in June 2008, and visited the set when they were shooting the second season in Tel Aviv last August,” Crook said.

Penni Namer, Soloway JCC Israeli program manager, an Israeli herself, says anyone over 18 would enjoy Srugim.

“It’s a drama that raises questions about the reality of life and being Jewish. It’s a really good story that makes you think and encourages discussion.”

Srugim’s characters include Yifat, a graphic designer who photoshops kippot onto models in religious product advertisements;

Hodayah, a Hebrew University Bible student who struggles daily with her faith; Nati, a surgeon with commitment issues; Amir, a recently divorced Hebrew instructor; and Reut, a highpowered financier who motorcycles to work and is learning to read the haftarah for her women’s prayer group.

Srugim follows these characters in and out of romantic situations with each other and with an assortment of supporting cast

members.

According to Yair Rosenberg, writing in the Jewish Review of Books, “Viewers of faith likely appreciate the sympathetic portrayal of the religious lifestyle and see moments of their daily experience brought to life on the screen for the first time – whether it be a typical Shabbat meal, the difficulties of conducting modest relationships, how one keeps a kosher kitchen, or the pressures and loneliness of being single in

the marriage-oriented Orthodox world.

“At the same time, what makes Srugim work for more general audiences is that its protagonists are undeniably human. Srugim is about people who happen not to turn on lights on Saturdays – not about the Sabbath restrictions themselves.”

For more information on Srugim at the Soloway JCC, contact Penni Namer at 613-798-9818 ext. 243 or pnamer@jccottawa.com.

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Page 12 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 5, 2010

Klezmer band Shtreiml will perform April 20 at Ottawa’s Yom Ha’Atzmaut celebration in the Aberdeen Pavilion.

Community to celebrate Yom Ha’Atzmaut at Aberdeen Pavilion

By Pamela Rosenberg Soloway JCC After many years at the Civic Centre, the Soloway Jewish Community Centre (JCC) is moving its largest celebration of the year across the parking lot to a bigger, better venue.

The 62nd Yom Ha’Atzmaut communitywide party stays at Lansdowne Park but will relocate to the brighter and more spacious Aberdeen Pavilion on Tuesday, April 20 at 5:00 pm. Admission is free.

“Yom Ha’Atzmaut is a great party and the layout of the new venue gives us more of the Israeli street festival feeling that we have been trying to create,” says Sharon Diamond, Soloway JCC director of revenue development.

“My favourite thing about Yom Ha’Atzmaut is how it brings the entire community together, no matter what their religious affiliation. Everyone feels welcome at Yom Ha’Atzmaut.”

For event chair Penny Torontow, Yom Ha’Atzmaut is an important day as most of her family lives in Israel, and it is a place she has always considered home.

“It is very important to me that we mark this event as one that is just as important to us as Jews all over the world. It has become such a big event and it really touches me deeply to see so many different faces from our community celebrating in solidarity with Eretz Yisrael.”

Shtreiml, the Montreal-based klezmer band whose Israeli, Eastern European Jewish and Turkish music is infused with blues rock influences, will perform.

Back by popular demand is the Israeli

Archeological Dig for the kids as well as two Mini-Cirque performances and the Mini-Cirque Circus School. Teens will get a chance to race their friends through the giant inflatable obstacle course and practise their slap-shot at the Interactive Hockey Shoot-Out. There will be face painting, crazy balloon creations, crafts and delicious Israeli fare by Yudi Chein.

The Soloway JCC is holding a Yom Ha’Atzmaut Raffle with a top prize of a trip for two to Israel or $2,000. Also up for grabs is a one-year Soloway JCC adult membership, $200 worth of gift certificates for the Soloway JCC, and free towel service for one year.

Tickets will not be available at the event, but can be purchased now at the Soloway JCC front desk or by calling Sharon Diamond. The drawing will take place during the Yom Ha’Atzmaut celebration at 7:00 pm.

There will also be a Yom Ha’Atzmaut flag-raising ceremony, April 20, at 11:00 am in front of the Soloway JCC. Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of terror, will be observed by the Embassy of Israel and the Vered Israel Cultural and Educational Program on Sunday, April 18, 7:30 pm, at the Soloway JCC. For more information about Yom Ha’Atzmaut, or to volunteer, contact Sharon Diamond at 613-798-9818, ext. 225, or sdiamond@jccottawa.com.

For information about Yom Hazikaron, contact Vered Israel Cultural and Educational Program Manager Penny Namer at 613-7989818, ext. 243, or pnamer@jccottawa.com.

This unique Hebrew graphic originally appeared on a Certificate of Commendation to the Participants in the War of Independence awarded to Sara Vered

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 5, 2010 – Page 13

A special and heartfelt thanks

to our friends who attended this year’s Negev Dinner, to our major sponsors and donors listed below, to the outstanding committee, to all who made donations to Jewish National Fund and the projects, The Sara and Zeev Vered Pioneer Grounds of Ben-Gurion’s Cabin and the Ran Kochva Lookout, and to the volunteers and staff who helped make this evening such a success.

Sara Vered

Honouree, 2009 Ottawa Negev Dinner For 109 years, JNF has helped fulfill David Ben-Gurion’s vision. With everyone’s help, we hope to continue for at least another 109 years.

Corporate Sponsors

Stephen, Jocelyne and Reesa Greenberg

& Rambam Day School

Joe & Ruth Viner & Family

Adjeleian Allen Rubeli Ltd. / Goodkey, Weedmark & Associates Limited / David S. McRobie Architects Inc.

Major Project Supporters Guardian

Chai

Sara Vered

Elissa & Avraham Iny

Pioneer

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Friend

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An Anonymous Gift in Memory of Bruce Tainio, a Great Thinker, Important Inventor and a True Environmentalist Esther & Bernard Besner Family Cave Development & Management Limited Gilad Parking Maureen & Henry Molot In Memory of Ann Polowin

JNF TRIBUTE TO A PIONEERING SPIRIT

Page 14 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 5, 2010

The mystery of the missing gefilte fish solved

By Dayle Levy It’s Passover 2009 and my 20 guests for the first seder should be arriving soon.

The flowers, a mixed bouquet of white, yellow and crimson, fill the entire dining room with their magnificent floral scent.

My table is set with my late mother’s bone china dishes, which have an oldfashioned purple floral pattern around the edges. The wine glasses are sparkling, ready for the wine.

My seder plate takes centre stage and the traditional condiments are all there too, including my favourite, the bright, red horseradish, which sits ready and waiting for its soul mate, the gefilte fish.

“Hopefully, it’s strong this year,” I say to myself, since I know some look forward to clearing their sinuses

with the horseradish!

The chicken soup is floating in a massive cauldron on the stove and my daughters

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announce that you can smell it all the way down the street.

My chickens are cooking in the oven. And it seems my most important task now is to get the timing right to ensure the food is ready to be served at the proper moment during the seder.

I ask my helper in the kitchen for his input, “Should I put the vegetables on now, or will they be overdone by the time I’m ready to serve?”

He turns to me and says I should wait a few more minutes, and then goes back to his current job of nicely arranging the small plates with tomatoes, carrots and lettuce so that each is ready for a big piece of gefilte fish, which will be served as our first

course.

My family and I run upstairs to get dressed, since we only have a half-hour before our guests arrive. This year’s invitees are my mother-inlaw, aunt on my husband’s side, my sister, her husband and their kids, my brother-inlaw, his girlfriend and his two boys, and my next door neighbours.

Miracle of miracles, everyone arrives on time and we’re ready to begin.

As my husband leads the way through the Haggadah, my sister and I share funny moments from when we were kids in between my running in and out of the kitchen to get the symbolic seder foods: the bitter herbs, the

celery in salt water and the charoseth.

We’re moving through the Haggadah at a nice pace and soon we are close to enjoying the seder meal together.

I run into the kitchen to grab the first course – the plates with the gefilte fish my helper had so nicely arranged an hour or so ago.

The plates are there, but not one has a piece of gefilte fish on it. I frantically open the fridge and scan each shelf searching for the fish. But it’s nowhere to be found. “ Think,” I scream to myself, “where did I put the gefilte fish?”

I look at my helper with worry all over my face and he looks back at me with a dumbfounded expression, shrugs his shoulders and says, “I didn’t see any gefilte fish.” And then it hits me.

My helper had previously worked for my neighbour during Rosh Hashanah. And my neighbour had always served large, round matzo balls she purchased from a nearby restaurant.

I thought logically and then blurted out loud, “Oh no, I think I know where they are!”

I grab my ladle and start to fish for my gefilte fish throughout the huge pot of

chicken soup. And, lo and behold, there they are floating in the soup among the small matzo balls. But they are hot.

“Are they ruined?” I wonder.

I need an expert opinion, so I race into the dining room and very quietly and discreetly tell my mother-in-law what happened while everyone else is participating in the Haggadah songs and readings. I get a laugh and a thumbs-up from her, but she tells me I should try to cool them before serving.

I speed back to the kitchen, throw them into a plastic bag and put them in the freezer for a few minutes.

My helper who was just trying to be helpful feels terrible.

“Don’t worry,” I tell him.

Once cooled, my helper and I place a piece on each of the small plates, and then calmly walk into the dining room to serve this first course to our unknowing guests.

“Delicious,” everyone agrees.

Then it dawns on me.

What did the gefilte fish do to my chicken soup?

Soon my worries are alleviated when my daughter in the dining room yells to me in the kitchen, “Mom, this is the best chicken soup ever!”

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1365 Cyrville Road Ottawa, Ontario K1B 3L7 Tel: 613-741-4261 Fax: 613-741-2944

Readers and advertisers are advised the next edition of the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin will be published on Monday, April 26, 2010.

The deadline date is Wednesday, April 7, 2010.

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 5, 2010 – Page 15

WORLD MALARIA DAY APRIL 2010

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

An evening discussion with MP Glen Pearson Journey with Glen Pearson, MP London North Centre, as he shares his personal experience with malaria. Discover how you can help fight malaria and affect the economic and social development of African countries like Sudan. Featuring African drumming and dance by Baobab Tree. www.baobabtree.org

Administrative Secretary Hillel Lodge is a nationally accredited long-term care home whose mission is to meet the needs of seniors who can no longer live independently. The Administrative Secretary will provide administrative, secretarial and clerical support for the Home.

April 21, 2010 - 7pm GLEN PEARSON, MP London North Centre

Shenkman Arts Centre 245 Centrum Blvd

MALARIA THREATENS 1.3 MILLIONS LIVES A YEAR. Cast a net of hope to stop Malaria and change the world.

The successful candidate will have a High School Diploma, at least two years of secretarial training, several years of experience with clerical procedures and office automation, word processing at a minimum of 50 words per minute and familiarity with a variety of computer software programs including Word and Excel.

Good interpersonal skills, discretion and the ability to multitask are essential. Experience in a retirement or long-term care facility would be an asset.

To apply, please forward your résumé to Hillel Lodge, 10 Nadolny Sachs Private, Ottawa, K2A 4G7 (attention Executive Director) by Friday, 16 April 2010.

Proudly presented by:

OTTAWA ALLIANCE AGAINST MALARIA OTTAWA ALLIANCE AGAINST MALARIA CO-CHAIRS: Sara Eftekhar & Elyse Brazel

Sana Syed

Fatima Andad

Tony Blair Faith Acts Fellows www.tonyblairfaithfoundation.com

MultiFaith Housing Initiative www.multifaithhousing.ca

Muslim Student Association www.uomsa.ca

Emma Weizenbluth

Erica Bregman

Kaitlyn Duthie-Kannikkatt

Hillel Ottawa www.hillelottawa.ca

Jewish Family Services www.jfsottawa.com

Student Christian Movement www.scmcanada.org/ottawa

Sponsored by:

* Net ticket sales will be personally matched by former Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Proceeds to the Spread the Net Foundation.

Tickets: $20 FOR TICKET INFORMATION CALL: 613.722.2225

Page 16 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 5, 2010

Volunteer spotlight

Judy Field: Busy Na’amat volunteer heads Ottawa Jewish Telephone Directory committee

By Benita Siemiatycki Check most Ottawa Jewish homes and you’re likely to find a thick spiral-bound book tucked into a kitchen drawer or beside a phone.

The Ottawa Jewish Telephone Directory will celebrate a remarkable achievement, its 60th anniversary, in May when the 2010 edition is published.

The look of the covers has changed, and the size has grown, but its purpose has never wavered – to keep community members connected to each other, to businesses that cater to the community and to the agencies and organizations that serve it.

Despite the fact that so many people and organizations use the book, not many of us are aware of the work involved in putting it out.

The Directory, as it’s come to be known, is a testament to the growth of Ottawa’s Jewish community. The last time someone counted the residential listings, it numbered more than 3,000, says Judy Field, chair of the committee overseeing the Directory.

A long-time Na’amat member, Judy has been at the helm of the Directory since 1998. Published annually by the Na’amat Canada Ottawa Council, the Directory is

Judy Field and Murray Kronick unfurl the Na’amat banner at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro.

the major fundraiser for the women’s organization, with significant funds being directed over

the years to daycare centres and women’s training programs in Israel. Every purchase of a Directo-

Sinai Scholars graduation

The Sinai Scholars Society study program of the Chabad Student Network held it latest graduation ceremony, March 16, at the Embassy Suites Hotel. The graduates were addressed by Rabbi Reuven P. Bulka of Congregation Machzikei Hadas who also presented them with their certificates.

Each of the graduates also spoke briefly about the impact the course had on them.

Pictured (left to right): Rabbi Dovid Hayes, Ottawa Chabad director; graduate Jason Friedman; Rabbi Bulka; and Rabbi Chaim Boyarsky of Chabad Student Network.

ry sends more funding to Israel for women’s and children’s programs.

Judy manages a team of about eight volunteers who carry out various tasks to bring each year’s Directory to fruition. She took on leading the Directory team because they were in need of a chair, and her background in publishing and graphic design made her a perfect fit. As chair, she makes sure all the tasks are completed on schedule, is the contact person for suppliers, identifies potential advertisers and contacts existing ones, arranges the printing and distribution, and responds to enquiries. All this, she insists, with the able assistance of her committed group of Na’amat volunteers.

Despite being a major time commitment, the Directory is not Judy’s only volunteer activity. She is also the advertising manager of her monthly community newspaper, the Glebe Report. And she assists the Ottawa Children’s Choir each year with their annual berry fundraiser.

In 2007, Judy branched out and founded a new business venture, Healthwise Ottawa, a local health and wellness publication that

comes out four times a year. Judy is the publisher and advertising manager of the magazine. She also works part time for Prevent Cancer Now, a national organization aimed at identifying and eradicating substances that are known carcinogens, where she takes care of administrative duties.

If all that isn’t enough, Judy is a fitness enthusiast, enjoying long-distance walking, cycling and spinning classes. In late May, she will participate in Prevent Cancer Now’s Prevent Cancer Challenge, a run/walk taking place in several Canadian cities.

All funds raised are dedicated to cancer prevention. Judy also participates in other marathons and half-marathons during the season.

Judy’s dedication to Na’amat Canada was evident last December. She and husband Murray Kronick embarked on the ambitious climb to Uhuru Peak, Africa’s highest point, on Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. They used the opportunity to raise money for charities close to their hearts: Na’amat Canada, Canadian Athletes Now and the Children’s Make a Wish Foundation. Donors could choose which charity to support. More than $2,200 was raised for Na’amat.

Judy credits her love of what she does for keeping her involved in volunteering.

“Get involved in a cause that’s important to you. With that, you’ll experience lots of pleasure,” she says.

She is very gratified when she gets positive feedback about how useful the Directory is to the community.

“It’s all very rewarding and that’s what keeps me going.”

To order the next Ottawa Jewish Telephone Directory, or to update a listing, contact 613-7222932 or ojteldirectory@yahoo.ca.

Benita Siemiatycki of the Jewish Ottawa InfoCentre profiles community volunteers in the Bulletin.

Some organizations are in desperate need of volunteers. Call Benita at the InfoCentre at 613798-4644 for information.

Organizations and agencies are also invited to contact Benita with suggestions of volunteers to be spotlighted in the Bulletin.

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 5, 2010 – Page 17

Buy. Build. Believe.

Three words.

One country.

Two thousand years of dreaming.

Over seven and a half million citizens.

A future potential that is unlimited.

This is the promise of an Israel Bond.

“To be a free people, in our own land…”

Two thousand years of dreaming come true.

It is the miracle of our time.

ISRAEL. 62 years young.

Israel is our HOME; Homes require constant upkeep and investment.

Be part of Israel’s growth and future.

Each Bond makes a difference.

Ottawa &Atlantic Canada

To invest today, call: 613.792.1142 ottawa@israelbonds.ca

Marcia Cantor Executive Director Ottawa & Atlantic Canada

BuyBuildBelieve.ca

Page 18 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 5, 2010

Did you know about the Ottawa connection to Jew and Improved • Jew and Improved: How Choosing to Be Chosen Made Me a Better Man, the recently released book by National Post features editor Benjamin Errett, is a funny, thoughtful and revealing account of his conversion to Judaism that’s described as “a story of goy meets girl.” Errett married Sandy Kronick’s niece Sarah Lazarovic, and even included Aunt Sandy’s brisket recipe in the book’s appendix. Watch for a review of the book in the April 26 issue of the Bulletin.

• Mazal Tov to Rabbi Reuven Bulka! During Kindness Week, an event he initiated three years ago to promote positivity, he was awarded the key to the city of Ottawa, the city’s highest honour. Rabbi Bulka is so pleased with the success of Kindness Week that he plans to take it across Ontario and nationally.

• Unfortunately, the slow wheels of bureaucracy prevented brand new Canadian resident Diana Roloff from getting the paperwork she needed to return home to the U.S. for a family reunion during the closing weekend of the Winter Olympics. Instead, she and fiancé Noah Farber celebrated the men’s Canadian hockey gold medal win against the Americans in a bar on Elgin Street where they were joined by thousands of cheering fans and became the face of hometown festivities. Diana was quoted in the Ottawa Citizen and her photo appeared in the Ottawa Sun. Coincidentally, a photo of

Newcomers’ Tea Do you know any newcomers to Ottawa?

The Ladies’ Reception Committee would like to welcome new women at our semi-annual tea

Sunday, May 30, 2010 2:30 - 4:30 pm at the home of Roz Kanigsberg 65 Whitemarl Drive, No. 5, Ottawa A wonderful way of meeting others in our community.

If you are a newcomer to the Ottawa Jewish community, or if you know someone who is, please call

Audrey Kreisman at 613-727-1917 Social get-together • No solicitation

Did you know?

Benita Baker Noah and his buddies on Parliament Hill also appeared in the Citizen.

• Thanks to his rousing and emotional plea in support of hamantaschen, Gabe Karlin emerged victorious from the weighty question debated at Temple Israel’s Purim event: What is the more important symbol of Purim, hamantaschen or the gragger? Mark Hammer advocated for the gragger.

• Manny Agulnik, the founder and organizer of OK Cycle Tours, was invited by the Netherlands Embassy to promote his bike tours to the Netherlands at the country’s booth at the Go Green Expo at Lansdowne Park in March. Agulnik’s popular spring and summer bike tours also go to Denmark, Kennebunkport, Maine, and Picton, Ontario.

• Ottawan Michael Goldstein was one of eight Canadians who earned rabbinic ordination from Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary on March 7.

More than 190 students graduated this year – the largest group ever.

• Doug Baum was elected president of the Defence Counsel Association of Ottawa, an association of Ottawa’s private criminal defence lawyers. Baum is its fifth Jewish president following founder Leonard Shore, Rosalind Conway, Michael Edelson and Lawrence Greenspon.

• Joe Osterer, a referee in the old 1950s Ottawa Junior City Hockey League, was invited to join the festivities at the third annual Ottawa Hockey History Luncheon, hosted by sports broadcaster Dave Schreiber.

Joe Osterer (left) with Johnny McEvoy, blows the whistle at the Ottawa Hockey History Luncheon.

(Photo: Irv Osterer)

In attendance were many of the players from the league’s heyday. Osterer and fellow official Johnny McEvoy blew the referee’s whistle one more time, relived some of their questionable calls and caught up with old hockey friends.

I have heard that some people call Did You Know the “kvell column.” That’s fantastic! That’s exactly what I want it to be.

In fact, I wish I’d thought of that for the name of the column.

So, join the throngs of people who have kvelled because they, or someone they love, have been mentioned here.

If you know something that we all should know, tell me, so I can tell the community and you can kvell too! Send e-mail to me at didyouknowottawa@gmail.com.

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 5, 2010 – Page 19

Page 20 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 5, 2010

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 wellbeing.

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 March 4 and 17, 2010 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 Memory of: Abraham (Al) Cohen by Ruth and Irving Aaron Pearl Moskovic by Sonja and Ron Kesten In Commemoration of the Yahrzeit of: Sarah Aaron a dear and devoted mother and grandmother, on the 7th day of Iyar by Ruth and Irving Aaron and family Bill and Leona Adler Memorial Fund In Memory of: Polly Cohen by Marilyn Adler William Drinkwater by Marilyn Adler Ceres Rothman by Marilyn Adler Lisa Silverman by Elayne Adler, Farley, Jordan and Benjamin Stenzler In Honour of: Morag Burch Congratulations and best wishes to you and your family on the marriage of your daughter Mallory to Michael by Marilyn Adler, Neil and Daniel Blacher Gail Kassie and Neil Matin Mazal tov on Samantha and Brian’s engagement by Elayne Adler, Farley, Jordan and Benjamin Stenzler Elsie Baker Endowment Fund In Memory of: Al Cohen by Polly and Jack Moran

Nell Gluck Memorial Fund In Honour of: Belle Gitterman Mazal tov on your special birthday Bis 120! by Maureen and Henry Molot Shmuel Keren Best wishes on your retirement. Keep busy and have fun by Maureen and Henry Molot Sally and Morton Taller Mazal tov on Yael’s engagement

by Maureen and Henry Molot Evelyn and Irving Greenberg Fund In Memory of: Morton Myer Roodman by Evelyn Greenberg Moe Greenberg and Elissa Greenberg Iny Family Fund In Memory of: Polly Cohen by Elissa and Avraham Iny Jerry Taylor by Elissa and Avraham Iny In Honour of: Elissa and Avraham Iny Mazal tov on 40 wonderful years of marriage by Roslyn and Arnie Kimmel and family David, Harvey and Victor Kardish Family Fund In Memory of: Jon Carr by Sheryl, Harvey, Mallory and Ryan Kardish Aron Jankielewitz by Gale, Victor and Sydney Kardish Morris and Lillian Kimmel Family Fund In Memory of: Lisa Silverman by Janet, Steve, Tobin and Aaron Kaiman; and the Kimmel and Levine families In Honour of: Mollie Fine Mazal tov and best wishes for a very happy 95th birthday by Janet, Steve, Tobin and Aaron Kaiman Vera and Josef Straus Mazal tov and best wishes on the birth of your granddaughter by Morris Kimmel and the Kimmel, Kaiman and Levine families Joan and Russell Kronick Family Fund In Memory of: Polly Cohen by Joan and Russell Kronick Irv Singer by Joan and Russell Kronick Levenson-Polowin Feeding Fund In Memory of: Lisa Silverman by Pat Guthrie Pencer Family Fund In Memory of: Mary Pencer by Marcia and Irwin Pencer and family Shirley and Maurice Rose Memorial Fund In Memory of: Abraham (Al) Cohen by Mavis and Simon Wasserberger Morton Myer Roodman by Mavis and Simon Wasserberger R’fuah Shlema: Abe (Wayne) Robin by Mavis and Simon Wasserberger

Irma and Harold Sachs Family Fund In Memory of: Ben Teichman by Irma and Harold Sachs Schachter/Ingber Family Fund In Memory of: Hugh McLeod by Rachel, Howard, Davida and Josh Schachter Stephen and Debra Schneiderman Family Fund In Memory of: Evelyn Stober by Debra and Stephen Schneiderman In Honour of: Morag Burch Congratulations and best wishes on the marriage of your daughter Mallory by Debra and Stephen Schneiderman Label and Leona Silver Family Fund In Memory of: Abraham (Al) Cohen by Leona and Label Silver In Commemoration of the Yahrzeit of: Sylvia Altshuller beloved sister by Millie Schaenfield Skulsky Family Memorial Fund Jessica Handler Mazal tov and best wishes on your Bat Mitzvah by Helen Wiseman Ralph and Anne Sternberg Memorial Fund In Memory of: Morton Myer Roodman by Laya and Ted Jacobsen In Honour of: Norah Fleming and Brian Strain Happy Easter to you and your families with warm wishes by Laya and Ted Jacobsen Eileen Gardner Wishing a happy Easter to Mother with love by Laya and Ted Jacobsen Wendy and Andy Koenig and family Happy Easter with warm wishes by Laya and Ted Jacobsen Bert Phillips Mazal tov to a dear friend on your 80th birthday with warm wishes by Laya and Ted Jacobsen Teresa Pidskalny and family Happy Easter with warm wishes by Laya and Ted Jacobsen Dulce Santos Happy Easter with warm wishes by Laya and Ted Jacobsen Staff of Saint Francis Nursing Station at Holy Family Home Happy Easter with warm wishes by Laya and Ted Jacobsen Judith Wouk Happy birthday and happy retirement with warm wishes by Laya and Ted Jacobsen R’fuah Shlema: Myra Allice by Laya and Ted Jacobsen Sarah and Arnie Swedler Family Fund In Memory of: Al Cohen by Arnie Swedler Polly Cohen by Arnie Swedler Archie and Lillian Taller Memorial Fund In Observance of the Yahrzeit of: Archie Taller by Sally and Morton Taller Lillian Taller by Sally and Morton Taller Roslyn and Myles Taller Family Endowment Fund In Memory of: Polly Cohen by Roslyn Taller and Myles Taller Eric Weiner and Arlene Godfrey Family Fund In Memory of: Polly Cohen by Miriam and Louis Weiner

Friedberg and Dale Families Fund In Honour of: Marsha Kaiserman Wishing you a very happy 60th birthday by Elaine Friedberg and Bob Dale

Rosenthal/McCormick Family Fund In Memory of: Polly Cohen by Helen Rosenthal

Anna and Samuel Wex Family Fund In Honour of: Anna and Samuel Wex Mazal tov on your grandson Josh’s Bar Mitzvah. Wishing you a wonderful and meaningful trip to Israel by Ingrid, Stephanie, Allan and Naomi

Malcolm and Vera Glube Endowment Fund In Memory of: Polly Cohen by Vera and Malcolm Glube

Shelley and Sidney Rothman Family Fund In Memory of: Ceres Rothman by Shelley Rothman and family

Toby and Joel Yan Family Fund In Memory of: John Krongold by Toby and Joel Yan

Feeding Program In Memory of: Polly Cohen by Carol and Larry Gradus; and Sonja and Ron Kesten Ceres Rothman by Sonja and Ron Kesten Lisa Silverman by Zena Lieff In Honour of: Vera and Josef Straus Wishing you a hearty mazal tov on the birth of your granddaughter by Mara and Isaac Muzikansky; and the Residents, Board and Staff of Hillel Lodge ************* IN MEMORY OF: John Carr by Cindy and Steven Poplove and boys; Sam and Josh Freedman and boys; and Linda and Warren Melamed and boys; Lisa, Sam, Sarah and Joseph Feldberg; and Beverly, David, Jory and Mark Gluzman Abraham (Al) Cohen by Rickie and Marty Saslove; Ingrid Levitz and family; the Residents, Board and Staff of Hillel Lodge; Clair Krantzberg; Merle and Irving Gencher; Evelyn Greenberg; Shirley and George Shapiro; the Vered family; and Paula and Marty Weiner Polly Cohen by Rickie and Marty Saslove; the Residents, Board and Staff of Hillel Lodge; Ingrid Levitz; Jean Naemark; Cindy and Steven Poplove and boys; Shirley and Akiva Kriger; Sheila and Stephen Senman and family; Merle and Irving Gencher; Beverly, David, Jory and Mark Gluzman; and Shirley and Norman Levitt and family Mina Dover-Cohen by Laurie and Bill Chochinov William Drinkwater by the Residents, Board and Staff of Hillel Lodge Beloved father of Dr. Ora Kendall by Leah and Issie Scarowsky; and Sarah and Leonard Kerzner and family Morton Myer Roodman by Marion Silver and Alan Brass and family, and Penny Bar Noy Roodman; and Betsy and Malcolm Collins Ceres Rothman by Dawn Alice Xavier-Franklin William Senman by Polly Cohen, Anna and Ron Cantor; Marion Silver and Alan Brass and family; and Tracy Arnett Realty Ltd. Lisa Silverman by Rhonda, Danny, Samuel, Zachary and Shelby Levine Irv Singer by Laurie and Bill Chochinov Jerry Taylor by Arlene and Norm Glube Ben Teichman by Joan Bloom IN HONOUR OF: Golda Feig and Ned Steinman Wishing you a happy anniversary and many more happy and healthy ones to come with love by Malca Feig Lily Feig Wishing you a happy birthday and may you celebrate many more happy and healthy years with love by Malca Feig Mollie Fine Best wishes on your special birthday by Malca Kahansky and family; and Arlene and Mel Schwey, Karen and Andre, Jessica and Ian and all the kiddies Nat Hier Mazal tov and best wishes on your birthday by Belle Gitterman Sophie and Lazar Kaminsky Mazal tov on the birth of your granddaughter by Rhonda, Danny, Samuel, Zachary and Shelby Levine Carol Tolchinsky Wishing you the best for a great year by Laurie and Bill Chochinov Mark Tolchinsky Best wishes for a very happy year by Laurie and Bill Chochinov Elaine and Norman Wolfish Mazal tov on your granddaughter Maddie’s Bat Mitzvah. Wishing you a wonderful and meaningful trip to Israel by Ingrid Levitz R’FUAH SHLEMA: Alan Schwartzberg by Ruth and Dale Fyman IN OBSERVANCE OF THE YAHRZEIT OF: Ed Torontow by Jean Naemark

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 Debra or Rhonda at 613-728-3900, extension 111, 9:30 am to 3:30 pm Monday to Thursday, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm Friday. You may also e-mail your orders to donations@hillel-ltc.com. E-mail 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.

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 5, 2010 – Page 21

Two states are the only solution that will minimally satisfy both sides The dust has settled on Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW). I spent that week trying to decide whether the kinds of messages promoted by IAW organizers are hateful – as many critics suggest – and therefore demand an unequivocal response. While I’ve concluded that the IAW agenda is altogether unhelpful in pushing for an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I also differ from those who view it as anti-Semitic.

To work this out, I turned to another heated policy issue for some guidance: the debate over abortion.

I am passionately pro-choice. But, I also realize that, while I jealously wish to guard the physical autonomy of women over their bodies, I would never call pro-lifers misogynist. Pro-lifers are concerned with a separate set of rights. Pro-lifers claim women have options that fetuses don’t have. So, while the issue is, in some senses, one of competing rights, the rights of each can be mutually accommodated to a certain degree. (Those who favour choice believe women’s rights over their bodies would not be sufficiently accommodated if abortion became illegal; hence, their pro-choice position.)

The aims of IAW organizers include a wholesale return of all Palestinian refugees to their homes inside Israel. While this option would have deleterious effects on the core identity of Israel as a Jewish state, IAW activists are ultimately fighting for the rights of the Palestinian refugees. While Zionists understandably wish the rest of the world uncritically accepted Israel’s existence, it’s not very controversial to say that the creation of the State of Israel came at the expense of the Palestinians.

Demanding a full right of return for these refugees and their descendants would negate Israel’s ethnic particularistic identity, but would not inherently threaten the individual rights of

Jewish Israelis to live and prosper. (That an Arab majority would physically persecute a Jewish minority is not something we can unequivocally assume, despite what those who claim that a one-state solution would lead to murder and mayhem say.)

This is where I conclude that IAW is not anti-Semitic. However, this is where I also see it as deeply flawed.

Israel will never give up its core identity as a Jewish state.

Demanding that a Palestinian right of return be actualized is a non-starter. The IAW movement wishes to galvanize boycott, divestment and sanctions not until Israel withdraws from the West Bank and a two-state solution is reached, but until Israel agrees to accept every Palestinian refugee back inside its borders.

What is troubling about this message is that a two-state agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority will not necessarily be respected by the IAW movement, something I realized when one of the organizers of Students Against Israeli Apartheid came to speak to my class.

What I also realized is that the IAW position is squarely antithetical to the narratives approach I advance in my research and teaching. That approach is fundamentally pragmatic in its prescriptions: legitimize the experience of each side, and help shepherd the actors toward a mutually-acceptable solution. In the Israeli-Palestinian domain, I see only one solution that will at least minimally satisfy both sides, given their material and identity requirements: two states living side by side.

IAW is, in part, a reaction to decades of policy inertia in the Middle East. The more settlements Israel places in the West Bank and the more inhumane the blockade on Gaza, the more

Levy and Parra offer distinct takes on Sephardic folksongs Yasmin Levy Mano Suave Four Quarters Entertainment yasminlevy.net Kat Parra Dos Amantes JazzMa Records katparra.com These two recordings – very different from each other – are dedicated mostly to traditional Sephardic folksongs sung in Ladino, the Judeo-Spanish language of the Sephardim, descendants of the Jews of Spain and Portugal, who spread through the Muslim countries of the Mediterranean, North Africa and Middle East, following the Inquisition.

Israeli singer Yasmin Levy is the daughter of Yitzhak Levy, the Turkish-born composer and cantor who, in the early years of Israel’s national radio station, was their curator of Sephardic music and Ladino songs.

Although Levy was just a year old when her father died in 1976, his influence on her music was profound and she has become one of the world’s foremost interpreters of Ladino songs.

Levy’s third album, Mano Suave, released in Israel in 2007, and now in North America, is a lovely, passionate album of Ladino songs, both traditional and contemporary, including several written by Levy herself. There’s a strong flamenco influence to many of the arrangements and several, including “Mano Suave” and “Si Veriash,” feature the rhythms and instrumentation of the Middle East.

On Dos Amantes, Kat Parra, a jazz singer from the San Francisco Bay area, offers Latin jazz and rhythmic world music interpretations of traditional songs from the Ladino repertoire.

On first listen, it was somewhat disconcerting to hear the opening number, “Los Bilbilicos (The Nightingales),” perhaps the most famous of Ladino folksongs, one that is typically heard with a quiet, guitar-based arrangement, played as an Afro-Cuban Rumba with pounding piano, flute and lots of percussion.

But, as the album continued, I began to enjoy the contemporary jazzy settings Parra brings to these traditional songs.

The Huppah Project Under the Canopy The Huppah Project thehuppahproject.com The Huppah Project is a Toronto ensemble led by guitarist Aaron Lightstone and singer Aviva Chernick – both also members of the band Jaffa Road – who perform blessing songs and love songs, mostly in Hebrew, and many with a Sephardic feel, for Jewish weddings.

Chernick has a beautiful, passionate voice and the band’s lovely arrangements are played with all of the appropriate dignity. This recording reminds us of the moments leading to, and spent under, the chuppah; not so much of the celebration that usually follows.

Along with songs like “Hinei Hi Ba’ah (Here She Comes)” and “Erev Shel Shoshanim (Evening of Roses),” there is also a gorgeous instrumental version of “Los Bil-

Values, Ethics, Community Mira Sucharov frustration there is in the region and worldwide about Israeli intentions, and the more likely those concerned about Palestinian suffering will use dubious labels like apartheid. These labels are intended to shock the complacent into action.

Conversely, the Palestinian rocket response from Gaza into Israel following the 2005 Israeli withdrawal has made Israelis squeamish about withdrawing from the West Bank. This is where a narratives approach comes in – third party activists can acknowledge these subjectivities and help both sides move towards a solution.

While deeply problematic in its ultimate agenda, the existence of IAW should not obscure the need to take action on the peacemaking front. To this end, I am eagerly anticipating the tentative arrival of J Street U, the campus-wing of the new U.S.-based lobby billing itself as “pro-Israel, pro-peace,” into Canada. Initial events were hosted recently in Ottawa and Montreal.

This addition to the political spectrum will give Jewish students the confidence to feel emotionally connected to Israel while having the tools to speak out against unhelpful Israeli policies – such as the Israeli government’s troubling announcement, during U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden’s recent visit to Israel, of 1,600 new housing units being built in East Jerusalem.

Broadening the spectrum of Israel activity on campus will give students enhanced political literacy, and will dampen the polarizing discourse currently dominating campus life.

Music Michael Regenstreif bilicos,” played by Lightstone on classical guitar and Mike Rennie on violin.

Sherele Oy Mame Shein Pickles Chiles and Jrein Sondios y Sabores del Mundo tinyurl.com/sherele A few months ago, I was listening to Jazz Around the World (Putumayo), a compilation highlighting bands from many parts of the world, and became fascinated by a tune called “Polka Dot Blues,” played by Sherele, a group from Mexico. It was a kind of snappy Latin jazz tune with some nifty nylon-string guitar playing and a tight, bass and drums rhythm section. But the tune was in a minor key and featured a clarinet as the lead instrument. Sounds like klezmer music, I thought.

Well, it turns out that Sherele is a klezmer quartet based in Guadalajara, Mexico, and the tune, composed by clarinetist Nathalie Breaux, was the only original composition from their first CD, Oy Mame Shein Pickles Chiles and Jrein. The rest of the album is devoted to their interpretations of traditional klezmer tunes like “Lebedik un Freylekh” and “Reb Dovid’s Ningun,” played with a highly enjoyable blend of Mexican, South American and Eastern European influences.

Sherele’s CD is highly recommended for klezmer fans on the lookout for a unique take on the music.

Page 22 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 5, 2010

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 5, 2010 – Page 23

Page 24 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 5, 2010

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin â&#x20AC;&#x201C; April 5, 2010 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Page 25

Teaching our children about the Holocaust Benno and the Night of Broken Glass

By Meg Wiviott Illustrated by JosĂŠe Bisaillon Kar-Ben Publishing 32 pages. Ages 7-11.

Kid Lit

Yom HaShoah, the day on which we formally commemorate the six million Jewish men, women and children slain in the Holocaust, is a relatively new observance in the Jewish calendar. Why, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve often wondered, isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t it afforded the same injunction as Pesach? â&#x20AC;&#x153;You shall teach it to your children,â&#x20AC;? we are instructed for Pesach.

Surely, that is what we must do for Yom HaShoah as well.

We must teach it to our children and grandchildren so they, in their turn, can carry on the teaching to their children and grandchildren. That is one of the few ways each of us can help ensure that Jews and non-Jews alike remember and learn from one of the most horrific chapters of the 20th century.

As Holocaust survivors pass away, our duty of observance becomes even more vital. But, we must go beyond remembrance to action. Why? Because Jewish survival and human survival as caring, sentient people is not something we can take for granted. It requires constant vigilance and constant action. Hence, â&#x20AC;&#x153;You shall teach it to your children.â&#x20AC;?

But how? And starting at what age?

Benno and the Night of Broken Glass is clearly meant to introduce the Holocaust to young readers. Some people consider Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass) on November 9, 1938 to have been the beginning of the Holocaust. I think of it as a prelude, the warning that worse was to come.

Either way, acquainting children with the story of Kristallnacht is a good starting point for Holocaust education, providing the material used is neither overly didactic nor overly

Deanna Silverman

depressing. The last thing we want is for our children to develop second-hand cases of post-traumatic stress syndrome.

Benno and the Night of Broken Glass meets those criteria in a most unusual, creative way. It is the fictional story of Benno, a friendly stray cat living in Berlin, Germany, not too far from the Neue Synagogue. On November 9, 1938, Benno is tangentially caught up in the real events of Kristallnacht.

How can a cat be affected by Brownshirt storm troopers destroying Jewish shops, homes and synagogues, burning books, beating and seizing people?

By the very way he lives and roams the streets. By the changing attitudes of the people he befriends. And by both the physical and mental pain he feels.

Physical pain?

Think about the pain of catâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s paws walking on streets littered with broken glass.

Mental pain?

Think about a cat having to worry that he will be suddenly kicked by mean-spirited thugs wearing heavy black boots.

Worse yet, think about a pet used to receiving daily affection and food from several people suddenly losing most of those people. Those are the critical elements of storytelling that enables a story about Benno the cat to also be a Holocaust story.

Young children will readily identify with Bennoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s daily routine and lifestyle. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll enjoy meeting his friends Sophie and Inge, the young girls who feed him table scraps on Friday night and Sunday lunch respectively. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll enjoy following him on his rounds of the neighbourhood. And theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll especially delight in watching him nap on bolts of material in the window of Mitzi Steinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dress shop and on Professor Goldfarbâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s book and paper strewn desk.

Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll also feel Bennoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sadness and confusion when chaos erupts. Benno survives, but he knows that his life, and the lives of those on the street where he lives, will never be the same.

Canadian JosĂŠe Bisaillonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s full-colour illustrations en-

In Appreciation We wish to express our sincere appreciation to all our friends in the Ottawa Jewish community for their generous donations, cards and expressions of concern and sympathy during the recent loss of Pearl, a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister and aunt.

Please know that your thoughtfulness and kindness provided comfort and support at a very difficult time.

Please accept this as a personal thank you.

The family of the late Pearl Moskovic

By Meg Wiviott; illustrated by JosĂŠe Bisaillon

hance Bennoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perspective on his world in an effective and interesting â&#x20AC;&#x153;mixture of collage, drawings and digital montage.â&#x20AC;?

Also of interest is an afterword about Kristallnacht with two photographs from Yad Vashem and two bibliographies, one about sources and one listing other books about the Holocaust for children.

In sum, Benno and the Night of Broken Glass is both good storytelling and a unique, effective, cautious introduction to the Holocaust for young children.

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Think of all your old photos, slides, 8mm & 16mm home movies in boxes in your basement. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Memories in a boxâ&#x20AC;?.

I can convert those â&#x20AC;&#x153;memoriesâ&#x20AC;? with an easy-to-use format onto a DVD. Just sit back and enjoy â&#x20AC;&#x153;your memoriesâ&#x20AC;? on TV. For more information, I can be reached at

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Page 26 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 5, 2010

A Jewish bubby encounters New York yoga culture Yiddish Yoga: Ruthie’s Adventures in Love, Loss, and the Lotus Position

By Lisa Grunberger Newmarket Press Hardcover 112 pages There’s a hilarious line, one among many, in The Drowsy Chaperone, the Tony-award-winning musical that recently played at the National Arts Centre. “What is it about the Asians that fascinates Caucasians?”

Substitute Jews for Caucasians and with Yiddish Yoga: Ruthie’s Adventures in Love, Loss, and the Lotus Position, we have the latest installment in the ongoing cultural attempt to blend karma with kosher.

Whether it’s Jubus – Jews who practise Buddhism – or the incorporation of Eastern meditation practises into some contemporary synagogues, Jews and Asians seem to have a natural affinity.

Surely, the late cultural critic Edward Said, author of Orientalism, would have much to say about the Jewish fascination with their Asian others.

More prosaically, perhaps this long-held relationship stems from the culinary love affair of many Jews with Americanized Chinese food – helped along by Chinese restaurants being among the few dining establishments open on Christmas Eve. Or, perhaps, it’s the search for meaning, that one local rabbi spoke about in his High Holiday sermon, that has led some Jews to seek out Eastern religions when Judaism has much to say about meaningfulness and intentionality, he argued.

Whatever the reasons, Lisa Grunberger’s slim volume of humour-prose-with-a-bissel-philosophy provides a new way of viewing the most popular aspects of Jewish culture and many well-known Yiddish words through a contemporary and amusing lens.

The book’s premise is that a fictional granddaughter has purchased a set of yoga classes for her 72-year-old, recently widowed bubby. The pages progress with quick takes on the encounter of an aging New York Jew with yoga culture peppered loosely with Yiddish words and phrases along the way – a sort of Frisco Kid of today’s yoga-studio-dotted Manhattan.

Grunberger, a PhD in religion who teaches writing at Temple University, weaves such themes as mourning and loss into the light-touch prose. Ruthie’s asana practice is like “lighting a yartzeit candle” for her late husband.

Other themes include aging – practising a pose she injures her hip, the “replacement side;” and familial reconciliation – Ruthie and her estranged sister repair their relationship.

And, everywhere, there is good-natured culture clash.

The Jewish propensity for kvetching is contrasted with the Zen-inducing quality of yoga.

The fish pose is juxtaposed with – you guessed it – gefilte fish; karma with bashert; meditative silence with the loquaciousness of Jewish culture; and living in the present with the living past of bereavement.

The Yiddish terms are integrated seamlessly into the text, sometimes accompanied by a quick translation, though there’s a handy glossary at the back for unfamiliar words.

Book Review Mira Sucharov Grunberger, much younger than her protagonist, manages to humanize and demystify aging, breathing sexual life into the grandmother she portrays.

“Sometimes, I must confess, I do the postures wrong intentionally. Bubeleh, adjust, adjust!” she breathes silently to her (young, handsome, Jewish, male) yoga instructor.

Soon, Ruthie’s longing for human touch gives way to the vicissitudes of online dating. And we follow with interest, though all too briefly, as the book ends almost as quickly as it begins.

Yiddish Yoga is ultimately cuter – though life affirming – than it is fascinating or cutting in its comedy. The humour is much more predictable than David M. Bader’s hilarious Haikus for Jews and much less edgy than Ellis Weiner and Barbara Davilman’s Yiddish with Dick and Jane, two similarly-marketed books.

But it’s still valuable for helping, however modestly, to keep Yiddish hip and contemporary amidst what many fear might be the language’s ultimate demise.

While others, like Canadian Yiddish scholar and humourist Michael Wex (Born to Kvetch), present much deeper, more clever and more informative analyses of Yiddish logic and culture, Yiddish Yoga still remains an easy and enjoyable entrée into thinking about many relevant life themes in the context of Ashkenazic Jewry’s linguistic heritage.

And, it’s compact enough to fit into a yoga bag.

Flowers on Gravesites

It is time once again to make arrangements for the purchase and planting of flowers at the cemeteries which must be made through the Ottawa Jewish Cemetery Committee. This ensures a uniform price structure and guarantees maintenance of the flowerbeds. Below you will find details for the present price structure. Orders must be confirmed and paid for by May 1, 2010.

A Single Plot: $128.57 + gst $6.43 = $135.00 • A Double Plot: $257.14 + gst $12.86 = $270.00 • Across Planting (adjoining plots): $192.86 + gst $9.64 = $202.50 Please forward your requests for planting along with your payment to:

✄

Flowers – Jewish Memorial Gardens, 21 Nadolny Sachs Private, Ottawa, Ontario K2A 1R9 or by fax 613-798-4695

PLEASE

RETURN THIS PORTION WITH YOUR CHEQUE.

Name:

Address:

Telephone:

Province, Postal Code:

WE

ALSO ACCEPT

Credit card number: Plot Name

VISA

AND

MASTERCARD.

Expiration date: Cemetery

Section

Row/Plot

Amount

For additional information, please call Jean Myers at 613-798-4696, ext. 242

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 5, 2010 – Page 27

FOUNDATION DONATIONS Our future is in your hands

Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation

RUTH AND IRVING AARON ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Pearl Moskovic by Sara Vered.

To make a donation and/or send a tribute card, call Carolene Preap (613-798-4696 ext. 232) e-mail: cpreap@jewishottawa.com • website: www.OJCF.ca

Join us in building our community by supporting these local agencies SHIRLEY AND SHIER BERMAN FUND FOR OTTAWA JEWISH ARCHIVES Birthday wishes to: Shirley Berman by Aryeh and Shirley Kumove;

by Gordon and Laura Spergel; by Fenja and Irwin Brodo; by Gerald and Hannah Halpern; by Ed and Miriam Sussman; and by Sheila and Morton Baslaw.

MENDEL AND VALERIE GOOD HOLOCAUST CONTINUING EDUCATION FUND In appreciation to: Shimon Fogel by Harry Prizant, Sarah Silverstein and 2010 MOL Group.

Moshe Kraus by Harry Prizant, Sarah Silverstein and 2010 MOL Group.

Lindsay Rothenberg by Harry Prizant, Sarah Silverstein and 2010 MOL Group.

GREENBERG FAMILIES LIBRARY ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Sam Hennick by Roger Greenberg and Cindy Feingold.

HILLEL ACADEMY ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Jon Carr by Adrienne and Chuck Shabsove; and

by Michelle and Richard Sachs.

HILLEL LODGE LEGACY FUND In memory of: Polly Cohen by Adrienne and Chuck Shabsove.

Brother of Susan Korngold by Lee RosasShapiro, Rosa Laborde and Devora Shapiro.

JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES AGENCY FUND In memory of: Jerry Taylor by Joseph and Joanne Shabsove.

Jon Carr by Gloria, Martin, Shanna and Serenna Taller.

OTTAWA JEWISH CEMETERIES ZICHARON FUND In appreciation to: Shelly Fiennes by Beth Roodman.

OTTAWA JEWISH COMMUNITY ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Mina Dover-Cohen by Marilyn and William Newman.

The Board of Directors of the Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation acknowledges with thanks contributions to the following funds as of March 17, 2010.

OTTAWA POST JEWISH WAR VETERANS FUND In memory of: Al Cohen by Mildred Kronick and family.

AJA 50+ ENDOWMENT FUND AKIVA EVENING HIGH SCHOOL ENDOWMENT FUND ADINA BEN PORAT MACHON SARAH TORAH EDUCATION FUND DORIS BRONSTEIN TALMUD TORAH AFTERNOON SCHOOL FUND BARRY FISHMAN OTTAWA JEWISH BULLETIN SCHOLARSHIP FUND MARTIN GLATT PARLIAMENT LODGE B’NAI BRITH PAST PRESIDENTS’ FUND HILLEL ACADEMY CHILDREN OF THE BOOK AWARD FUND JEWISH COMMUNITY CEMETERY HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FUND JEWISH MEN’S SOFTBALL LEAGUE FUND JEWISH STUDENTS ASSOCIATION HILLEL FUND JEWISH YOUTH LIBRARY OF OTTAWA ENDOWMENT FUND DAVID “THE BEAR” KARDASH CAMP B’NAI BRITH MEMORIAL FUND OTTAWA JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY FUND OTTAWA LODGE B’NAI BRITH #885 PAST PRESIDENTS FUND OTTAWA LODGE B’NAI BRITH #885 PRESIDENTS SCHOLARSHIP FUND OTTAWA MODERN JEWISH SCHOOL FUND OTTAWA TORAH INSTITUTE TORAH EDUCATION FUND RAMBAM MAIMONIDES JEWISH CONTINUITY FUND SOLOWAY JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTRE EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION FUND SOLOWAY JEWISH COMMUNITY SUMMER CAMP SCHOLARSHIP FUND SOLOWAY JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTRE ENDOWMENT FUND SOLOWAY JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTRE YOUTH SERVICES FUND TORAH ACADEMY OF OTTAWA TORAH EDUCATION FUND SARA AND ZEEV VERED ISRAEL CULTURAL PROGRAM FUND YITZHAK RABIN HIGH SCHOOL FUND IN MEMORY OF EVA WINTHROP

ABELSON FAMILY ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Polly Cohen by Tracey Kronick and Al Abelson.

Al Brody by Tracey Kronick and Al Abelson.

ROSE AND LOUIS ACHBAR MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Irv Singer by Zelda Freedman.

Pearl Moskovic by Zelda Freedman.

Al Cohen by Zelda Freedman.

APPOTIVE FAMILY ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Jerry Taylor by Jeff Appotive; and by Edith and Sharon Appotive ANNE AND LOUIS ARRON MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Polly Cohen from Daphne and Stanley Arron.

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

JAMIE BEREZIN ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Polly Cohen by Shelley, Gary and Jamie Berezin.

Lisa Silverman by Shelley, Gary and Jamie Berezin.

ALEX AND MOLLIE BETCHERMAN MEMORIAL FUND In observance of the Yahrzeit of: Mollie Betcherman, a beloved mother and grandmother by Joy Rosenstein, Bonnie Greenberg and Ronald Singer.

Lena Michelson, a beloved sister and aunt by Joy Rosenstein, Bonnie Greenberg and Ronald Singer.

MARTIN AND ELLIE BLACK ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Jon Carr by Marty and Ellie Black.

R’fuah Sh’lemah to: Charles Rotenberg by Marty and Ellie Black.

RONALD BODNOFF MEMORIAL FUND In observance of the Yahrzeit of; Ronald Samuel Bodnoff, a beloved husband and father by Rhoda Bodnoff and family.

SAM AND ANN BROZOVSKY ENDOWMENT FUND Mazel Tov to: Jeff Fine and Donna Klaiman on the engagement of their daughter Sara by Ann Brozovsky.

TILLIE AND HARRY CHERM MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Morton Roodman by Sol and Sylvia Kaiman.

Special birthday wishes to: Mollie Fine on her 95th birthday by Sylvia and Sol Kaiman; and by Joel and Gaye Taller and family.

DONALD AND LEAH CHODIKOFF ENDOWMENT FUND Happy Passover to: Leah Chodikoff by Wayne Chodikoff.

HOWARD, JEFFREY, ANDREW, MICHAEL, GREGORY AND ZACHARY COGAN FUND In memory of: Al Cohen by Fred and Lisa Cogan.

In observance of the Yahrzeit of: Sarah Cogan, a beloved mother, mother-in-law, grandmother and friend by Fred and Lisa Cogan and family.

JACK AND SARAH COGAN MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Polly Cohen by Leonard and Rhona Cogan.

EDWARD AND FERN COHEN COMMUNITY ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Mina Dover-Cohen by Fern Cohen and children.

ISRAEL AND POLLY COHEN ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Polly Cohen by Sandra and Norman Slover; by Jordan, Amy, Ty, Julia and Miley Greenberg; by Board and Staff of Ledbury Park Hebrew School; by Robyn, Jay, Josh and Jamie Silver; by Sandra, Eli and Aaron Hoffman; and by Susan, Bruce, Jordan and Jessie Stein.

Al Cohen by Sandra, Eli and Aaron Hoffman.

JOAN AND MICHAEL COMAY MEMORIAL FUND In observance of: Jonathan Stern, beloved son of Jill Stern by Fred and Lisa Cogan.

SANDI AND EDDY COOK ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Albert Wasserman by Sandi, Eddy and Samy Cook.

Al Cohen by Sandi and Eddy Cook and family.

Special birthday wishes to: Laurie Jenshil by Sandi and Eddy Cook and family.

NATHAN AND REBA DIENER ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Sam Schrier by Joel Diener.

DOLANSKY FAMILY FUND In memory of: Polly Cohen by Bernie and Donna Dolansky.

Jon Carr by Bernie and Donna Dolansky.

CYNTHIA AND ABE ENGEL ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Morton Roodman by Cynthia Engel.

Polly Cohen by Cynthia Engel and family.

KATIE ELLEN FARBER MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Polly Cohen by Sue and Steve Farber.

MARJORIE AND MICHAEL FELDMAN FAMILY FUND Birthday wishes to: Michael Feldman by Chuck and Bonnie Merovitz.

Jack Torjman by Marjorie and Michael Feldman.

In memory of: Joan Kizell by Marjorie and Michael Feldman.

FRAN AND SID GERSHBERG FAMILY FUND In memory of: Mother of Margie Stober by Fran and Sid Gershberg.

Continued on page 28

Page 28 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 5, 2010

FOUNDATION DONATIONS EVA, DIANE AND JACK GOLDFIELD MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Al Cohen by Morley Goldfield; and by Anita and Ed Landis and family.

Polly Cohen by Morley Goldfield; and by Anita and Ed Landis and family.

BARBARA AND SYDNEY GREENBERG ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Pearl Moskovic by Barbara and Sydney Greenberg.

R’fuah Sh’lemah to: Rickie Saslove by Barbara and Sydney Greenberg.

Mazel Tov to: Irina and Eric Zunder on the birth of their daughter

by Barbara and Sydney Greenberg.

Lillian and Mark Zunder on the birth of their granddaughter by Barbara and Sydney Greenberg.

GROSSMAN KLEIN FAMILIES FUND In memory of: Sam Gershon by Vera and Leslie Klein and family.

Hy Calof by Vera and Leslie Klein and family.

Sarah Swedler by Vera and Leslie Klein and family.

Doris Finn by Vera and Leslie Klein and family.

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

HIRAM AND LILLIAN KATHNELSON FAMILY FUND In memory of: Morton Roodman by Anita and Michael Roodman.

Al Cohen by Anita and Michael Roodman.

NORMAN AND SONIA KIZELL FOUNDATION In observance of the Yahrzeit of: Sonia Kizell, a beloved aunt by Herb and Pam Beiles and family.

SHARON KOFFMAN ATHLETIC SCHOLARSHIP FUND Birthday wishes to: Steven Yanover by Fay Koffman.

HARRY AND GERTRUDE (PLEET) KOTLARSKY MEMORIAL FUND In observance of the Yahrzeit of: Gertrude Kotlarsky, a beloved mother and grandmother by John Kotlarsky and family.

HANSER FAMILY ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Moses Hanser by Harriet Wagman.

KOVOD ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Jon Carr by Michelle and Richard Sachs.

HY AND PAULINE HOCHBERG ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Al Cohen by Pauline Hochberg.

Mazel Tov to: Sara Vered on being honoured by JNF by Pauline Hochberg.

ANNICE AND SYDNEY KRONICK FAMILY FUND In memory of: Sarah Satov by Sydney Kronick and Barbara Sugarman.

Happy Passover to: Seryl and Charles Kushner by Alice and Richard

Four grandparents, one tombstone

By Dr. Andre Engel I recently lost my mother, of blessed memory, after a 4 year battle with cancer.

Although we still miss her very intensely we were privileged to have her with us until a relatively ripe old age of 85. She was the matriarch of our family always ready to dispense abundant love, sage advice and delicious recipes to all members of our family.

She lived to see her 3 granddaughters get married and to enjoy the company of 3 great-grandchildren. Contemplating these beautiful multi-generational relationships that existed, made me think of my own grand-parents, of blessed memory.

Unfortunately, I had absolutely no relationship with them. They all passed away before I was born. Only one of my 4 grandparents had the privilege of dying a natural death! That was a my paternal grandfather Ben-Zion Engel, after who I was named.

My other 3 grand-parents were deported in cattle cars from a small village in Hungary and were exterminated in Auschwitz. No burial. No tombstone. We don’t even know the exact date of their murder. I say Kaddish for them on a day we estimate was close to their demise. How sad that even

their Yahrzeit is guesswork!

Rabbi Emil Fackenheim, an eminent German-Jewish philosopher, has written extensively about the Holocaust. His contribution to our thinking about the Holocaust was his “614th Commandment”: Do not give Hilter a posthumous victory. Do not abandon Judaism as a result of the tragedy of the Holocaust.

Do not forget the innocent victims of Hitler’s murderous plans. Zachor! Remember!

It is to this end that my wife Shelley and I have opened two new funds: The Bence and Ethel Engel Holocaust Memorial Fund and The Henrik and Wilma Gelberger Holocaust Memorial Fund. In remembrance of my late grand-parents, the allocation from these memorial funds is directed to the JFO Shoah/Holocaust Committee.

May their memories, along with the other six million that perished, be a blessing and an inspiration in our lives.

Visit OJCF.ca or contact the Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation at 613.798.4696 ext. 252 for information on establishing a memorial fund in honour of a loved one or someone dear to you. It’s truly a gift that will last forever.

Kronick.

Sally and Elliott Levitan by Alice and Richard Kronick.

ISSIE AND EDITH LANDAU ENDOWMENT FUND Birthday wishes to: Reeva Goldberg by Edie Landau.

LEON AND BYRTHA LECKIE MEMORIAL FUND In memory of: Leon and Byrtha Leckie by Carmel Romboug.

Leon Leckie by Welch LLP. HARRY AND ZENA LEIKIN ENDOWMENT FUND Mazel Tov to: Sunny and John Tavel on the birth of their granddaughter by Libby and Stan Katz.

NORMAN AND ISABEL LESH ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Polly Cohen by Norm and Isabel Lesh.

SALLY AND ELLIOTT LEVITAN ENDOWMENT FUND Mazel Tov to: Sara Vered on being honoured at the Negev Dinner

by Sally and Elliott Levitan.

In memory of: Al Cohen by Sally and Elliott Levitan.

Lucy Mergler Bercovitch by Sally and Elliott Levitan.

Good health to: Rickie Saslove by Sally and Elliott Levitan.

Birthday wishes to: Eric Elkin by Sally and Elliott Levitan.

ARNOLD AND ROSE LITHWICK FAMILY COMMUNITY ENDOWMENT FUND Anniversary wishes to: Yvonne and Harvey Lithwick by Pam and Herb Beiles and family.

IRVING AND ELLEN LITHWICK ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Ellen Lithwick by Sari, James, Bram and Hannah Diamond.

ANNE (BLAIR) AND HYMAN MAYBERGER ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Polly Cohen by Shelley and Morris Schachnow, Anne Blair.

SEYMOUR AND JOY MENDER F AMILY FUND In memory of: Lisa Silverman by Joy, Seymour and Jared Mender.

CHUCK AND BONNIE MEROVITZ FAMILY FUND Mazel Tov to: Lois and Jeff Eisen on the birth of their granddaughter Willow Charlotte Gould by Chuck and Bonnie Merovitz.

Helaine and Jack Gould on the birth of their granddaughter Willow Charlotte Gould by Chuck and Bonnie Merovitz.

RHODA AND JEFFREY MILLER FAMILY FUND In memory of: Morton Roodman by Rhoda, Jeffrey, Howard and Sarah Miller.

PEARL AND DAVID MOSKOVIC ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Pearl Moskovic by Yvonne and Harvey Lithwick and family.

JACK AND MIRIAM PLEET ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Al Cohen by Miriam and Jack Pleet.

GERALD AND MARY-BELLE PULVERMACHER FAMILY ENDOWMENT FUND In memory of: Polly Cohen by Gerry and Mary-Bell Pulvermacher.

ALTI AND BEREL RODAL FAMILY FUND Mazel Tov to: Issie and Leah Scarowsky on the marriage of Shuli & Tzvi by Alti and Berel Rodal.

Chaya and Yonah Burr on Aryeh’s Bar Mitzvah by Alti and Berel Rodal.

Dina and Mendel Blum on Leibel’s Bar Mitzvah by Alti and Berel Rodal.

Rabbi and Mrs. Samuel Rodal on the births of their grandchildren and Mushki’s engagement by Alti and Berel Rodal.

Tom and Shaindel Steinberg on the marriages of Yehuda Aryeh and Miri, and of Rivkah and Yosef by Alti and Berel Rodal.

Steve and Laurie Gordon on the marriage of Sarah and Alex by Alti and Berel Rodal.

Gertie and Jonathan Speigel on the marriage of Ian and Tracy by Alti and Berel Rodal.

Continued on page 29

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin â&#x20AC;&#x201C; April 5, 2010 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Page 29

FOUNDATION DONATIONS Rabbi and Mrs. Shmuel Lew on the marriage of Cheved and Zevy by Alti and Berel Rodal.

Paul and Jennie Claman on the births of Ashira and Shmuel by Alti and Berel Rodal.

A.J. and Ruth Freiman on Arielâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s engagement by Alti and Berel Rodal.

Ayala Sher on the marriage of Laura and Aaron by Alti and Berel Rodal.

Jacques and Judith Rostenne on the birth of baby Ilana Rivka by Alti and Berel Rodal.

Ari and Erin Galandauer on the birth of Miriam Malka by Alti and Berel Rodal.

Leah and Reuven Bulka on the marriage of Rachel & Sariel by Alti and Berel Rodal.

Chaya and Mordechai Berger on the marriage of Schneur and Rivky by Alti and Berel Rodal.

Herb Gray on completing two terms/8 years of service as Co-Chairman of the International Joint Commission by Alti and Berel Rodal.

Michael and Tamar Propp on Oronâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bar Mitzvah

by Alti and Berel Rodal.

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Page 30 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 5, 2010

Culinary coexistence in Jerusalem – part two Editor’s note: This is the second part of Cindy Feingold’s report on her late-January culinary tour of Jerusalem. Part one was published in the March 8 issue of the Bulletin.

After our visit to Zalatimo’s, a Muslim bakery in the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem, we went off to tour the Western Wall tunnels. I toured the tunnels in 2004, but more have been uncovered since then, so I wanted to see them again.

At one point, we were herded onto a platform where we paused to watch a video. It explained how they moved those huge stones to build structures back in Herod’s time.

Using wooden wheels and an ancient system of pulleys and levers, they managed to haul these four-ton stones. It was fascinating to see how it was done. Even more fascinating was the plaque above the video screen thanking the Sterling-Goldschmidt-Tenenbaum Family from Schenectady, N.Y. for their donation in making the video available.

There are dedication opportunities everywhere!

After the tunnels tour, Shari Robins, my Jerusalem guide, took me for a late morning snack. In the middle of the Muslim Quarter, on the Via Dolorosa, stands the Austrian Hospice. It was built in 1863 as a refuge for pilgrims coming to visit Jerusalem. It functioned as a hospital from 1948 to 1985, but is now used as a guest house. It is an oasis of calm and tranquility in the middle of the bustling Old City.

Shari rang the bell and the gate opened. She mumbled something to the little man at the door that sounded like “The password is strudel,” and we were whisked up the stairs to a Viennese café.

We ordered tea and apple strudel and took it outside to a beautiful rooftop terraced garden. There is a wonderful view of the Old City from there and the strudel with whipped cream was amazing.

After that, we waddled over to the Eucalyptus restaurant for lunch. Eucalyptus is located a short walk from the Jaffa Gate of the Old City, on Hutzot Hayotzer, in the artist’s

Made with Love Cindy Feingold colony. The menu focuses on foods indigenous to Israel.

The chef/owner, Moshe Basson, is originally from Iraq and, when he’s not in the restaurant, he is likely in the Judean Hills gathering wild plants and herbs.

Cooking with herbs is nothing new, but what sets Basson’s cooking apart is that the wild plants and herbs he uses are all mentioned in the Bible. He also incorporates the Seven Species mentioned in the Bible – wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates/date honey – into his menu.

Basson has been called a “food historian and culinary storyteller” and “food archaeologist” who unearths old recipes that are in danger of being forgotten. I just call him utterly charming! Shari had arranged the lunch and he told her he would plan a special meal for us, with lots of little tastes.

We were greeted by Basson’s son, equally charming and very cute – around 20 years old and single, I think!

He seated us and said his dad was finishing in the kitchen and would be out soon. We were brought a glass of cava with pomegranate seeds floating in it. This was followed by a quartet of dips and pita bread.

The first dip was walnut and cilantro, the second was hyssop, a delicate herb, and the third was sun-dried tomato, cumin and lemon. With a mischievous smile, the younger Basson told us that the fourth was the mystery dip. We kept tasting and guessing and finally begged him to tell us what it was. It was made from a purée of black-eyed peas and a confit of onion, garlic and cumin. It was delicious.

This was followed by tiny bowls of salads. We had carrot salad, potato salad with seven herbs, lemon and sage oil, green onion salad with lemon olive oil and sumac, tabbouleh and, finally, lentil salad.

Young Basson then brought out a smoky char-grilled eggplant with tahini and pomegranate molasses drizzled all

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over. It was silky and addictive.

Moshe Basson then joined us, bringing tiny espresso cups filled with three different soups for us to taste. We had nettle soup, lentil soup and Jerusalem artichoke soup. Basson’s Jerusalem artichoke soup is a culinary wonder. He was testing a new version of the recipe, using smoked almond milk instead of regular almond milk and wanted our opinion. I loved it and wanted to ask for another bowlful!

The recipe (for the original soup, not the smoked version) can be found online at tinyurl.com/artichoke-soup.

The soup sampling was followed by a little bowl of mallow, a leafy green vegetable. It was cooked and had a mellow gentle flavour. I want to say that it reminded me of creamed spinach, but that would be unfair to the delicious mallow. I ate it all up.

Our next course was the house specialty, fresh figs stuffed with chicken breast slivers and served with a tamarind sauce. The tanginess of the tamarind sauce was a perfect foil for the sweetness of the figs. Not only was it delicious, but it was breathtaking to look at.

This was followed by a stuffed Jerusalem sage leaf, sort of like your mother’s cabbage rolls, but much better! Then he brought out tiny ground beef kebabs with a side dish of smoked green wheat known as khubeiza. This is the wild wheat that was eaten during the siege of 1948.

Our ninth and final course was dessert. Although we protested and said we were too full, they brought it out anyway. And, of course, for research purposes, I had to taste it!

It was another stunning plate with a poached pear filled with an almond cream/paste and balouza, also known as Paradise Ice. Imagine a Lebanese version of panna cotta. To the side was a drizzling of tahini and date honey in a spider web pattern. Everything was delicate and gossamer light.

As we sat and chatted, I learned that Basson is a founding member of Chefs for Peace, a group of 25 Arabs and Jews coming from all three monotheistic faiths. All share a passion for culinary delights and commitment to excellence in food preparation and presentation. Their goal is to demonstrate how; using long sharp knives and flames, Jews, Christians and Muslims can create positive and delicious things.

I sat there with my belly full of Christian apple strudel, Muslim flaky nut pastry and a nine course Jewish lunch. I felt full, both physically and spiritually. If only my stomach could be a model for world peace.

Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 5, 2010 – Page 31

IAW comes and goes with barely a whimper Israel Apartheid Week (IAW) came and went with barely a whimper this year on both the Carleton University and University of Ottawa campuses. In the past, IAW has meant mass protests and arguments from both sides and we, as Jewish students, have experienced demonstrations that have been offensive and threatening. Thankfully, this year, the IAW campaign was not as effective.

More successful was the overlapping week of events organized by the pro-Israel students of the Israel Awareness Committee (IAC).

IAC member Alexandra Izso, a student at Carleton, explained the stance the committee took in countering IAW. “The Israel Awareness Committee supports a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, peace for Israelis and peace for Palestinians. We do not believe that IAW promotes peace in any way,” she said.

“The main focus of this year’s IAW was to promote the international BDS [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions] campaign. The BDS campaign is a simplistic portrayal of a complex reality. It closes the door to academic discourse, which is an important avenue to achieving lasting peace. It is important, as Canadians, to recognize and seek out peaceful solutions. We

Campus Life Justin Dahan

need to put an end to IAW and the BDS campaign.”

Alexandra quoted Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, who wrote last year that IAW “betrays the values of mutual respect that Canada has always promoted” and that IAW “should be condemned by all who value civil and respectful debate about the tragic conflict in the Middle East.”

Keeping the argument respectful and not clouded by personal attacks, the Israel Awareness Committee combated arguments that are usually made with bias, hatred and anti-Semitic sentiment.

“This year’s IAW, fortunately, was not one of violence like campuses in Canada have experienced in the past. However,

the atmosphere on campus was greatly affected by the further polarization of students due to IAW. As students, either at Carleton, uOttawa or Algonquin, we need to be a united front regarding this issue by engaging in academic dialogue and working towards a peaceful solution,” said Alexandra.

In the past, IAW has been conducted in an appalling matter.

Anti-Israel propaganda has portrayed Israelis similarly to how the Nazis used anti-Semitic propaganda during the Holocaust.

The most notable example of this was last year’s IAW poster, which depicted an Israeli helicopter firing a missile at a Palestinian child in Gaza. The poster was so offensive, it was banned by the administrations of both Carleton and uOttawa.

With many politicians denouncing IAW, the effect it has on campus seems to be diminishing. We can only hope there will come a time when IAW will be completely off the annual campus schedule. But, the IAC has done exactly what its name suggests in helping to raise awareness of Israel and of many facets of Israeli life that the majority of students on campus might never have known.

The days when most students learned ‘facts’ about Israel from IAW is over. IAW cannot compete with the Israel Awareness Committee.

‘I have learned the value and importance of Jewish approaches to the world’ Passover is when we make our annual pilgrimage to Toronto. That is where most of our family is and the home of our eldest son acts like a magnet drawing brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts.

Every year, we have a debate about what clothes to take: winter or spring or summer? The weather is almost always unpredictable. And, sure as shootin’, the weather will always change to ensure we have the wrong clothes.

Murphy’s Law, which says “anything that can go wrong will go wrong,” sounds like it should be Irish. But I think it applies to Jews when we forget to say things like kenehora or Chas v’cholileh. A few weeks ago, on St. Patrick’s Day, I might have said this contrariness of the universe is enough to drive you to drink. After all, if things are going to be bad, why not have a good time?

But I have learned the value and importance of Jewish approaches to the world. Have you noticed that, when you ask Orthodox Jews how they are, they often answer with “Baruch HaShem?”

I’m tempted to ask, “Do you mean Baruch HaShem good, or Baruch HaShem bad?” as they would answer the same way in either case.

The essential notion is that, when you are asked that question, your answer already refers to the immediate past, about which you won’t be able to do anything anyway, so you might as well just accept it. If you can’t be ecstatic about what has just happened, maybe you can be happy about something else.

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By the way, this is not necessarily fatalism. It does not mean that you should just sit on your hands and wait for what will be to be. It means that once something is, you should move on.

Sometimes, we try to change what the future will bring, in peculiar ways. We want to know what is predicted. Talking on the phone with my six-year-old grandson, he told me he was consulting a fortune teller. After a brief pause, he told me he was going to be in the Olympics.

Recently, when I was at his house, he got me to play with his finger game using folded paper with different colours and numbers on it. When he got to the end, he unfolded the flap and told me I was going to be in the Olympics. I had discovered his fortune teller.

I’ve had a pinched sciatic nerve for the past three months and, for a while, I was using a walker. At a conference, I sat in a wheelchair. Apparently, I had not done enough to ward off the evil eye. But, there is, seemingly, an upside to everything.

People have been extremely kind to me. My wife has been solicitous and my colleagues have brought me tea and coffee

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So, you see, this is why I have taken to giving the Orthodox answer when people ask me how I am. When you can be just glad you’ve made it this far, kenehora, why mess with the future?

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Page 32 – Ottawa Jewish Bulletin – April 5, 2010

WHAT’S GOING ON April 5 to 25, 2010 WEEKLY EVENTS SUNDAYS Mazeltots, sponsored by Westboro Jewish Montessori School, for ages up to 4 years, 192 Switzer Avenue, 10:00 am.

Info: 613-729-7712.

CANDLELIGHTING EVE OF THE SEVENTH DAY OF PASSOVER Apr 4 ✡ 7:16 pm EVE OF EIGHTH DAY OF PASSOVER Apr 5 ✡ AFTER 8:20 pm

BEFORE Apr 9 Apr 16 Apr 23

✡ ✡ ✡

7:22 pm 7:31 pm 7:40 pm

MONDAYS & THURSDAYS Motorin’ Munchkins gym drop-in for children aged 1-5 years with parent or caregiver accompaniment, sponsored by SJCC Ganon Preschool, 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. Info: 613-798-9818, ext. 280.

TUESDAYS Israeli Folkdancing, learn dances, have fun, no experience or partner necessary, Hillel Academy, 31 Nadolny Sachs Private, 7:00 pm. Info: 613-722-9323.

WEDNESDAYS Coffee Club for parents of children up to 3 years. Children play, parents enjoy coffee and

conversation, sponsored by SJCC Ganon Pre-School, 9:00 to 11:30 am. Info: 613-798-9818, ext. 280.

For more community listings, visit ottawa.planitjewish.com

7:00 pm. Info: 613-798-4696, ext. 253.

MONDAY, APRIL 12 National Yom HaShoah Commemoration, sponsored by the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem, Canadian War Museum, 1 Vimy Place, 3:30 pm. Free transportation provided from the SJCC at 2:30 pm, returning at 6 pm. Seating is limited. Event info: 416-785-1333. To reserve a bus seat, 613-798-4696, ext.

253.

FRIDAYS Shabbat Shalom with SJCC Ganon Preschool, for children up to 5 years with parent or caregiver accompaniment, 9:30 am. Info: 613-7989818, ext. 280.

THURSDAY, APRIL 8 Yiddish-Speaking Group for Seniors, sponsored by Jewish Family Services, 2255 Carling Avenue, suite 300, 10:00 am.

Info: 613-722-2225, ext. 325. (repeats April 22)

SUNDAY, APRIL 18 Yom Hazikaron Ceremony for the victims of war and terror in Israel, sponsored by the Vered Israel Cultural Centre and the SJCC, 7:30 pm. Info: 613-7989818, ext. 243.

SUNDAY, APRIL 11 Community Yom HaShoah Commemoration, sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Ottawa’s Shoah Committee, featuring Eva Ollson, survivor and educator, who will share her story,

TUESDAY, APRIL 20 Flag-Raising Ceremony for Yom Ha’Atzmaut (Israel Independence Day), sponsored by

the SJCC and the Vered Israel Cultural and Educational Program, 10:00 am. Info: 613-7989818, ext. 243.

Yom Ha’atzmaut 2010 Celebration, sponsored by the SJCC and the Vered Israel Cultural and Educational Program. Food and activities for all ages, Aberdeen Pavillion, Lansdowne Park, 5:00 pm. Info: 613-798-9818, ext.

225.

SUNDAY, APRIL 25 Spring Luncheon, sponsored by the Women’s Division of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa

with special guest speaker Nancy Lublin, founder of Dress for Success and CEO of Do Something Inc., Congregation Beth Shalom, 151 Chapel Street, 11:30 am. Info: 613-798-4696, ext. 270.

SHALOM OTTAWA Rogers Television 22 Shalom Ottawa, community television program, Rogers 22, 12:00 pm.

COMING SOON WEDNESDAY, MAY 5 JET’s Jewish Unity Live 18th Anniversary Event with special guest speaker Lori Palatnik, comedian Marc Weiner, and honouring 18 dedicated individuals. National Gallery of Canada, 380 Sussex Drive, 7:00 pm.

Info: 613-798-9818, ext. 247.

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.

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The CONDOLENCE COLUMN is offered as a public service to the community.

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For a listing in this column, please call Carolene Preap, 613-798-4696, ext. 232.

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Readers and advertisers are advised the next edition of the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin will be published on Monday April 26, 2010.

The deadline date is Wednesday April 7, 2010.