November 10, 2014: A day that strengthened our understanding of what it means to be Canadian

By Michael Regenstreif

It was a sad, scary and strange day here in Ottawa.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014 was so very sad, of course, because Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, a Canadian Forces reservist standing ceremonial guard at our National War Memorial, was murdered, shot cowardly in the back by a terrorist, leaving behind a five-year-old son he was, by all accounts, devoted to.

It was a scary day. As quickly as the news broke of the attack at the War Memorial, we heard that Parliament itself – the very seat of our Canadian democracy – was under attack. The Hill and much of downtown Ottawa was locked down as reports of gunfire in Centre Block quickly spread through the city.

It was, we learned, the same gunman who shot Cirillo at the War Memorial that launched the attack on Parliament. And it all happened so fast, apparently less than two minutes from the time of the Cirillo murder until he entered Centre Block. Samearn Son, a brave security guard on duty at the door, saw the gun and tried to wrestle it away. Son was shot in the foot (he was treated at the Ottawa Hospital and released), but his actions alerted security staff to the danger.

House of Commons Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers, a veteran former RCMP officer, quickly went to his office, retrieved his firearm and, with other security officers and RCMP officers, engaged the attacker in a gunfight killing him.

All this took place while the parties were holding their weekly Wednesday morning caucus meetings. The Conservative Party – including the prime minister and cabinet ministers – and New Democratic Party meetings, in fact, were taking place behind closed doors in the very corridor, the Hall of Honour, where the shoot-out took place.

Although the terrorist was killed just moments after his spree began at the War Memorial before 10 am, Ottawa remained a scary place for many more hours through the rest of the morning, the afternoon and well into the evening.

Although it turned out he was a lone wolf, there were initial reports of two, possibly three terrorists on the loose in downtown Ottawa or in the wooded areas behind the Parliament buildings.

There was an early report of shots fired near the Château Laurier Hotel, literally just steps from both the National War Memorial and Parliament Hill, which turned out not to be true. Then there were reports of shots fired in the nearby Rideau Centre shopping mall. Later, those reports changed to shots fired somewhere outside the Rideau Centre. These reports also turned out to be false.

Meanwhile, cell phone networks all over Ottawa were overloaded and jammed for hours. MPs, Hill staffers and people working in offices blocks away remained under lockdown as rumours swirled through the city. And, when the Ottawa Police and RCMP held a news conference at 2:15 pm, they did not seem to yet know how many suspects were involved. The situation, they said, was “ongoing.”

Not just sad and scary, it was an altogether strange day in Ottawa. The normal rhythms of our city were thrown off as we tried to understand and cope with the brutal murder of the soldier at the War Memorial, the attack on Parliament, and of just not knowing what was going on.

The prime minister, we were told, had been taken to an undisclosed safe location. It would be 10 hours before we heard from him.

And it was on Twitter at 12:40 pm from Employment and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney that we learned the soldier shot at the War Memorial had died. Why were we hearing this in a tweet from the employment minister and not from an announcement by the defence minister or the minister of public safety?

It was also a day that brought us together. We came together in grief over the heartbreaking loss of Nathan Cirillo, in admiration for the valiant efforts of those on the scene who tried to save him, and in awe of the bravery of Kevin Vickers and the police and security officials who protected Parliament and the city.

It was a sad, scary and strange day. A day we will not soon forget. But it was a day that strengthened our understanding of what it means to be Canadian.

October 22, 2014: Shimon Peres still inspires as he looks for new job

By Michael Regenstreif

“So now what?” asks the caption at the beginning of a hilarious and inspiring five-minute video that follows 91-year-old Shimon Peres as he cleans out his former office and goes looking for a new job.

At the employment office, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning former president and prime minister of Israel – who served in some sort of high-level position since the founding of the modern state – is told he has no practical experience before being sent off on a series of job try-outs as a gas station attendant, security guard, supermarket cashier, pizza deliveryman, stand-up comedian, and skydiving instructor.

Interacting with the people he encounters at these various jobs, Peres – with wit, humour and economy of words – offers brief words of wisdom that touch on such themes as peace, hope, remarkable accomplishments like the Entebbe rescue, and Israel’s emergence as a high-tech start-up nation.

Watching the video, I was reminded of the three days in May 2012 I followed Peres – then the world’s oldest head of state – on his visit to Ottawa. I particularly remember standing a few feet away at the National Gallery of Canada, at a reception hosted by the Embassy of Israel, as he gave a riveting speech, which hit on many of the same themes as the video.

Along with several other topics, such as the enduring Canada-Israel friendship, Peres spoke without notes about the State of Israel – its past, its present and its future – about the changes then sweeping across the Middle East, and about science and technology, making predictions about breakthroughs to come well into the future. He even cracked some jokes foreshadowing his bit as a comedian in the video.

Peres was inspirational on his visit to Ottawa, and he is again in the video.

The video ends with a quote from Peres, “You are as great as the cause that you serve, and as young as your dreams.” It is a reminder that Israel, our communities, whether there or here in the Diaspora, and all of us as individuals, have hopes and dreams that we must continue to strive toward.

Yidlife Crisis

Speaking of entertaining videos, YidLife Crisis, a new web series out of Montreal, has been sweeping the Jewish world over the past few weeks. Inspired by what creators Jamie Elman and Eli Batalion describe as the Yiddish rhythms and sensibilities inherent in such TV shows as Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Each five-minute episode – the first four are now online at www.yidlifecrisis.com – features Chaimie (Elman) and Leizer (Batalion), both in their 30s, engaged in often funny conversations and arguments in Yiddish (with English subtitles).

Echoing the discussions that used to take place between Jerry and George in the coffee shop on Seinfeld, Chaimie and Leizer’s encounters also take place over food in Mile End, Montreal’s old Jewish neighbourhood that is now a multicultural area equally famous for its Old World Chasids and New World hipsters.

In the first episode, Chaimie and Leizer break the Yom Kippur fast over poutine. In others, they meet for smoked meat and Greek food.

The best of the first four episodes has the pair walking from the iconic St. Viateur Street bagel bakery to the equally iconic bagel shop a few blocks away on Fairmount Avenue while engaged in Talmudic-like debate over which has the better bagel – an unresolvable argument familiar to almost anyone from Montreal. The pair of Chasidic men, about their same age, they encounter along the way appear to be engaged in actual Talmudic discussion.

Warning: Not everything Chaimie and Leizer eat is kosher and some of the dialogue is not for the easily offended. The series is rated “Chai+ (18 and over).”