February 8, 2016: Foreign Minister Stéphane Dion got the message right

By Michael Regenstreif

It was International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27 – the 71st anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau by Soviet troops on January 27, 1945 – and, throughout the day, and into the next, I posted various articles connected to the observance on the online Ottawa Jewish Bulletin.

And, as they arrived in my email inbox, I also posted the brief statements on International Holocaust Remembrance Day sent by Canada’s political leaders. The first to arrive was from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. I later received statements from Opposition Leader Rona Ambrose, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair and Minister of Foreign Affairs Stéphane Dion.

As much as I welcomed any and all statements from our political leaders marking such an important occasion, I found it somewhat curious that a statement came from Dion. After all, the prime minister had already released a statement on behalf of the government more than four hours earlier.

Maybe the Dion statement was planned all along to reiterate the importance the government places on Holocaust remembrance. But I can’t help but feel it may have been damage control to address something – something of primary importance – left out of Trudeau’s statement, which read:

“On this day, we pay tribute to the memory of the millions of victims murdered during the Holocaust. We honour those who survived atrocities at the hands of the Nazi regime, and welcome their courageous stories of hope and perseverance.

“The Holocaust is a stark reminder of the dangers and risks of allowing hate, prejudice, and discrimination to spread unchallenged. It also reminds us that silence must never be an option when humanity is threatened.

“As we pause to educate ourselves and our families on the bitter lessons of the Holocaust, we also strengthen our resolve to work with domestic and international partners to continue defending human rights and condemning intolerance.”

To be sure, there is absolutely nothing to disagree with in the prime minister’s statement. Everything he said about remembrance, honour and vigilance was completely correct in a universal sense. However, what was missing was any specific reference to the Holocaust as a genocide aimed specifically at Jews, or of the imperative to defend against the antisemitism raging so terribly today – particularly in Europe and in almost all of the Middle East.

The foreign affairs minister addressed the shortcomings of the prime minister’s statement specifically saying “we remember the six million Jews … brutally murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust … the worst chapter in human history.”

In his statement, Dion used the word “Holocaust” to describe the genocide committed by the Nazi regime against the Jewish people – but he also, significantly, referred to it as the “Shoah,” using the Hebrew word for the Holocaust. Dion also referred specifically to “the horror of antisemitism.”

Dion also called needed attention to the still woefully incomplete search for some measure of justice for Holocaust survivors.

“This day is a poignant reminder that we must never forget and that the Holocaust’s remaining survivors must see justice served,” Dion said. “It is deeply troubling that even after 71 years, victims and families still have not been compensated for assets confiscated by the Nazis. Canada reaffirms its commitment to the 2009 Terezín Declaration.”

I’ve no doubt that Trudeau was sincere in his message and I’m also sure that his slight was unintended. I fully expect the prime minister’s International Holocaust Remembrance Day message next year will reflect both the universal and the specific.

January 25, 2016: Are we seeing an evolution in Orthodox Judaism?

By Michael Regenstreif

“Will 2016 be the year of the female Orthodox rabbi?” was the headline of a JTA feature about six stories in the Jewish and wider world to watch in 2016.

The question arose because two Orthodox institutions – Yeshivat Maharat in New York and Yeshivat Har’el in Jerusalem – have been ordaining women as Orthodox clergy, despite the opposition of such groups as the Rabbinical Council of America, the organization representing most modern Orthodox rabbis in North America, and Agudath Israel of America, an umbrella group representing haredi Orthodoxy (not to be confused with Agudath Israel, a Conservative congregation here in Ottawa).

The non-Orthodox Jewish movements in North America began ordaining women in the 1970s and ‘80s, and now the concept of women rabbis is taken for granted in the Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist and Jewish Renewal movements.

But, until very recently, the idea that a woman could be an Orthodox rabbi was still unheard of – and remains a taboo in most of the Orthodox world.

However, the concept of Orthodox women clergy in North America has taken hold through a still-developing, and still very small, movement known as “Open Orthodoxy” centred around several institutions associated with Rabbi Avi Weiss, the New York Orthodox rabbi who founded Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, a rabbinical seminary for men, in 1999, and Yeshivat Maharat, an equivalent seminary for women, a decade later.

According to Rabbi Weiss, Open Orthodoxy is about inclusivity: “encouraging women to become more involved in Jewish ritual and Jewish spiritual leadership”; welcoming those in LGBTQ relationships “as full members in our synagogues”; embracing and giving a forum “to those who struggle with deep religious, theological, and ethical questions”; reaching out “to converts with love and understanding”; decentralizing rabbinic authority to include local rabbis who may be more aware of how Halacha “should apply to their particular communal situations and conditions”; and, being “prepared to engage in dialogue and learn from Jews of other denominations, and, for that matter, people of all faiths.”

The women ordained by Yeshivat Maharat have been free to choose the title they will go by. Most have chosen “Maharat,” an acronym for the Hebrew words manhiga hilkhatit rukhanit Toranit indicating a female leader trained in Halacha, spirituality and Torah. Others have used “Rabba,” a feminized version of Rabbi, or “Morateinu,” Hebrew for our teacher. No matter which title chosen, these women have received the same rigorous level of training and education as their male counterparts in Orthodox rabbinical seminaries.

Lila Kagedan, who grew up in Ottawa and still retains ties to our community, was ordained by Yeshivat Maharat in 2015, and made headlines as the first Yeshivat Maharat graduate to take the title “Rabbi.”

When Rabbi Kagedan was in Ottawa in November, she told me she took the title of “Rabbi” to dispel any confusion about her training and qualifications. But she is well aware of how controversial her role as a rabbi is in the Orthodox world.

Rabbi Kagedan was back in the news this month because an Orthodox synagogue in New Jersey hired her to be part of its spiritual leadership team.

And that brings us back to the question posed by JTA. “Will 2016 be the year of the female Orthodox rabbi?”

According to Rabbi Weiss, Jewish movements are not “announced” or “proclaimed.” They “evolve” over a period of time. The correct question, I think, is whether we are seeing the beginning of an evolution in Orthodox Judaism? It will be fascinating to see whether Open Orthodoxy becomes a major force in the Orthodox world and whether we’ll ever come to take Orthodox women rabbis for granted as we do in the non-Orthodox denominations.

It’s definitely a story to watch.

December 7, 2015: Canada still stands resolutely in support of Israel at the UN

By Michael Regenstreif

I wasn’t in attendance, November 21, when Gil Hoffman, the Jerusalem Post’s chief political correspondent and analyst, spoke at Young Israel of Ottawa.

Hoffman’s advertised topic was “Peace, Politics and Palestinian Violence: An Insider’s Look at the Mayhem in the Middle East,” so I was surprised when I received reporter Diane Koven’s report on Hoffman’s lecture that he also used the opportunity for some Canadian political analysis.

According to Hoffman, “Canada mattered” while former prime minister Stephen Harper was in power, but we have totally lost our relevance in the world under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

I’ve no idea how much research went into Hoffman’s analysis, but it seems to me that two weeks into a four-year term is a little too quick to come to that kind of conclusion.

I suppose Hoffman’s comments had to do with Harper’s unquestionably strong support for the State of Israel. But I think it needs to be pointed out to the likes of Hoffman that none of the official Canadian government policies in regard to Israel, the Palestinian territories, West Bank settlements, the status of Jerusalem, or support for a negotiated two-state solution to Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians changed under Harper. Nor will it under Trudeau.

After the election, there was some speculation that Canada’s strong support for Israel at the United Nations during Harper’s tenure (which was actually a continuation of the support for Israel at the UN begun by the previous government under Liberal prime minister Paul Martin) would change once Trudeau took office. And perhaps that speculation is what Hoffman’s analysis was based on.

But, in the spate of annual anti-Israel resolutions that come before the UN like clockwork every year, our new government stood as resolutely in support of Israel as did our previous government.

“So far, with final plenary or initial committee votes on 19 of the 20 annual anti-Israel resolutions, Canada’s voting record is entirely unchanged from last year,” reported UN Watch, on November 25.

According to UN Watch, the new Canadian government is “on track to continue without change Canada’s prior policy of firmly opposing repetitive, disproportionate and one-sided resolutions … designed to delegitimize Israel, the Middle East’s only democracy.”