May 21, 2012: An inspiring visit by Israel’s elder statesman

By Michael Regenstreif

It was quite extraordinary – if not awe-inspiring – to watch Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shimon Peres, the State of Israel’s remarkable president and elder statesman, in action over the two days he spent in Ottawa during his official state visit to Canada, May 6 to 10.

At 88, Peres is the world’s oldest head of state, but he seems more than able to maintain a gruelling schedule of travel, meetings, speaking engagements and events that would wear out many half his age.

I was on hand for several of Peres’ Ottawa events, beginning with a Monday morning welcoming ceremony in front of Rideau Hall.

The ceremony was filled with pomp and circumstance.

With Governor General David Johnston and a long line of dignitaries, including Foreign Minister John Baird and Israeli Ambassador Miriam Ziv and a Canadian Armed Forces honour guard and military band there to greet him – as well as an invited gallery of Jewish community leaders and students from the Ottawa Jewish Community School – the Israeli president’s car arrived at Rideau Hall accompanied by Mounties on horseback.

Peres was sure-footed as he inspected the honour guard, greeted the dignitaries, listened to the governor general’s speech, made a speech of his own, and then did a royal-style walkabout to greet the invited guests.

In his remarks, Peres spoke warmly, in both French and English, about “the uninterrupted friendship that your people have shown towards my people from the very first day of our statehood.”

He also recalled his first visit to Canada, more than 60 years ago, when he was sent here by then-prime minister David Ben-Gurion to buy arms for the nascent state.

After the ceremony, the president and governor general held a private meeting inside Rideau Hall. But Peres was soon on the move again – to Parliament Hill where he was greeted by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in front of Centre Block.

Stepping inside, there was another brief welcoming ceremony where Peres signed the Parliamentary guest books before going into a private meeting with Harper in the prime minister’s office.

During his visit to Ottawa, Peres also held meetings with Opposition Leader Thomas Mulcair and Interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae. All three of Canada’s major party leaders are well regarded as supportive friends of the State of Israel.

Other events during the Israeli president’s time in Ottawa included a state dinner in his honour at Rideau Hall, a meeting with academics on joint scientific collaboration between Israeli and Canadian institutions, which culminated in the signing of a memo of understanding between the Royal Society of Canada and the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and a ceremonial tree planting on the grounds of Rideau Hall.

As Canadian Jews, most of us have planted trees in Israel – if not literally, then through donations. But here was the president of Israel planting a tree in Canada. Quite appropriately for a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has dedicated much of his later career to the peace process, the tree was an Eastern White Pine, which the Iroquois call the ‘Tree of Peace.’

His final event before moving on to Toronto and Montreal was a reception for 600 people hosted by Ambassador Ziv at the National Gallery attended by diplomats, cabinet ministers and MPs, Supreme Court justices, academics, journalists, military officials and Jewish community leaders.

Peres gave a long riveting speech at the reception. Holding the microphone in his hand, he spoke without a script or even notes. He talked about the State of Israel in both historical and contemporary terms, about Israel’s enduring friendship with Canada and about his past visits here. He spoke about a rapidly changing Middle East and, at length, about science and technology, making predictions about breakthroughs a decade or so away. He even cracked a couple of jokes. An amazing performance that earned sustained ovations from the high-powered audience.

As I mentioned, Peres is Israel’s elder statesman. He has been at the very centre of Israeli political life for all of Israel’s history. First as an adviser to Ben-Gurion, and his emissary, and then as a member of the Knesset, influential cabinet minister, and prime minister – he was acting prime minister for several months in 1977 and held the office officially from 1984 to 1986 and 1995 to 1996 – and now as president, Israel’s head of state.

When I heard Shimon Peres speak about the future and confidently envision a Middle East of peace and co-operation, the vision seemed like it really could come to be.

May 7, 2012: This is a fascinating time for Ottawa’s synagogues

By Michael Regenstreif

From news reports to speculation, suggestions and clarifications in columns, guest columns and letters-to-the-editor, there has been much written in the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin in recent months about the future of several of Ottawa’s major synagogues.

Among the current situations is Temple Israel’s need to relocate. Ottawa’s Reform congregation long ago outgrew its synagogue building on Prince of Wales Drive, which was built in the 1970s to accommodate 100 families. The congregation now numbers about 360 families. There were discussions that Temple Israel would sell its building and erect a new one on the Jewish Community Campus, but an accommodation could not be reached with the campus and Temple Israel is looking at other options.

Congregation Machzikei Hadas – the most venerable of Ottawa’s Orthodox congregations with a history stretching back more than a century – is faced with a demographic problem as the Jewish community has continued to shift west. Fewer and fewer Jews are living in the Alta Vista area, where Machzikei Hadas shifted to almost four decades ago because the community had largely moved away from the Sandy Hill area. The congregation’s history in its current Virginia Drive location is just a decade shorter than the half-century it spent at the corner of Murray Street and King Edward Avenue.

Congregation Beth Shalom also needs to relocate, having sold its property on Chapel Street. At the time of the sale, the Conservative congregation indicated that one of its preferred options would be to move to Ottawa’s west end, possibly to the Jewish Community Campus.

Finally, Agudath Israel Congregation has been engaged in a search for new clergy.

With the possibility of Beth Shalom moving to the west end, Bulletin columnist Jason Moscovitz asked, “Does Ottawa really need two Conservative synagogues five minutes away from each other? (How can synagogues best serve their congregations, and the community-at-large? March 29)” and speculated on the possibility of a merger between Beth Shalom and Agudath Israel.

I would also point out that Ottawa has a small, third Conservative congregation in that five-minute zone – the lay-led Adath Shalom Congregation which meets on the Jewish Community Campus in the school building (and in the Joseph and Rose Ages Family Building for High Holidays and larger services for bar and bat mitzvahs).

We’ve recently learned that Agudath Israel and Beth Shalom have begun to explore the possibility of whether a merger is in the best interests of the two congregations and have struck a joint task force to determine whether or not a merger is feasible.

A letter to congregants from Jack Klein, Agudath Israel’s president, notes that synagogue mergers usually take place when congregations are in financial difficulty or because membership levels are no longer viable. “Neither is the case with our two shuls,” he wrote.

There are implications to these discussions, not the least of which is Agudath Israel’s search for new clergy – Beth Shalom has multi-year contracts in place with its clergy.

There are many issues that the joint task force will have to consider. For example, although both are Conservative congregations, Agudath Israel is a member of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, the mainstream Conservative organization in North America, while Beth Shalom is part of the newer, smaller Canadian Council of Conservative Synagogues. As well, Agudath Israel has embraced egalitarianism, while Beth Shalom remains more traditional in regard to the role of women in synagogue ritual.

But, should they wish to move forward, such issues are not insurmountable. Beth Shalom was an Orthodox congregation for most of its history and was, itself, formed in 1956 by the merger of Ottawa’s first two congregations, Adath Jeshurun, founded in 1892, and Agudath Achim, founded in 1902. A third congregation, B’nai Jacob, founded in 1910, merged into the Beth Shalom fold in 1971.

And, to show that anything is possible when it comes to synagogue mergers, two congregations in Buffalo, New York, have just announced a merger. One of the merging shuls is Reform, the other is Reconstructionist, and the merged congregation will retain its affiliations with both movements.

This is a fascinating time for Ottawa’s synagogues and we’ll continue to follow developments on all of these stories with great interest.

April 23, 2012: A day to celebrate the remarkable Jewish state

By Michael Regenstreif

These are very busy weeks in Ottawa’s Jewish community – indeed, in Jewish communities everywhere.

By the time you read this, both Passover and Yom HaShoah will be behind us.

But coming up quickly will be the National Holocaust Remembrance Day Ceremony, rescheduled this year to Monday, April 23, 3:30 pm, at the Canadian War Museum, and Yom Hazikaron, to be marked Tuesday April 24, 7:00 pm, at the Soloway Jewish Community Centre, and, then, Yom Ha’Atzmaut.

While Yom HaShoah and Yom Hazikaron are solemn days, their sadness will quickly turn to great joy as we mark the 64th Yom Ha’Atzmaut, the anniversary of the founding of the modern State of Israel in 1948, this year on April 26.

Ottawa will mark the day with two special events: the raising of Israel’s flag in front of City Hall at 11:30 am, and a community-wide party at the CE Centre beginning at 5 pm.

Two years ago, just before Yom Ha’Atzmaut, Rabbi Steven Garten wrote in these pages about the significance of Yom Ha’Atzmaut for all of us in the Jewish community – no matter where we might fall on the political or religious spectrum (From the Pulpit, April 5, 2010).

“Yom Ha’Atzmaut should be our community’s Olympics,” wrote Rabbi Garten.

“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’Medinat Yisrael’ together and it should not matter … how we choose to be Jewish …

“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 …

“When one celebrates a birthday, it is a time to acknowledge achievements ... [It] is a moment to reflect on how far one has come, not how far one has 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 nationalities 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 …

“We … have one heck of an achievement to be proud of. I hope that you’ll be there … for the Yom Ha’Atzmaut celebration … and join in one heck of a birthday party.”

In keeping with what Rabbi Garten had to say about Yom Ha’Atzmaut being an inclusive day for all Jewish people, I’d like to call your attention to Daniel Gordis’ guest column on pages 1 and 2, the first of six columns by Gordis, which we’ll be featuring in the Bulletin over the next several months in advance of his visit here to speak at the Jewish Federation of Ottawa Annual Campaign kickoff on September 9.

A central point to Gordis’ column is that to truly love Israel is to both accept the country for what it realistically is and to strive to make it what it can be – that to criticize the sitting government or specific policies is not an act of disloyalty to Israel; it is, often, an act of love and a duty of citizenship.

I was reminded of that in recent days reading about legendary 60 Minutes interviewer Mike Wallace following his death at age 93.

Attacked by some over the years as a “self-hating Jew” for reports critical of Israel, Wallace maintained his support for the “ideal of Israel” while also claiming the duty, as a journalist, to report accurately and “let the chips fall where they may.”

So, to everyone, have a joyous Yom Ha’Atzmaut. I’m looking forward to seeing you at City Hall and the CE Centre.

April 2, 2012: Your opinion is just as important as our columnists

By Michael Regenstreif

There are primarily three different kinds of articles that we publish in the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin. There is a different approach applied to each of these kinds of articles.

The first are news stories, which are usually written by Bulletin staff or assigned to freelance reporters, or taken from JTA (Jewish Telegraphic Agency), the wire service to which almost all mainstream Jewish newspapers in the Diaspora subscribe.

We strive for measured objectivity in our news stories. The personal opinion of the reporters and editors should be irrelevant. When we cover a speaker at an event, we report on what the speaker has to say in the news story, not what our personal feelings happen to be about what the speaker has to say.

For example, I disagreed with much of what the well-known American commentator Daniel Pipes had to say when he spoke in Ottawa in 2008. But my news article was about what he said, not what I felt about what he said. Rereading the article more than three years later, I can confirm that my personal opinions were, indeed, irrelevant to the story I wrote.

The second kind of article we run are submissions that come from the various agencies and organizations in our community. The byline for such a submission will generally include the name of the organization that submitted the article, along with the name of the author. These articles might include news about the organization or its programs, or previews and reviews of its events. We edit such articles for space and newspaper style and fact-check the accuracy of what is said to the best of our ability. But, essentially, such articles reflect the message of the organizations that submit them.

The third kind of article we publish in the Bulletin are opinion-driven and include all of our various columns, guest columns and letters-to-the-editor. These pieces generally reflect the opinion of the individual, or, in some cases, the organization they represent. Such submissions are also edited for space, newspaper style and, when appropriate, fact-checked.

But we do not censor our columnists’ opinions. Within the mandate of their column, they are free to say what they want to say.

In a diverse community, and in a community newspaper that welcomes diversity of opinion, not everyone will agree with everything written in our opinion columns. Nor should they, and nor should a columnist generally refrain from expressing an opinion because someone will disagree or because someone with a vested interest will take offence.

Last issue, one of our columnists expressed a critical opinion that made some people angry – and that some people applauded in agreement. By press time, one person wrote a reasoned response, which is published in our Mailbag on page 8.

As I noted in a column last year when another columnist expressed an opinion that made some people angry, none of our opinion columnists, including me, has a monopoly on truth. You might agree with some things our columnists write and disagree with others. I’m the editor and I don’t agree with every opinion expressed in our pages.

If you want to dispute or applaud something you read in the Bulletin, please do so. Write a letter-to-the-editor or submit a guest column. While personal attacks are unacceptable, feel free to argue with opinions.

Yours is just as important.

East of Berlin

The night before this issue went to press, I attended the opening of Hannah Moscovitch’s East of Berlin at the Great Canadian Theatre Company (GCTC). I read the play a few weeks ago in preparation for an interview with Moscovitch published last issue so I knew it was a very strong work. But reading it on the page and seeing it come to life on stage are two different things.

In East of Berlin, Moscovitch explores the effect of the Holocaust on the son of a Nazi war criminal wracked by the guilt never felt by his father.

There are strong themes, language and sexuality, which make the play inappropriate for children, but the GCTC production, well acted by an all-local cast, is the most powerful play I’ve seen recently. It continues at the Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre until April 8.

Passover

Passover, which I’ve always found to be the most inspiring of Jewish holidays, is almost upon us. As we sit down at our seder tables to retell the story of Moses leading the Children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt thousands of years ago, we should not forget the continuing relevance of the story in our own time in a world that still knows too much repression and even slavery. Until freedom reigns in every corner of the world, the journey begun by Moses continues.

On behalf of the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin, I wish all a Chag Sameach.

March 19, 2012: Covering the Israeli prime minister’s visit to Ottawa

By Michael Regenstreif

It was quite the interesting experience covering the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Ottawa from March 2 to 4.

Actually, the only day I was really able to do some coverage was March 2, a Friday, when Netanyahu was on Parliament Hill for talks with Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Saturday, Shabbat, was a private day and the press, including the Jewish press, was barred from Netanyahu’s briefing with leaders of Canada’s Jewish community organized by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) at the Rideau Club. More on that later.

Security on Parliament Hill was the tightest I’ve ever seen it when I arrived on Friday morning. The general public was not being allowed on to the Hill that morning. You had to have a pass just to get on to the Hill.

Partway up was another checkpoint where my pass was checked again. From there, a Mountie escorted me up to the Centre Block and another Mountie took me to the East Block entrance where they were screening all visitors that morning. He told me it was the tightest security he’d seen on Parliament Hill since U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit three years ago.

I went through the security screening at the entrance to the East Block and was escorted to my destination, the Confederation Hall Rotunda in Centre Block where Netanyahu would sign the House of Commons and Senate guest books about an hour later.

At the Rotunda, I was greeted by Terry Guillon, chief of the Press Gallery, who gave me the option of either being outside for Netanyahu’s arrival on the Hill or inside to witness and photograph him signing the guest books. I opted for the latter.

Guillon also showed me the room where the press conference would be and told me that only two questions would be allowed, one from the Israeli media and one from the Canadian media (which went to the Globe and Mail).

Then it was the first waiting game, standing around the Rotunda for about an hour chatting with various media personnel and Hill, PMO and Embassy of Israel staffers until Netanyahu and Harper arrived.

After the ceremony, the two prime ministers retreated to Harper’s office for the first of their meetings and we spent another hour or so waiting for the press conference.

The press conference was all of 15 minutes. Each leader spoke briefly, first Harper, then Netanyahu, and the two questions were asked and answered.

And that was pretty much it.

As mentioned, the press was barred from the meeting CIJA organized for Netanyahu with invited leaders from Canada’s Jewish community. Earlier in the week, CIJA CEO Shimon Fogel apologetically told me the decision to bar even the Jewish media came directly from the Israeli PMO, that he himself wished it wasn’t so.

On Parliament Hill, I chatted with veteran Jerusalem Post reporter Herb Keinon, part of the Israeli media contingent travelling with Netanyahu. He said he’d been quite surprised to find out the media was not being allowed to attend the event with Jewish community leaders. In his experience covering Netanyahu, the media has generally been welcome at similar events when he meets with Jewish community leadership on his travels.

Netanyahu’s decision to bar even the Jewish media was certainly not in keeping with what’s happened during recent visits to Ottawa by other senior ministers in his government.

Six months ago, when Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was here, there was a similar meeting organized by CIJA, which I covered. Lieberman was open and approachable at that meeting.

And, in October 2010, when Moshe Ya’alon, Israel’s vice-prime minister and minister of strategic affairs, was in Ottawa, he sat down with me for an exclusive 45-minute interview.

From what I’ve gathered, Netanyahu did not say anything at the meeting that he hasn’t said elsewhere on the record. So, it defies logic that he wouldn’t want a Jewish newspaper reporting on the meeting to the Jewish community.