What I look like on Shabbat & Holy Days

What I look like on Shabbat & Holy Days

The Independence of Jewish Voices

Independent Jewish Voices of Canada (IJV) is a Canadian organisation formed to disagree with Canada’s three primary Jewish communal agencies. This is an important development and one that Canada’s organised Jewish community had better learn to contend with, something it has not yet done. The Canadian Jewish Congress has, in fact, denied IJV any status in Congress. That is, in my opinion, a foolish decision and one that will ultimately damage Congress more than it does IJV.
The question for me, however, is how “independent” IJV can be when it is over-run by a cadre of new leftists. I have become close to one of IJV’s organisers but remain uncertain of whether or not there is a place for me. Israel Apartheid posters were in profusion at the annual general meeting I attended, a calumny that I find offensive, ignorant, and bereft of any authentic notion of Jewish identity. Books on Israel as a racist state were for sale at a table set up in the hallway. IJV passed a resolution, with 95% support, calling on divestment from Israel. Sheer madness!
So why was I in full Chasidic regalia among a group I hold in contempt?
Well… because they are Jews. That’s precisely the same motivation I use to attend Unitarian Universalist churches. There are Jews there. The Jewish religious leader who is afraid to encounter Jews where they affiliate is leading with one eye closed. I already need bifocals. Closing one eye would be a tragedy. This brings to mind the statement attributed to Rabbi Sholom Ber of Lubavitch (who is actually quoting a well-known maxim) “We have a strong eye to see the good in others and a weak eye to see the evil in ourselves”. This notion is reinforced by Jewish tradition.
Mishna Pirqei Avot (4:3) states <i>Do not degrade another,and do not be generally opposed “on principle”; there is for you no one without a reason and neither thing nor word without a place in your life.</i> The Mishna is an attempt to restore traditional memory, which I’ll discuss at length in another post. Pirqei Avot is The Mishna’s collection of ethical guidelines.
The traditional memory of Judaism, it seems to me, is largely lost to IJV. That’s not a strong criticism — the traditional memory of Judaism is lost to most Jews — but IJV’s acceptance of biased and poisoned rhetoric submerges the Jewish voice so completely that I wonder if IJV is appropriately named: where, precisely, is the Jewish voice? The Mishna compels me to accept that IJV has a place. Sholom Ber asks me to see the good. I see the place. I see the good. But what voice I hear hasn’t got a Jewish accent.
The voices that <i> do<i> speak with a Jewish accent do <i>not</i>, however, speak to me. The Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CIJA) is the lead Jewish communal agency in Canada. The linkage of Israel advocacy and Jewish advocacy is, to me, highly inappropriate. Jewish advocacy is my job and the job of any rabbi or educator.
I once told the Israeli consul in Montreal that his job is to demystify Israel to non-Jews and my job is to demystify Judaism — to both Jews and non-Jews. Israel advocacy is best left to Israel, which has a network of shlukhim (representatives) assigned to both small-community synagogues and the Jewish National Fund, various Israel Bond agents, a trade commissioner, two consuls, and an ambassador in Canada. If there is something not working in this network that issue is Israel’s, not the Canadian Jewish community’s.
IJV’s dissent from the Canadian Jewish communal norm is no reason to deny it access to the “official” community. The idea that there is a single Jewish voice in Canada troubles me and is the reason I have begun the Jewish Courts for Social Justice, a Beth Din (Jewish court) in Ottawa that will concern itself with social policy and social justice issues. Congress has long had this role but has always spoken with a secular voice. The Beth Din will speak with a Jewish, religious, and progressive voice.
The Jewish sage Hillel counseled “Do not separate yourself from the community. Do not be certain of yourself until the day of your death. Do not judge someone unless you have stood in his (her) place.” Both IJV and Canadian Jewish Congress should heed this advice.

Independent Jewish Voices of Canada (IJV) is a Canadian organisation formed to disagree with Canada’s three primary Jewish communal agencies. This is an important development and one that Canada’s organised Jewish community had better learn to contend with, something it has not yet done.

The Canadian Jewish Congress has, in fact, denied IJV any status in Congress. That is, in my opinion, a foolish decision and one that will ultimately damage Congress more than it does IJV.

The question for me, however, is how “independent” IJV can be when it is over-run by a cadre of new leftists. I have become close to one of IJV’s organisers but remain uncertain of whether or not there is a place for me.

Israel Apartheid posters were in profusion at the annual general meeting I attended, a calumny that I find offensive, ignorant, and bereft of any authentic notion of Jewish identity. Books on Israel as a racist state were for sale at a table set up in the hallway. IJV passed a resolution, with 95% support, calling on divestment from Israel. Sheer madness!

What I look like on Shabbat & Holy Days

What I look like on Shabbat & Holy Days

So why was I in shtreimel andbekeshe among a group I have serious doubts about? Well… because they are Jews.That’s precisely the same motivation I use to attend Unitarian Universalist churches. There are Jews there. The Jewish religious leader who is afraid to encounter Jews where they affiliate is leading with one eye closed.

I already need bifocals. Closing one eye would be a tragedy. This brings to mind the statement attributed to Rabbi Sholom Ber of Lubavitch (who is actually quoting a well-known maxim) “We have a strong eye to see the good in others and a weak eye to see the evil in ourselves”. This notion is reinforced by Jewish tradition.

Mishna Pirqei Avot (4:3) states Do not degrade another,and do not be generally opposed “on principle”; there is for you no one without a reason and neither thing nor word without a place in your life. The Mishna , compiled in the 2nd century, was an attemptto restore traditional memory (which I’ll discuss at length in another post). Pirqei Avot is The Mishna’s collection of ethical guidelines.

The traditional memory of Judaism, it seems to me, is largely lost to IJV. That’s not a strong criticism — the traditional memory of Judaism is lost to most Jews — but IJV’s acceptance of rhetoric I see as biased and poisoned submerges the Jewish voice so completely that I wonder if IJV is appropriately named: where, precisely, is the Jewish voice?

The Mishna impels me to accept that IJV has a place. Sholom Ber asks me to see the good. I see the place. I see the good. But what voice I hear hasn’t got a Jewish accent.

The voices that do speak with a Jewish accent in Canada do not speak to me. The Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CIJA) is the lead Jewish communal agency in Canada. The linkage of Israel advocacy and Jewish advocacy is, to me, highly inappropriate. Jewish advocacy is my job and the job of any rabbi or educator.

I once told the Israeli consul in Montreal that his job is to demystify Israel to non-Jews and my job is to demystify Judaism — to both Jews and non-Jews. Israel advocacy is best left to Israel, which has a network of shlukhim (representatives) assigned to both small-community synagogues and the Jewish National Fund, various Israel Bond agents, a trade commissioner, two consuls (one in Toronto, the other in Montreal), and an ambassador in Canada. If there is something not working in this network that issue is Israel’s, not the Canadian Jewish community’s.

IJV’s dissent from the Canadian Jewish communal norm is no reason to deny it access to the “official” community. The idea that there is a single Jewish voice in Canada troubles me.

I have begun the Jewish Courts for Social Justice, a Beth Din (Jewish court) in Ottawa that will concern itself with social policy and social justice issues. Congress has long had this role but has always spoken with a secular voice. The Beth Din will speak with a Jewish, religious, and progressive voice.

The Jewish sage Hillel counseled “Do not separate yourself from the community. Do not be certain of yourself until the day of your death. Do not judge someone unless you have stood in his (her) place.” Both IJV and Canadian Jewish Congress should heed this advice.


Bookmark and Share