Summer 2023 | Kayitz 5783 The Canadian Jewish News
SAVE The DATE November 30, 2023
Park Hyatt Hotel – Toronto Honourary Patrons the Koschitzky Family Event Co-Chairs Warren and Debbie Kimel / Lewis Mitz and Wendy Posluns Dinner Chairs Elliott and Wendy Eisen
Join the Jerusalem Foundation of Canada In continued support of the Community and Culture Fund Dedication of the Canada Pathway and Inauguration of the Youth Leadership Prize Honouring the memory of Julia Koschitzky z”l
The Jerusalem Foundation of Canada / nomiy@jerusalemfoundation.ca / Tel: 416-922-0000 www.jerusalemfoundation.org
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What would life look like if you couldn’t go to school?
a digital exhibit AVAILABLE NOW
memoirs.azrielifoundation.org
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What’s inside
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THE FRONT PAGES 10
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Considering the ‘Moshiach Energy’ of comedian Modi AVI FINEGOLD
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The CJN Daily ’s top stories from Spring 2023 ELLIN BESSNER
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Wayne & Shuster get a live revival of radio shows
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The arts across Canada explored on Culturally Jewish DAVID SKLAR AND ILANA ZACKON
FEATURES 26
COVER STORY: Seymour Epstein on his Israel experience What recent novels teach us about modern Israeli life HANNAH SROUR-ZACKON
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Vivian Bercovici ’s view from the streets of Israel at 75
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The CJN reader stories about memories of the Jewish state
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Contributors
THE BACK PAGES 54
The musical road from Morocco to Montreal in the 1950s CHRISTOPHER SILVER
Christopher Silver is the Segal Family Assistant Professor in Jewish History and Culture in the Department of Jewish Studies at McGill University. He’s also the founder and curator of Gharamophone. com , a digital archive of North African recordings from the first half of the 20th century.
60 William Kurelek ’s classic paintings of Jewish Life in Canada SARAH MILROY 66 Srulik from the Treasure Trove collection of David Matlow
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Vivian Bercovici is a Toronto lawyer turned Tel Avivian, and Canada’s ambassador to Israel from January 2014 to July 2016. She’s the founder and editor-in- chief of State of Tel Aviv , a digital newsletter and weekly podcast, and a regular contributor to the Jerusalem Post , the National Post and The Hub .
Hannah Srour-Zackon is a Jewish community archivist in Montreal, who currently works at Congregation Shaar Hashomayim. She regularly writes about books for The CJN, along with historical topics like Queen Esther beauty contests, and a trademark scandal concerning Tam Tam crackers.
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What the flags have taught us… Of all the iconic Jewish images evoked annually by the Passover haggad- ah, the parting of the Red Sea sticks with me most. The 10 plagues, the burning bush, even the Egyptian exodus were prophesized A matter of trust in the media...
The Canadian Jewish News The Canadian Jewish News
Rather, anti-government protesters are proudly flying the blue-and-white Star of David. And they’re doing it in droves. The evocative images of these gather- ings are an awesome sight that gives me great hope for Israel’s future. This does not appear to be a country hiding from or em- barrassed by its own image, but rather one grappling with where it goes from here. We believe that our community—and every community, for that matter—requires and de- serves no less. Without reliable and depend- able media, trust can wane, and we know where that road leads better than most. For a bit of levity, consider what took place in an Israeli group chat: an anti-government protester who asked to borrow a flag for a protest received a positive response from a neighbour… so long as they returned it in time for a pro-government protest a few days later. To me, this seems natural—not to mention healthy—and very Israeli. No one in the Jewish state is shying away from current and difficult debates. And no one is hanging their head in shame. It’s hard to think of a more appropriate way to mark 75 years of Israeli statehood— hearts ablaze and flags waving. And as is often the case, it offers a lesson for Dias- pora Jews, as well as democracies across the globe, to take to heart. — Yoni Goldstein If you’re reading this, I think you probably agree. And if that’s the case, the good news is that you can help by investing in media you can trust. As the growth of The CJN continues in 2023, we’re accepting charitable donations through the Canada Revenue Agency. Your annual contribution of $100 and up will help us continue our vital work of rebuilding in a sustainable manner. We’ll make sure you keep receiving our print magazines along with yearly tax receipts. conversation or exchange of ideas, while spreading misinformation quicker and wider than verifiable facts. That’s why we rebuilt The Canadian Jewish News the way we did. We wanted to prove that The CJN is different by investing in stor- ies that speak to you. We’ve built a roster of Jewish personalities you can trust, because they are just like you in many ways. For more information, check out thecjn.ca/support or write to support@thecjn.ca , and you’ll be investing in something we can all place a little faith in, for this Passover and beyond.
T wo years ago, Canadian flags were lowered in the wake of news regarding the discovery of potential unmarked graves of Indigenous residential school children. Federal buildings had theirs at half-mast, as well as many non-governmental locations across the country. And they stayed that way for quite some time. Calls to cancel July 1 celebrations were plentiful in 2021, and many Canadians ob- liged—or at least curtailed fireworks for that Canada Day. Whether or not you agreed with this When they got to the sea, with Pharaoh’s army in hot pursuit, it was the people them- selves who had to initiate the next chapter. Most understandably hesitated to dip their toes in. But that’s when—according to the Talmud—a Judean prince named Nachshon ben Aminadav, stepped forward and walked right into the water. Seeing this, God ordered Moses to plunge his staff into the sea, which then parted… and you know the rest. perspective, it was hard not to notice that our national pride took a hit. And, in some sectors of society, it has yet to recover. By contrast, watching recent protests across Israel over the current government and its policies—including the protracted de- bate over judicial overhaul—I’ve been struck by how flags emphasize a different tone from Canada’s apparent reckoning with history. As the citizenry demonstrates against the Netanyahu government (and, it must be many that are more insidious in nature. The ongoing efforts by political, social and religious leaders to target and blame the media are mostly misplaced. Journalism outlets, beset by cutbacks in the digital age, haven’t inspired confidence with reporting that’s shoddy and slanted. On top of it all, social media has guttered any meaningful mentioned, many—if evidently not as many— are concurrently rallying in support of it) the one thing I haven’t seen is a flag of Israel be- ing lowered, disfigured or otherwise distorted to make a political point. and enacted, we read, from high above. There wasn’t much for the Jewish nation to do but go along with the plan, and eventually get ready to leave for the promised land. You might call Nachshon’s actions a leap of faith, but to me they signify something else. Trust is fundamental to the success of any community, and of course society in general, but it has been eroded in recent years by a variety of forces, some well-meaning and
Yoni Goldstein CEO and Editor-in-Chief Marc Weisblott Yoni Goldstein CEO and Editor-in-Chief Marc Weisblott
Managing Editor Phoebe Maltz Bovy Senior Editor Ronit Novak Art Director Etery Podolsky Designer Sarah Zahavi Design Associate Lila Sarick News Editor Michael Fraiman Podcast Director Grace Zweig Sales Director Kathy Meitz General Manager Ronit Novak Art Director Etery Podolsky Designer Sarah Zahavi Design Associate Lila Sarick News Editor Michael Fraiman Podcast Director Grace Zweig Sales Director Kathy Meitz General Manager Managing Editor Phoebe Maltz Bovy Senior Editor
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Modi stands up for ‘Moshiach Energy’
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Avi Finegold on how America’s hottest Jewish comic played it just for
I once had a college professor say there’s no such thing as a joke that isn’t making fun of someone in some way. I’m not sure that was ever true—but there’s definitely some truth to the fact that humour often seeks to undercut others. History is lousy with controversial comed- ians telling jokes that run a 5K across the line of decency. The best ones, however, recognize that their line-crossing serves some kind of greater purpose. George Carlin and Richard Pryor are two of the greats who called out hypocrisy by talking about what they saw around them. And then there’s Sarah Sliverman cutting down the good in- tentions of a generation with a button-push- ing joke, “I was raped by a doctor… which is kind of a mixed feeling for a Jewish girl.” And so we get to Modi Rosenfeld, a veteran stand-up comedian billed only by his first name, in increasingly brighter lights and bigger rooms thanks to videos he made during the pandemic lockdowns. When he returned to live shows, demand for his stand-up act expanded from Orthodox Jewish events—where some jokes featured a fictional wife named “Stacy”—to feeling free to tell his audiences that he’s actually married to a man. Modi, to be clear, is not one of the comedy pantheon. He’s not legendary enough—yet. But he has what to say about the community he comes from (a community that uses the phrase “what to say”), which I found to have a serious truth that lies just below a pretty funny surface. We need a comic who’s willing to say that community dinner honourees are just the schmucks who got their friends to donate. It just takes Modi to say it out loud, in a moment of nudging the emperor and letting him know there’s a sale on suits. I was among the online followers who bought a ticket to Modi’s show at Montreal’s Rialto Theatre in March, which was followed by a couple nights at the Royal Theatre in Toronto. The appeal of this 53-year-old owes much to his backstory: born in Tel Aviv and raised in the Five Towns of Long Island, New York, he went from public school and a psychology degree to a deeper Torah education, which included cantorial studies at Yeshiva University. While working as a banker for Merrill Lynch on Wall Street, he began moonlighting in comedy clubs, without changing the clothes he wore at his day job.
Nowadays, the riffing on topics like how Sephardim love their rabbis while Ashken- azim are blasé about them—if not disdain- ful—draws big laughs from a crowd that can relate to what he’s talking about. Knowing his audience is how he makes it work, although part of the act is spotting a person in the room who isn’t Jewish, then focusing on them to deliver explanatory asides that help to make the material more accessible for everyone. The formula isn’t complicated: find Jews who spend all day thinking about being Jewish, deliver observational humour, and get them all howling with laughter. Laughter is also at the core of what he refers to as “Moshiach Energy.” It’s a term which he’s started promoting at his live shows, on social media, and the weekly podcast And Here’s Modi—on which husband/manager Lou Veiga, who was raised Catholic, shows off his Jewish literacy, unless Modi is teasing him about a mispronunciation. Buy someone a coffee today? Moshiach Energy. Call your mother? Moshiach Energy. Get a million bucks donated to your shul’s annual dinner? He’ll make fun of you at the gala, but that’s still Moshiach Energy. Live performances by Modi are therefore peak Moshiach Energy, because they unite audi- ences based on joy. And this positive energy is what will bring the redeemer of the world in a fashion that praying won’t do alone. Well, if this seems a little facile, that’s because it is. Doing good is easy—and so is laughing at someone else’s expense. But the real work of ushering in a messianic age for the Jews is the beginning of a deeper unity, one that accepts that we are all flawed, and works-in-progress. Reaching that level through stand-up comedy takes real work. Modi might know what his audience wants. What he doesn’t seem as keen about is try- ing to figure out what they need. The irony is that there’s not much difference between the two. But the distinction is also what separ- ates the entertainers from the legends. The greatest comics, similar to their court-jester predecessors, knew how to speak truth to power with great wit, and with their heads still attached to their bodies. Modi Rosenfeld has been speaking some great truths, too. He just needs to realize he’s no George Carlin. At least not yet. n
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The CJN Daily A few of the recent news stories reported by Ellin Bessner
Canada’s plucky contribution When the producers of Netflix’s Jewish Matchmaking reached out to Jerusalem resident Cindy Seni, she had just come out of a three-year- long relationship—and she was back to swiping away on dating apps. But the idea of using a matchmaker appealed to her because the producers would propose carefully vetted candidates for the show starring Aleeza Ben Shalom, who claims to have arranged 200 suc- cessful marriages. The lingering also played a role in 28-year-old Seni’s on-screen social life last summer, because two of the three men she was sup- posed to be fixed up with tested positive for COVID. They had to drop out—and she never saw them or even learned their identities. She did go out on two dates with a 34-year-old technology worker: Daniel from Tel Aviv. He took her to an art gallery but didn’t seem to be enjoying himself. But when Daniel showed up late for their second round and didn’t give her enough of an explanation for why, she was “#CindyOut”, as she likes to call breaking it off with men. Seni’s family has roots in Tunisia, Italy and in France, where she was born and spent her first six years. But by 2000, her parents felt they could no longer live openly as Jews there, and the family of six
moved to Toronto. After a stint working in public diplomacy for the Israel Consulate, she chose to make aliyah in 2018. At first, her parents weren’t keen on the idea, as she told the matchmaker when they first met. “My dad told me, ‘If you want to move to Israel, you need either a job, a husband or money.’ I said, ‘Listen, I don’t have any, I’m going anyway.’”
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Rosalie Abella’s big-screen treatment The first Jewish woman—and first refugee—to be appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada has entered the cinematic spotlight in Without Precedent: The Supreme Life of Rosalie Abella . The film follows some of the seminal social-justice court rulings she partici- pated in from 2004 until her retirement in 2021—from same-sex marriage to workplace rights, from job opportunities for minorities to ensuring the right to strike—while diving into her fiercework ethic and her courage to take unpopular positions on public policy. We also see her private side, including a home and office where every surface is covered in colourful folk art, collectibles and figurines. While she initially didn’t want any role in a film about her life, Rosalie’s husband Irving Abella, who died in 2022, encouraged her to work with director Barry Avrich. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor attended the premiere at the Hot Docs festival in Toronto on May 1, and Abella took a few jabs at the politics of the ruling colleagues south of the border.
Holocaust poems score Juno Award
Lenka Lichtenberg didn’t learn she was Jewish until age nine, around the time she became an actor in Prague. Most of her mother’s Czech family was murdered in the Holocaust, and she took a particular interest in survivor stories after moving to Canada to pursue ethnomusicology studies and continue a performing career. Later, she encountered 65 poems written by her grandmother, who was imprisoned in the Theresienstadt concentration camp. While it was strictly forbidden to write anything down, Anna Hana Friesová managed to preserve the poetry in notebooks discovered by Lichtenberg in her late mother’s apart- ment. Setting those verses to music led to producing Thieves of Dreams , which won the 2023 Juno for Global Music Album.
Two comedy legends come alive again Wayne & Shuster reluctantly moved their comedy act from radio to television in 1954— then they became fixtures of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for the next 36 years. Frank Shuster hosted retrospectives after Johnny Wayne died in 1990, until Shuster himself died in 2002. But you can’t officially access their video catalogue today. The lack of permission for the music and background performers has kept that material locked in the CBC
vault. Instead, the children of the duo—Michael and Brian Wayne, and Rosie Shuster—have exercised the rights to earlier scripts: Wayne & Shuster Live debuted onstage at the Univer- sity of Toronto’s Hart House in May, featuring a cast of young local comics. The most famous W&S sketch of all, “Rinse the Blood off My Toga,” inspired by William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, was originally on radio.
thecjn.ca/daily
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The CJN Daily
Canada’s Jewish population in 2021
Ottawa 2011: 13,850 2021: 15,000 +8%
was 404,015 (up 5% from 2011)
Halifax 2011: 2,080 2021: 2,735 +31.5%
Victoria 2011: 2,630 2021: 4,385 +67% Vancouver 2011: 25,740 2021: 28,030 +5.1%
Calgary 2011: 8,200 2021: 9,300 +13%
Winnipeg 2011: 13,260 2021: 13,940 +5.1%
Toronto 2011: 186,010 2021: 186,900 +0.5%
Montreal 2011: 89,665 2021: 90,255 +1%
Charles Shahar analyzed data from the 2021 Canadian census for the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and Jewish federations across the country. While the number
• Canada remains the fourth-largest Jewish centre in the world, after Israel, the United States and France
• Growth in Montreal follows a half-century in decline, while Win- nipeg’s population increase reverses a 40-year trend
• Montreal’s increase is credited to immigration from France, along with higher birth rates in the ultra-Orthodox community
• The Jewish Federation of Winnipeg successfully reached out to newcomers from Israel, Turkey and South America
• Newcomers from the former Soviet Union continue to arrive—if not in the numbers of the 1980s and ‘90s
who reported their religion as Jewish was 335,295, the number who cited Jewish as their ethnicity boosted the conclusion. Shahar shared his observations on the data with Ellin Bessner .
• Toronto has seen its population plateau due to cheaper hous- ing elsewhere, including residents moving to smaller towns
More specific data will follow on interprovincial migration, inter- marriage rates, economic status, the number of Holocaust surviv- ors, mortality rates, and how many people in Canada self-identify as Sephardic Jews. The breakdowns help Jewish leaders from coast-to-coast plan their programs and services. Stay tuned for more about these demographic trends on The CJN Daily .
Listen to the entire conversation at thecjn.ca/population
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The girl who got a ‘Golden Buzzer’ Four years after her family moved from Tel Aviv to Richmond Hill, Ont., 15-year-old Maya Gamzu appeared on the third season of Canada’s Got Talent . For her audition, she wore a red string bracelet around her left wrist, which she brought from the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Kardinal Offishall, the rapper on the panel of judges (alongside Howie Mandel, Lilly Singh and Trish Stratus) put the Westmount Collegiate Institute student directly to the semi-finals after a performance of Christina Aguilera’s “Something’s Got a Hold On Me.” Maya, who started performing at age four, learned to sing in English before her family spoke the language. And while Maya didn’t reach the finals—to the dismay of her champion, Kardinal—she subsequently wowed the Toronto crowd at the Consulate General of Israel’s party for Yom ha-Atzmaut.
When rabbis cheer for your team
King David High School in Vancouver won the BC School Sports 1A Boys Basketball Provincial Tournament on March 11 with a 72-68 victory over the defending provincial champions, Unity Christian School. The game capped a successful five-year run for three star players: point guard Jesse Mill- man, shooting guard Ezra Heayie and centre Joseph Gabay, who wondered if they’d ever shoot hoops together again. But in playing for the province’s only Jewish high school, the King David Lions boasted something its rivals didn’t: rabbinical prayers of support in the stands.
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... ”וְהַיְלדִים האֵלֶּה “ ... נתַן להֶם האֱלֹהִים מַדּע וְהַשְׂכֵּל בְּכׇל־סֵפֶר וְחׇכְמה )דניאל א‘ י“ז( “And these youths... God gave them knowledge and understanding in every book and wisdom...” (Daniel 1:17)
On behalf of the Board and staff at Associated Hebrew schools, Mazal Tov to all our Class of ‘23 graduates!
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אליענה שרה פניכל קריינדלר לאה חנה לנגברט
Connor Matthew Adam Ashley Morgan Adam Benjamin Cole Adam Jonah Ruben Anidjar
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Celia Eliana Laski
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Avishai Artom Aryeh Bahar
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יצחק סטאר ברזאני
Isaac Star Barazani Lauren Samantha Bell Benjamin Avery Bergel Jonah Marcus Bergel
שׁמואל אהרון ליכתבלאו
Samuel Aaron Lichtblau
לאה אלנה בל
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אהרן ליב ליטובסקי שׂרה לובּא ליטובסקי
Aaron Leib Litovsky Sarah Lyuba Litovsky
Eitan Bernstein
יעקוב מנדל
Harry Mandel
Matthew Aaron Berzin
איתן שי מנדלסון אור אברהם מארי יעקב צבי מאירובּיץ
Jacob Daniel Mandlsohn
Miya Elle Beyo
Or Avraham Mari
Shane Jacob Bitton Emily Ruth Black Eytan Alexander Black Orli Miriam Bouganim
Harris Jake Meirovitz Emily Sophia Melnick
רחל בּלק
סופיה מלניק אריאלה-רחל מינסקר לאה מיזרהי רבקה נריאן חנה שיינה אופנהיימר יעקב עוזיאל עתניאל יהונתן עוזיאל חיים אריה פרל
איתן שאול בּלק אורלי מרים בוגנים
Ariella Thandi Minsker
אהרון יעקב ברונשטיין
Yasmin Leah Mizrahi
Aaron Jacob Braunstein
Rebecca Nerian Anne Shayna Oppenheimer
אלי שׂרה בּרוק אורלי ברוקר חוה פייגי קרולין
Ellie Sarah Brock
Orly Brooker
Rebecca Ashley Carolin Abby Lauren Cohen Judah Morris Davidson Joshua Daniel Derfel Gwen Leona Deutsch Esther Bella Dunec
Jacob Oziel
אביה כהן
Otniel Yehonatan Oziel
יהושע דוידסון
Harley Max Pearl Nathaniel Benjamin Pearl Isaac Zev Pogrin
יהושוע דניאל דרפל
ברכה דייטש
דב ברל פרל
אסתר בּלה דונק Jared Benjamin Elamleh שלום בארל אלמליה Emma Sadie Farache רחל סימא פרש Shoshana Farber שושנה פרבר Aliza Batsheva Fisher עליזה בת־שבע פישר Rachel Miriam Gabay רחל גבּאי Max Lucas Kohn Geist משׁה גיסט Aaron Gabriel Gertler יוסף גרטלר Nathan Solomon Glazer נתן שלום גליזר Isabelle Lilly Goldenberg בּילה לאה גולדנבּרג Marlee Ella Goldstein אלה גולדשטיין Samuel Corey Goldstein שׁלמה בּחור גולדשׁטיין Theodore Bernard Grad טוביה בנימין גרד Noa Brielle Green נעה רות גרין Asher Jerome Greenwald אשר ירון גרינוואלד Samuel Isaac Grossman שמואל יצחק גרוסמן Noah Gurfinkel נח גורפינקל Noa Claire Heller נעה שמחה הלר Aaron Ryan Herr אהרון רונ׳ הרר Shira Lily Horowitz מלכה הורביץ Jessica Isakov שרה איסקוב Eliana Bracha Kadoch אליענה ברכה קדוש Mattie Helen Kahn מעין חביבה קאהן Eleni Anne Kahn אליענה אביב קאהן Seth Lazer Kates שת אליעזר קייטס Jason Daniel Kauffman אילן קופמן Liat Keren ליאת קרן Naomi Hannah Kipper נעמי חנה קיפּר Jillian Hope Kivenko שׁושׁנה מיה קיבנקו Shia Dean Klein שׁיה דין קליין Tobias Micah Kohan טוביאס מיכה קהן Yossi Eitan Kopyto יוסף איתן קופיטו Daniel Yaakov Kovari דניאל יעקב קובארי
יצחק זאב פוגרין
Hannah Aliyah Press חנה עליה פּרס Jake Samuel Rabinowitz יונה זיינוול רבינוביץ Ari Benyamin Rewega מִין רֹוֶגֲה אֲרִי בִּנְי Tanya Agam Richulsky תניה אגם ריצ‘ולסקי Samantha Rogowski חנה רוגובסקי Benjamin Joseph Rosenstein בּנימין יוסף רוזנשׁטיין Daniel David Matan Rotenberg דניאל דוד מתן רוטנברג Ely Meir Dylan Rothman אילי מאיר דיין רותמן
MAZAL TOV TO NETIVOT HATORAH’S GRADUATING CLASS OF 2023!
בנימין סדיקוב אביגיל מיה סייט
Julian Benjamin Sadikov
Mia Avigayil Saiet
Ameryn Dara Samson מרים סמסון Eitan Zalman Sheinbach סמסון זלמן שׁיינבּך Elizabeth Madelyn Shapira אלישבע שפּירא Natalie Devora Shlesinger נטלי דבורה שלזינגר Jonah Silverman יוחנן סילברמן Carter Avery Sonshine הלל בנימן סונשין Aurelia Eve Spiro חיה פּערל שׁפּירא Paige Sophie Steinberg פנינה שפרה שטיינברג Talya Mira Storger טליה מירה סטורגר Adira Rachel Swartz אדירה רחל שוורץ Sophie Hannah Tick צופיה חנה תיק Ethan Joseph Uretsky איתן יוסף יורצקי Moriya Uzani מוריה אוזני Maya Rose Vidal מיה מרגלית וידל Emily Allison Weinstein אליענה אביבה וינשטין Eitan Yoel Weintraub איתן וינטרוב Roey Meir Weisman רואי מאיר ויסמן Alyssa Rachel Werger אידה דבורה וורגר Rachel Biba Willinger רחל ביבה ווילינגר Dina Wise דינה שׁיינדל ויז
LIA ALLAL ∙ ELLIYA AMOUYAL∙ NOA BAR-DAVID ∙ ADINA BENARROCH DARIA JACQUELINE BENAYON ∙ NAOMI SARAH BERLIN MAJLIS YAEL BERLINER ∙ NAOMI FRIEDMAN ∙ ELLA HASS ∙ ALEGRIA HAVER ORLI KATCHEN ∙ JAIME KOBROSSI ∙ ATARA MICHAL LAUTERPACHT NAOMI MALKA MENDELOVITZ ∙ NOA YASMIN NACHIM KIRA HANNAH NEUFELD ∙ SHELI PALVANOV ∙ MICHAELA SAPIRMAN RUTHIE SCHACHTER ∙ TEHILLA KINNERET SCHERER ∙ ALISHA SILVER YAEL SILVER ∙ TOVA MAZAL STOLOVITSKY ∙ REBECCA SUISSA ELEANA WEINBERGER ∙ LILY WEITZNER NAVE YEDIDYA BEN SHMUEL ∙ NEHORAI BENSADOUN ∙ NOAH JOSEPH BRODT SETH CARPINO ∙ SHAMI FISCH ∙ ISSER HILLEL GETE ∙ EZRA GRYN ZECHARIAH HOROWITZ ∙ MATISYAHU BORUCH HURYNOVICH AVI KADOCH ∙ JEREMY KANNER ∙ ZEV MICHAEL KARAKOWSKY YEHUDA KESLASSY ∙ GAVRIEL KONSKER ∙ SETH KRASMAN ∙ ADIR LEVOVSKI NOAM SHLOMO LEVY ∙ ARIEL LIPETZ ∙ AIDEN HARRY MAGDER BENJAMIN JOSEPH AARON PERLMUTAR ∙ DANIEL ZEV ROMBERG CHANIEL MORDECHAI ROTMAN ∙ YONATAN CHAIM WEILL ZACHARY WOZNICA ∙ GAVRIEL MOSHE YUNGER
עלו והצליחו!
WWW.ASSOCIATEDHEBREWSCHOOLS.COM
THECJN.CA 19
The Board of Directors, Administration and Staff Congratulate Robbins Hebrew Academy’s 2023 Graduates! ה ב
CLASS OF 2023 Mazal Tov! מזל טוב!
Lexie Burke Jacob Cooperman Samuel Danechrad Lily Diament Mya Eisenstat Eva Farovitch Lyla Frisch Emma Fruitman Noah Galet Mia Hayeems Hannah Hershfield Charlotte Kanee
Oliver Lasry Charley Lazarus Sam Levy Abigail Ptak Hannah Ptak Chloe Rapoport Itamar Ravia Eden Selchen Jenna Star Evan Starkman Mara Stern Abigail Strasser Ruby Teplitsky Tsabar Vaday Austin Warren Jacob Weinstock Ethan Wiener
מיה-לאה יעקב-ציון שמואל מלכה שילו צביה ישראלה מרים נח מלכה חנה שושנה טביה זאב
נתנאל גבריאלה ליבול אביאל טליה שרה איתמר עדן ינה הללה מרה חיה מרים צבר הרשל יעקב דניאל
Noal Kazman Jack Kimmel Jonathan Kraft Sophie Lander Cole Lapedus
יונתן סופי שי
WHERE EXTRAORDINARY THINGS HAPPEN.
ניב מיקה ליע אלה משה אהרו תר א אמה איתי מאיה
משה טליה ישראל אייל נת לאה מיכל תומר רענ
יהודה לב ברו טובה אלי זליג
Benjamin Mostyn Samantha Nisan Ely Nudel Dylan Orzech Jacob Perlon Elle Propst Joshua Robinson Ryanne Rolnick Warren Roth Ethan Sager Noah Schneiderman Mia Schwartz Alexandra Selby Daniel Serebryany Matthew Shore Jacob Shwarzman Dylan Siegel Leo Soer Victoria Sokoloff Ethan Steen Ellis Steinberg Faith Talsky Orielle Taylor Nathan Tenenbaum Harley Tsherna Emily Waks Jack Rose Isaac Ross
Joshua Freed Talia Friedman Samuel Friedman Ryan Geller-Benmergui Leah Ginzburg Maddy Glick-Cale Thomas Green Ryan Grevler Miya Gurevich Eva Guterman Samuel Haidenblit Amy Hartmann Sabrina Hausman Rivka Helberg Sammy Herczeg Jack Hershenfield Evan Holland Joseph Kaplan Noah Kats Aiden Kaufman Yael Kernerman Ariel Konopny Coby Leder Leora Lefton Madison Leonoff Jacob Levin-Gitman Zach Levy Jordana Levy Daisy Lieberman Dylan Luftspring Benjamin Mandel Zach Mandelcorn Rachael Mann
Neeve Abraham Mika Agid Liam Altman Ella Amir Massey Applebaum Max Backstein Abigail Baker Emma Baron Etai Ben-Moshe Chloe Benchitrit Jillian Bensky Milly Bernamoff Brooklyn Berns Lily Betsalel Jacob Biback Mia Blum Ryan Braverman Noah Breido Max Brodskiy Aaron Bronizer Lily Brown Aubrey Cappel Jonah Carnevale Benjamin Carnevale Addison Cohen Gracie Cohen Maya Croitoru Neta Croitoru Aidan Daniels Ethan Diamond Sadie Dudkiewicz Samantha Ellison Jacob Elman Hannah Elyasian Logan Epstein Gabriella Farbman Joseph Feferman Ryan Feifer Cole Feldbloom Ava Foucault
יעקב שיינה יהושע שושנה יו יצחק
מיה אוה שמואל חיה טובה
אליה מרי רחל בינה זהבה משה יעל אית נח דוד ברו אהרו פנינה
חיי משה נח רחל לאה
רבקה מאירה יצחק משה יו רונ נח ארי יעל אריאל שאול ליאורה
דניאל עמיחי יעקב דֹב פר חנה פייגה אית רבקה בת חיי
מזל טוב Mazal Tov to the Graduating Class of 2023
ברו יונה בנימי עדי ברכה
זהבה אוריאל אהרו יקירה חוה מאיה אלה עד איילת מיה
מאיה יעקב זאב אהרו רבקה חיה נח יוחנ
מיה נטע אייד משה צבי שרה תר א יעקב חנה חייקה
Maya Waxman Ela Weinreich Eden Wilson
זליג רחל יואב רפאל יו איתי ליה מיכאל רפאל
Katie Wise Mia Wolfe Max Wood
משה ירד לאה שושנה גבריאלה
Reid Mawas Rafe Meloff Ryan Merker
Janna Zarek Meera Zarek Lexie Zeitz Gabriella Zisckind
רחל יו חיי חיי אריאל
Etye Metser-Friedman Leia Metser-Friedman Ethan Mocon James Moskowitz
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on the Canadian Jewish arts world Pulling back the curtain
E ver since the inception of The CJN Podcast Network, a multitude of audience mem- bers have written in with one specific request: that we start a Jewish arts show. So we listened. This spring, we debuted Culturally Jewish , a new bimonthly podcast covering Jewish artists around the country, pulling the curtain back on brand-new theatre productions, art exhibits, films, TV shows and more. Join hosts Ilana Zackon and David Sklar as they sit down with creators of all backgrounds for honest and immersive insight into the reality of life as a Jewish artist in Canada. Listen and subscribe: thecjn.ca/culture
THECJN.CA 21
Stereotypes on strings Years ago, Joseph Shragge was reading the news and found an arti- cle about an antisemitic ice sculpture—a bearded man with a hooked nose and a bag of shekels—at a winter festival in his home province of Quebec. It later came to light that the antisemitic image was, in fact, a popular character from Eastern European tradition, and the non-Jewish sculptors didn’t see what the big deal was. That inspired Vertip , a new play by Shragge and Alison Darcy, co-art-
istic directors of the Montreal theatre company Scapegoat Carnivale. In their challenging show, a puppeteer who uses these stereotypical puppets is shocked when Zyhd, his money-grubbing Jewish loan shark puppet, comes to life—and starts demanding money. It’s a different approach to tackling antisemitism, and not one all audiences have been comfortable with. At its core, it asks a fun- damental question: how can we preserve cultural heritage without embracing its problematic elements?
Making a living on a prayer
When Lisa Rubin, artistic and executive director of the Segal Centre for Performing Arts in Mont- real, caught Prayer for the French Republic in New York City last year, she walked out of the theatre certain of one thing: she had to put this show on. She knew it wouldn’t get a long run on Broadway, overshadowed by Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt next door, and few other theatre companies would pick up a three-hour-long drama with a large cast and heavy Jewish content. But for her and the Segal, it was the perfect fit. In this podcast episode, hosts Ilana and David take listeners literally behind the scenes during re- hearsals for this epic Jewish family drama, speaking with Rubin, her actors, subject-matter experts and audience members who caught a sneak peak.
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The beauty of Babyn Yar The site of the first mass killing in Nazi-occupied Europe, Babyn Yar has been a dormant field in Ukraine for years. In 2021, a new monu- ment was erected on the ghastly site: a stunning synagogue, colourful and magical, like something out of a fairy tale, literally unfolding like a pop-up book using gears and tracks. The man behind it is Manuel Herz, a Jewish architect based in
Switzerland who has spent many years researching and contemplat- ing what defines Jewish architecture. His conclusion could be said to be the Babyn Yar Synagogue itself: with no homeland for so many years, rather than develop an architectural style, Jews became known as the “People of the Book”. It’s that literary tradition that inspired the pop-up book style of his incredible monument, which pays tribute to the surviving spirit, optimism and creativity of the Jewish people.
Jokes that bomb Jeff Rothpan recently worked on Roast Battle Canada , which was nominated for several Canadian Screen Awards. But before that, the Montreal native—who moved to Los An- geles at a young age to pursue his dream of being a comedian and writer—made a career writing jokes for the likes of Steve Martin, John Cleese and Pamela Anderson. Things really took off once he started work- ing with Jeff Dunham, the comic ventriloquist whose dummy characters include hicks, weirdos, grumps and a dumb dead terror- ist named Achmed, who prematurely blew himself up by accident. Rothpan travelled around the world with Dunham and his sup- porting puppets as he performed in Iceland, South Africa and the Middle East—includ- ing Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Subscribe to Culturally Jewish to hear how Achmed (and Rothpan’s jokes) were received in those countries, where suicide bombers aren’t just a throwaway gag.
THECJN.CA 23
TRIBUTE TO ISRAEL
Israel Independence Day Parade, Toronto, May 16, 1948. Photo by Dr. John E. Ackerman.
We are grateful to represent a part of Israel’s legacy and look forward to being by your side for another 75+ years, saving lives, delivering lives, and changing lives. The Board of Directors and staff of The Canadian Shaare Zedek Hospital Foundation
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THECJN.CA 25
The year that shaped me What I learned by spending the mid-1960s in Israel
An essay by Seymour Epstein
PHOTOGRAPHY BY NAOMI HARRIS
I n 1965-’66, at the age of 19, I spent a year studying in Israel, a time that transformed me deeply. What follows is a recollection of how that groundbreaking year shaped my future. Borrowing from my memoir, From Couscous to Kasha: Reporting From the Field of Jewish Community Work , about my 18 years spent with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee:
“As a student of Hebrew literature in my early 20s, I was much influenced by Chaim Hazaz’s short story, ‘The Sermon’ (haDrasha), in which the anti-hero, Yudka, bemoans the fact that Jewish history is done to us. In his Zionist fervour, Yudka yearns to be a subject but believes we have become objects of history.”
My chosen career as a Jewish educator was my humble attempt to do Jewish history by teaching a new generation of Jewish youth about their rich heritage of languages, litera- ture, values, and spirituality. In the mid-1960s, I was a student in the joint program of the Jewish Theological Sem- inary and Columbia University. The Teachers’ Institute at JTS, as it was then known, was an academic program designed to train Jewish Studies teachers for Jewish educa- tional institutions. As at similar schools in
“I was born one year after the Holo- caust ended in Europe and two years before the establishment of the State of Israel, and spent much of my youth mourning and celebrat- ing those two events. I had the sense that the great moments of 20th cen- tury Jewish history had passed me by, and that my life would be lived as a passive object of that history, not as one of its writers.
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Epstein at his home in Toronto, April 2023 Photographed exclusively for The Canadian Jewish News
THECJN.CA 27
trip of the summer. This gave me the mobility to properly tour the small, divided city that Jerusalem was in 1965. It also permitted me the odd road trip to Tel Aviv to visit a couple who had adopted me on that boat from Na- ples to Haifa. I had no family in the country, and that couple became my link to Israeli life, since most of my time was spent with other transient students. Studying with Israel’s best minds Of all the exciting experiences, it was the high quality of teaching by the very best instructors in Jerusalem which made the year for me. My studies at Hebrew Univer- sity included a Bible course with Nechama Leibowitz. She refused to teach at Mechon Greenberg for religious reasons, but did teach at Mechon Gold, run by the Torani (religious) division of the Jewish Agency, and at Hebrew University, a secular institution. One can imagine how much sense that made to us North American students. Her approach to text was based on close reading and profound respect for tradition- al interpretation, along with an emotional attachment to sacred text. It was so different from the highly rational, scientific study at JTS, which I also valued for its intellectual integrity. It was Prof. Leibowitz who taught me that both were possible and that, indeed, the mix of cognitive analysis and emotional identification was a holistic perspective I could best identify with. There were some dramatic moments in her class, as when a passage from Exodus had some exceptional contemporary meaning for her and she would reveal her innermost feelings. I remember so well her teaching of the passage in which God tells Moses how He will deliver the Jews from their Egyptian enslavement and bring them to the land of Israel. When she arrived at verse nine —“And Moshe spoke thus to the Israelites, but they did not heed Moshe out of shortness of breath and hard bondage”—she was visibly shaken by the fact that the children of Israel could not listen to the lofty words of God be- cause of their hard work and their shortness of breath. She emphasized that kotzer ruach is not “impatience,” as in modern Hebrew, but literally shortness of breath or even em- physema, the disease of slaves. To this day, I love teaching that text to Israelis so that they can see the brutal origin of a term they use so differently today. Over the years, I have found several new meanings in that text as I teach it again and again. It was Prof. Leibowitz’s passion for the text itself and her innate pedagogic skills
with which I pursued my studies that year. Mechon Greenberg was spread over three locations in the Baka and Talpiot neighbour- hoods of 1965 Jerusalem. We studied on Rechov Shimshon, we ate on Rechov Reuven, and we slept in Pension Carmi on Rechov Ein Gedi. Our dormitory was the last house on the border of the no-man’s-land that sep- arated it from Jordanian Jerusalem. If your laundry blew across the fence, you didn’t venture out to retrieve it. The students from North America arrived in September, the middle of the academic year for the South American students who were attending what they spelled Mejon Green- berg. They studied all day at the Machon. We spent half the day there and the other half at the Givat Ram campus of the Hebrew University. There was some culture shock. The room “The cook would bake a cake for every birthday and it seemed that each Argentine had three or four of them every year. We all learned ‘Happy Birthday to You’ in Castellano... ” I shared with an American student was so small that only one of us could get out of bed at a time. Hot water for showers was available only for a few hours on Friday; a weekly shower before Shabbat was deemed sufficient. In the Jerusalem winter, taking a cold shower every day, as was our custom, was a challenge. Some of us learned to do it less, while others devised complicated rituals involving kerosene heaters. Eating Jewish Agency food was yet another challenge. The cook was a former dishwash- er who replaced the original cook, who we believed died eating her own fare. The food was austere, bland, and in short supply. We North Americans who studied at Hebrew University had vouchers for the student cafeteria, where we made the most of much better cuisine. The South Americans had a trick of their own. The cook would bake a cake for every birthday and it seemed that each Argentine had three or four of them every year. We all learned “Happy Birthday to You” in their Castellano variety of Spanish. I had a Lambretta scooter I’d purchased in Naples and brought over on my last boat
other American cities, undergraduates at JTS were offered the option of a year’s study at Mechon Greenberg in Jerusalem, a teacher training program sponsored by the Jewish Agency and named after Chaim Greenberg (1889-1953), an early Zionist activist and ideologue. At the time, the Jewish Agency ran three such programs for Diaspora teachers and informal educators: Greenberg, Mechon Gold for religious women, and Machon l’Madrichei Chutz for youth leaders. I had not yet been to Israel, but had attended Zionist schools and camps. The Greenberg program was for me. Arriving in Israel With limited financial resources, I funded the trip by working on a tour of Israel and Europe under the leadership of Rabbi Eugene Weiner and his wife, Anita. It was a luxury tour for students that involved two Mediter- ranean cruises, which meant that I arrived in Israel by boat. I have a very clear memory of my last night on that Zim boat before the morning arrival in the port of Haifa. I thought of my mother, of blessed and wonderful memories, who died a young woman just five years before. She was a First World War orphan from Koretz, Ukraine who always spoke (and sometimes sang) lovingly about Israel. Some of my earliest memories are her conversations with me about the new state. I felt I was making this trip for her, and openly cried on deck thinking about how much she would have wanted to see this place I was about to experience. Some Yiddish song about “What will you do in Palestina?” kept rolling through my head. That summer of 1965 was a mix of new ex- periences, Israeli touring, some great cities of Europe, a close bond with Rabbi Weiner and his wife, and a variety of strange, young Jews on the trip. I was in charge of daily prayers and taking special care of a few of the stran- ger students. At times, my two duties were in perfect sync. The one moment I remember best was linked to the gap between my Dias- pora Hebrew (I attended a Jewish elementary school, and most of the courses at JTS were conducted in Hebrew at the time), and mod- ern Israeli Hebrew. I had been hospitalized near Tiberias for minor surgery and developed some heartburn from all the medication. Not knowing the word for heartburn or indigestion, I exclaimed, “bo’er li ha’lev” (“my heart is burning”). That got a rise out of the nurses and a doctor, and it took some tricky gesticu- lations to calm them down. It may have been this moment in my Hebrew education that inspired the zeal
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