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As the lights of Chanukah begin to shine, we are reminded of the power of hope, resilience, and unity. This year, more than ever, our hearts are with our brothers and sisters in Israel. The challenges they face are immense, but with our unwavering dedication to providing humanitarian aid, vital medical equipment, and mental health support, we can offer together a beacon of light in these difficult times. May the miracles of Chanukah inspire strength and healing for all those in need, and may we continue to stand together as one people, bound by our shared values of compassion and care. Wishing you a Chanukah filled with peace, warmth, and the hope of brighter days ahead.

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What’s inside

THE FRONT PAGES 11

A look inside the oldest Jewish book

A synagogue in Prague hosts services for the rst time in over 80 years Q&A: The ambiguously amusing Robby Homan

FEATURES 21

You could always try being Jewish in a small town AVI FINEGOLD Sarah Mintz on the experience of being a far-ung Jew

40 Slices of life from Canadian places where Jewish neighbours are few

THE BACK PAGES 48

Ira Basen explores the sporting life in Canadian Jewish history How did the divorce memoir become trendy? PHOEBE MALTZ BOVY 60 Forthcoming book, lm, and other releases of note 70 The driwood hanukkiah of Bowen Island, B.C. 54

Contributors

Sarah Mintz (p.32) is a graduate of the English MA program at the University of Regina. Her flash fiction collection handwringers was published with Radiant Press, and her debut novel, NORMA, is available now from Invisible Publishing (2024). Find out more at smintz.carrd.co Radio program producer and documentary maker. Sports and Jews are two of his favourite topics, and he welcomes any and all opportunities to combine the two. Ira Basen (p48) is a Toronto- based writer and educator, and a long-time CBC Chloe Zola (cover, p22 and 32) is an American illustrator living in San Miguel de Allende Mexico whose work is often motivated by social justice issues and current affairs. Her interests include yoga, chocolate chips, and learning Spanish at a glacial pace.

Correction: In the article “What Do We Mean by Zion?” (Fall 2024) we wrote that the organization T’ruah holds anti-Zionist views. While the network and the rabbis within it aim “to lead Jewish communities in advancing democracy and human rights for all people in the United States, Canada, Israel, and the occupied Palestinian territories” they do not, in fact, identify as anti-Zionist. We regret the error, which was corrected prior to online publication.

THECJN.CA 7

Our traditions are always evolvin g

The Canadian Jewish News

F or me, Hanukkah, like all major Jewish holidays, is primarily about family and tradition. Growing up, the anticipation for the holiday was far greater than the feel- ing of any given gift. It was about the eight magical nights with my bubbe and zayde and spending time with my cousins and ex- tended family—not to mention what felt like an unlimited supply of latkes and sufganiyiot.

year, and we can’t wait for you to see what we have been dreaming up. All this has been made possible by our dedicated and passionate audience, includ- ing our very generous donors. Your support ensures The CJN can continue to expand its coverage—and that, in turn, is why we’ve been able to keep growing. Over the past

The Canadian Jewish News Magazine Editor in Chief Hamutal Dotan

Art Director Ronit Novak Contributing Editors Phoebe Maltz Bovy Avi Finegold Marc Weisblott Designer Etery Podolsky The CJN Chief Executive Officer Michael Weisdorf General Manager Kathy Meitz Advertising Sales Manager Grace Zweig

Those traditions evolved as I was welcomed into my wife’s family. Over the years, our fam- ilies have expanded in size and shape, introducing new foods and new practices into our holi- day celebrations. This issue of the magazine focuses on just these kinds of changes and adaptations on a larger scale: we’re delv- ing into Jewish life in quieter and more remote pockets of the country. We’re exploring how people have adjusted where there aren’t many other Jews around, embra- cing new ways to celebrate their Jewishness and finding, in the process, that they can sometimes better connect with themselves, their com- munities, and their religion. Change has been a theme at The CJN recently, too. We have introduced two new jour-

Board of Directors : Bryan Borzykowski President Sam Reitman Treasurer and Secretary Ira Gluskin

Jacob Smolack Elizabeth Wolfe

For all inquiries info @ thecjn.ca Cover: Illustration by Chloe Zola for The CJN Printed in Winnipeg by Prolific Group With the participation of:

year, audiences and subscribers across all the different platforms we publish on have increased significantly. For this, we thank you! As we light the candles this Hanukkah, may their glow illuminate not only our homes but also our hearts and minds. Let the flames inspire us to embrace change and serve to light the way toward a bright future filled with hope, resilience, and peace.

nalists to expand our daily news coverage, including an education beat reporter and a Quebec news correspondent. We have also introduced a major update to our website that makes it easier to navigate and creates new opportunities for you to engage with us directly. This magazine, too, is changing. I’m thrilled to announce that, as of the next issue, the publication you are now hold- ing in your hands will be a richly reported, beautifully redesigned magazine called Scribe Quarterly . The magazine’s new editor in chief, Hamutal Dotan, has been spearheading this project for well over a

MICHAEL WEISDORF, MBA Chief Executive Officer The Canadian Jewish News

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THECJN.CA 9

A Happy Healthy Chanukkah Chag Sameach

Dunfield Avenue Toronto ON M S H TheDunfieldcom

The codex—an innovation at a time when most writing was still on scrolls—allowed Jews to study sacred texts while travelling.

Museum of the Bible unveils world’s “Oldest Jewish Book” in new exhibit

in a cave near one of the giant Bamiyan Buddhas that were carved into a mountain in ancient times and deliberately destroyed in an explosion by the Taliban in 2001, according to an article in The Free Press . Sometime later, someone reportedly tried without success to sell the book in Dallas, Texas. Then, following the 9/11 attacks and the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, the book’s tracks disappeared until 2012, when a rare book dealer photographed it in London. The dealer, Lenny Wolfe, told The Free Press that he tried brokering a $120,000 (US) deal between a pair of private sellers and an un- specified Israeli institution, but that the insti- tution turned down the offer. Eventually, the Green family, evangelical Christians based in Oklahoma who own the Hobby Lobby chain, bought the book without knowing its true age or origin, and added it to a collection that would evolve into the Museum of the Bible. It was mis- labeled, “Egypt, circa 900 CE.” A museum curator who was examining the book real- ized that its real origin was Afghanistan when he encountered a photo of the book in an article in Tablet magazine about Jew- ish manuscripts being smuggled out of the country. That discovery eventually led to the carbon testing and the revelation of the book’s unique significance. The book will remain on display until mid-January, after which it will be on view at the library of the Jewish Theological Semin- ary in New York City. n

ASAF ELIA-SHALEV / JTA

T he Museum of the Bible in Wash- ington, D.C., has unveiled what it says is the oldest Jewish book ever dis- covered. According to the museum’s dra- matic claim, the tiny book is a relic of an eighth-century civilization on the ancient trading route known as the Silk Road, cre- ated by Jews living as a minority among Buddhists who ruled the Bamiyan Valley in modern-day Afghanistan. Measuring approximately 13 centimeters by 13 centimeters, the book combines a variety of texts written by different hands, including prayers, poems, and what the museum says is the oldest known version of the Haggadah, the central text of the Passover seder. The museum’s claims regarding the book are based on years of work by a

team of researchers; their work is slated to be published in a series of 10 essays in April. Anchoring the scholarly discussion surrounding the book is a 2019 laboratory test that used carbon dating to estimate the book’s age at 1,300 years, astonish- ing researchers at the museum. Far more ancient written Hebrew texts had been discovered, but only on scrolls, most fam- ously the roughly 2,000-year-old Dead Sea Scrolls that are displayed prominently in Israel. The carbon dating indicated that this was the earliest intact Hebrew codex by more than a century. Prior to the drama of the lab’s result, the book had garnered little interest in the dec- ades since it was first found in Afghanistan. A member of the country’s Hazara ethnic minority discovered the manuscript in 1997

THECJN.CA 11

Historic Prague synagogue used for the first time since the Holocaust

in Prague was allowed to continue storing those objects, and the synagogue became part of the museum’s depository. After the war, there were not enough sur- vivors to refill services in the synagogues of Prague. The country became a Soviet sat- ellite in 1948, starting a long era in which Jews were often persecuted and surveilled for observing any religious practices. The last Soviet census of 1989 registered only 2,700 Jews living in Czech lands. “During Communist times, it was very diffi- cult to relate to Jewish identity,” Maxa says. “People who visited any kind of synagogue were followed by the secret police, and only after the Velvet Revolution in 1989 did it become possible for people to visit syna- gogues without the feeling of being followed and put on a list.” After the end of communist rule, some synagogues returned to use by the few who still identified as Jews. Two of the six synagogues that still stand in the Jewish Quarter now are in regular use as houses of worship. But the Klausen Synagogue, which was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1982, remained part of the Jewish Museum, hosting exhibitions about Jewish

SHIRA LI BARTOV / JTA

F or the first time since the Second World War, one of Prague’s most historic synagogues held a Jewish worship service— Kol Nidre, the introductory service of Yom Kippur—ending a hiatus that lasted more than 80 years and encompassed both the murder and suppression of Czech Jewry. Originally erected in 1573 and rebuilt after a fire in 1694, the Klausen Synagogue is the largest synagogue in Prague’s Jewish Quar- ter and once served as a central hub of Jew- ish life. It’s known as the home of several prominent rabbis and thinkers, from Judah Loew—a 16th-century Talmudic scholar also known as the Maharal of Prague—to Baruch Jeitteles, a scholar associated with the Jew- ish Enlightenment movement of the 18th and 19th centuries.

On Erev Yom Kippur, about 200 people poured in for a service led by Rabbi David Maxa, who represents Czechia’s community of Reform Jews. That community was joined by guests and Jewish tourists from around the world, according to Maxa. He saw the moment as a sign of Jewish life resurging in Prague, describing it as “quite remarkable that there is a Yom Kippur service in five his- toric synagogues in Prague.” Under German occupation in Second World War, the Klausen Synagogue was used as a storage facility. Although the Nazis and their collaborators killed about 263,000 Jews who lived in the former Czechoslovak Repub- lic, they took an interest in collecting Jewish art and artifacts that they deemed valuable enough to preserve. The Jewish Museum

The Klausen Synagogue in Prague dates back to 1694.

to a growing number of people who sought to explore their Jewish roots. The community currently has 200 members and adds about five more every month. “Often, I meet people who simply want to learn about the culture, tradition and religion of their grandparents,” says Maxa. “They say, my grandmother and grandfather were Shoah survivors—can I come and learn more about Judaism? We offer a wide range of activities, including, of course, regular services, but also educa- tional courses to help these people recon- nect with the tradition.” Maxa, who himself grew up in Prague with little connection to his Jewish roots, wants to revive some of the rituals that threaded through Prague’s pre-war Jewish world—includ- ing a tradition of organ accompaniment in the city’s synagogues. Jewish organist Ralph Selig performed during the Kol Nidre service. Like many of his congregants, Maxa has a family history that intertwines with the losses of the last century. His father came from Prague and survived the Holocaust. He does not know if his father visited the Klausen Synagogue, but he knows it was a familiar part of his world. “It means a lot for me that the tradition was not exterminated.” n

festivals, early Hebrew manuscripts, and Jewish customs and traditions. Museum director Pavla Niklová says that re- turning the synagogue to use for Yom Kippur happened almost by accident. Maxa was ask- ing if she knew about a space large enough to host his growing congregation, Ec Chajim, for the holiest day in the Jewish calendar: its own space, which opened four years ago, could not accommodate the expected crowds. Since the museum had just taken down its exhibition in the Klausen Synagogue, she had an answer. The clean, empty space was ready to be re- filled with Jewish life. Visiting the synagogue just before Yom Kippur, Niklová said she was awed to see the building returned to its original purpose. She hopes that it will continue to be used for large services. “I felt like the synagogue started breathing again,” she says. For many in Prague’s largely secular Jew- ish community, Yom Kippur is the single most important service of the year. Even Jewish families that suppressed religious practices under Communism often passed on the memory of Yom Kippur, says Maxa, who founded Ec Chajim in 2019, responding

THECJN.CA 13

Stay informed, inspired, and connected—every day. The CJN Podcast Network oers news, analysis and commentary on Jewish issues that matter most – delivered to you daily. Tune in. Stay connected. Discover The CJN! Listen now on all major podcast platforms.

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THECJN.CA 15

“I’ve always been a bit of a troublemaker”

Avi Finegold talks to comedian and writer Robby Hoffman about identity, resilience, and living in between worlds.

didn’t have clothes . And then people would ask me why I was dressed for a wedding.

You were born into a Hasidic family, but your mother started withdrawing from that community when you were a young child. What was that experience like? What was the transition point? It was weird because we were living in a very Hasidic, Lubavitch area, obviously, but we were very much leaving that community or on the outs over the years. I would say that we were somewhere in the middle. And this is just the theme of my life. I’m an Amer- ican; I’m a Canadian. I’m frum; I’m not. I’m a girl; I’m not. I’m always in the middle of so many things. This was no different. Looking back, I was still the most religious person at Bialik, but I felt not religious at all. And it’s funny because in my life now, my girl- friend thinks I’m the most religious person she’s ever met. She’s like, Well, you kiss the mezuzah . For me it’s Obviously I kissed the mezuzah . I’m not an animal. I’m already doing gay. I don’t need to play with fire any more than I have. I can empathize with that because I was on the flip side: I remember going to uni- versity and being the most religious one. I wore a shirt and dress pants, because that’s what I wore—that’s what I had. I

denly were the most pious people in the world when Pesach came around, not eat- ing bread—were there. I was unpeeling the wrapper and I remember my friend saying, “You’re gonna eat that in front of me when it’s Pesach?” I said, “How many times have I come out to eat with you guys and I’ve ordered a garden salad, no dressing, and you’re going to be high on your horse now.” And I had it, and it was unbelievable. I had it every day for the next month, and it was just divine. The frum world, the religious world, doesn’t really have this notion of some- thing like Rumspringa: go try things, and we know you’ll come back. It’s this straight and narrow path that, if you transgress once, you’re done. And that’s not healthy because a boy who is told not to watch pornography because it’s the worst thing imaginable and then he sees one billboard of a woman in a bikini and he realizes that the lightning bolt hasn’t killed him yet. And so you figure, If I did that, I might as well do everything else . Imagine if the attitude was: we don’t do these things; if you think you want to do them, try it out for yourself and decide— you can always come back.

Yeah, it’s so bizarre. Usually when I went to my friends’ houses in high school, they weren’t kosher at home but they would always have Wacky Mac or something for me. Then, I think when I start- ed losing my way or not being kosher any- more, it really rubbed them the wrong way. I remember it was Pesach at Dawson Col- lege (in Montreal) and I just had an exam— an early eight o’clock exam. It was over by 10 a.m. And I don’t know what came over me, but there was a McDonald’s across the street, and breakfast was still being served. The allure when we were kids was huge— all the non-Jewish kids had Happy Meals after school. And I thought, I’d love to be happy . My mother may have had meatloaf at home, which ended up being way better for us long term, but I just wanted a nugget. After this exam, I was so depleted. There was no kosher food around me. I had no groceries at my apartment. I was in exam mode, starving. I’m like: McDonald’s break- fast. And I broke my kosher-ness. I bought an Egg McMuffin with bacon, with the hash browns, latkes, whatever. I walked into the Dawson cafeteria and my friends—who sud-

THECJN.CA 17

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being poor is. Being offended, to me, is not that bad. I think being offended might teach you that you feel something or you’re pas- sionate about something. I grew up in a family where there were al- ready nine siblings. I didn’t have the luxury to be offended. I could be wrong, but I think censorship or the idea of being offended for me feels more like a rich thing than it does a poor thing. I was so comfortable living in a house with people who were so different. We had similarities and we had differences and we would fight like crazy. And then, at the end of the day, it would be lights out, we have to go to sleep. I didn’t have my own room to go to. I think if you’re a rich kid, you go to your room. I had to sleep with these people I really disagreed with. I got comfortable being uncomfortable and I think people who are comfortable in every facet of their lives—they’re not comfortable being uncomfortable. I’m fine to be uncom- fortable. Of course, I prefer being at the Ritz. I prefer a nice bed, but I’m totally com- fortable on the couch.

I never thought that God was mad at me. I just always felt God kind of liked me for whatever reason. I don’t think he was thrilled with all my decisions, but He maybe thought, Eh, what are you gonna do? My friends were really judgmental, but I never at any point thought that I was wrong. If there’s a God, I feel like He’s cool with me. I don’t believe that there’s a God necessar- ily, but I do believe there’s obviously some- thing, there’s greaterness than us. Whatever the powers- or energies-that-be are, I feel it as a protective layer. But I could be wrong, you know? I just think that if you step into it, it can be nice. If you don’t, that’s also cool. I got good at not listening to the noise as much, and maybe that’s why I do what I’m doing.

Do you consider yourself part of the lar- ger community of off-the-derekh people?

No. Nobody wants to be defined anymore. I’m kind of that way with communities. The trans community, the queer community, the Jewish community, the off-the-derekh com- munity. It’s fine if you want me in your com- munity. I wear glasses; there are the people with glasses. There’s a community for every- thing. I’m in and not in everything. I’m going to break the rules.

You can’t cancel your sibling.

My brother, he doesn’t love gay people. He calls me and he goes, They’ve got these agendas. I said, “You know I’m gay, right? You’re talking to a gay.” And he replies, “Well, not you. You’re my flesh and blood. I’d take a bullet for you.” What am I going to do, cut this guy off? He’s my brother. I love him, he loves me. There’s no cutting off in a poor family. He wouldn’t understand if I said, “Don’t call me.”

The identity thing is interesting to really wrap your head around.

People really want to claim you. I think I noticed it as you get bigger and bigger, as you do more and more, people start to want to claim you. I’m for everyone, but I really just belong to myself. You really lean into the Holocaust jokes in your comedy. What is it about the trans- gressive humor that appeals to you, that works for some people and really doesn’t work for others? I don’t know what it is. I think it’s a matter of taste. I happen to have an appetite for dark. I grew up in a house and on playgrounds where we said the hardest, meanest, worst things to each other in a fight—I developed a skin for it. But some people don’t have the taste, they didn’t develop that skin, they don’t need it, they don’t like it. There are a million reasons why it’s not somebody’s taste. I don’t mind if somebody’s offended by something; that’s their prerogative. I per- sonally don’t think being offended is the worst thing. I think being hungry is, I think

So how do you write something that is offensive but doesn’t get too offensive?

I don’t think of anything like that. I just think about what I think is funny. I’ve always been a bit of a troublemaker. In school, I was a troublemaker. I’ve always wanted to get a re- action of any kind. I think I was blessed with that. The first thing I heard from the first show I did is that I have a unique voice. I heard about my voice even before I knew about it. I think that is due to the fact that I sit in so many middles. I’m always the window look- ing out, whether I’m poor looking at the rich, whether I’m Canadian in America, whether I’m a girl with a boy-ish disposition. I’m always looking in, I’m always sitting on the fence. n

This interview has been edited and condensed.

THECJN.CA 19

SPONSORED CONTENT

ImpactTO—more than the sum of its parts

I t started with a ballroom, 43 executive directors of Toronto Jewish organizations, and 187 local philanthropists. This describes the first ImpactTO event, which brought together many Jewish Institutions. Chaim Rutman, the visionary behind this gathering last spring, had one clear goal: fostering collaboration and weaving together the Jewish organizations across the GTA. “It was like being on an escalator,” says Maidy Ehrlichster, Team Lead at ImpactTO, “forward movement was unavoidable. There was a room full of lit-up people turning their ideas into buzzy progress.” Patrons and community activists who had vague, undefined objectives suddenly found fertile ground to nurture those objectives into something sturdy. And alive. “All people passionate about servicing the Jewish community and inspiring the next generation of heritage builders were there. It was delicious!” The problem ImpactTO comes to solve is one that’s familiar to most everyone across Jewish communities-exhausted money veins and ever-expanding demands. Previously padded budgets no longer cover the steady increases of the past few years. The prototypical Jewish donor is a formidable force within our communities. Eager to help, passionate about Jewish preservation and galvanized by a sense of mission, they’re not

and ensuring institutions can thrive,” Aubrey explains.

afraid of writing big cheques to meet big needs. But following the complexities of each institution’s particular cash leaks is time consuming. “Before ImpactTO, many organizations within the Jewish community were working in silos, struggling with similar challenges - rising costs, inefficient marketing, and limited access to resources,” says Aubrey Freedman, Steering Committee Secretary of ImpactTO. “Executive Directors faced increasing pressure to sustain operations, but there was little collaboration between institutions, which limited their ability to leverage each other’s strengths.” That was the pre-Impact landscape. But the terrain is changing. As a collective of 43 organizations, ranging from food banks to financial aid, from heritage building to community centers, from childcare to hospice, ImpactTO brings these separate orbits together to create a Venn diagram of more efficient and effective solutions. “Our mission is to strengthen the Jewish community by fostering collaboration, pooling resources,

The nuts n’ bolts of the operation? • negotiating better service rates • marketing • health and life insurance policies for community workers • grant writing

• endowment infrastructure • collaborative new projects

“Too many institutions expressed frustration over missing out on government grants with their low ROI to justify using already strained resources,” says Chaim. A new gateway for patrons looking to revitalize the historic kehillah in its modern manifestation, ImpactTO is flush with promise. Aubrey pitches the long game. “The Jewish community thrives when we work together. We can’t afford to let institutions struggle when collective action can provide strength, efficiency, and long-term sustainability.” It’s all about streamlining. And Jewish continuity. “Now more than ever, it’s essential that we unify to support one another and build a stronger, more resilient community.”

Where the Heart Is The typical Jewish experience is conventionally understood to be an urban one—but many Jews, by choice or circumstance, live outside of Canada’s big cities. In this collection of essays and interviews, we explore what it means to live, Jewishly, in unexpected places.

THECJN.CA 21

Make yourself There are as many ways to live Jewishly as there are places Jews choose to live in

BY AVI FINEGOLD

at home

M inyan on the Mira , a 1995 documen- tary about the Jewish community of Glace Bay, N.S., tells the story of a group of Jews who “made wine from water.” In the opening minutes, we hear about how they arrived, mainly from Russia at the turn of the twentieth century, not knowing the lan- guage and with little to their names, and built a thriving Jewish community. This was a story that repeated across Canada—and, in many cases, decades later led to the same predicament: a group of residents, content with their lives and the town they grew old in, facing the reality of their community in decline, their children and grandchildren having moved to the big city, the minyan unable to sustain it- self. Many of these communities are gone or barely hanging on. And yet, not all Jews feel the gravitational force of city life. There are some Jews who still stay in their small communities simply because they prefer it. Others start out in big cities but find them- selves eventually living far from them—mov- ing for work or a partner or out of a taste for a quieter life. In the course of making decisions about where to move to and where to stay, many of these people contend with what Judaism has to say about living in community. Should a Jew move to a small town if an opportun- ity arises, even if there aren’t other Jews there? How small is too small? If you start out in a small town, should you move to a larger one to find Jewish connections? What values come into play when thinking about these issues? The great Jewish sage Hillel, in The Say-

ILLUSTRATION BY CHLOE ZOLA

THECJN.CA 23

A more ambitious way of framing your thinking about where to live: What do you need to grow?

Living a full Jewish life is no different than making any other significant decision about the structure of our lives. Just as there is no universal answer to the question of what career to pursue or which partner to settle down with, there is no single way to ap- proach how to live as a Jew. Contemplating a move to a small community, or whether to stay in the one you’re already in, requires self-awareness most of all. Do you need access to kosher restaurants? An in-person daily minyan? A Jewish day school? As Rabbi Rachel Isaacs put it to me, “If you expect a catered Kiddush every Shabbat, or if your solution to Shabbat morning kids’ pro- gramming is to just hire a Jewish educator, then you might not be cut out for a small community.” Isaacs should know: in addition to be- ing the rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel in Waterville, Maine, (total population: 15,828) and a professor of Jewish Studies at Colby College, she runs the Center for Small Town Jewish Life, an organization de- voted to providing resources to Jews in iso- lated communities across America. A more ambitious way of framing your thinking about where to live: What do you need to grow? Rabbi Falik Schtroks and his wife, Simie Schtroks, have been the Chabad emissar- ies in Surrey, B.C., for the past 30 years. They say that, in small communities, every person becomes important and “every Jew becomes one letter in the Torah.” As Rabbi Falik put it, there is no stagnation in human life; you either grow as a person and as a Jew or you are in decline. For some people, becoming an identifiable, and even essen- tial, part of a social fabric—the way you can in a small town but not a large city—can be a tool for growth. Others will miss the social dynamics inherent to larger communities,

The Montefiore Institute was built in the 1910s near Sibbald, AB. In 2008, long fallen out of use, it was relocated to Calgary’s Heritage Park.

Beth Israel, in Edenbridge, was completed in 2008; it is believed to be the oldest surviving synagogue in Saskatchewan.

models of rabbis living in isolation. Nota- bly, we have the story of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai who, fearing for his life because of a decree against him, hid in a cave for 12 years and did nothing but study Torah and eat from a carob tree that was growing at the cave’s mouth. (Sometimes, you really just need some peace and quiet to get your book finished.)

ings of the Elders , writes that we should not separate ourselves from the community. This is, arguably, the conventional view in the modern world as well: Jewish life is best lived when we are together, and easiest to maintain when the critical mass you get in cities allows for robust institutions, services, and synagogues. On the other hand, tradition also gives us

which can provide some momentum for in- dividual practice, and as a result feel their Judaism atrophying. One way to start gaining insight into these questions is realizing whether you are the type of person who takes an active role in community or your disposition is more introspective, your relationship to Judaism more personal and directed toward God and spiritual matters. Both types can thrive in small communities—it’s just a question of how you approach it. Rabbi Zolly Claman re- cently took a position as the rabbi of Tifereth Beth David Jerusalem in Montreal, Que., but he arrived there via Edmonton, Alta., (Jew- ish population: 3,515), where he served the Orthodox community. Claman appreciated living in this kind of setting. While urban centres have their merits, he says, “What you lose out on is just that purity of the lone Jew trying to reach out to community, to spirituality, to God, to Torah, to good deeds. And to me, that’s kind of the balancing act between the two options.” Similarly, Isaacs says that, before she moved to rural Maine, she was used to go- ing to synagogue, getting what she needed from the shul and the community, and then going home again. When she arrived in Waterville, she was inspired by how much everyone was actively taking part and mak- ing Shabbat and holidays happen. It’s important not to go in with illusions, however. Both the Schtrokses and Claman point out that families with children can face particular issues. If kids do not have other Jewish friends, they can start to feel isolat- ed and uncomfortable with their Judaism. “You can’t replace the Jewish educators and the atmosphere of Jewish education and Jew- ish peers,” Claman concedes. Schtroks told me that it was much, much harder to raise his kids in a small community than it was to fund- raise the entire budget of his organization. Cost is a consideration that swings in the other direction. Isaacs knows of more and more Jews who are being priced out of large urban centres and even formerly affordable suburbs and are finding them- selves in small towns out of financial ne- cessity. She sees a big part of her work as providing resources to those who do not have the finances to be big-city Jews. As she puts it: “Small town Jewish life is the frontier, not the periphery. These Jews have what to teach others who haven’t yet been hit with the affordability crisis.” One of the most poignant parts of Minyan

on the Mira is an interview with the local Catholic priest; he observes that the Jewish community there is struggling without ne- cessary support—the kind of bolstering that would be provided by a rabbi or cantor. His Jewish neighbours tell him that they’re get- ting by but, as he says, there is a difference between getting along and thriving, and that a community will be in decline if they can- not live with “the fullness of their faith.” This is particularly striking coming from a faith leader of another tradition, someone who understands the difficulties of maintaining religious observance in a small community but has the clarity of being able to witness this decline from a distance. There is no single answer to the question of what kinds of places Jews should live in, and no single overarching value that can de- cide it. It very much depends on how you see and understand your Judaism. Can you see yourself as a representative of your traditions both to fellow Jews and to non-Jewish friends and neighbours? It’s easy to understand why a Chabad rabbi might frame someone living in a small community as being a representa- tive of God and Judaism: they have a long his- tory of being emissaries to their communities and likely assume that many other Jews can fit this model. But not everyone does. At the very end of our conversation, Rabbi Claman pointed out that Hasidic masters had a history of occasionally going to small communities, generally incognito, and living in a private exile to see if they had what it took to be Jewish when no one else knew about it. That private trial was often what they needed to inspire them to further inspire others. The unnamed Catholic priest of Glace Bay said a very similar thing when he hoped that whatever the extant Jewish community learned from living in their own version of an exile could be put to use wherever their next stop might be. Rabbi Moshe ha-Darshan, also known as the Kelmer Maggid, was asked if it is more praiseworthy to worship in a town that is primarily Jewish or non-Jewish. His reply, Rabbi Isaacs reminded me: if you live in a town that is primarily Jewish, you may go to synagogue because of social pressure and political gain. The Jew who maintains their commitment to mitzvot in a community that is not primarily Jewish, however, receives a greater reward because they are truly con- tinuing to pray for the sake of God. There are opportunities to engage with your Judaism wherever you are. n

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