the jewish standard · the jewish standard is published monthly in toronto and montreal by michael...

S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 8 R O S H H A S H A N A H 5 7 7 9

T H E J E W I S H S T A N D A R D1929 -

2018 E

IGH

TY-N

INE

YE

AR

S O

F S

ER

VIC

E T

O C

AN

AD

IAN

JE

WR

Y -

ww

w.t

he

jew

ish

sta

nd

ard

ma

g.c

om

MICHAEL HAYMANPUBLISHER AND

EDITOR

JULIUS HAYMANB.A., L.L.B.

EDITOR 1937-2000

ANITA SURMANEditor

General NewsSection

2 The Jewish Standard, September, 2018

The difficult time throughwhich the world is passing hasalmost completely destroyed thetendency among Rosh Hashanahprophets to issue a cheerful prog-nosis. We have only to witness thepitiful streams of diseased,swollen-bellied, pitiable childrenpassing before our eyes on thenightly newscasts to appreciatethe horrors desperate humanbeings endure. No cheeful outlookwould carry much weight in aworld in which far too many haveseen their lives reduced to a levelof existence that truly makes theirtime on earth “solitary, poor,nasty, brutish and short.” Fearand greed and hate continue toplague our civilization and thehope that the savagery of man maybe tamed, that society will becomemore gentle, seems always to bebetrayed by events.

As we stand on the thresholdof a New Year we can see clearly

The Jewish Standard is published monthly in Toronto and Montreal by Michael Hayman B.A., M.A. Editor and Publisher. 1110 Finch Ave West, Suite 1029,Toronto, ON M3J 3M2 905 417-5252. Printed and bound in Toronto, Canada by Regal Press Canada. Publication Mail Registration Number 40055943

the many dark blots on the hori-zon, blots which signify the extentof the sacrifice and sorrow throughwhich the world is passing. Thecauses of our current ills aredeeply rooted in our failure to mea-sure up to the high ideals so elo-quently and passionately pro-claimed but so disdainfully prac-tised, The religious know fromtheir Bibles what it is that Godrequires of them. Others know thedirection we must take in a searchfor secular salvation. Yet neitherreligion nor secularism offers anycure for our ills.

And yet while the immediatefuture is a dark one, we know thatwhile it is mankind’s fate to sufferwe will, in all probability, survive.And so withdrawing from attemptsto find solutions to problems thattoday appear insoluble cannot bean option. The struggle towardsthe ultimate goal of justice andpeace and freedom must go on.

Reflections on the New Year

Caving to the Ultra-Orthodox We are, by and large, comfort-

able with Israel’s new Nation-StateLaw. We do not see how one canobject to the bill’s basic principlethat “the land of Israel is the his-torical homeland of the Jewishpeople” and that as the nationalhome of the Jewish people theState is fulfilling its “natural, cul-tural, religious and historic rightto self-determination.” Israel’sDruze and other minorities mayhave legitimate concerns about theimpact of the law. But safeguardsare there, even if a more specificarticle about equality would havebeen reassuring.

There is, however, one aspectof the law, forced upon the govern-ment by United Torah Judaism,that can only serve to deepen thedivide between Israel and world

Jewry. In its original version thelaw read: “the state will act tomaintain the connection betweenthe state and the Jewish peoplewherever they are”. United TorahJudaism demanded that the clausebe amended to read “the State willact within the Diaspora tostrengthen the affinity between thestate and members of the Jewishpeople”.

And why did United TorahJudaism insist on amending theclause? Unapologetically, tostymie the advance of religious plu-ralism and egalitarian prayer at theWestern Wall. Unity with otherstreams of Judaism is not, for theultra-Orthodox, of any concern.Preventing Reform andConservative Jews from leading afull life in Israel most assuredly is.

The Jewish Standard, September 2018 3

THE WORLD IN REVIEWNEWS OF THE RECENT PAST IS REVIEWED

By NOAH FREEDMAN

billion Muslims cannot bedefeated by a few millionJews...The Europeans killed6 million Jews out of 12 mil-lion”.

And Mohamadmakes no apology for hisviews. “I am glad to belabeled anti-Semitic...Howcan I be otherwise when theJews who so often talk ofthe horrors they sufferedduring the Holocaust showthe same Nazi cruelty and

We Wish the Jewish Community of the GTAA Happy and Healthy Rosh Hashanah

Being an Anti-Semite

Is Apparently His “Right”

campaign manager,believes that MichaelBloomberg is consideringrunning for the Democraticpresidential nomination in2020 and, if successful,could pose a serious chal-lenge to Trump.

Bloomberg, an“American success story,”has expressed interest inrunning for president as anindependent in the past.The former New York mayorwas at one time a registeredDemocrat but became aRepublican before runningfor mayor. He left theRepublican party in 2007 tobecome an independent.

hard-heartedness not justtowards their enemies buteven towards their alliesshould any try to stop thesenseless killing of theirPalestinian enemies”.

The world’s oldestelected leader at 92Mohamad is proud of hischaracterization of Jews as“not merely hook-nosed butunderstand money instinc-tively.” Nor is he worriedabout his legacy. “When Iam dead”, he says, “it does-n’t matter anymore”.

Bloomberg to

Challenge Trump?

Corey Lewandowski,

Donald Trump’s former

ATTACHING INCENDIARY DEVICES TO KITES ANDcutting them loose to land in the fields of Jewishcommunities in the Negev is the latest weaponused by Palestinian terrorists. High durabilitydrones are one of the means Israel has used totackle the threat. (Photo Lisa Elkin, IGPO)

Malaysian Prime

Minister Mahathir Mohamad,sworn in in May, has longbeen known for his anti-Semitic rhetoric. In 2012on his personal blog hewrote that “Jews rule thisworld by proxy”. In 2003 hetold the Organization of theIslamic Conference summitin Kuala Lumpur that “1.3

Bloomberg hasappeal to Democrats. He is

(Please turn to page 20)

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OUR JEWISH FRIENDS AND CUSTOMERS

not specify that the childrenwould be Jewish, it waswidely understood that all,or nearly all, of them wouldbe. The age cut-off was 14.Anne Frank, who was then10 years old, and her sisterMargot, 13, could have qual-ified.

The Wagner-Rogersbill attracted support from abroad coalition. Prominentclergymen, labor leaders,



This isn’t the firsttime that the separation ofchildren from their would-be immigrant parents hasbeen at the center of publicdebate in America. Butwhen it happened duringthe Roosevelt administra-tion, it was the opponents ofimmigration who were theones complaining aboutseparating them.

That debate beganin the wake of the devastat-

DONALD TRUMP IS NOT THE FIRST PRESIDENT TO SEPARATE IMMIGRANT FAMILIES

By RAFAEL MEDOFF

ing Kristallnacht pogrom inNovember 1938, in whichnearly 100 German Jewswere murdered, severalhundred synagogues weredestroyed, and thousandsof Jewish businesses weredamaged. In response ,

Dr. Rafael Medoff is founding director of The David S.Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, and the authorof The Jews Should Keep Quiet: President Franklin D.Roosevelt, Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, and the Holocaust, forth-coming from The Jewish Publication Society in 2019. (TheEditor)

JEWISH CHILDRENWERE ALSO SEPARATED

Senator Robert Wagner (D-New York) and Rep. EdithRogers (R-Massachusetts)introduced legislation toadmit 20,000 German chil-dren outside America’s reg-ular immigration quotas.

Although the bill did

6 The Jewish Standard, September 2018

“THE DYBBUK”IN TORONTO


Toronto is the scenefor the North American pre-miere of a spellbinding newproduction of The Dybbukthis September.

Show OneProductions presentsIsrael’s internationallyacclaimed Gesher Theatreas it begins a NorthAmerican tour of itsacclaimed modern adapta-tion of S. Ansky’s TheDybbuk, or Between TwoWorlds, Saturday,September 29, 8 p.m., andSunday, September 30, 3p.m. at the Elgin Theatre,189 Yonge Street, Toronto.Tickets are available at thetheatre and atTicketmaster.ca or 1-855-599-9090. The play – eerily

ISRAEL’S GESHER THEATRE’S NORTH

AMERICAN PREMIERE OF HISTORIC PLAY

beautiful and powerfullyhaunting – will be per-formed in Hebrew, withEnglish and Russian sur-titles.

The company’s visitcelebrates the 70th anniver-sary of the State of Israel. Italso marks the Torontoreturn of the troupe ofRussian émigré and Israeliactors for its fourth Torontovisit, after a 10-yearabsence. Following theToronto engagement, thecompany will tour the pro-duction to New York City.

The Dybbuk takesaudiences on a mesmerizingjourney through Jewishfolklore and the spiritualworld. Blending comedy

We Wish All Our Friends and Customers

A Happy and Healthy

ROSH HASHANAH


We Join in Extending Best Wishes forROSH HASHANAH

to the Jewish Community and to Our Jewish Friends and Patients

May the coming year be a happy and healthy one.

www.creditcanada.com

THE GIFTOF LIFE

EZER MIZION GIVES OTTAWA “STUNTMAN”

A SECOND CHANCE

Submitted by EZER MIZION CANADA

OTTAWA BROADCASTER STU SCHWARTZ(RIGHT)meets with his donor David Levi, The life savingbone marrow match was facilitated by Ezer Mizionwhose bone marrow Jewish registry continues tohelp save the lives of those whose conditions mightotherwise be fatal.

Mizion, a non-profitorganization that hascreated the largestinternational Jewishbone marrow registry inthe world. Within days,the match that wouldsave Stu’s life was final-ly found.

Not all bone mar-row recipients get thechance to thank theirdonors. Stu, however,was an exception. InMarch 2018, now can-cer -free, Stu came faceto face with David Levi,50, with whom he nowshares DNA. Arrangedb y E z e r M i z i o n , t h e


Majic 100 radiohost and OttawaSenators announcer StuSchwartz was devastat-ed when he was diag-nosed with leukemia.The fear, however, set inwhen he was told thathe needed to f ind abone-marrow donorwithin three shortmonths. Despite spring-ing into action immedi-ately and appealing fordonors locally andnationally, no matchwas found. With timequickly running out forStu and his family, thehospital that was treat-ing him contacted Ezer


We Join in Extending Best Wishes forROSH HASHANAH

to the Jewish Community May the coming year be a happy and healthy one

for family and friends.

T R A V E L

T A L E S

We Extend Best Wishes to OurJewish Friends and Customers

On the Occasion ofROSH HASHANAH

May the coming year bring you and your family health and prosperity.

HELPFUL HINTS FOR THE JEWISH TRAVELLER

By MIKE COHEN

It is estimated thatapproximately one thirdof the identified Jewishcommunity on the LowerMainland are synagoguemembers.

The JewishFederation of GreaterVancouver conducts thecommunity’s centralfundraising initiative,the Federation AnnualCampaign, which sup-ports 40 partner agen-cies locally, nationallyand in Israel. TheJewish education sys-tem includes five pre-schools, five day schools


` V A N C O U V E R -The Greater Vancouverarea (https://vancouver.ca) is home to Canada'sthird largest Jewishcommunity, with morethan 25,000 members.There are seven main-stream Jewish congrega-tions in MetroVancouver, one non-denominational congre-gation in White Rock,five Chabad houses andtwo Kollels. The Reformsynagogues have themost members, closelyfollowed by theConservative and thenOrthodox congregations.


NEW YORK: Thereis a whole lot of Israel onBroadway these daysthanks to the the 10-timeTony Award winning BestMusical, The Band’s Visit.(www.thebandsvisitmusical.com). Playing at theEthel Barrymore Theatre(243 West 47th Street), theproduction recently wel-comed award-winningIsraeli actor Sasson Gabayto the company in hisBroadway debut. He isreprising the character hecreated in the 2007 film onwhich the musical is based.

Following the TonyAwards on June 10, TheBand’s Visit is now tied asthe third most Tony Award-winning show in history.Popular demand has result-ed in the show being extend-ed through June 2019, with

the potential to run evenlonger.

As the musicalbegins, a series of well-intentioned mistakes landan Egyptian Police Band ina sleepy and remote villagein the middle of the Israelidesert, which its inhabi-tants label as “boring” and“bland”. One of the centralcharacters, Dina (playedwith great magnetism byTony Award-winner KatrinaLenk), describes the moodof her town best in theopening number, as “look-ing out into the distanceeven though you know theview is never going tochange”

With no bus untilmorning and no hotel insight, the band are taken inby the locals for one night


We Extend Best Wishes to OurJewish Friends and Customers on

ROSH HASHANAHMay the coming year bring

you and your family health, happiness and prosperity.

We Join in Extending Best WishesOn the Occasion ofROSH HASHANAH

to the Jewish Community ofMetropolitan Toronto and Area

May your year be a happy and healthy one.

A GEM ONBROADWAY

TONY AWARD WINNING “THE BAND’S VISIT”

SHOWCASES ISRAEL ON BROADWAY

BY ALExANDRA COHEN


We Join in Extending Best WishesOn the Occasion ofROSH HASHANAH

to the Jewish Community ofMetropolitan Toronto and Area


We Join in Extending Best Wishes to the

Jewish Community of

Metropolitan Toronto and Area

On the Occasion of

ROSH HASHANAH

May the year head be blessed with health and

happiness for family and friends.

GIFT OF LIFE(Continued from page 7)

meeting between Stuand David was an emo-tional one. Immediatelysharing a tear fulembrace when Davidand his family landed inOttawa from Israel, itbecame clear what theact of giving and receiv-ing bone marrow meantto these two men.Whilst Stu tear fullythanked David for sav-ing his l i fe, Davidinsisted that Stu hadhelped him by allowinghim to save a life andpraised Stu for his brav-ery and courage in theface of his aggressivecancer.

The strongestindicator, however, ofwhat this match trulymeant was reflected inthe faces of the familymembers who were alsopresent at this momen-tous meeting. Standingwith her two childrenMatteo and Isabella,Stu’s wife ConnieBernardi wiped awaytears as she toldreporters how happyshe was to see Stu final-ly meet his donor. Stu’smother was equallyemotional, unable tohold back her tears asshe thanked David forgiving her back her son.

David’s extraordi-nary humility wasrevealed as he explained

how simple the processof donating bone mar-row is, and stated hishope that more peoplewould choose to becomedonors. Levi ’s bonemarrow profile was firstregistered by a simpleswab sample he gavewhilst in the Israeliarmy, who have a life-saving partnership withEzer Mizion. The reg-istry has grown so muchthat if somebody is inneed of a transplant,they have a 76 per centchance of f inding amatch straight away. 76per cent, however, isstill not enough. Whilstbeing treated for hisleukemia, Stu used hispublic platform to raiseawareness of, and fundsfor, leukemia research.He also created a per-sonalized donor poolwith Ezer Mizion, andencourages people todonate to the organiza-tion that saved his life.

Stu has grownextremely close to EzerMizion, and encouragesall to support andattend the organizationsfundraising events. TheFamous JerusalemMarket and Dinner isscheduled for October21st and 22nd inToronto.

For more infor-mat ion readers are in-

We Join in Wishing Our JewishFriends and Customers throughoutMetropolitan Toronto and Area

A Joyous Rosh Hashanah Celebration

The Jewish Standard, September, 2018 11

information follow EzerMizion on Social Media:F a c e b o o k@ E z e r M i z i o n C a n a d a ,Instagram - @ezer-mizion_canada


Jewish Community On the Occasion of

ROSH HASHANAH

May the coming year be happy, healthy and prosperous.

We would be pleased to serve your

PLUMBING NEEDS

We Join in Extending Best Wishes to Our Jewish Friends and ClientsOn the Occasion of

ROSH HASHANAHMay your year ahead be blessed with health and happiness.

We are always pleased to serve you.

Local - Canada - USASNOWBIRDS TO FLORIDA IS OUR SPECIALITY!

Enclosed Door to Door ServiceClassic Cars, Autos, Motorcycles, Race Cars

Indoor Storage Available

11 City View Drive, Etobicoke, ON M9W 5A51-416-243-8531 1-888-415-3158

www.tfxinternational.com

ADRIAN SERVE-U-WELL PLUMBINGYour Local Plumbing Solution!

Fast, Efficient and reliablePlumbing Service

Best Place in town to have a leak!

1015 Weston Rd.,Toronto, ON M6N-3R9

416-766-6300

vited to contact DenaBensalmon at [email protected] or at(647)799-1574 ext.231.For updates about theo rgan i za t i on and event

•

TRAVEL TALES(Continued from page 9)

and nine supplementaryschools. Youth and stu-dent organizationsinclude the VancouverHillel Foundation(http://www.vancouverhillel.ca), which servesJewish students - andprotects their interests -attending the Universityof British Columbia,Simon Fraser Universityand the University ofVictoria, as well as othercolleges in MetroVancouver. There are sev-eral additional Jewishyouth organizations activein Metro Vancouver.

WHERE TO STAY:For this trip we basedourselves at the LandisHotel & Suites (https:/ /www.landissuitesvancouver.com) located down-town at 1200 HornbyStreet. This is part ofMayfair Properties,which also owns theneighbouring CourtyardMarriott. The hoteloffers deluxe, executiveand penthouse suites.They are in the midst ofrenovations, replacingcarpeting with newhardwood floors and out-

(Please turn to following page)


fitting the rooms withnew furniture. Our exec-utive suite featured amaster bedroom with aluxurious king bed anda second bedroom with acomfortable Queen bed.Both had cozy duvetsand triple sheeting,black-out drapes, closetspace with mirroredglass doors and a radioalarm clock. The kitchenof fers ample cookingand storage space, andincludes a full-sizefridge with a freezer, astove, an oven, a dish-washer, microwave,toaster and cof feemaker. You can enjoyyour meals or snacks inthe dining area locatedon an enclosed balconywith city views. Aswell, you can sleep extragues ts on the pu l l - out

We Join in Extending Best Wishes to Our Jewish Friends and CustomersOn the Occasion of

ROSH HASHANAHMay your year be blessed with health and happiness.

We Wish All Our Jewish Friends and CustomersA Happy, Healthy and Prosperous

ROSH HASHANAH

10148 Yonge St.,Richmond Hill, ON

L4C 1T6905 237-8914

www.richmondhillbridalboutique.com

sofa sleeper in the nice-sized living room, whichalso features a 37 inchflat screen HDTV.Guests can relax after abusy day in the deepsoaker tub in the fullbathroom, which alsofeatures a shower anddouble sinks with agranite countertop. Thisis one of few hotels inVancouver to feature all-suite accommodationsand an indoor pool toplay around in.

WHAT TO DO:The Sea to Sky Gondola(https://www.seatosky-gondola.com) is locatedon Highway 99 justsouth of Squamish, ascenic 45 minute drive(depending upon trafficissues) from downtownVancouver. A 10 minuteg o n d o l a r i d e w i l l t a k e

SALE!!!We have many items on sale now.Please visit us to find great values.

TRAVEL TALES(Continued from preceding page)


We Extend Rosh Hashanah Greetings to the

Jewish Community of Metropolitan Toronto and

Area and to Our Jewish Friends and Residents.


We Extend Best Wishes forROSH HASHANAH

to our Jewish Friends inMETROPOLITAN

TORONTO, NORTH YORK,

AND YORK REGIONMay the coming year be ahappy and healthy one.

We Wish Our Friends and CustomersA Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year

the steep mountains ofthe Coast Range; themajestic StawamusChief; and a bird’s eyeview of the town ofSquamish with therugged, snow-cappedmountains to the north.The Sky PilotSuspension Bridge isapproximately 100metres long and has abackdrop that falls awaythousands of feet below,giving you a greater feel-ing of exposure andheight over land. TheSky Pilot SuspensionBridge of fers amazing360 degree views of thearea, both up to thehigh alpine of the moun-tains above and down tothe fjord below.

PLAYLAND: If youlike amusement parks,Vancouver’s PacificNational Exhibition(www.pne.ca) on EastHastings Street is theplace to go. The 15 acrePlayland AmusementPark is a popular attrac-tion. Open from lateApril through the end ofSeptember it has hostedmillions of thrill seekersof all ages since itopened in 1910.Playland's marqueeattraction, the beloved1958 Wooden RollerCoaster, remains themost popular ride on thesite and one of the mosthighly regarded woodencoasters in the world.The flume ranks as afavorite as well. Otherpopular rides includewave swinger, west coastwheel, breakdance, thescrambler, the corkscrew, rock climbing, the helle-vator, bumper cars, thepirate ship and musicexpress. Tamer ridesinclude the merry-go-round, cool cruzers, thesuper slide, raiders,helicopters, tea cupsand honeybee express.There are the traditionalcarnival games, anarcade and plenty offood options.

We Wish All Our

Jewish Customers

and Friends a

Happy and Healthy

ROSH HASHANAH

you up to a truly magicalplace with some of themost spectacular viewsyou will ever see andactivities for all interestsand ages. We reallyenjoyed the experience,especially the memo-rable photographs wetook where the backdropwas spectacular. As yourise from the water’sedge on the valley floor,the view opens up beforeyou: the bright bluewater of Howe Sound,dotted with greenis lands and backed by


A GEM ON BROADWAY(Continued from page 9)

pected this show to be quiteserious in nature. I was,however, pleasantly sur-prised by the comic under-tones. The AlexandriaCeremonial PoliceOrchestra are meant to per-form at the Arabic culturalcenter in Petah Tikvah but amember of the band withpoor English skills acciden-tally sends them to the sim-ilarly pronounced destina-tion of Bet Hatikvah “with aB,” eliciting many laughsfrom the audience.

Yes, quite often it isthe creative and witty lyricsthat allow for laughter,including a particular line ofa song in which the words“awful” and “falafel” wereused in a rhyme. However,as the connection betweenthe Israeli locals andEgyptian visitors is forgedthe story becomes unex-pectedly moving. They are

different, as shown in cer-tain moments by the char-acters speaking theirrespective languages ratherthan English. And yet theyare also in many ways alike,and if that is not a universalmessage that this worldneeds, then I do not knowwhat is.

WHERE TO STAYAND DINE: It is always veryconvenient to find niceplaces to stay and dineclose to the hustle and bus-tle of Times Square.Fortunately, we were able tofind a great hotel and a finedining establishment.

Let us start off withthe Algonquin Hotel(www.algonquinhotel.com),a locale with some signifi-cant Jewish history whichcommands 44th Street near6th Avenue. The Algonquinfirst opened its doors in 1902.Today, i t is part o f the

Where Quality and Excellence are Realty!Victor/Chris: 416-789-4179

Email: [email protected] Castlefield Ave., Toronto, ON

www.CastleAutoCollision.com


to our Jewish Friends throughoutMETROPOLITAN TORONTO AND AREA

May the coming year be blessed withpeace and prosperity.


We Join in Wishing Our Jewish Friends throughout Metropolitan Toronto and Area

A Joyous Rosh Hashanah CelebrationMay the coming year be a happy and healthy one for family and friends.

that will, in one way oranother, change all of theirlives. The Band’s Visit cele-brates the deeply human

ways in which music, long-ing and laughter can con-nect us all.

I must say that I ex-


Marriott chain’s AutographCollection, an evolvingensemble of strikingly inde-pendent hotels. Each of the181 rooms and 25 suitesfeatures a comfortable well-lit work desk, as well ascomplimentary Wi-Fi. Inthe book The Algonquin Kid:Adventures Growing Up InNew York's Legendary Hotel,author Michael Colby tellsthe story about his grand-parents Mary and BenBodne, who built this leg-endary landmark. SouthernJews, they owned the hotelfrom 1946 to 1987. As akid, Colby and siblings visit-ed their grandparents everyweekend.

Over the past year, Ihave been fortunate toexperience the extraordi-nary cuisine of master chefGeoffrey Zakarian at two ofhis restaurants: Georgie atthe Montage Beverly Hills,and Point Royal at theDiplomat Resort inHollywood, Florida. Whenlooking for a place to dinenear Times Square, I waspleasantly surprised to findanother one of his restau-rants, The Lambs Club,

only a block away from ourhotel. Located at 132 West44th Street, The LambsClub offers Zakarian'smodern approach toAmerican cuisine with dis-tinct ingredients, highlyseasonal menus, and a sig-nature approach to hospi-tality. Zakarian and histalented culinary teammarry their passion forfood with their classicaltraining to deliver excep-tional dining experiences,whether it is a casualburger in The Bar or thesought-after Delmonicosteak in the main diningroom. A team of skilledchefs put forth daily break-fast, lunch, and dinner,offering guests dishes com-posed with the most sea-sonal and highest qualityingredients. We very muchenjoyed our meal at the 90-seat restaurant. Zakarianopened The Lambs Club in2010 with his wife Margaretand partner David Rabin, anoted Jewish businessman.For reservations call212.997.5262 or emailreservat [email protected]

We Wish Our Jewish Friends and Guests

A Happy, Healthy and Prosperous ROSH HASHANAH

•JEWISH CHILDREN WERE SEPARATED TOO

(Continued from page 5)

the measure.Patriotic and anti-

foreigner groups, such asthe American Legion andthe Daughters of theAmerican Revolution, mobi-lized against Wagner-Rogers. Laura DelanoHoughteling, a cousin ofPresident FranklinRoosevelt and wife of theU.S. Commissioner ofImmigration, summarizedthe sentiment of the opposi-tion when she complainedthat “20,000 charming chil-dren would all too soongrow up into 20,000 uglyadults.”

First Lady EleanorRoosevelt privately support-ed the legislation, butdeclined to publicly endorseit. The president, for hispart, took no position on


university presidents,actors such as Henry Fondaand Helen Hayes, and polit-ical figures such as 1936Republican presidentialnominee Alf Landon and hisrunning mate, Frank Knox.Former First Lady GraceCoolidge announced thatshe and her neighbors from Northampton, Massachusetts,would personally care fortwenty-five of the children.

Unexpected supportcame from former presidentHerbert Hoover. Back in1930, before the rise ofHitler, Hoover’s administra-tion had tightened therestrictions on immigration.Now Hoover not onlyendorsed Wagner-Rogers,but also pressured waveringmembers of the HouseImmigration Committee tolend their support to the


JEWISH CHILDREN WERE SEPARATED TOO(Continued from preceding page)

Wagner-Rogers. When acongresswoman inquired asto Roosevelt’s stance, hereturned her note to hissecretary marked “File Noaction FDR.”

In April 1939, a jointSenate-House committeeheld four days of hearingson the Wagner-Rogers bill.Sympathetic witnessesoffered moving humanitari-an pleas. They also stressedthat the children would notcompete with American citi-zens for jobs—a widespreadconcern during theDepression era.

Nativists presenteda variety of argumentsagainst Wagner-Rogers:American children deservedpriority; foreign childrenmight be Communists oreven Nazis; admitting thechildren would pave theway for admission of theirparents.

One of the mostremarkable arguments thatopponents invoked was thatby separating the childrenfrom their parents,Congress would in effect betearing the families apart.The first witness to testifyagainst the bill was FrancisH. Kinnicutt, president ofthe Allied PatrioticSocieties. He piously pro-

claimed that “childrenshould not be separatedfrom their parents…Fosterparentage or institutionalbringing up is prejudicial tochildren.”

Mrs. Agnes Waters,a World War I widow claim-ing to speak for millions ofpatriotic American women,testified that if GermanJewish children were sepa-rated from their mothers,then America would finditself saddled with “thou-sands of motherless, embit-tered, persecuted childrenof undesirable foreigners”who, as “seasoned veteransfor a revolution of hate,”would grow up to be “poten-tial leaders of a revoltagainst our American formof government.”

Of course, undernormal circumstances,German Jewish parentsnever would have willinglysent their young childrenabroad. But in 1939, in thewake of Kristallnacht, send-ing their children awayseemed to be the only wayto save their lives. In fact, atthat very moment, the par-ents of some 10,000German Jewish childrenwere sending them toEngland on the famousKindertransports.

We Join in Wishing Our Jewish Friends throughout Metropolitan Toronto AreaA Happy, Healthy and Prosperous

New Year


to our Jewish Friends and Customers

416-504-2667SERVING THE GTA


We Join in Extending Best Wishes to Our Jewish Friends and ClientsOn the Occasion of

ROSH HASHANAHMay your ahead be blessed with health and happiness.

In the face of bitternativist opposition and thecomplete absence of sup-port from the president, theWagner-Rogers bill nevermade it out of committee forfurther discussion.

President Trumphas expressed a preferencefor immigrants from Norway.President Roosevelt, f o r his part, preferred thosefrom Great Britain. A yearafter he refused to supportadmission of Jewish chil-dren fleeing the Nazis, FDR- an individual who onceprivately expressed reliefthat he had “no Jewishblood” in his veins - rushedto admit thousands ofBritish children fleeing theNazi Blitz. Needless to say,nobody complained thatthose kids were beingunwillingly separated fromtheir parents, or that moth-erless British childrenmight seek to harmAmerica.

YOUNG & YOUNGSURVEYING INC

Land SurveyorsConstruction Surveyors

310 North Queen St., Etobicoke, ON M9C 5K4416 621-2676

AvantiSurveying

210 North Queen St.

416 231-1174

We Join in Wishing Our Jewish Clients

throughout Metropolitan Toronto



We Extend Greetings

to the

Jewish Community

On the Occasion of

ROSH HASHANAH

May your year

be a happy and

healthy one


We Join in Wishing Our Jewish Friends throughout

Metropolitan Toronto and AreaA Happy, Healthy and Prosperous

New Year

and tragedy, mysticism andpsychology, the evocativework is awash in spectacu-lar imagery, rich emotion,and theatrical magic.

Svetlana Dvoretsky,President and Producer ofShow One Productions,announced the Torontoshows, stating, “It is a botha delight and a true honourto present the onlyCanadian appearance ofGesher this year and thefirst-ever North Americanstaging of this production.We have been planning thistour for a few years – giventhe company is in such highdemand back home as wellas in Europe and Asia. Weare thrilled to see theseengagements finally comingto fruition, especially duringsuch an important year forIsrael – its 70th anniver-sary.”

Written in Russianin Moscow, 1913-16, andsubsequently performed inYiddish, Hebrew and otherlanguages around theworld, The Dybbuk tells thestory of Hanan, a poor,young yeshiva student,deeply involved in theKabbalah and in love withLea, daughter of one of thetown’s richest men.Learning that Lea is aboutto be married, Hanan dies ofa broken heart. However,he finds himself caughtbetween two worlds, neitherdead nor alive. His restlesssoul returns to Lea on her

wedding day, possessingher as a dybbuk – a mali-cious spirit – and halts thewedding. During the cere-mony of exorcising the dyb-buk, the dark secret of Lea’sfather comes to light.

Old motives are stillpresent in this modernadaptation by Roee Chen,an Israeli playwright anddirector of Sephardic back-ground. Chen skilfullyblends comedy withtragedy, and has mysticismconfront psychology to cre-ate an engrossing, multi-faceted theatrical experi-ence.

The production isdirected by Yevgeny Arye,the visionary founder andartistic director of GesherTheatre (gesher -theatre.co.il/en). Born in Russia,Arye was educated in bothpsychology and theatre, andworked for years as a direc-tor of leading theatres inMoscow, St. Petersburg andRiga, and also as an associ-ate professor at Moscow`sRussian Academy ofTheatrical Arts. In 1991, heimmigrated to Israel with agroup of Russian actors andfounded Gesher Theatre. Asits artistic director and themoving spirit behind it, hehas led the company toprominence in the Israelicultural scene and interna-tionally, receiving numer-ous awards and ravereviews for productionsmostly under his direction.

We Wish Our Jewish Friends across the GTAA Happy and HealthyROSH HASHANAH

THE DYBBUK(Continued from page 6)


ARISTON MARBLE & GRANITE LTD.

Fabricators of Nature's Marble & Granite

Furniture, Fireplaces, Countertops, Etc.

Exterior Cladding

119 Winges Woodbridge, Ontario L4L 6C2

905 850-5175

His outstanding achieve-ments have earned Aryehonorary doctorates fromthe Hebrew University ofJerusalem, the WeizmannInstitute and Bar IlanUniversity.

Two stars of stageand screen head the cast of25 – Tashkent-born IsraelDemidov, as the yeshivastudent Hanan, with Israeli-born actor and singer EfratBen Zur as Lea.

Superlatives greetedthis new production of TheDybbuk when it wasunveiled in 2014. Israelimedia called it “a master-piece”, “the biggest theatri-cal event of the year”(Mako); “a powerful andastonishing show thatenchants the audience…surprising, rare, alive andkicking” (Yermi Amir);“(Efrat Ben-Zur) is the firstlady of the Israeli theatre”(Calcalist). Apart from 2014performances in Moscow,the 2018 North Americantour – which includesToronto – is Gesher’s firstpresentation of The Dybbukoutside Israel.

Gesher is Hebrew for“bridge”, and the companyhas lived up to its name asa bridge between Russianand Israeli cultures. UnderYevgeny Arye’s leadership,the troupe arrived in Israelduring the first Gulf War.Using Cyrillic to transliter-ate plays into Hebrew, thecompany presented theatreclassics ranging fromEuripides throughShakespeare, Molière, andthe Russians, to Brecht,

Coward, Pirandello andcontemporary playwrights.Israeli-born actors alsojoined the company. Nowbased in its own perma-nent home in Jaffa,Gesher has staged morethan 60 productions, rep-resented Israel in morethan a dozen internationalfestivals, and was praisedby The London Times as“one of the greatest andmost important troupes inthe world.”

The VakhtangovTheatre acclaimed produc-tions include Uncle Vanya,Eugene Onegin and Smile atUs, Oh Lord (written byIsraeli author GregoryKontorovich); and TheCasanova Variations star-ring John Malkovich; aswell as the hugelyacclaimed project YiddishGlory, which has receivedwidespread media coveragein Canada and abroad.

We Join in Extending Best Wishesto Our Jewish Friends and Customers

throughout the GTAfor a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous

ROSH HASHANAH

MISS AN ISSUE

OF THE JEWISH

STANDARD?

READ ALL OUR

ISSUES ON LINE

AT

www.thejewish

standardmag.com


HAPPY NEW YEAR TO OUR FRIENDS AND STUDENTS

WORLD IN REVIEW(Continued from page 3)

not a Washington insider,has plenty of money tofinance a campaign(he isworth an estimated $52 bil-lion) and holds policy posi-tions, especially on socialissues, popular amongmany Democrats. The factthat he intends to spend$80 million to helpDemocrats in the forthcom-ing mid-term elections willcertainly help his cause,especially if the partyregains control of the Houseand Senate as many pun-dits are predicting.

Lewandowski addsthat Bloomberg has a story“the American people like”.

Aretha Franklin

And Jerry Wexler

Aretha Franklin, the“Queen of Soul”, actuallytook many years to achievesuccess. Her first albumwas released in 1956 but itwas not until the 1967 hit“Respect” that she beganher rise to stardom.

And it was the son ofa German Jewish fatherand Polish Jewish mother,Jerry Wexler, who helpedher record “Respect” andhelped give it the popularitythat the original version byOtis Redding never achieved.



Musicians, dancers,and other artists fromAfrican, Jewish andMuslim diasporas joinforces for a joyful sharingof their cultural tradi-tions in Walk TogetherChildren, an afternoon ofmusic, dance, readingsand visual art, Sunday,October 14 at 3 p.m. inthe George WestonRecital Hall, TorontoCentre for the Arts, 5040Yonge Street (North YorkCity Centre subway).

The concert – fea-turing songs of joy, long-ing, inspiration andhumour in many lan-guages – is headlined byAntiguan-born sopranoDenise Williams, who hasdeveloped a followingover two decades for theBlack-and-Jewish ver-sions of Walk TogetherChildren she created as away to bring together thetwo communities. Thesewidely performed con-certs were showcasedmost recently last fall inStratford, and were the

basis for her much lauded2006 CD of the same title.

Tickets are $55;children, students, seniorsand for freelance artists$30. They are now on saleat all Civic Theatres TorontoBox Offices and viaTicketmaster, www.tocent r e . c om/even t s/wa lk --together-children, or byphone at 1-855-985-ARTS(2787). More information isavailable at www.denisewilliamssoprano.com/walk-together-children, YouTubeand other social media plat-forms.

We Join in Wishing Our Jewish Friends

throughout Metropolitan Toronto and Area


May the coming year be a happy and healthy one


We Extend Best Wishes for

ROSH HASHANAH

to the Jewish Communities of York Region and North York.

May the coming year be blessed with health and happiness.


AFRICAN, JEWISH &

MUSLIM MUSICIANS

UNITE IN WALK

TOGETHER CHILDREN

DENISE WILL IAMS and other exceptionalperformers take thestage in Walk TogetherChildren. Photo AminaAlfred.



We Join in Wishing Our Jewish Friends throughout

Metropolitan Toronto and AreaA Happy, Healthy and Prosperous

New Year

We Wish Our JewishFriends across the

GTAA Happy

and HealthyROSH HASHANAH

BAYCREST AND THEBaycrest Foundationhave announced theappointment of DaleH. Lastman, C.M. tothe post of Chair ofthe Baycrest Board ofDirectors. Mr.Lastman is Chair ofGoodmans LLP andpractices corporate,commercial and secu-rities law. He is aDirector of MapleLeaf Sports &Entertainment Ltd.and serves as anAlternate Governorfor the NHL and NBAand a Governor of theToronto Argonauts.He also sits on theboard of directors ofRioCan Real EstateInvestment T rust,Roots Ltd. and theCAMH Foundation.

We Join in Extending Best Wishes for

ROSH HASHANAHto our Jewish Friends in

METROPOLITANTORONTO,

NORTH YORK,AND YORK REGION

Wexler persuadedFranklin to leave Columbiarecords in 1966 and signwith Atlantic Records,where Wexler was an execu-tive. Franklin and Wexlerwould go on to form a closeartist-producer bond. “Heprovided me the vehicle toallow me to perform ande x p r e s s m y s e l f , ” s a i d

Franklin following Wexler’sdeath in 2008.

In his autobiography“Rhythm and the Blues”Wexler wrote that it was “myidea to make good tracks,use the best players, putAretha on the piano and letthe lady wail”. And of“Respect”, Wexler wrote:“Respect started off as a

soul song and wound up a

kind of national anthem”.

Anti-SemiteWins Nomination

Republicans inMissouri have voted for anindividual who as recentlyas 2017 told radio stationKCXL that “looking back inhistory, unfortunately,Hitler was right about whatwas taking pace inGermany, And who wasbehind it.”

While the MissouriRepublican Party hasdenounced West’s “shockingand vile” comments as hav-ing no place in the MissouriRepublican Party, Westwon 49.5 percent of thevote, more than double thesecond place finisher.

“Jewish people canbe beautiful people”, saysWest. “But there’s ideolo-gies associated with themthat I don’t agreewith....Jews are a remnantof the tribe of Judah that


inal fee.” But apparentlynot “all” Jewish travellersare welcome.

The hostel hasimposed a ban on those whohave “committed crimesagainst the Jewish people”.The list includes JonStewart, Bernie Sanders,former Obama AmbassadorDan Shapiro and actressBette Midler. Joining thelist of celebrities and politi-cians not welcome are thestaffs of The Times of Israel,Haaretz, CNN and the NewYork Times. And the headsof the Anti-DefamationLeague and the Reformmovement will also have tofind elsewhere to stay.

The hostel has beenridiculed for its stance withthe Jerusalem Post’s AmySpiro joking that “BetteMidler has been banging onthe doors of the Jerusalem Heritage House for hours

rejected Christ”. Further-more, says West, “Jewishcabals” are “harvestingbaby parts” from PlannedParenthood, abuse childrenand control the RepublicanParty.

West will face twoterm Representative JoeCarpenter who was uncon-tested in the last election.Still, Missouri is aRepublican leaning stateand one can only hope thatthe homophobic, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic andracist West gains little trac-tion among voters.

“Haters of Israel”Not Welcome at Hostel

The JerusalemHeritage House, a non prof-it youth hostel in the Jewishquarter of the Old City,offers “warm and comfort-able accommodations forJewish travelers for a nom-

We Join in Wishing Our JewishCustomers and Friends

a Happy and Heathy ROSH HASHANAH

We Wish All the Jewish Community of Metropolitan Toronto and AreaA Happy, Healthy and Prosperous

ROSH HASHANAH



been signed covering a widerange of health issues,including cancer, epilepsyand sleep disorders. Israel,say experts, is the perfectplace to experiment withmedical cannabis partlybecause of the climate andpartly because researchersare far more advanced thantheir peers in many othercountries.

Alvit Pharma, found-ed in 2014 and headquar-tered in Ness Ziona, is aleader in products combin-ing medical mushroomsand cannabis. The compa-ny has already signed dealswith several LicensedProducers in Canada. “Itseems like every LP herehas something to do withsomebody in Canada rightnow”, says Yona Levy, CEOof Alvit LCS Pharma.“Canada is probably themost mature market now interms of cannabis in theworld. They’ve approachedit in the right way”.

Perhaps the onlyglitch in the industry is anIsraeli law which bans thesale overseas of Israel med-ical cannabis. Investorswarn that if the policy doesnot change billions of dol-lars in foreign investmentcould dry up. Agreementswith Canada and othercountries could ultimatelyfall through.

We Extend Best Wishes to OurJewish Friends and Customers on the Occasion of

ROSH HASHANAHMay your year be blessed with health and happiness


WORLD IN REVIEW(Continued from preceding page)

for hours begging to be letinside.”

We doubt whetherany of the banned celebri-ties or journalists wouldcancel their trips to Israelbecause they are unable tofind free or subsidized lodg-ing.

Canada and Israel -

Growing Ties in Cannabis


Jewish Community of

Metropolitan Toronto and Area for

ROSH HASHANAH

May the year ahead be a happy and healthy one.

26-36 Advance Road,Etobicoke, Ontario

416-239-3031www.dimpflmeier.com

We Wish All Our Jewish Friends and Customers throughout the GTA

A Happy and HealthyROSH HASHANAH

We Wish Our Jewish

Friends across the

GTA

A Happy, Healthy

and Prosperous

ROSH HASHANAH

Israel’s medicalcannabis industry is flour-ishing thanks in part to itsgrowing ties with Canada.Hundreds of millions of dol-lars in deals have already

Some Israeli compa-nies have circumvented thelaw by locating theirresearch and developmentfacilities to other countries.Together Pharma, who hasreached an agreement witha Canadian firm to sell fivetons of cannabis oil worthhundreds of millions of dol-lars, has set up shop inUganda. Says Arik Filstein,Founder of TogetherPharma,”instead of taxablerevenue being generatedhere, it’s going to othercountries, which is unfortu-nate.”



We Extend Best Wishes to Our Jewish Friends and Patients

On the Occasion of

ROSH HASHANAH

May the coming year be blessed with health, happiness and prosperity.

We are always pleased to serve you dental needs.

We Join in Wishing Our Jewish Friends throughout Metropolitan Toronto A Joyous Rosh Hashanah Celebration


HAPPY NEW YEAR

TO ALL OUR

JEWISH FRIENDS

We At

Guild ElectricExtends Best Wishes to the

Jewish Community of Metropolitan Toronto

for a Happy and Healthy New Year

Electrical & Communication Contractors toIndustry, Commerce, Traffic & Institutions

470 Midwest Road, Scarborough, ON M1P 4Y5416-288-8222

www.guildelectric.comEST 1954

We Wish Our Jewish FriendsA Happy and Healthy New Year

We Wish OurJewish Friends

a Happy and Healthy5779

JERRY SEINFELD HASturned down an offerfrom NBC of $5 millionper episode for a newseason of “Seinfeld”.The comedian has puthis "Seinfeld" daysbehind him and prefersto focus on his newseries "Comedians inCars Getting Coffee."“The most importantword in art is 'propor-tion,” says Seinfeld"How much? How longis this joke going to be?How many words? Howmany minutes? Andgetting that right iswhat makes it art orwhat makes itmediocre,"


Ilan Raccah hasbeen in a Tunisian prisonsince early July. He isaccused of inciting someyoung men to set the car ofa local businessman on fire.

Raccah, who is anOrthodox Jew, asked thathis family be permitted tobring kosher food into theprison.We Wish Our Jewish Friends and Customers

throughout the GTA

A Happy and Healthy

ROSH HASHANAH

SEINFELDTURNS DOWN

$5 MILLION PER

No Kosher Food

For Tunisian Prisoner

The investigating

judge approved the family’srequest. But the chief war-den refused to take the foodfrom Raccah’s relatives.Raccah was forced to fast.Barring him from receivingfood, says his lawyer, “islike passing a death sen-tence on him”.

New York City Soft On Yeshiva Standards?

The City of NewYork, and Mayor Bil l de



Jewish Community of

Metropolitan Toronto and Area for

ROSH HASHANAH

May the year ahead be a happy and healthy one.

MOST YOUNGSTERS AROUND THE WORLD GOto camp to play sports and sing songs around acampfire, Not so for Gaza teens. Unlike summercamps around the world where children enjoy thepeaceful innocent time of their youth, these sum-mer camps run by the Hamas terror networks takechildren from their parents and prepare them forthe next battle with Israel. Learning how to kill isone of the camp’s more popular activities.

SUMMER CAMP LIFE

FOR THE CHILDREN OF GAZA

SAUL AND TOBYFELDBERG

AND FAMILY

Blasio in particular, havebeen accused of turning ablind eye to New Yorkyeshivas that illegally fail tooffer their students secularstudies.

In 2015 the city ofNew York launched a probeinto the yeshiva educationalsystem following a com-plaint by the YoungAdvocates for FairEducation. The groupclaimed that many of thecity’s Yeshivas were violat-ing state law requiring pri-vate schools to offer a cur-riculum “substantiallyequivalent” to the publicschool system. They allegedthat an amendment writtenby state Senator SimchaFelder, who representsJewish neighbourhoods inBrooklyn, unconstitutional-ly exempts yeshivas fromthe same scrutiny as nonre-ligious schools.

A few weeks ago areport was issued claimingthat half of the 30 yeshivasunder investigation would-n’t even allow the inspectorsinto their schools.

Mayor de Blasio isadamant that this was not,as the New York Post, main-tains, a “phony probe”. Heaccused the press of lookingfor “instant gratification.”

But the Post is con-

tinuing its attacks.“Students leave the schoolsdeprived of the basic skillsthey’ll need in a secularworld”, it said. “If City Halltruly wanted to make surethese kids are getting aproper education, it wouldhave finished the probe longago. Alas, Hizzoner’s moreinterested in pleasing thepolitically powerful ultra-Orthodox community”. TheNew York Daily News calledthe investigation a “shon-da”.

“There are two sidesto every story.” counteredde Blasio. “We have 15schools where we went in, alot of work was done, clear-ly there was room forimprovement but I have tobe straightfaced and saythere’s room for improve-ment in a lot of traditionalschools, too”,

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OUR JEWISH FRIENDS AND CUSTOMERS

ACROSS THE GTA

Pub

lication M

ailing A

gre

em

ent

# 4

0715545

the jewish standard · the jewish standard is published monthly in toronto and montreal by michael...

Documents