This is a guest post by Joelle Novey, Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb, Rabbi David Shneyer, Jonah Adels, Phil Aroneanu, Laura Bellows, Lisa Jo Finstrom, Robert Friedman, Elizabeth Gaines, Johanna Galat, Richard Graves, Glenn Hurowitz, Joshua Kahn Russell, Lawrence MacDonald, Jeff Mann, Geri Maskell, Karen Menichelli, Sam Novey, Lore Rosenthal, Leslie Schwartz Leff, Harriet Shugarman, Joe Solomon, and Basia Yoffe, who were among 1,253 people arrested at the White House in August and September protesting the Keystone XL Pipeline.
We are Jewish folks who joined more than a thousand others in getting ourselves arrested in front of the White House this past summer protesting the Keystone XL Pipeline. Some of us are rabbis; many of us wore kippot that day; all of us did what we did because it felt, among other things, like a mitzvah.
Before the project was delayed last month, the pipeline would have carried crude oil from the Canadian tar sands across 1,700 miles and six states. The extraction of tar sands oil generates more heat-trapping climate pollution than other oil. Climate scientist James Hansen has said that fully exploiting the tar sands would essentially spell “game over” for our climate.
It would have been nice for us to know — as our Catholic, Methodist, Quaker, United Church of Christ, and Unitarian Universalist sisters and brothers knew — that our larger religious community supported our stand. But on the Keystone XL Pipeline, the major Jewish organizations were mostly silent. More »
Above, the Chilean Federation of Jewish Students protests discrimination.
Over at New Voices Magazine (my day job), we launched a new blog this week that Jewschoolers might be interested in. It’s called the Global Jewish Voiceand it’s a way to jump-start a wider conversation that we normally have at New Voices. While New Voices is normally American or Israeli (and occasionally Canadian) in scope, the Global Jewish Voice is a fully international conversation about the lives of Jewish students and young adults.
The blog is staffed by 10 writers reporting on their lives on campus, in the workplace and at home. They are writing in from every corner of the globe, including Israel, the US, Chile, Spain, China, Canada, the UK and–no joke–Serbia. The blog’s student editor is based in Portland, Ore. There’s also an open submission policy.
A few highlights so far:
Reporting from the West Bank, Liran Shamriz describes the constant dilemma of being an army soldier and same-time sociology student:
This could quickly turn to riots – we need to get the hell out of here. We don’t even have bulletproof vests – any jerk in the street can knife me and disappear. I started to walk toward the trucks and my phone blinks again, this time from a Facebook message: “Shlomo gave us grades! I got a 91! I think he is good after all, he probably didn’t even check that well… how much did you get?”
Meanwhile in Chile, sometimes the struggle is more symbolic of living Jewishly in a non-Jewish world. University student Maxamilliano Grass is on the vanguard of Jewish student activism and pro-Israel work in a country with 75,000 Jews—and over 400,000 Palestinians: More »
I know that most of us have forgotten all the fuss about the new(ish) scanners in airports because we all have the attention spans of gnats, but they haven’t gone away. The problem that travelers (including the parents of young children) still have to make a choice between being seen naked by persons with whom they have no intimacy, or being groped intimately by the same people -still remains.
And it is curious how quickly we have become inured to this violation of dignity, tzniut (modesty) and personal space (note that I’m not even binging up the question of health and safety, even though it is still unclear how safe these machines are particularly for pregnant women and children). The argument that has been offered is that it is needed for our safety, but the truth is that it is needed mostly for two things: 1. to increase profits for the company that produces the scanners (Rapiscan – a rather infelicitous name, which by the way, was promoted by Michael Chertoff while Secretary of Homeland Security, and was a a company that was one of his clients, a coincidence? Really?), and 2. to continue the process of slowly lulling us into giving up more and more of our rights as citizens in the name of “security.” More »
And, for the first time, one of the fifty was a Canadian nonprofit: Makom.
a joyous, grassroots, downtown community, building traditional and progressive Jewish life in Toronto. Makom creates an inclusive and diverse space, committed to Jewish questioning and learning, arts and culture, spirited prayer and ritual, and social and environmental activism. Makom is bringing back vital, multi-faceted and creative Jewish life to a place where it once thrived. This vibrant new community is based in the Kiever Synagogue, a beautiful, historic synagogue in Kensington Market, Toronto’s old Jewish neighbourhood.
Congratulations to them (and, really, I mean it – many of us at Jewschool are friends with some of their organisers).
But this announcement spurred a bit of a discussion amongst us bloggers. Is an indie minyan in Toronto really “innovative”? Is this really the most innovative thing Canada has to offer? Is it really an indie minyan if they have a “rabbi and spiritual leader”?
The parametres for Slingshot are (really, really boiling it down here) “innovative nonprofit.” Most of the indie minyanim and havuros that I know of back home (says the Canadian living in the US) are not registered/incorporated as nonprofits, so they don’t make the cut. Should we be surprised that Canada’s only recognized-by-Slingshot organisation is in Toronto? Toronto has the largest Jewish community in Canada and most American organisations/funders overlook the other cities/communities entirely. So, no, it’s not surprising that a winner (of an American competition) would come from Toronto. (Begrudgingly admits the Vancouverite.)
What other Canadian communities could have been included in TWJ’s not-Slingshot guide? Here are just a few cool organisations happening north of the border:
McGill QPIRG’s Young Jews for Social JusticeJewstice League, the klezmer band with political underpinnings, the go-to for music for anarchist and social justice events around Montreal.
Obviously this list isn’t comprehensive or exhaustive. (Though, unlike Slingshot, it includes at least a couple organisations in “fly-over country.”) And, obviously, some of these organisations wouldn’t meet Slingshot’s criteria for many reasons. But it doesn’t matter. They make my list.
Do you know of other orgs in Canada that should be included or noted? Leave a comment. (And if you know of other organizations (look at my American spelling!) in the US that could have made Slingshot’s guide (or your personal guide), let us know in the comments too.)
I am pleased to present this new cartoon trailer I produced for fellow Limmud NY 2010 Conference presenter and standup comedian Joel Chasnoff‘s book, The 188th Crybaby Brigade, in which he shares his experience as an American serving in the Israeli Army for a year. The animation features music by Shir Yaakov of Darshan, cartoon created by Jewish Robot.
Many USAers have already filled out their census forms. Or are at least thinking about it. Or have at least taken the form and added it to their pile of mail to be dealt with later. (Seriously, fill it out and send it back. It’s good for you, your community, your neighbourhood, your city, your state… And I hear it gives you whiter teeth and shinier hair.)
The buzz around the Jewish community, at least if I’m to take various listservs I’m on as representative of the larger American Jewish community, is what to do about “race” and Jews. Of the 29 races listed, none represent Jews (or Arabs). Jews aren’t sure how to fill this out. The problem, really, is that the US government is asking for “race,” not ethnicity, not nationality, not heritage… It’s not surprising that Jews aren’t listed as a race – we’re not a race. Arguments can, and have, been made for Jews as ethnicity, as culture, and certainly as religion, but as a racial group? No. So some people are writing in “Jewish” next to “other” in race. But is that accurate? And does the government need to know, or should it know, how many Jews live within its borders anyway?
By contrast, Canada does the census differently when it comes to Jews. First, it should be noted that the Canadian census does have a section on religion, unlike the US census. Canada’s census asks folks to check off their religion, with a dozen options, then a fill in the blank for others. Years ago, Jews (rabbis, academics, the establishment) were consulted on how to count the Jews. It was decided that Jewish would appear twice: under “religion” and under “ethnicity.” (You can choose more than one ethnicity, I believe.) You’re considered Jewish, according to the census, and with the agreement of the above-mentioned experts who were consulted, if you: check Jewish for religion but not for ethnicity; Jewish for religion and ethnicity; Jewish for ethnicity but don’t put a religion; Jewish for ethnicity and put a religion that one doesn’t have to convert to to follow (like Buddhism). You would not be counted as Jewish if, say, you checked Jewish for ethnicity but put Catholic for religion. The Canadian census does not ask for race. As noted, we’re asked about ethnicity. But it’s not left with one question. Instead of “race,” there are two questions, I believe (it’s been 9 years – cut me some slack!): “ethnicity of origin,” from which you can check from a list or add in an “other”; and then a separate question on if you consider yourself a “visible minority,” with various options to check for that, along with a fill in the blank “other.” The Canadian census happens in years ending in 1 (with a smaller census, fewer questions, happening in years ending in 6). So we’ll see what it yields next year.
Both countries have separation of religion and state. So why does one ask explicitly about religion (including Jews) while the other doesn’t? I’m guessing that, in part, it has to do with Canadians trusting that the religion information is being collected to see how diverse we are, and not to be used for some Evil Reason. Which is the same reason we’re asked about ethnicity or income or number of people in a family or household. It’s just another measure of diversity. But it’s also helpful for provinces like Quebec, where Jewish (and other religious) day schools are subsidized by the province. Or for those provinces that accept rulings from a beis din (or from Islamic sharia councils) for certain legal matters. Yes, these are still both within the Canadian definition of “separation of church and state,” because all religions are weighed equally. Catholic schools in Quebec are subsidized alongside Jewish and Muslim. Acknowledging that most Western law is heavily Christian-centric, the government allows for Jewish and Muslim legal systems to hold weight as well. Separate from state while allowing for religious pluralism. By contrast, my sense of “separation of church and state” in the US is that Christians need the reminder, and that other religious groups aren’t really considered at all by the state. The two outlooks yield very different results, and different reasons for separation.
I don’t think it’s a problem to ask about religion or ethnicity. I don’t think it’s a problem to fill out those answers either. (I also support the right of individuals to leave questions blank on a census.) But I’m curious: what do other countries do? Does your country count the Jews?
Every now and again, I’m forwarded an opinion piece because, obviously, as a Canadian Jew, I’ll find it interesting and want to sing its praises here on Jewschool. This is seldom the case. Today’s gem came via an email from the Canadian Jewish Congress. They sent out an op-ed written for the Ottawa Citizen by Leonard Stern.
I’m tempted to argue with the whole piece, line by line, but instead, I’m just going to draw out a few problems.
Beginning Monday, university campuses play host to an annual event known as Israeli Apartheid Week, where Israel is assigned the role of Jew among the nations — singled-out, cursed and harassed.
Some Jewish students at Carleton and the University of Ottawa will discreetly choose to stay home, to avoid having to answer for the Jewish state. The whiff of something medieval hangs over this March ritual.
This isn’t about Jews, say the organizers. It’s about Zionists. Problem is, the activist groups behind Israeli Apartheid Week are doing everything to erase the distinction. One of those organizations, the Ottawa Public Interest Research Group, refused in 2008 to promote a lecture on African development because Jewish students happened to be organizing it. The event had zero connection to Israel but OPIRG said it wouldn’t partner with the Jewish students’ union due to the latter’s “relationship to apartheid Israel.”
That’s an ominous introduction to the article. Too bad I need to argue it down. So long as the Canadian Jewish community (like the vocal majority of many countries’ Jewish communities) maintains that Israel and zionism are an integral part of Jewish identity, and are inherently linked, I can’t blame student groups and other organizations for drawing a similar conclusion. So long as Hillels across Canada (and across the US) house Israel advocacy and zionist groups, and many have histories of bashing Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian groups, I see no reason why those groups shouldn’t be able to “retaliate” with Israel Apartheid Week. More »
If you’re feeling less than festive about the chronic loosening of public funds that enable the media extravaganzas we call the Olympic games, then here’s a song for you. Vancouver-based klezmer musician Geoff Berner has released an alternative Olympic anthem, entitled “Official Theme Song for the 2010 Vancouver/Whistler Olympic Games (The Dead Babies Were Worth It).”
Berner is a true klezmer purist, i.e., noisy, sloppy, drunken, and deliciously subversive. Here’s a sample lyric:
All you terrific foreign visitors -
We’re so glad that you’re here,
For our eight billion dollar, two week party
That we’re putting on this year.
Of course the credit goes to the government;
When they approved the eight billion bucks,
They cost cut out the office that
investigates childrens’ deaths.
The Dead, Dead Children Were Worth it,
The Dead, Dead Children Were Worth it,
The Dead, Dead Children Were Worth it,
The Vancouver/Whistler Olympic Games…
Click here to hear the song. Above to see a video of the Berner classic “Whiskey Rabbi.”
Tobaron Waxman is the winner of The Jewish Museum’s first-ever Audience Award, selected from nearly sixty international artists. Votes were gathered from visitors to the exhibition in person and online, between September 13, 2009 and January 11, 2010. Waxman was selected for his provocative installation Opshernish, 2000/2009. The piece examines the construction of gender in Judaism by recreating and condensing a multi-part performance installation.
The following are the artist’s own words as shared with Jewschool’s editors: More »
radio613 is a collective and radio broadcast dedicated to Jewish politics, culture, and religious life. Diasporic tones find auditory homes through featured interviews, music, readings, discussion, and documentaries. Each week radio613 presents Jewish perspectives on religious/spiritual thought and practice, race and racism, gender and feminisms, anti-semitism, identity politics, colonialism and resistance… and more!
It is not everyday that a Jewish youth takes it upon himself to so passionately interlock Yiddishkayt and Revolution, and to bring it to Jewish youth across his land. DJ Grenadier, my khevrusa this past summer, he should be Zokhe to berius, mazal, naches, a bayis ne’eman b’yisroel un l’oylem habo.
Click here for a recent interview with journalist and cultural theorist Ruth Ellen Gruber on the “revival” of Jewish culture in 21st century Eastern Europe.
Is anti-Semitism the litmus test? An opinion column in today’s Globe and Mail suggest that,
Since anti-Semitism is now symbolic of all racism and persecution, denouncing it can act as a sort of shortcut to prove compassion: I oppose anti-Semitism, therefore I can’t possibly be mean. It’s like a “get out of meanness jail free” card. It may be sincere or cynical; what I’m talking about is its political function. Asked yesterday in the House about defunding the multi-faith group, John Baird said his party opposed anti-Semitism at the 2001 Durban conference. It was bizarrely irrelevant, but he played the card. (Twice, actually.) Jews themselves sometimes play the Jewish card when they equate criticism of Israel to the “new anti-Semitism,” so as to reject it.
The argument seems to be that politicians (here, the author is talking specifically of the “mean” Tories) are making sure to give examples that demonstrate that they are not anti-Semitic so that they can a) get the Jewish vote and b) demonstrate to others that they’re not racist. I find the whole premise bizarre. First, the Canadian Jewish population is tiny. Yes, it is localised across several electoral ridings in Canada (especially in Toronto and Montreal), but for the party as a whole to take this on methodically seems like a waste. Second, what does it mean to “play the Jewish card”? Are Jewish voters really so singularly focused that they will vote for a politician who references anti-Semitism? Are non-Jewish voters really likely to equate anti-Semitism with all other racism and buy the act as well?
I’m curious as to reactions to this column. (And to the inclusion of that final sentence in the above-quoted paragraph.) Thoughts?
Leading members of the Jewish community – many identified as Liberals – have sent a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper asking him to withdraw a taxpayer-funded Conservative flyer that they say portrays the Liberal Party as anti-Semitic.
…. “We find it highly disturbing that any party or parliamentarian would attempt to use Israel as a wedge to divide the Jewish community and, indeed, Canadians, for partisan gain,” the letter says.
“Support for Israel should not be portrayed as exclusive to one party. The Liberal Party has a history of support for Israel, working co-operatively and effectively with the Canadian-Jewish community and speaking and acting against terrorism.” [Globe and Mail.]
The letter can be viewed in full at The Globe and Mail. Note that the article picks up on the ridiculousness of the Tories trying to claim that one party is more pro-Israel than another, but does not pick up on the fact that Jews can have multiples opinions on Israel. Note that the letter also ignores the latter, and urges all political parties to “stand behind [Israel].”
Still, I just don’t understand why they didn’t ask me to sign… Aren’t I prominent enough?
Canada might have a federal election soon. How soon remains to be seen, though that hasn’t stopped the Conservatives, who are currently running their second consecutive minority government, under leadership of Stephen Harper, to start planning for a win. And they want to form a majority government this next time around.
It seems their early tactics include targeting five long-time Liberalridings plus a bonus NDP riding. “Coincidentally,” these six ridings have large Jewish populations. Three are in Quebec (all in greater Montreal: Outremont, Mount-Royal, and Westmount-Ville-Marie), two are in Toronto (St Paul’s and Eglington-Lawrence), and the other is in Winnipeg (South Centre). With the exception of Outremont, which voted in the NDP these past two elections but had been Liberal from 1935 until then, the ridings have all been Liberal for at least 20 years (and Mount Royal sine 1940). Mount Royal’s MP is Irwin Cotler, who, in addition to being Jewish, served as both Minister of Justice and Attorney General earlier this decade. He won his first election with 91% of the vote. Winnipeg South Centre MP Anita Neville is also Jewish, and currently serves as the Liberal Critic for Indian Affairs. Now, the religious affiliations of the MPs isn’t enough reason for Jews to vote for them. But in light of the Tory accusations, are they being labeled “self-hating Jews“? [Bad midi auto-load music on that linked-to site, and it's also rather hateful all around. You've been warned.]
The Tories think they can sway these Jewish voters by mailing pamphlets to their neighbourhoods, spreading “facts” about how the Whigs (or Grits, depending on your political view or your nickname preference) don’t support Israel. And by “don’t support Israel” they of course mean “don’t support the Jews.” Because, as we all know, there’s only one accepted Jewish stance when it comes to Israel. What do the flyers say?
Conservatives are using the leaflets to tell Jewish voters that their party has fought anti-Semitism abroad and supported Israel, but the Liberals have not.
The missives say the Liberals were against listing Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorist organizations and “willingly participated in the overtly anti-Semitic Durban I” conference on racism… [Globe and Mail.]
And to counter that,
They point out, for instance, that Harper’s Conservatives “led the world” in boycotting the second UN-sponsored conference on racism in Durban, South Africa, dubbed a “hate fest against Israel.” [CBC].
There’s no mention that the then-Liberal government attended the first Durban conference at the request of Israel. Or that, after the anti-racism conference “derailed into attacks against Israel,” and Israel and the USA walked out, Israel asked Canada to stay to “defend Israel against anti-Semitic attacks”.
It also highlighted comments made by Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, who accused Israel of a war crime for actions taken during a 2006 conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon. [Canada.com.]
While, of course, the Tories under Harper,
“strongly backed Israel’s right to self-defence against Hezbollah” during the bombardment of Lebanon in 2006… [CBC.]
But the Liberals aren’t the only ones upset by these tactics. All three major opposition parties in Parliament, Liberal, NDP, and BlocQuébécois, have spoken out, calling this a new low for the Conservative Party. (And not only because these mailings cost an estimated $6.3million out of the federal budget.)
The only Jewish group that has spoken out about this is Bnai Brith Canada. Unsurprisingly, their CEO Frank Dimant lacks a nuanced, pluralistic view of Canadian Jews. He said that the flyers were accurate, and that the Tories are “more in tune with the Jewish community” than the Whigs/Grits because, again, there’s only one acceptable stance for Jews to take on Israel, and all Jews accept that.
This annoys me to no end. And not just because I’ve had to defend the Liberals (a party I don’t vote for) this morning.
Recently, the Rabbinic Assembly, the organisation that represents Conservative rabbis, issued a statement, signed by 300 members, asking that Nazi rhetoric not be used in political discussions. The JTA reported they included examples such as “Southern Baptist Convention leader, the Rev. Dr. Richard Land, calling health care reform proposals ‘what the Nazis did’ and U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) referring to the current health care system as a ‘holocaust in America’.”
Bernie Faber, CEO of the Canadian Jewish Congress, wrote an opinion piece for the Toronto Sun decrying the use of Hitler/Nazi comparisons in politics as well, including examples of its use in the US and Canada.
And we all know the principle behind Godwin’s law: “As an [Internet] discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1.” Overuse of Nazi/Holocaust comparisons lessens the impact of valid comparisons.
But apparently the message wasn’t heard by B’nai Brith Canada. Their mission is, in part, to fight antisemitism, racism, and bigotry. Except, it seems, when it comes to evoking the Holocaust as justification for slamming Muslims. On November 9th, Kristallnacht, they ran a full-page ad in the National Post, one of Canada’s two national newspapers, equating radical Islam with the Nazi movement that led to the Holocaust. Unsurprisingly, it upset many people, including Holocaust survivors and groups that work to create bridges between Jews and Muslims.
Bnai Brith has said that despite the outcries, the ad was a success as it alerted people to the real threats of Islam, Iran, and a “future holocaust.” The ad can be seen in full online here. In case you don’t want to look at the ugliness (not just its message, it’s also hard on the eyes), it was summarized by the JTA:
Headlined “The Unholy Alliance,” the ad … noted the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the widespread pogroms in Germany on the night on Nov. 8-9, 1938. It showed a photograph of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem meeting with Adolf Hitler, and noted the “common objectives of Nazism and radical Islam: Killing Canadian men and women on the battlefield, incitement of children through schools and media, annihilation of world Jewry, and subjugation of every one else, [and] world domination.”
And, yes, that’s right, this was all done in hopes of soliciting donations. Bnai Brith claims that negative reactions to the ad were greatly outnumbered by positive reactions, so they feel it was worthwhile.
I agree with Now Toronto columnist Susan G. Cole’s outrage, so let’s leave it with that:
It features a photo of Adoph Hitler and the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, as if it was only Islamic leaders who were complicit while the Nazis herded Jews into the gas chambers. History tells us the Catholic Pope sat back quietly, knowing exactly what was going on. And didn’t every single western democracy refuse to take Jews into their countries when it was obvious they were in grave danger? So why single out the Mufti?
The ad is misleading, inflammatory and, worse, reflects terribly on the Jewish community. So let it be known that there are many Jewish people, including myself, horrified by the ad.
Last week in Toronto, the Union for Reform Judaism held its biennial convention, and as in pastyears, URJ President Rabbi Eric Yoffie delivered a sermon laying out goals and initiatives for the next two years.
The sermon began with a great shout-out to the Biennial’s host country:
We Americans, it needs to be said, do not know Canada as well as we should. [...] I have a question for the Americans sitting in this congregation: How many of you can name the last three Prime Ministers of Canada?
Well, we Americans need to do better. The Canadian political system is far from perfect, but remember this: it has well-regulated banks; tough gun control laws; legalized marriage for gays; and an excellent, publicly-run health service – all matters of importance to Reform Jews and worthy of emulation by the United States.
This American (who can name the last three Canadian prime ministers and knows all the words to “O Canada”) says hear hear! (However, I was surprised that this was the only mention of health care, an issue that was featured so prominently two years ago, given that this sermon was just a few hours before the House passed the health care bill.)
The major initiatives are about food and technology. David A.M. Wilensky has already weighed in on the technology part, so I’ll leave that alone for now. There’s a lot to say about food; I’ll just focus on two points. More »
I just got back from Toronto where I spent two days at a small and exciting conference reading Moslem and Jewish medieval legal texts with a wonderful group of scholars. One of the highlights of this annual pilgrimage to the northern climes is that I get a chance to hang with my grad-school hevruta Rachael Turkienicz (and, of course, her partner Vadim).
Rachael has created an amazing makom torah/place for Torah study in Toronto called Rachael’s Centre. As the website says:
Rachael’s Centre for Torah, Mussar and Ethics is a not for profit, charitable organization that focuses on sharing and applying Jewish wisdom from a woman’s perspective.
It used to be that you had to live in or around Toronto to be able to study with Rachael, but now that the Centre has a very robust presence on-line you can live anyplace and still benefit from Rachael’s Torah. Check it out.
We’ve had debates over NYC knishes and promoted a lecture on Montreal smoked meat, but have we ever had a culinary battle between the two cities?
Montreal doesn’t do knishes. NYC doesn’t do poutine. (No matter what they say.) That leaves us with deli sandwiches. NY’s pastrami and Montreal’s smoked meat are comparable; their countries of original, recipes and methods, are similar enough. But the taste is completely different.
My wife, Gretchen, and I recently found ourselves faced with a unique opportunity: to eat the famed smoked meat of Montreal, then travel back to New York and taste our home city’s notorious counterpart, pastrami, all within a few hours of each other. This rare, real-time comparison turned into a pastrami vs. smoked meat smackdown, as we tried to answer the fundamental question: “Which is better?”
Check it out. And let me know what you think…
(Meanwhile, I know what I’ll be having for lunch on my next trips to NY and Montreal, though not from the restaurants listed in the article above.)
This sort of thing seems to happen to me fairly regularly. I’ll be walking down the street, taking a taxi, on the bus, or crossing the border, and will be questioned about my religious practices. The comments usually stem from the observation that I have my ears pierced. But not always: in the past, I’ve had a border guard quiz my friend and I, en route to LimmudNY, about our understanding and interpretation of the book of Daniel. Driving to Seattle, I was called “father” by a Catholic border guard who asked me how my parents felt about my earrings. I’ve been asked about living on the “wrong” (French, Catholic) side of town by a taxi driver in Montreal, questioned by a city of Montreal employee on homosexuality and Judaism while walking to school, and stopped while crossing a street in Vancouver because I was the “only Jew” this long-term resident of Vancouver had ever seen in the city.
I usually enjoy these conversations, bizarre though they may be.
And Thursday morning’s was no exception. I was quite early to the airport, forgetting that you don’t need to give yourself quite as much time to go through customs and security at YVR as you do at NY-area airports. I was sent to one of the dozen border guards who were free; I was one of two people in the “line.” Noticing the work visa in my passport, coded for “religious worker,” he asked what religious work I was doing, and what religion I practised. He looked at me, then asked how I could be a member of the Jewish clergy if I had my ears pierced. After clarifying that I wasn’t a clergy member, I tried to give a nonchalant answer, shrug off his question. It really wasn’t any of his business, right? At that point, he looked at my boarding card, saw that my flight was another two hours away, and said “we have time, let’s talk.” He still had my passport, which he hadn’t yet stamped, so what position was I in to say no?
He cited Leviticus 19:28, that one cannot mar their body, and again asked about my pierced ears. I tried to explain that Tanakh is open to interpretation, but he was adamant that it was literal. I asked if he understood everything he read in the Bible to be literal, and he said he did, noting that’s why he believes that the Jews are the chosen people, and why he holds Jews to a higher standard. Interesting… Did that mean he practiced stoning as punishment, avoided shrimp, and brought sacrifices to his priest? We eventually agreed that there was room for interpretation. (phew!)
But that somehow led him to Abraham, Ishmael, and Isaac. He wanted to know how, if Jews are the chosen people, if Jacob was renamed Israel, I reconciled Hagar being told her seeds would be greatly multiplied, that her descendants would be numerous, that Ishmael became the descendant of Abraham that the Muslims follow. I tried to explain that there can be differences in interpretation, that despite the shift in lineage, the Qu’ran contains many of the same stories as the Torah, and that there are some academics who argue that originally Islam followed Abraham/Isaac, and only later, after a dispute, did some shift the stories to Ishmael.
I think I lost him. It might have been too much for an early morning conversation with an evangelical Christian border guard. But he did say that we’re all brothers, Jews and Muslims, if not cousins, and we should really all get along. I agreed. He asked if I’d been to Israel, what my opinion was about Palestine. I gave him a short answer. And then, smiling, he stamped my passport and told me he’d have to research earrings for Jewish men (we’d already established he had no problem with earrings for Jewish women).
And, after about 10 minutes of talking, I went through to security.
I’m curious: do other people find themselves in these situations? I’m fairly convinced they’re the product of my being a “visible” Jew, living in a country with a small Jewish population, and in cities (or neighbourhoods) that aren’t heavily Jewish. Do conversations like these happen in NY with airport employees? I’m guessing not, since they see Jews on a daily basis. But… maybe I’m wrong. I’d love to hear other people’s stories.
, in which he shares his experience as an American serving in the Israeli Army for a year. The animation features music by Shir Yaakov of 
Many USAers have already filled out their census forms. Or are at least thinking about it. Or have at least taken the form and added it to their pile of mail to be dealt with later. (Seriously, fill it out and send it back. It’s good for you, your community, your neighbourhood, your city, your state… And I hear it gives you whiter teeth and shinier hair.)
It was decided that Jewish would appear twice: under “religion” and under “ethnicity.” (You can choose more than one ethnicity, I believe.) You’re considered Jewish, according to the census, and with the agreement of the above-mentioned experts who were consulted, if you: check Jewish for religion but not for ethnicity; Jewish for religion and ethnicity; Jewish for ethnicity but don’t put a religion; Jewish for ethnicity and put a religion that one doesn’t have to convert to to follow (like Buddhism). You would not be counted as Jewish if, say, you checked Jewish for ethnicity but put Catholic for religion. The Canadian census does not ask for race. As noted, we’re asked about ethnicity. But it’s not left with one question. Instead of “race,” there are two questions, I believe (it’s been 9 years – cut me some slack!): “ethnicity of origin,” from which you can check from a list or add in an “other”; and then a separate question on if you consider yourself a “visible minority,” with various options to check for that, along with a fill in the blank “other.” The Canadian census happens in years ending in 1 (with a smaller census, fewer questions, happening in years ending in 6). So we’ll see what it yields next year. 
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Except, it seems, when it comes to evoking the Holocaust as justification for slamming Muslims. On November 9th, Kristallnacht, they ran a full-page ad in the 
Montreal doesn’t do knishes. NYC doesn’t do poutine. (
through customs and security at YVR as you do at NY-area airports. I was sent to one of the dozen border guards who were free; I was one of two people in the “line.” Noticing the work visa in my passport, coded for “religious worker,” he asked what religious work I was doing, and what religion I practised. He looked at me, then asked how I could be a member of the Jewish clergy if I had my ears pierced. After clarifying that I wasn’t a clergy member, I tried to give a nonchalant answer, shrug off his question. It really wasn’t any of his business, right? At that point, he looked at my boarding card, saw that my flight was another two hours away, and said “we have time, let’s talk.” He still had my passport, which he hadn’t yet stamped, so what position was I in to say no?
I tried to explain that there can be differences in interpretation, that despite the shift in lineage, the Qu’ran contains many of the same stories as the Torah, and that there are some academics who argue that originally Islam followed Abraham/Isaac, and only later, after a dispute, did some shift the stories to Ishmael.
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