How many hamantashen?

What colour is “this hamantashen?” And on the front page, too? (March 5). Please repeat after me: one hamantash, two hamatashen.

Saul Ticktin
Pointe Claire, Que.

Memories of Emerson Mahon

I knew Emerson Swift Mahon (“Emerson Swift Mahon: Canada’s first black Jew,” Feb. 26). He rented accommodation from my grandparents in Winnipeg while he worked as a sleeping car porter. We lived next door. Every time he saw us he would stop to talk and impressed us with his stories and knowledge of Yiddishkeit. 

He was always learning and studying, and I recall many a time he and my grandfather would sit and discuss and argue about the Torah. It always bothered me that such a knowledgeable man was relegated to work as a sleeping car porter. 

David Guttman
Thornhill, Ont.

Awe and fear 

Rabbi Yael Splansky translates the Hebrew word yira as fear (of God) (“Be not afraid, for God is with you,” Feb. 12). It can also be interpreted as awe.

Just like the Hebrew words ruach and davar can be translated, respectively, as wind or spirit and thing or word, in the material and immaterial senses, so can yira have negative and positive interpretations. In the modern age, it is easier to speak of being in awe of God and His creation rather than fearing God. 

Jacob Mendlovic
Toronto

Jewish values are Canadian

In an interview with The CJN, Jonathan Kay concludes with the statement that he was born Jewish and acknowledges that he is a Jew, but is primarily Canadian (“Walrus editor discusses the media and Judaism,” Feb. 19.)

Kay says he doesn’t “like practices that go against Canadian values.’’ Inherent in these remarks is the idea that some Jewish behaviour clashes with Canadian values.

He makes reference to the bigoted remarks he hears about Muslims in the synagogues that he frequents, reads in comment sections of newspapers or emails that he receives with Jewish names. He is also bothered by the ultra-Orthodox Jews who live in Outremont and the lifestyles they follow. 

Kay then goes a little further. He likens the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community to what went on with Catholic priests and the coverups by the Catholic church.

Finally, Kay believes that ultra-Orthodox Jews are, on an existential level, a threat to the Jewish People. 

Jews of all stripes should recognize that along with the Canadian values which we all cherish, we can also take pride in our Jewish values, which are human values.

Sam Mitnick
Cote St. Luc, Quebec

York U and anti-Semitism

For years, I have failed to understand how insidious anti-Semitism continues to run rampant at a university with a high per-centage of Jewish students and professors, specifically York University. The article, “University free speech can be unsettling,” (Feb. 5) reveals the reasons this “unsettling” trend continues.

Now it is abundantly clear why Israeli Apartheid Week found fertile ground at York and why it festers throughout the year. Under the guise of free speech these academics justify ongoing anti-Semitism. As a result, the most heinous lies against Israel are continuously ignored, even if it compromises the safety of Jewish students.

The authors also believe that ongoing anti-Semitic harassment, which often borders on dangerous intimidation, is in fact, a good thing, because it can sharpen a student’s power of verbal sparring! This appalling dismissal of ongoing anti-Semitism is not what patrons, parents and students expect from any university.

We all must help universities reclaim their rightful place as reputable institutions of higher education. We all must help prevent universities from being used as havens for anti-Semites and leftists to freely ply their wares. But first, we all must demand that these academics immediately stop making excuses for ongoing anti-Semitic activities and start being part of the solution. n

Elisabeth Gelb
Duncan, B.C.