Close the consulates
I find it in poor taste for The Canadian Jewish News to be used as the venue for an Israeli diplomat, who is the head of mission in the Israeli Consulate in Toronto, to publicly, while posted in a foreign country, vent his personal salary dispute (“Desperate times, desperate measures,”The CJN, March 27).
We welcome the consul general attending dinners and other fundraising events. However, my sympathy cannot be with the gentleman while hospitals in Israel are suffering from high deficits and mounting healthcare costs.
Israel is not an overly rich country and must place its funding priorities where most needed.
Perhaps instead of taking “the decision to suspend regular consulate services,” the Toronto consulate offices should be permanently closed. If need be, requisite necessary services could be obtained from the Embassy of Israel in Ottawa.
Sheila Friedman
Toronto
Withdraw support from universities
University of Windsor is another Canadian university where students voted to boycott Israel because of its treatment of Palestinians (“Flag vandalized during BDS vote campaign,” The CJN, March 6). When the Jewish state, of all countries, is singled out for denunciation, it is called, plain and simple, anti-Semitism. I have yet to hear of a boycott of China for its brutal oppression of Tibetans. Moreover, why aren’t the students concerned with the human rights violations of women, workers and poor people, respectively, in these countries?
South Africa is notorious for the rapes of women and children. More than 400 Nepalese migrant workers have been, shockingly, killed on building sites in Qatar since 2010. And there is still an abominable caste system in India.
In Toronto, Jewish philanthropists have disproportionately donated to universities. My Jewish brethren should not donate to universities where it is open season on Israel. Hurt them in their pocketbooks.
Jacob Mendlovic
Toronto
Personal attacks unwarranted
Leon Kushner’s denigration of former Canadian Jewish Congress CEO Bernie Farber was as unwarranted as it was unfair (“Harper’s trip to Israel,” The CJN, March 20).
As a lawyer I have come to respect Mr. Farber’s views and assessments of the human rights scene in Canada. As a Canadian Jew there were few professionals with the commitment and smarts who gave of their time and expertise to our community, as did Mr. Farber.
Whether it was the fight against neo-Nazism in Canada or holding politicians to account on matters of racism and bigotry Bernie Farber exemplified all that is good about the Canadian Jewish community.
While I appreciate Mr. Kushner’s right to challenge anyone’s ideas, I believe it behooves us always to stay away from unfair personal attacks. It’s not the Jewish way.
James Morton
Thornhill, Ont.
Cultural Jews are vital to Judaism
Jimmy Bitton’s article (“History can be a vanguard of Jewish continuity,” The CJN, March 20) states that “currently, secular and purely cultural manifestations of Jewish identity are halfway houses to assimilation,” citing the Pew study as proof. What the Pew study indicates is that there are many more cultural Jews than previously thought.
Bitton and others who wish to preserve Jewish identity as simply a religious, and not a cultural, phenomenon, are not only doing a disservice to the many cultural Jews who make up a vibrant part of Jewish life, but are also undercutting their own aims.
There is a paradox in Jewish life: Jews tell one another they are not Jewish or observant enough, and then they wonder why those very Jews walk away. As a rabbi in the Humanistic Jewish movement I can attest that it is only by validating and creating meaningful Jewish experiences for cultural Jews that we can avoid assimilation.
Rabbi Denise Handlarski
Oraynu Congregation for Humanistic Judaism
Toronto
Candidate’s views are an outrage
I find it interesting that Quebec Premier Pauline Marois withdrew the candidacy of a candidate because of his anti-Muslim comments, but when it comes to the candidacy of PQ candidate, Louise Mailloux, known for her anti-Semitic rhetoric, the Premier is OK with it (“Marois stands by ‘kosher tax’ candidate,” The CJN, March 20).
Where is the Jewish, Muslim and Catholic leadership outrage?
How is this premier allowed to get away with this?
Before she gets her majority government (God forbid) in April, and moves to forbid circumcision and kosher slaughter, there must be a huge outcry now.
Just as at Chanukah, the Greeks failed to destroy our faith, so too will she fail with her plans.
Rabbi Yirmi Cohen
Toronto