Week of April 2, 2015

The moral of Masada

In response to the letter “Bibi and Masada,” (March 26), it’s important to clarify that the storytellers of Masada were not “peacemakers,” as suggested. They were Jews who hid to escape the mass suicide, but were later taken as slaves to Rome, never again to live another free day. They chose a life of slavery over death. They did not choose peace with their Roman conquerors. 

Having just finished reading Josephus Flavius’ The Jewish War, I feel it is important to present a more accurate analogy: a two-state solution with Hamastan in the West Bank is akin to the fall of Judea in 73 CE. It will inevitably bring about the fall of modern-day Israel.

When a nation lives without security, there can be no true freedom. Equating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s declaration regarding the lack of a prospect of a two-state solution with national suicide is especially absurd. The opposite is true. A two-state solution without guarantees for Israel’s survival will bring about its destruction.

Two thousand years later, we are still here to tell the story of Masada and the Roman Empire is not. I hope the same will be true in another 2,000 years should a Palestinian state ever be established alongside Israel. My doubts do not make me any less Zionist.

Steven Arie Glowinsky
Toronto

Modelling a Jewish life 

Having worked in supplementary Jewish education for almost 40 years, I found the debate about education to be interesting (“How can we ensure the future of Jewish education?” March 19). 

What I found lacking in both articles is that neither day nor supplementary schools take place in a vacuum. One of the keys to Jewish identity is what happens at home outside of school hours. The child  who comes from a home where Judaism is practised with Shabbat observance in a way that’s meaningful for the family, where holidays are celebrated at home and at synagogue, and mitzvot are modelled will have a strong connection to what is being taught and experienced at school. They see meaning in what they’re learning. Add a Jewish summer camp, and you have an individual who is connected to Jewish life. 

A child who comes from a home where there is little to no Jewish observance will have knowledge, but no examples of Jewish living outside of school. Jewish education needs to help children understand what it means to live a Jewish life all the time, not just at school, and the active participation of the family is essential. 

Karen Goodis
Toronto

Problems at Baycrest 

I have worked with people with dementia and their families and know all too well how vulnerable they and other residents of long-term care homes can be. As a volunteer with an organization that advocates for residents of long-term care homes, I am familiar with the regulations of the Ontario Ministry of Health and their inspections process (“Health inspection finds problems at Baycrest,” March 19).

The Ministry of Health required Baycrest, like any other Ontario long-term care home, to implement a plan to protect its residents from abuse, for which there is zero tolerance. Yet Baycrest has not complied, despite an order to do so dating back to August 2014. There is no excuse for this failure. A spokesperson says Baycrest “is equipped to readjust its procedures when shortcomings are brought to its attention.” If that is the case, the Jewish community should be hearing forthwith how Baycrest will be ensuring zero tolerance of abuse of our vulnerable elders. 

Marcia Zalev
Toronto

Not truly Orthodox 

The Canadian Haggadah Canadienne (“A proudly Canadian Haggadah designed for all Jews,” March 5) includes “commentaries from 20 rabbis (and one maharat, the title for ordained female clergy in modern Orthodoxy) from across… the denominational spectrum.”

Modern Orthodoxy does not ordain women, nor would its members ever publish a Haggadah with input from clergy across the denominational spectrum. This movement, which calls itself “Open Orthodoxy” is open to practices that are not shared by mainstream Orthodoxy. Their Orthodoxy thus remains an open question.

Rabbi Mordechai Bulua
Montreal