Week of Aug. 27, 2015

How the JNF should respond 

Jerry Werger’s column (“JNF has never dispossessed or evacuated anyone,” Aug. 20) exposes a sore point in the generational gap in the Jewish community.

Some serious, though false and pernicious, accusations have been levelled against Israel. Left unchallenged, these accusations lead to charges of genocidal activity by Israel. These charges cannot be dealt with by ignoring them and by publishing cutouts from the latest Jewish National Fund brochures. No one under 40 is interested in reminiscing about Bubbie’s blue box. They never saw that blue box. And all the platitudes about the desert blooming are no justification.

The charges levelled are very straightforward. Palestinians were driven from their homes and their lands were given to Keren Kayemet L’Israel (KKL), represented by JNF in Canada, to administer. If true, this violates the Geneva convention.

If the JNF is not capable of dealing with this charge, and it certainly seems incapable or unwilling, then perhaps we can have a response from one of a multitude of legal experts who have dealt with this charge before.

But please, let’s respect our younger generations and respond honestly before we lose them with boiler plate PR. 

Joe Kislowicz
Toronto

New forms of Judaism 

We were thrilled to read Yair Lootsteen’s column on Jewish pluralism in Israel (“Israel needs its unique brand of Reform Judaism,” Aug. 6). With half a million Israeli Jews defining themselves as Reform or Conservative, Israel has come a long way. 

It is no secret that a large number of Israelis have been detached from Judaism, and many even detest anything to do with it, due to the fierce control and monopoly of the rabbinate over Jewish life. 

It is no wonder that much of the recent rebellion in Israeli society, such as the alternative conversion beit din, is led by the national religious stream and not by secular and non-observant Israelis. Many secular Israelis lost interest a long time ago. 

As Israeli Canadians, we have spent the second half of our lives in Toronto trying to undo the damage to our Jewish identity that was inflicted upon us during the first half of our lives in Israel.

Only when Judaism is freed from the jaws of the rabbinate there will a pluralistic and vibrant Judaism flourish in Israel and secular Israelis will reconnect with their Jewish roots and with Jews around the world. 

This issue is key to the future of Judaism, and we wish to see it become front and centre in our community’s discourse, as well as part of our dialogue with Israel. 

Sara and Michael Dobner
Thornhill, Ont.

Election claims 

I recently saw a campaign sign by Mark Adler, the Conservative MP who is running for re-election in York Centre, that states he is the “son of a Holocaust survivor.”

As a child of Holocaust survivors, I am offended by Adler’s use of this designation for political gain. What his parents experienced, no matter how significant to his personal history, does not confer upon him any particular qualification for political office. 

In fact, this stunt and the spectacle he made of himself in Jerusalem, begging for a picture with Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the Western Wall (what he called his “million-dollar shot”), suggest that he is more interested in promoting himself than serving his constituents.  

Eda Zimler
Toronto

Yiddish campers 

I think it is worthy of mention that the Yiddish camp photo in The Canadian Jewish News (Aug. 20) includes the late great Dora Wasserman, on the right, who founded Canada’s first and only international Yiddish theatre. Next to her is her daughter Ella Gaffen, who now lives in Israel. 

Judy Miller
Montreal