Canadians Ordained

TORONTO — Three Torontonians were ordained as rabbis May 31 by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati. They are: Rena Arshinoff, interim spiritual leader at Solel Congregation in Mississauga, Ont., since January; William Tepper, a former drama and English teacher who joins Mizpah Congregation in Chattanooga, Tenn., as spiritual leader this summer, and Noah Chertkoff, an ex-aide to former federal minister Elinor Caplan, who becomes assistant rabbi at a temple in Plantation, Fla., this summer. A fourth Canadian, Daniel Mikelberg of Vancouver, was ordained by HUC’s Los Angeles campus last month.

Rush Donates Cash

WINNIPEG — The members of veteran Canadian rock band Rush said last week they will donate $100,000 from their May 24 concert in Winnipeg to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, a public-private project to be completed by 2011 in the Manitoba capital. The trio will also sell T-shirts at the remaining Canadian dates on their current tour, with proceeds going to the museum. They read: “My pals Rush and I support the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.” The parents of Rush’s lead singer, Geddy Lee, 54 – born Gary Lee Weinrib – are Holocaust survivors. The $265-million museum is being spearheaded by the Asper family, which has raised about $95 million of $105 million in private money needed to build it.

Vandalism Denounced

MONTREAL — Canadian Jewish Congress strongly condemned a recent act of vandalism at Montreal’s Makkah-al-Mukarramah mosque, the third such attack there this year. Worshippers arrived May 24 to find a smashed stained glass window on the mosque’s front door. “It is unacceptable to see these types of acts against places of worship,” said Victor Goldbloom, CJC’s Quebec region president. “As Jews, we know all too well the pain of such desecrations. It is the duty of all Quebecers to… denounce all forms of hatred.”