Canadian rabbis hope to fill shuls with Trump refugees

The clergy want to boost Shabbat attendance with an appeal to U.S. Jews DAVID HERRERA PHOTO
The clergy want to boost Shabbat attendance with an appeal to U.S. Jews DAVID HERRERA PHOTO

In an effort to boost flagging attendance at their shuls, hundreds of Canadian rabbis spanning the denominational spectrum have signed an open letter inviting U.S. Jews to join their congregations if “the s–t hits the fan” and Donald Trump is elected president of the United States.

“You scratch our backs, we’ll scratch yours. New American blood could be just what we need,” the letter reads.

In a move the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA), representing 1,000 Orthodox rabbis, referred to in a press release as “unprecedented, but, we get it,” close to 400 rabbis – including a significant number of American expatriates, according to a quick Google search – came together in a show of solidarity with Jews south of the border who will likely be voting for Hillary Clinton.

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The March 16 letter represented a cross-section of congregations, from Orthodox to Reconstructionist and was penned by a group describing itself as “a bunch of concerned clergy.” Posted on an open petition site, it featured the signatures of 387 rabbis and spiritual leaders from British Columbia to Newfoundland, as well as one from St. Pierre and Miquelon, an archipelago off Newfoundland that an RCA spokesperson said “he wasn’t convinced actually exists.”

Loosely addressed to “American Jews who fear Trump and the mesmerizing power of his comb-over” and circulated widely on social media, the letter calls on U.S. Jews who oppose Trump’s politics and “general, but definitely not cute, wackiness” to “go ahead and jump ship to Canada” if the Republican frontrunner is elected and, once here, to “consider themselves welcome at the Canadian synagogue of their choosing.”

It further reads: “With the U.S. presidential election this fall following close on the heels of the High Holidays, what better time to relocate to Canada and settle into the rhythm of a new shul?”

With a nod to Trump’s recent primary victory in Florida – which the letter called “the retirement home of our people” – the rabbis acknowledge that some American Jews do appear to be Trump supporters, but they stress that anyone concerned about leaving the United States and settling in a new, foreign land with “strange, vaguely socialist tendencies” shouldn’t have to add “the stress of finding a new spot to daven” to their list of worries.

One of the signatories, Rabbi Daniela Godenstein-Baum of Burnaby, B.C.’s Reform synagogue Kehilat Neshama, told The CJN she first learned about the letter on Twitter and subsequently heard “from a colleague” that the individuals who authored it wished to remain anonymous.

“I was excited to see rabbis from all over the country banding together on such an important issue. But more importantly, there aren’t a lot of Jews in Burnaby. Not to be crass, but we could use some extra tushes in the pews on Rosh Hashanah,” she said.

Rabbi Noah Moskowitz-Chandler of Shaarei Shaul, a modern Orthodox synagogue in Toronto, said that “our American brothers and sisters should rest assured they will, if that meshugene Trump gets elected, have a welcoming place to daven and observe a rich and meaningful Jewish life.”

Rabbi Moskowitz-Chandler believes the Americans will likely integrate quickly.

“These people aren’t voting for Trump, so they’re probably not going to bring their guns to shul, in case that was a concern.”

Rabbi Jonathan Steinberg-Greenberg of Montreal’s Conservative Shaarei Gold, said he chose to sign the letter out of “deep sympathy for Americans contemplating uprooting their lives to avoid being governed by what a madman.”

“And I don’t mean Bernie,” he added.

He was further motivated by his personal ties to the United States.

“I’m a rabbi. I’m from Cleveland,” he droned, adding, “It’s fine here. The bagels are sub-par, but it’s ultimately fine.”

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Ma’ayan Goldwater, another signatory and spiritual leader of Montreal’s unaffiliated Congregation Yonah, said her vaguely humanist community has always “provided a safe space for people to enrich their Jewish spiritual practice in whatever way nourishes them.”

That includes, she said, Americans who decide to flee Trump’s America, “Jewish, not Jewish, whatever.”

She added: “Americans, we welcome you to our congregations with open arms via our wide open borders.”

A spokesperson for Immigration Canada subsequently clarified that Canada’s borders are not, in fact, wide open – “even,” she said, “to Americans.”


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