Page 4-The Canadian Jewish News, Thursday. July 22, 1993
Canada
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WARSAW (JTA) - Nearly a half cen-iur> after the end of World War 11. Israel's ambassador here presented over two dozen Poles with medals recogni/.^ ing their heroic acts in saving Jewish lives during the Nazi (K'cupaiion.
The recent ceremony marked the first tune that any Polish citizen had been honored on home soil for saving Jewish lives in Poland. It was also the first time many of the recipients had received public recognition of any ^oil.
The HokKaust and Polish-Jewish relations were long considered tabcx) topics imder the Communist regime in Poland.
The rescuers, who were also given honorary' Israeli citizenship, were recognized during proceedings of the first International Conference on Rescuers of Jews During the HokK'aust.
The conference also brought together Jewish HoliKaust sur\ivors and the Poles who had saved them.
'•Without the help of the righteous, we were dead." said one such sur\'ivor. Jack Pariser. who now lives in the United States. He recalled how his rescuers, whom he met for the first time since the war ended, hid his family in a pit underneath their house.
•"I look at it not as saving us. but as giving us life,"" he said;"It is a terrible debt to owe somebody."'
Abraham Foxman. national director of the Anti-Defamation League, which sponsored the conference, said about the meetings; "1 feel it was successful because it identified this subject of Poles rescuing Jews as one which is in need of original research.
' 'This conference has also made the beginning of an impact in Poland,*" said Foxman, who was hirnself saved by his Polish Catholic nanny.
Lcx)king toward the future. Foxman expressed the hope that "the Polish government will find a way to honor these people (the rescuers) as national heroes.
"They are not just Jewish heroes but also Polish heroes." he said.
The conference — titled Can Indifference Kill? — also.featured two days of scholarly presentations and debate on Polish-Jewish relations and the action, or inaction, taken to save the Jews from the Nazis.
The presentations on the Polish record during the war inspired the most heated debate, refiecting a growing controversy in Poland that has emerged since the collapse of communism and the beginning of free academic inquiry.
Yehuda Bauer, a professor of, Holocaust studies al Hebrew University in Jerusalem and a participant in the presentations, explained his view on the new controversy.
•;1 think the Poles are still in the first stages of self-investigation."' the prominent scholar said.
"They are doing what the British, the Ameficans and the Jews did right after the war. They are engaging in apologetics." said Bauer.
Tomasz Szarota. a professor at the Historical Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences, saw. the situation as a continuing legacy of communism.
"Many of my-^ucolleagues have con-finued the officialline of anti-Semitism from before. The only difference is that now; we can freely discuss these issues."' he said.
■ Many of the Poles who saved Jews never sought any public recognition for their heroic acts for fear of societal or political consequences in Communist Poland.
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Wedding guests mingle in the sanctuary of the ancient synagogue built in 1315 in Cordoba. The Israeli and Canadian ambassadors to Spain attended the event.
Network Caravan plans set Jewish
in
am
TORONTO - Network Canada, the Canadian arm of World Un ion of Jewish Students (WUJS). is planning its thii-d cross-countr>' Caravan to be held late this summer,;
The Caravan consists of no more than 20 students from across Caiiada travelling by bus from one Jewish community to another, holding programs and establishing contacts. This year's Caravan will deal with the issue of white supremacy in Canada. An expert on the issue will accompany the students, address coirimu-nity members and inform the students themselves.
Network "is constantly working toward raising awareness nationwide of the dangers of racist individuals and groups," according to a recent press release. One , of Network's annual events is a lobby day in Ottawa, to meet with politicians on issues concerning the Jewish community.
In addition to dealing with white supremacy, the"overriding theme" of Caravan is Jewish identity arid outreach to smaller communities, said Naomi Ul-pian. Network's fioiicy adviser.
Originally billed as a Cross-Canada
Caravan, the event is being scaled down for budgetary reasons. The overall cost of mounting the program will be between $20,000 and $25,000, less than half of which has been confirmed. Network is still seeking corporate sponsorship and individual donations.
The Carayan, which will run from seven to lO days, may start as far west as Winnipeg and is scheduled to include the Atlantic provinces, said Ulpian:
This year will mark the first Caravan since 1990, when studertis travelled from Vancouver to Montreal to deal with the issue of Operation Exodus.
Students pay a nominal fee which includes kosher food and airfare to arid from the starting and ending poirits. Accommodation; is usually provided in private homes or on the floors of local Jewish coriimunity centres.,
For further information about this year's Caravan or if you would like to offer financial assistance, call Network's national office at 416-783-1165 or 1-800-465-1807/ or write to; 3535 Bathurst St., Ste. 201, Toronto, Ontario M6A 2C7.
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Mirsky said he and his wife from the beginning had wanted eventually to be married in a synagogue and the idea of having the wedding in Cordoba, with all its attendant symbolism* and the opportunity for Maria!s family to attend; excited them..
Son of Helga Mirsky, and the late Arthur Mirsky, Edward igrew up in Toronto and attended York Mills Collegiate, moving to Montreal to attend McGill University. He and his wife are self-employed consultants.
They attend Beth Tikvah Synagogue.
Rabbi Feffer said he was deeply touched by the kindness and sympathy shown to him by non-Jewish Spanish people when they saw the Auschwitz tattoo on his arm. He happened to ask one man why so many Spanish men walk with their hands clasped behind their backs and was told that it derived from the time that their forefathers, who were Jews, thus walked their leisurely way on the Sabbath.
A scene in Madrid also gladdened Rabbi Feffer's heart with its omen for a Jewish presence. "! saw the Lu-bavitcher rabbi's representative with
his many children playing iri the streets of Madrid wearing their tzjt-zis visibly protruding from their shirts, thus proclaiming happily, 'I am a Jew" " '. He spoke highly of Maria Mirsky! . "As my student she excelled in the required curriculum. She will no doubt continue to be a source of inspiration and model to others. At the wedding ceremony,.she was sad that we did not have a ftillminyan because there were only seven Jewish men, including the Israeli ambassador, and she would have liked to have heard the Seven Benedictions which are not chanted without a minyan.'"
issues
By JANICE ARNOLD
MONTREAL - Non-Jews should be welcome to pray in Reform synagogues but it is inappropriate for them to be members of the Congregation, said the outgoing president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) at the organizatibri's annual convention.
"There are definite and well-defined boundaries between Judaism and Christianity and other religions. There is rio gray area; one is a Jew or a Gentile," said Rabbi Walter Jacob of Pittsburgh,
Non-Jews who wish tojoincongre-gations should convert to Judaism, he said! Otherwise, they may worship and study iri the synagogues as "honored guests," and can be involved in the life-cycle events of their children who have been raised as Jews. "Anything beyond that is absurd and an oxymoron," Rabbi Jacob said. "Some families will be unhappy about this; that does not matter. It is our task to preserve and strengthen Judaism. Sometimes it will disturb people as well as make them -fee| guilty." 1
. The "open-ended nature" of Reform Judaism has created confusion
and brought unforeseen problems, as : well as made positive contributions to modern Jewish life, he said.
More than 500 of the CCAR's 1,700 member rabbis in the United States and Canada attended the 104th annual convention. Rabbi Jacob, senior rabbi of Congregation Rodef Shalom in Pittsburgh, was succeeded as CCAR president by Toronto-born Rabbi Sheldon Zimmerman of Dallas.
The phenomenon of significant numbers of non-Jews in Reform congregations, the result of mixed marriages or deliberate efforts to reach out to interfaith couples, was discussed at a closed three-hour pre-convention workshop. , .
Under discussion was a report en^ titled Defining the Role of the Non-Jew in the Synagogue, published two years ago by the CCAR and and Un-iori of American Hebrew Congregations.
The goal of a CCAR-UAHC com-jBission was to study how congregations and rabbis have successfully establjshed "clear policies about membership, governance and ritual participation of non-Jews, while at the same time warmly welcoming in- • terfaith families."
Rabbi Jacob, speaking from almost 40 years in the rabbinate, also warned against Reform Judaism losing sight of "the Jewish ideal" in human rela: tionships, the monogamous family.
The lifestyles of never-marrieds, single parents, unwed couples and homosexual partnerships, all of whom can be found iri Reform congregations, are not "alright and equally acceptable as Jewish ideals." he .said.
Reform Judaisnv should not follow '"the path of the American liberal and give up on the traditional family structure.
At the convention, a session was held on the issue of sanctifying same-sex unions. Led by Rabbi Elyse Goldstein of Toronto, the session was described as an exploratory dialogue on.a "sensitive .subject."'
The subject of gender was also broached by Rabbi Jordan Pearlson in an address at the convention"s opening plenary.
"Change must take place without the cost of our community "s gender integrities." Rabbi Pearlson said. "Life and Judaism continue because ge-nder leads to Jewi-sh babies rajsed as Jews. Without gender orientation, there is no people, no future."'