Page 8 - The Canadian Jewish News, Thurs^^^ December 9, 1982
Oi>inion
M-T
1
I
By
CHARLES LAZARUS
As the Hadassah-WIZG Organization of Canada began observing its three-score-and-five, some 100 members of the movement from across Canada were on their way last week to Zion Redeemed, to fulfil, as Mirial Small the national president so aptly phrased it, "the overall priority of uniting the Jewish people."
The 65tl)' anniversary delegation"^ from points large and small where the Canadian Hadassah-WIZO maintains its dynamic presence with a total of approximately 16.000 members, had the very basic purpose of achieving three fundamental objectives: To see and assess where it's been, where it's at. and where it's going.
In other words: What has it accomplished since those earliest days in 1917 when the organization was born within the mould of the Balfour Declaration which pledged a homeland for thie Jewish people? How is it serving the present needs of Israel, Zionism and Jews in the Diaspora, particularly Canada? And what plans, preparations and programs are necessary for the future, for the viability of the Jewish state particularly, and the Jewish people, generally?
Five years ago in 1977, when the Canadian Hadassah-WIZO was celebrating its 60th or Diamond Jubilee, the organization's Orah Magazine,.whose first issue came out in 1960, defined the goals and aspirations of the movement within the parameters of the total Jewish world.
The needs, more particularly the social needs, of the yishuv as the Jewish settlement was knovvn in Palestine before the 1948 Declaration of Independence, and after the formal birth of the State of Israel. would have the obvious priority, of course; this was followed by the balance of the equation of obligation:
". . . The enhancement of the quality of Jewish life in the. Diaspora could best be satisfied through projects reflecting an improvement in the human condition. Hadassa:h-WIZO committed itself to social and humanitarian causes, to strengthen Jewish ideals and'culture . .. as well as to the promotion of Canadian ideals and national, unity."
It is interesting to note that the work of Hadassah from its earliest daysv in philosophical, ideological and practicjalterms is little different than it is today; and if one refers to the definitive biographical voliime on Lillian and A. J. (Archie) Freiman by the . late Bernard Figler. it becomes clear why and how the motivations and dynamics of Canadian Hadassah-WIZO haye so successfully resisted the ravages of time and human energy.
According to Figler's research, Lillian Freiman'sv"Zionist affiliation dated back to . her girlhood days. On February 1,1903, when she was only 17, she attended the Third Canadian Zionist Convention .in Montreal, as a delegate of the Ottawa Daughters of Zion; she'never missed a conventioh after that. >
wounds and disease . . . The handful of existing women's Zionist chapters in Canada undertook to raise funds and supplies.
/'But the enormity of the task caused them to look around for someone to assume leadership in so important an undertaking. They knew of one woman who possessed all the qualificaition, because of her previous record in humanitarian service. To their great joy Lillian Freiman readily accepted to become theii- generalissimo .,.
Thus did Lillian Freiman start the paradeof distinguished presidents of Canadian Hadassah-WIZO who have included, chronologically, Anna Raginsky, Rosa. Singer, Sally Gotlieb. Lottie Riven, Dr. Nina F. Cohen, Anne Eisenstat, Blanche Wisenthal, Neri Bloomfield, Clara Balinsky, and the current head, Mirial Small.
It goes without saying that the Canadian Hadassah-WIZO, having been so integrally emotionally and pracfically part of the traumatic Jewish experience for 65 years, as ' well as so deeply involved with the Jewish community and the State of Israel, can give no smaH amount of credit to,the organization's strong leadership for setting the direction and establishing the structure of support in the following specific areas, sequentially listed:
• Assistance to the Palestinian Jews during the aftermath of the British defeat of the Ottoman dynasty; and in the years that followed to keep alive the spark of Jewish statehood in the yishuv as the British rigidly enforced their mandate.
• Emergency help for refugees and survivors of the Nazi terror, before, during and following the World War II.
gees
inagaziiie
goals
"In 19.10. she became the president of the Herzi Ladies Society iand in 1917, 'when attending with her husband the .Zionist convchtipn in Winnipeg, she: described ho^w her society had taken;up Red Cross vvork for the soldiers overseas.'-' (It will be recalled^^ that 1917 was the year of the Balfour Declaration, and the _year the Hadassah organizatiori began .taking shape-in Canada, frorti a-rriimber of varied and disparate Zionist;^ women's groups!)
Figler continues: ! '
.^^'F6llowing the conquest m of -Palestine by General Allenby in 1918, urgent appeals for assistance were received , on behalf of many thousands of Palestinian Jews, whb had been left homelesis in the Allied-Turkish warv starving and wracked by
• • Movement to help establish an immediate social infrastructure with the birth of the State of Israel in 1948. ■ . • Consolidation arid expansion of Canadian Hadassah-WIZO's social services and facilities, particularly to; assist in the orientation, of the. new immigrants, for so many of whom the new Israel served as an emergency rescue haven.
• Refinement arid improvement of the Canadian Hadassah-WIZO's expanding network of social and humanitarian projects, as Israel's pluralistic society grew and matured, developing a voracious appetite for more and better care of mothers and children, accommodation, of restless youth, and need for higher education-
Within, this . framework, .roughly, the Canadian Hadassah-WIZO found Jewish Women JFrorii the .Atlantic to the Pacific responding. in a dramatically increasing membership;
. But what is hiost interesting to record^and significant, is that this membership response was not generated only in the. large cieintres Siich as Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, ■ yancouver and Halif^, but probably derived in the smaller, in-between cbiiimunities so to speak, from the Judaic mystique through the millenia, of Jews heljping Jews.
The dynamics arid mechanics of the Canadian Hadassah-WIZO's work is interest-, ingly illustrated by / an article in Orah ■ Magazine to m''ark the 60th anniversary. . .Said the' article wliich appeared in 1977: "The; dramatic; story of Canadian Hadassah-WIZO duringvthe time of Israel's bii;th almost 30 years ago is a-microcbsm of Jewish^^ ■; hopes.and dreams as expressed in the totality of the Jewish state.
' 'Trem en d 6 us a mounts of work had to be done in battered, war-torn,Europe after the end of hostilities, in providing immediate succor to the remnants of Jews driven from ; their homes, wandering and rootless.
"Within reborn Israel, Canadian Hadas-sahrWIZO moved swiftly to help build the infrastructure urgently required to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of newcomers flooding to the country's shores from war-torn countries. '
"Oncof the milestones created just before---the birth of the state was the establishment of Hadassim, the Canadian Hadassah-WIZO's village with its highly . progressive
Shown is Flora MacDonald addressing Hadassah-WIZO meet, when she was minister of external affairs. Seated beside her is Mirial Small.
teaching program and agricultural training."
Another milestone for the organization, was the setting up of the Youth aliyah program in 1934.
Reported Orah:
"The choice of Canadian Hadassah-WIZO as the official 'corridor' through which young people would be moved to the Holy Land became a tremendous emotional motivation, for its members, as it has remained to this very day.
"It i? estimated that before and after the Second World War, up until the present time, more than 170,000 youngsters from approximately 75 countries were rescued and rehabilitated through Youth Aliyah."
Needless to say, while all this rescue and rehabilitation work was going on, Canadian Hadassah-WIZO with a budget tripled in 1948, was relentlessly pursuing the needs of the new and ballooning Israeli society, all within the stress and tension of diplomatic crises and unstopping security trauma, as the Arab neighbors determinedly sought to bring about the Jewish state's destruction.
Thus, since the state .was born, the organization moved in many directions to effect its social and humanitarian program — plus commitfing itself anew to improve the quality of Jewish life in Canada and support the ideals of a unified Canadian nationhood.
The variety of Canadian Hadassah-WIZO projects through the years reflected the variety of its interests which ranged from the day care program for Arab and Jewish mothers; a hydro-therapy pool at Sarafand for- polio victims; Asaf Harofe Hospital project near Tel Aviv; Magdiei Vocational School; a child guidance clinic in Jerusalem and many more similar services through; the
country, to say nothmg of even helpmg furnish the first Israeli consulate established in Montreal, m 1949.
Another project was the restoration in Tel Aviv of Independence Hall where the State of Israel was proclaimed in 1948.
However it was in 1970 that the Canadian Hadassah-WIZO achieved a major accomplishment, the first of its kind among all WIZO affiliates throughout the world, with the establishment of its public affairs department.
Here's how It works, according to organization's official explanation of the program under way throughout Canada:
"With the public affairs department. Hadassah-WIZO set the example and became the model for an organized, much-needed education and information process. Under the auspices of this .department, numerous Christian/Jewish dialogues have been held annually ifi various centres across Canada and have achieved greater understanding and co-operation between Canadian Jewish communities and non-Jewish communities. ■
"Within the public affairs department, as well, a great number of seminars and workshops have taken place nationally, regionally and locally. In addition to bringing in new, young membership, the public affairs department has succeeded in creating a core of knowledgeable, well-informed women." Says national president Mirial Small: "What we are now doing, all 16,000 of us, is looking ahead to try and keep pace with what has been accomplished in the years past. Um'ty and solidarity with the Jewish people and the State of Israel, the quality of Jewish life, and the embracing of our youth, will fulfil our sense of mishpocha.''
Letter to the editor
Suppression of debate
. Max Goody is correct in his claim that "the time of the servile and obsequious Jew is gone"' (Letter, CJN Nov. ■ 18), But the reasoning used to support his position against open criticism of Israel is fraught with danger to the Jewish community within and outside of Israel. . . '
Goody offers the often heard advice that "if you want to criticize piiblicly, go live in Israel." To follow this adyice would certainly stifle all public criticism of Israel by Diaspora Jews. It would end also the struggle on behalf of the oppressed Jews in the Soviet Union, Ethiopia, Argentina and other countries. It would require that we livein France or Italy or Belgiurii (all democratic countries) to protest attacks in those countries. Human rights activists in Canada would be. paralyzed in their work on behalf of the persecuted in other countries.
That citizens. or governments of one country be prohibited from criticizing the internal dr. international policies of another, country is perilous. Jews should know only too well the consequences of silence — this is one of the lessons of the Holocaust.
Mr. Goody should not be dismayed at the application of different standards in the world's judgement of Israel compared with the standards applied to other countries, for it is the very -proclamation of Israel's high standards of morality and behavior which
; invite criticism for breaches of these standards — breaches which occur regularly in other countries and which go unnoticed in
.other countries where the standards apparently do not demand such moral and compassionate behavior..
Opponents of Israel, whether on political or. anti-semitic grounds have never relied on support from Jewish critics to generate their opinions. Failure to criticize Israel, if anything, hasfuelled anti-Israel propaganda. Jewish critics who express their views are morevigilant in guarding Israel's image-and do more to neutralize attacks on Israel than 'Israel's most vociferous supporters. .
: : Suppression of the debate on Israel is censorship and ""censorship will prevent-achievement of the Jewish people's goal, as
-expressed by Mr. Goody, of "fulfilling our destiny as a light unto the nations." , Dr. Philip B. Berger
■ Toronto
m
i
m
if,
i;