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The Canadian Jewish News, Thursday, January 1, 1981 - Page 3
World-National
OTTAWA —
Governor-General Edward R. Schreyer recently presented the ORT Centennial Medial to 12 Canadians in* recogniton of their "outstanding cpntri-biitions to the field of vo^ cational and technical education." The'presentation
took place at Government House.
The Governor-General and Mrs. Schreyer conferred the medals on Douglas Allan Bovee. Edmonton! Shirley Carr, OtTawa; Nigel Florida, Ottawa; Jack Hahn, Toronto; Harry Halton. Montreal;
Rev.^ Pere Celestin Mar-cotte, Quebec City- W. Diarrell Mills, Dartmouth, N.S.; Walter George Pitman and Sidney S. Schip-
per, both of Toronto; Ro- _Jionoree program commit*^ federal catmet minister
bert N. Scott ,-Fredericton. and Hank Van def Aa of Dorval, Que,
A medal was also given
tee said that "Canadian ORT is proud to be able to give recognition to such varied and exceptional
Barney DaTrson; Freda=-PaltieU senior advisor on the status of women for the deipartment of health
By SHELDON KlkHSNER
TORONTO ^
Last March.. Bernard Ostry, then deputy minister of communications, told an associate professor he knew in Ottawa that the presidency of Toronto's Ryerson PoKtechnical Institute was about to become vacant.
Ostn,', one of Ottawa's top mandarins, suggested that his friend apply for the post. Brian Segal, the son of a Montreal ta.xi driver, took his advice. Five months later, following several grueling in-terviews and personality checks. Segal got the good news.
He was Ryerson's president-to-be, the first Jew who would assume that task.
"Obviously, the board of governors chose the best person," he. says. "Religion didn't enter into it. My Jewishness has always been something I've been proud of."
An associate professor of social work at Carleton University until his appointment. Segal was officially installed as president last November. He succeeded Walter Pitman, who resigned to become the executive director of the Ontario Arts Council.
Thirty seven years old, and the father of three,
Rabbi Moses Barak.
By RABBLMOSES J. BURAK
Question: Some of us have been invited "to ring out the old, and ring in the new." Can we join them in such celebration? Is Jan. 1 a secular holiday?
The Talmud tells us that there are four New Year days m the Jewish vear. Apparently some I^pple woulAliJteiO give us yetanother New Year day to celebrate . : ? one In which we can put on funny paper hats, blow^ horns, make noise and go wild on Jan. 1. But, this cannot be. Some of our societies mav find It an excellent wav to raise funds. Who will not be readv to take out at least S25 to partake in all that revclrv? But. that does not make It kosher.
Even if there were no obvious religious < nuances m such an obser\'ance, it has no place m :; Jewish life. Long ago, we were told in Hosea 9:1, ; "Rejoice not. Israel, exultingly. as the peoples, s . . ." We who have suffered so much, whose ? people were burned in the crematoria of Nazi Germany and Poland, we mav not drink of the < waters of forgetfulness. The midnight hour for us IS an hour of mourning, an hour when one Sits on the ground saving Tikkun Chatzos, mourning the ■■. destruction of the Beth Ha-Mikdash and all the other holy houses, and all the other godly men whose homes weretemples..
Mind blowing is not for us. This was codified: :: intolaw in Chapter 560:3 of the Code Orach Chalm : which forbids music w{th wine at celebrations i: except for a mitrva. The revelry of New Year's Eve ■: is far from a mitzva.
There is another, more painful aspect, to j considerinansweringthequestionwhether Jan. 1 IS a secular holiday. The day is on the religious ; calendar of our neighbors; it relates to the founding of the Christian religion. A bov who is born on Dec. 25 is eight davs old on Jan. 1, So, a s: number of the classic churches observe Jan. 1 in j their calendar of festivals as the day of the. s Nazarene's circumcision. This is based on the li statement in Luke 2:21. which says:. "And when j: theeightdays were fulfilled for circumcizing him, * his name was called Jesus...."
In the church liturgy known as the Collect; on v Jan. 1 thev pray that.they may be granted .!'the s true circumcision of the spirit."' as a substitute for our ritual circumcision. So too. in the Litany there :• is this praver: "Bv thy holy nativity and circum- ¥ eision .. .deliverus."
Thus; m conscience, one cannot join in these j "Ne^- Year celebrations without joinipg m the i worship of something other than Judaism.
Igrantyou that there isn't much religion in the 5 merrymaking which is so common on New Year's : Eve, but that doesn't have an effect on the j prohibition against celebrating it. Many ancient s religions had rites that were far from anything that 5 could be called religious, but those rites are for-bidden to Jews. •
In the worship of Mercury, a stone was thrown :■ at the statue. That's not a very respectful thing to s do- But the Mishnah,; Sanhednn 8:6 tells us 5 "casting a stone at Mercury, that is the way of s worshipping it" and it IS prohibited.
Now, some people will argue that these days, z Dec- 25 and Jan. 1. have nothing to do with the s founding of the church. Many scholars hold that .s those days were pagan festivals Jong, long ago. : g The church, finding that it could not erase these ;? holidays from the calendar, accepted the,m into its s own schedule of feasts.
But that changes nothing for us. It gives yet a another reason why we cannot Johi the crowd that ::: rejoices in these holidays. We are not johiers. We a are separate. We cannot, wei^must not celebrate s pagan festivals even when they have beein^ s pleasantly disguised. Though the name has been S changed, the issue remains; v s
Segal claims he never had his sights set on such a p^stigiods job. ' 'I wish I was that capable of planning the fntuie but Vm not. Pve always belieyed that when an pppoitunity arises, let's play that one out and see what happens." [
Ryerson. which offers 33 day programs in Arts, applied arts, business, community services and technology, has 10,000 day students .arid 27.000 night students. Its graduates work in laboratories, offices, newspapers, hospitals, libraries, industrial plants, hotels and so on.
Segal, a neat, diminutive man given to pipe-snioking, doesn't feel he's had to make a wrenching adjustment from professor to president.
For vcars, he was a management consultant outside the classroom, acquiring the tools which will now serve him in good stead. "I was prepared to take on the job," he savs.
Since the carlv 1970s he s completed reports for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.. the Canar dian Film Developpmcnt . Corp.. the department of communications, and a couple of Ontario mims-tries.
For two vears. he was a senior policv advisor at the National Museums of Canada, holdin.g the rank of assistant deputv minister. For one year, he was acting director of strategic planning, the department of secretarv of state.
With manv academic and policv papers to his credit. Segal is now writing a book on what he calls "public policv and strategic choices." As in the past, he labors over private projects after hours.
Since November, Segal's life has changed. -On a professional level, L work on one set of problems instead df many," he explains. '^I make decisions instead of advising others."
In Ottawa, Segal used to ■spend two nights a week out of town on freelance
posthumously to the late contributions to the educa- and weJfaTe; Jack Hahn, Mrs. El?ie Gregory Mac- tloxt and welfare- of^ professional engineer an'3~ Gillr others." fclluw of the Engineering
Dr. Victor Goldblooin, "Sitting on th^selection institute of Canada, and who was chairman of the committee were former Mrs^ Phyllis Waxtnan,
past president of the Women's Federation of Allied Jewish Comniiunity ^rv- , ices. , Criteria for selection stressed an individual who:
•. has made a notable contribution in his/her trade in Canada or a de-vcloping country.
• has cither developed, researched or established a program showing originality in term of a particular training, technique or project.
• has undertaken new initiatives in his/her field of endeavor by developing or establishing a skill-training program showing originality. The medal was struck
by the Candian ORT to mark the 1 OOth anniversary of the World ORT Union. World ORT is the' world's largest non-profit, non-governmental voca-tionaj and technical education and. training sys-lom. with headquaners in London. Since its inception in Czarist Russia 100 vcars ago. it has trained more than a million students. ORT presently pursues activities in 26 countries..
.A. Lvone Heppner is national president of Canadian ORT. Chairman of ih" national centenary committee is. Edward Bronfriian.
The' medal was designed by Canadian artist. Tobic'Steinhouse and executed bv David Kucer. .
(Ben Lechtman photoj Brian Segal, new Ryerson president.
assignments. Today, he spends that time with his family rather than in lohe-Iv hotel rooms.
But in one respect, one facet of his routine has not changed: the number of hours he works. He still puts in 12- and 13-hour days.
Segal, a graduate of McGill. Yeshiva and the University of Pittsburgh. IS presently in the midst of "shaping'"' his S60.000-plus a year job.
He's in charge of Ryerson's five-year fund raising campaign, '' Develop-ing. for the Eighties.'.' whose goal,is S6 million. To date SJ.5 million has been raised.
Segal's also looking at the possibility of generating revenue through applied research projects. For example, he'd like to develop a.cetitre of microelectronic research.
Academically,. Segal wants to integrate overlapping courses. That'll make more sense from the student's point,%f view,, and save additional scarce funds. , .
Last, though not least, he hop'es Ryerson can play . a relevant role in supplying Canada with the skilled workers it currently lacks. " : . .
"There Is a need for a verj strong linkage between "H-hat we're teaching and whait people are e.xpected to do on the job." He says. ''There is a definite lack of maJnpbwer
training in highly specialized "teclmical fields.
"If industry can't find it here, they'll have to import it. You just can't have a high unemployment rate and still import these,people.
'The leading edge of industrial strategy cannot come to fruition if the manpower is not prepared, and there is an extremely important rolls for a polytechnic to play in that area."
In the 198()s, he adds, technology will supply ah ever increasing number of jobs. And the Jewiish com-, munity, among rO(bers, will have ito come to terms with this emerging resdity. Parents who push their children to study law, dentistr>-.or medicine may very well be forced to reorient their thinking.
"There are other options out there." savs SegaL
Contracted for fi\:c years, Segal believes all ■ these objectives can be accomplished.if he has the support of .Ryerson's board and the community at large."My greatest weakness is my optirii-ism.".he observes.
.. As Segal settles down.in his hew job, his wife' Bunny, who. has been at home with the children for
4 million in Israel by 1982
JERUSALEM (JTA1-- ;
The population of Israel will reach 4 million one year from now but will amount to only 5.5 million by the end of the century, accordiirig to Dr. Moshe Sicron, the government's chief statistician. .
He based his projection on the slowdown of the population growth rate lii recent years to less than 2.5% per ionniun.'
Sicron said that in terms of numbers this amounts io an annual population increase of about 90,000 a: year. Most of the growth, is. (lie result of naturaJ ih-crease — the excess of births over deaths. Net , , , , , , immigration— the differ-the last decade, embarks lety^een thelnumber
of immigrants arriving
on a-mejij
Two special programs for medical student^"
JERUSALEM —
Shaare Zedek Medical-Centre, Jerusalem's "hospital with a heart," will again offer tw^ special programs for foreign medical students which have proven popular with Canadians.
The 6-week summer program for studfents who have completed at leasts two vears of medical school, including physical diagnosis, will start jn early July. The program;_ consists of seminars, lec--^lure's and award work in- ■ tegrated in such a way as-to teach the principles of clinical examination. Instruction is in English. ■
In addition to the hospital program, tours and visits to other medical centres and tourist sites : are offered. .,
Also offered IS a selection of elective periods at vShaa?ex^edek, with a j minimum^f^three weeks per elective. Areas included are intemalvmedicine, / surgery and pediatrics and their subspecial^ties. as well as gynecology, neo-n'atology and radiology; Electives in inte^al medicine ,and pediatrics re-
quire a good knowledge Qf Hebrew. ; '. ■
For both programs, the hospital provides uniforms andmeals. Students have to make their own ar-; rangements.for hbusirig. ;
Forinformation„contact the Canadian Shaare Ze-dek Hospital Foundaitiori. 3089 Bathurst St:, Torbri- ' to. M6A 2A4. (416) 781-3584.
GIVE
lEWtSK NATIONAL FUND TREES
search for employ-She has an MA in social work;
.Butshe can forget about laridirig work at, Ryerson.: ^herhiisband says. It would bea. cohflict.of interest .if. the' president's wife;, was ■on the faculty, and it might. rile their relationship. As Segal.; puts it: ."Listen, t he re' s no way my wife would ever work for me!"
and the niunber of Israelis •departing -f. contributed only 30%. to the growth
Sicron's figures showed a decline in the birth rate over the past five years. He said it refliected ' 'a decrease in ; the birth , and fertility rate within both tbe Jewiish iand non-Jewish population." ' .
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Governor-General ind Mrs. Schreyer pose with the 12 recipients of the ORT Centeiinial medal.
to courage of Refusenik faitiiGes
VANCOUVER-
A crowd of approximately 350 paid tribute to 12 Refusenik families adopted by Vancouver organizations and schools, during a recent Chanukah Celebration of Freedom, held in front of the old courthouse in downtown Vancouver. The rally was sponsored by the Canadian Jewish Congress Soviet Jewry Action committee.
As each candle was lit, a spokesman said' a few words about the family or individual, and called on the Soviet government to release the'family.
Barbara Shumiatcher. chairman of the committee. Spoke of the courage
of those still in the Soviet Union. She referred to Avital Scharansky and Ida Nudel's sister, Elena Frid-man. who travelled to the human rights deliberations in Madrid.to confront the Soviet delegation and demand the release of their relatives. Shumiatcher recently returned from Madrid:
Children from the local day school compared the Chanukah story to the plight of the Refuseniks. Members of the audience danced with Habonim and Network students. . Rabbi Daniel Siegel of Hillel said, asthe shamash was lit • in honor of Ida Nude!: .that "the flame is symbolic of our hope that
the light of freedom will come, to our brethren in the Soviet Union . . . A little bit of light dispels a lot of darkness."
Greetings were extended from MP Fat Carney, honorarv chairman of the
rally, and MP John Fraser. Carney has sponsored resolutions for Uya Essas, a Moscow Hebrew school teacher and Fraser has been active on behalf of Minsk war hero Ley Ovsisher.
G.ABKIEL GLAZER & ASSOCIATES
Barristers & Solicitors
Israel Office: 1 : Ruth Street: . Te'L Aviv 64372 Tel. (031-24.1 223-4
Canadian Office; 1440 Towers Street. Suite 100, Moatreal. Quebec H3H 2C9 Tel (-5141 935-2551
ilLONDON JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTRE:
requires a. .
Program Supervisor
The cballenging and exciting position of Program Supervisor is now available. Experience with children, adults and seniors is beneficial.
The successful candidate will be responsible for the development and execution of the overall program of the centre.
Please apply in writing, in confidence, to Howard Borer, Executive Director, London Jewish Community Centre, 532 Huron Street, London, Ont, N5Y 4J5 (5191 433-2201
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