The Canadian Jewish News, Friday, November 26, 1976 - Page 5
Opinion
Tews diverse in their political opinions
By HENRY SREBRNIK MONTREAL —
The people of Quebec have given Rene Levesque's Parti Quebecois an overwhelmr ing majority of scats in the Nov. 15 elections. We congratulate hitn, wish him Godspeed in his new position as premier of Quebec, and hope he translates the mandate he received from -the Quebec electorate into meaningful political and economic reforms. v
Jews in Quebec worked, and ran, for many parties, including the Liberals, Union Nationale. the Democratic Alliance and the PQ. As citizens of Quebec, they confronted the issues raised as they saw fit, and voted accordingly .The Jewish community as such did hot (and of course should jiot) take a
"corporatist" stand, and the Canadian Jewish Congress issued a statement reaf-rirniing its policy of absolving itself from partisan political activity.
All the more disquieting, then, were the statements made by Charles Bronfman, president of Seagram's Co. Ltd. and owner of the Montreal Expos, on the eve of the election..
A Jewish Telegraphic Agency dispatch from ■/Montreal says the installation of a provincial government dedicated to separation has already had a depressant effect on the Economic outlook of Jews who are mainly middle class merchants or small businessmen. Many. Quebec Jews are thinking of moving to other parts of Canada, the article says. -
In the predominantly Jewish riding of
agues
By F. SACHSER BERLIN [JCFNSl —
Of the 28,000 registered members of the West German Jewish community, which has an average age of about 45 years. 4,700 are less than 20 years of age. 8,200 are under30. and 3.000belong tothe 7-20 years age group.
Dp young Jews in this community feel as Jews, as Jewish Germans or German Jews?
This is. above all. a question of identity, which, in turn, is niostly a result of upbringing and education; Only a small minbrity of young Jews are believing, practising Jews, or active Zionists. The vaist majority are indifferent, and uneducated as Jews. And they are very uncertain and undecided about their future, both ais Jews and Germans.
Most are suffering from a marked lack of self-understanding^ Speakers of the young generation, aware of this dismal situation and its portent for the future, complain that young Jews do not receive any Jewish education, at home or elsewhere, and that their personal status and position is to a large extent theontcpmo of the identity crisis, along with Jewish indifference among the older generations.
They charge that this basic problem started with the fact that their parents returned to or settled in this countr>' saying that their stay here would be limited and was not a transiton.- phase in their lives. In fact, they stayed for good, without however finding a true identity, and with many today still having compunctions about their lives in this countr>'.
As a result, young Jews Were being harassed by the: saihe "split mind," or problem of double loyalty, that their parents had been living with since their return or arrival. With respect to the thousands of Jews that had come from Eastern Europe in the past decade or so. these were, to their greatest part, neither professing Jews libr did they feel as Germans, and had but superficial and materialistic contacts with thie'Jewish communities. :
Small wonder therefore that their identity problem was passed on to their. children who were unable yet to feel at home, least of all within the Jewish community.
Mixed marriage is another big problem. Most parents, and youths, are against it. But such marriages are frequent, which usually means that all ties with the Jewish community are cut off for good. Still, in some, often distant. Way or other, most
young Jews feel that they belong to the Jewish community, by birth or fate, for better or worse. On thebther hand, only few feel as true and equal Gerinan citizens. As some put it, no German patriotism Would ever be-possible agaiii among Jews, after the Nazi Holocaust. And all attempts to normalize relations with Germany Or the Germans would in the end be bound tb fail, at least among the current young Jewish generation.
D'Arcy McGee, Municipal Affairs Minister Dr, Victor Goldbloom was touted, in a two-page ad in a west end newspaper, by a broad section of the - Jewish, "Establishment "in Montreal: among the naines prominentij—affixed to this eulogy were Manuel G. Batshaw. Sam Berger. (once again) Charles Bronfman. Gordon Brown and Sam Maislin.
This shtadlanis (Hebrew for intercession) politics of power brokerage . by these so-called leaders serves as a dangerous precedent, and one possibly fraught with pent for the average Jew in Quebec. Messrs. Bronfman and company have, of course, every right- to their political opinions, every right to support the Liberal Party of Quebec, and the candidates of their choice. But in no way should they deign to speak for an orgaiiized Jewish community, whose interests they do not, in any case, represent In toto. By presenting themselves as the "Jewish voice" vis-a-vis the rest of Quebec society, they set the dangerous . course of identifying — in the mind of the man-on-the-street — the Jewish community with a certain political party and set of beliefs. A position as false as it is potentially counter-productive.
Messrs. Bronfman and company should perhaps be reminded that Robert Bouras-sa's Liberal Party is not a constituent member of the World Jewish Congress or the World Zionist Organization, and support for them is not seen, by Jews such as myself, as syrionymbus with Jewish identity and support for Israel.
We are confident the PQ — and all other political parties in.the province — are awstre that Jewish citizens of Quebec are as diverse in their political opinions as are other Quebecois, and that; as a community, are willing tb work alongside any honest government willing to respond to their needs and desires.
Prof. Srebrnik is.a m'ernber of the department of political science at Dawson College, Que. and also teaches Jewish studies.
Letters to the Editor
This 1971 photo caught Rene Levesque in action at Holy Blossom Temple. Henry Srebrnik analyzes Quebec election results. (Hoz)
are
and other groups eternally on strik^^
Dear Editor:
Iri your issue of Nov. 5, there appeared an articiie on Canadian Pacific's decision suspending its route to Tel Aviv and that being a shock tb Israeli aviation circles. Perhaps it's a shock that the route was not suspended sooner? Surely Israeli ayiation and tourist circles must have been aware of the predicament and loss being sustained by CP Air. ■
It is a pity that tourism is not being fully promoted, as everv-thing is in its favor. No other countr\- has so much to offer: climate, sunshine^ holy places. archeolog>-. the Dead Sea. a dynarhic modern country that is also a unique society. It's all there, all close together, and only three or four hours away from the major cities of Western Europe.
The tourist brings with him much needed hard currency and takes away nothing biit photographs and unforgettable memories. All this being so, it is incredible that until but a few months ago, no low-cost chart:ered flights at all were permitted, and even now they are still quite limited.
Under the guise of being essential to national defense ("our only link with the outside world in times of crisis") the employees of ElAl have selfishly used all manner of politicJal pressure to protect their virtual monopoly; and with it their privileged wage scales that make them the aristocrats of Israel.
Yet they know perfectly well that low-cost charters would double if not triple
tourism overnight! These patriots have pulled five strikes, all of them unlawful, in the past two years.
What is particularly distressing was that it came at the exact time when the Hadassah women's organization was dedicating their new hospital on \It. Scopus, there were hundreds of American ladies, many of them elderly, who were stranded.
The EI Al gang knew that and picked that time to strike in order to put maximum pressure on the government. The people of Israel are fed up with El Al and other groups who are eternally striking at whatever cost to the national interest.
S;Mo8ko^, Toronto
Dear Editor:
I have read the article, written bv Rochellfr Carr, on the histoty of Hadassah. and wish to point out to you that it is positively incorrect. This I attribute to your wrong source of information.
1 have tried to have this corrected quietly, but to no avail, even soliciting the help of the late Eddie Gelber and others.
At no time has mention been made that 1 wasin Rcchestertoo. in mjf bfficial capacity of president of the Hebrew Maternity Aid and the Daughters of Zion (the first women Zionists of Canada), both of which I organized and fostered, as 1 did Hadassah. in Toronto, later across Canada.
I feel assured that you would welcome information which I can ofi'er vou, for the
Music Giitics^^^^^s^ find adjectives to describe tiietalente of Yebudi Memiliin
ByrROCHEOJElCARR
The audience at Carnegie Hall paid rapt attention during the performance of the New York Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Fritz Busch, which featured a Beethoven violin concerto. It was Nov. 25, 1927. The performer was Yehudi Menuhin.
What was even more incredulous than his excellent performance was the. fact that Menuhin was only 10 years old. "This was not the young violinist's first public performance. Menuhin, truly a child prodigy, had already been enrapturing aiidiences for several years.
His parents, Moshe and Marutha Menuhin, bom in Russia, educated at the Herzlia Gymnasium in Palestine and married in New York City, encouraged music wthin
their family. When Yehudi was five years old, he was introduced to the violin and his love affair with the stringed instrument never ended. His two younger sisters, Hephzibah and Yalta,\took to the piano with the same fervor, enabling the three of them (and, later, others married into the family) to give brilliant chamber recitals.
Shortly after Yehudi was bom in New York»in 1916, his family moved to San Francisco. By the age of eight, the prodigy appeared as a soloist with the San Francisco Orchestra.
Ill due time .the blue-eyed virtuoso took the rest of the United States and Europe by storm. Music critics struggled to find adjectives to describe one so talented and yet so young. Except for a two-year period away from the stage in the '30s. Menuhin continued to thrill both huge audiences in concert halls and small assemblies of the afflueht and powerful in salonis, prior to the outbreak of World War U.
During the war years, he turned his efforts to the cause of the Allies. He gave concerts where thousands of dollars were raised for civilians of war-torn countries. He played for and delighted' Allied troops throughout the worid.
Ever reminded of his talent (in addition to music, he mastered at least a half dozen, languages). Menuhin began a schoQl in Britain, after the war, for musically gifted children. ^-''^7^
Musician extraordinaire Yehudi Menuhin
With peace in Europe, he turned his attention to the land of his forefathers. Two years after Israel was bora. Menuhin went there for the first of many trips, to entertain soldiers and civilians. \
Perhaps one of the greatest accolades that can be paid to him is the recognition from composers worid-wide who wrote works especially for this violinist who began thrilling standing-room audiences, at an age when his peers were playing ball on the streets.
saUe of my unquestionable honor, and that of the fine reputation of the Canadian J6wish News. '
IdaSiegel, Toronto
Dear Editor:
Executive Director Leo Marcus and Ontario Regional Chairman Alex Serota. both of the United Israel Appeal, are correct wheti they appeal for continued commuiiity funding of Israel. But they are way but in left field when, they pinpoint Jewish education and specifically day school education as one of the areas that should be cut back in their search for a larger share of the pie.
Without massive comniunity support of Jewish education, we would surely run the risk of producing a generation of Jews totally ignorant of their vast spiritual and cultural heritage, which could only contribute to a further lessening of a number of Jewish families who wish to commit themselves to a positive identification with the organized Jewish community.
Mr. Serota wonders whether the "investment" in Jewish education is "yielding proportionate results." His business-like, balance-sheet approach to Jewish commitment is disgusting, to say the least. Every Jewish child who is drawn closer to his Jewish identity by his exposure to Jewish education, be that exposure tniriimal or intense, makes the investment worthwhile!
Aliyah's dismal showing in recent years and the ever increasing number of those who deny affiliation with the Jewish community, is a direct result of our past errors with regard to Jewish education.
On the contrary. Messers. Marcus and Serota. everj- e.xtra dollar spent on Jewish education is an investment in future Jewish leadership and future aliyah. We dare not reduce our commitment to educating our youngsters, regardless of the nature of other programs requiring a share of the UL\-UJA dollar. .
David B.WooIf, WUIowdale
Dear Editor-As a member of the YMHA. it was with a great deal of satisfaction that I read your excellent editorial on the "Demise of a Library", for it brought forth an importaiit issue before the Jewish community.
Here we are spending millions of dollars to provide facilities for gymnastics of the body, in the form of numerous squash and ' handball courts, multiple running tracks and what not, but nothing for the soul, such as an already existing library, let alone a new one.
I know how much pleasure it gave me to visit the library or bring guests there on occasion, despite the fact that I have access to many libraries. I know how important it was for others who do. not possess-such possibilities, to read, or jiist browse among the many boQks and periodicals ■
Why was this library closed?^ The transparent excuse is given that the,space was needed for alounge. This rings pitifully ironic at a time when exorbitant sums are being allocated ostensibly for a "cultural centre" for the People of the Book. 'i Can it be.that the present board of the Y is so far removed from Jewish culture that it is ready to condone the spending of millions on satisfying the needs of the body, leaving not even crumbs for the spirit?
Prof. Irvine Glass, Toronto
ByJ.BSALSBERG
This second instalment of replies to letters received from you. my discerning and concerned readers. is solid evidence of my determination to carry out my New Year resolution (Rosh Hashkriah. that is) to reply to all letters received from you.
But perhaps I shouldn't be too boastful too soon. It is. after ail. verv-early in the new year. The desire to adhere to that resolution is still strong and I hope that it will not falter. So, let's get on with it.
Coca-Cola, Pepsi-CoU and Herbert S. Loy's docomentatibns. My good friend Herbert S. Levy, the executive vice-president of Canadian District 22 of B'nai B'rith, took the trouble to provide me with a number of photostats of important cbrrespbndence relating to the issue of Pepsi-Cola's operations in Arab countries while staying out of Israel.
Herbert thinks my column of Oct. 1, dealing with this ma^er, shows that uncle Eliezer and I had gotten a bum steer (no doubt kosher) in Israel about Pepsi-Cola; VVell. my good friend. I have read the material very carefully but do not feel that 1 was given a "bum steer" in Israel. Nor was my good uncle misled in any way about this affair.
The basic facts are stiir unaltered. Coca-Cola does have a plant in Israel and does seem to be on the Arab boycott.list whilePepsi-Cola has no plant in Israel but does have a number oflhem in Arab countries. So, while not advocating a boycott against anyone L Still feel that when faced with a choice, I willgive preference to the product of the firm that does operate in Israel. Kosher, no?
Prof. KUos J. Hermuiiui of Montreal. Thanks for your letter which was triggered by my column of Oct. 15 in Which I examined the mass affiliation of the memberships of the Reform (Liberal) and Conservative synagogues to the World Zionist Organization.
Prof, Herrmann thinks that by such an affiliatibn the Reform movement, of which he claims to be a member, is guilty of an unforgivable crime since, in his opinion, "in traditional Reform or
Liberal Judaism. anti-Zionism was for all practical purposes an Article of Faith!"
Well. well, professor, whether anti-Zionisni was "an article of. faith" of Reform Judaism is, of course, debatable. But I do know that for the last 50 years the most prominent spiritual leaders of the Reform movement on this continent were also the most prominent leaders and spokesmen of the Zionist movement in North America.
Your extremism, vis-a-vis Zionisin and the state of Israel, places you in the same bed with the most Orthodox, most extreme arid most fanatical enemies of Israel who pperate from Meah Shaarim iri Jerusalem. I ishould add that they are also the most isolated in Israel and throughout the Jewish world.
Another thing. Prof; Herrmann. You may have niisread my column. My very brief reflection on the affiliations of both the Conservative arid Liberal wings to the Worid Zionist Organization was not critical of their action. It was, instead, an iiytial attempt to evaluate the impprtance and the effect of such affiliations on the structural and political character of the Zionist movement and to enquire whether another, a less restricted relationshipbetiveen the Diasponc Jewish communities and Israel may not now be desirable. I hope that such thoughts do not disturb you. Prof. Herrmann.
Mr. Harold Kay. Your letter to the editor and copy of same tb me was, 1 assure you, most humbly appreciated, (Hope vou appreciate my modesty, Mr. Kay.)
tJnfortunately my coluriins are not collected separately and filed in the office of the paper. It would; therefore, require days or weeks of effort to provide you with a complete set of the columiis that appeared here during the last five years. My own private collection of them is. if complete, enclosed in many folders and large envelopes scattered in many places around my home. - The-editor. blessed be he, got off easily as usual. "Here," he said, "is a complimentary letter from^ one of your readers, see what yoii can dp to meet his request." But what can I nebech do? (Is there a reader, perhaps, who Would volunteer to arrange an orderly coUec-. tion of these masterpieces? The paper Tso I hope] and I will fully co-operate.)
By the way, Mr. Kay, every now and agairi the editor and I give random thoughts to make such a collection available to our readers. But neither of us follow, it up. We are too busy to do so. Soi maybe some day soon we will bestir ourselves in that direction. In the meantime many thanks to you and your children for the compliments.
Shabbat Shalom.