The Canadian Jewish News, Friday, March 29, 1974 - Page 5
Opinion
Austrian (Chancellor Bruno Kreisky is shown touring YaidYasl>em, a to Holocaust victirns; He was on a recent mission of leading Socialists from eight cbuntries.
The Jerusalem Medal is presented to 90-year-pldSelma Mayer at City> withl Shaare Zedek Hospital since about 60 years ago, she.founded its School of Nursing in 1916.
Before a/vott of confidehce was held in Israel's Knesset recently, Prime Minister Golda Meir spoke to its members. Her new cabinet coalition won a vote of 62 46. (IPPA)
By J.B. SALSBERG
\ At last it's that wonderful time of the year again -- that heartliftjng time of Pesach. the long .winter will havegone and we will jayously celebrate our an--cient liberation from Egyptian bondage, our festivalof freedom.
Jewish homes will be scoui-ed from cellars to attics. The ingredients for the once-a-year Passover dishes will have been lovingly assembled and the centrepiece of the Seder table, the symbolic matzo, will have been securely deposited in the Passover pantry. In short, it's the time when Jewish spirits soar and when Jewish hearts acquire a joyous beat.
Who, .1 ask, but my good uncle Elie^er would come up with a worrisome subject on the eve of so glorious a holiday? But that "s exactly what he didV •
After the usual preliminaries and af-t^r the first sip of tea (with lemon, of course) he sta rted with deliberate slow -ness: ^"Do you realize that matzo-wise, ^ the Canadian Jewish community is sit-tmg on the edge, of a volcano?"
I looked at him .with surprise^ I couldn't decide whether he was in earnest or. jesting. He clearly enjoyed my questionirtg look and proceeded leisurely to explain. "I'm not suggesting that we are, heaven forbid, in any physical danger. But do you realize that Canadian Jews, from St. John's^ Newfoundland to Victoria B.C., are completely dependent on foreign made matzo? And do you realize that what with wars, embargos, or just strikes by railroad workers* seamen or longshoremen, in foreign lands, or right here at home, we could find ourselves without a Passover matzo in the whole-country?"
. I tried to calm his fears.by pointing to the fact that so far we have always had matzos; saying I foresaw no danger of us ever being deprived of them, es^ pecially since we now don't have to rely exclusively on the U.S. imports but we also have excellent matzosfrom
"The Canadian matzp was crumbled"
Israel. But rny good uncle; who fcebps his ears and eyes open for news from our farrfluhg Jewish centres of living, told.me that only, last year the shfiall. Jewish community in Cuba received much of its Passover needs after the .holiday because of unforeseen and un,-. controllable international transportation difficulties. .
,But uncle Eliezer. who likes to remind people that he "didn't come to this country yesterday" was, I suspect, less concerned about an imminent danger of Canadian Jews being without matzos on Pesach as he was alx)ut the undeniable fact that foreign. matzo manufacturers literally prevent us from having a Canadian-owned and locally operated matzo plant.
We. sat, drank tea and jogged eacli. other's memory about past experiences • in this area.. We recalled that after World War I some enterprising .Toronto Jews (whether for profit or other jnotives) began producing matzos . in Toronto. But the experiment, was defeated when the largest U.S. matzoout-fit either gained control of the struggling native plant or opened a branch plant to compete with the Canadian enterprise^ (Will someone please offer some more: precise information about that happening?)
We both vividly recalled the idle matzo plant, allegedly. Owned by the U.S..giant, on Ontario Street just below Queeri Street. When, the threat of a revived Canadian effort seemed to have disappeared, the plant was dismantled. The Canadian matzo was crumbled.
During World War II the determined and enterprising Harry Gula, ;a long-tirtie owner Of a Jewish, bakeshop here, made a gallant effort to break the U.S. matzo monopoly on tlie Canadian market by launching a modern matzo factory. His product was excellent and.his promotion was imaginative and dynamic!. But he too went down under the out-sidei-'s attack. Gula eyen- appealed to Ottawa for-help, but to no avail. In the end he was vanquished by the U.S. matzo juggernaut and our poor Canadian matzo crumbled again.
At this stage of our depressing reminiscences about the ill-fate of our Canadian matzo. we decided this was ho wfiy to approach the festivities of . Pesach., We added a goodly portion of. kosherTPesach slivovitztoourteaand the'future for an independent Canadian matzo began to look brighter. .Uncle Eliezer even suggested that we seek. help from the. Committee for. an Independent- Canada, especially since Jews are m the forefront of that committee. - •
Having regained our optimistic and festive Pesach spirit, we agreed that, if our forefathers could be liberated from Egyptian bondage, it should also be possible to liberate our matzo from Its .foreign yoke. That, would be good for our ego, for our Canadian pride and it would forever remove the ever-present danger that hangs over the.heads of Canadian Jews .- tlie danger (heaven forbid) of finding ourselves without matzos on the eve of Passover.. .
In that revived holiday spirit uncle Eliezer and. 1, his ever loyal nephew, raised our tea glasses (that contained, more slivovitz than tea by now) to all of you and extended a hearty "Goot Yomtev!" or,, as they say in Israel, "Chag Samayach!" ^
Recently enacted kashruth law termed 'misleading' by rabbi
By RABBI DAVID KIRSHENBAUM
Jews interested in kashruth, which is one fundamental principle of Judaism, highlighting as it does our Jewish individuality, have triumphed lately with an achievement supposed to be historic — a kashruth law in Canada. • .As,far as. we know, a kashruth law has never been enacted in Canada accordingto recognized parliamentary procedure.
What ^d happen was that representatives from the religious Jewish community -met- with members of the Department of Goflsumer and Corporate Affairs^ whose task it is to see that no false advertising claims' appear on any products made available to the public. After lengthy discussion, these Jewish , representatives-succeeded in convincing the Consumer's Bureau that the mere presence of a men-orah or a mogen david on a product does not necessarily mean that the particular product is really kosher. TheConsumer's Bureau, therefore, agreed to institute advertising regulations to prevent the Jewish customer from being misled about kosher products. Is this to be called a Canadian kashruth law?
In Montreal, Toronto and Winnipeg, the^e are many Jewish butcher shops and restaurants having on the window display ofitheir businesses a sign "kosher" with a inogen david. However, their kashruth Is/very much in doubt as they are not
supervised by. officials designated by the Canadian Jewish Congress. On the strength ^of those who claim that there is a Canadian kashruth law, these business establishments are legally liable for falsely advertising their premises as '-kosher'.'.
If kashruth is a Canadian law, a government representative or a supervisor of the committee on kashruth should be able, to visit a Jewish butcher shop or a restaurant with the aim- of. investigating the. meat or the foodstuffs served the Jewish customers to determine whether they comply fully with kashruth regulations. As far as we know, such_a law exists-only in New-York state. There, a-whole government^ apparatus with jnspectors has been set up. If a Jewish butcher is found selling non-kosher meat, charges are laid against him, he is brought to court and fined.Does the so-called law recently implemented make such procedure possible in Canada?
We remember that a controversy occurred during the 1930s in Canada, wherein one rabbi said "kosher'', the second said "treif". As a result of this rabbinic feud, the late Rabbi Jacob Gordon contacted some Jewish politicians and appealed to them to have introduced in Parliament, a kashruth resolution. However, he was made to realize that for various reasons such a resolution was an impossibility. Rabbi Gordon grasped the meaning of the answer and dismissed the idea of a kash-
ruth law in Canada.
Now, a declaration is made that a kashruth law has indeed been enacted m Canada. U this is so, the question presents itself as to what authority is recognized by the Canadian government to have the absolute right to issue a verdict as to what is kosher and what is not.-The dilemma isnotunlike the dispute that is now raging in Israel as
:.to who is really Jewish'according to the Law of Return. One group of rabbis may
2say that according to their poihtof view, the:_meat in a Jewish butcher _5h9P^ is kosher because it is under their super-vision^while another"" group of "rabbis might mairitain exactly the-opposite point of view. ' "
Itis far from our intention to minimize the importance of the fact that the Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs agreed to take the responsibility for seeing that products being sold as kosher are kosher in fact. But does this really constitute a kashruth law in Canada?
We unhesitatingly maintain that this is misleading Jewish publicity and demand a thorough clarification on the part of the Canadian Jewish Congress.
Rabbi Kii^enbaum) Is rabbj^emeritus of OrShatom Synaffogue,.London,i^Ont.
By GREER FAY CASHMAN .
JERUSALEM -, ; ^
: The Bible tells us; that-the Children of .Israel are a stiff-necked people. This obstinacy is still very much part of the', Israeli scene today, even in matters of litter.trivia.' -
For instance', try ordering a'toasted sandwich anywhere, in Israel. .Nine tinies out of .10, tJhe Only kind of toasted sandwich you can get is a toasted cheese sandwich. The writer happens to be partial to-t.oasted cheese and tomato sandwiches, but has not yet succeeded in receiving her palate's desire in: any restaurant, coffee house or hotel in Israel. ..Strangely enough, most places do serve toasted cheese sandwiches garnished with tomatoes, but no one is prepared to toast the tomatoes. In the coffee shop of one of the most elegant and expiensiv.e hotels in-. Tel. Aviv, where a single, sandwich costs the equivalent of S2, I offered to. pay more just.to get.what I wanted. The waiter pa-
tiently explained that it wasn't on the menu. . •'But you have t>oth cheese sandwiches.and . . tomatoe saridwiches.on the menu;'! argued; . "What stops you itom putting the tomato . in,with the cheese?". The waiter shrugged impatiently. "Those are . the rules. madam." I settled for toasted cheese, which when it arrived, was surrounded; by two sliced tomatoes, by way of compensation. . ^. \. In a leading Jerusalem-hotel. I had the' ' same problem., but was actually able to persuade a waitress to serve me toasted salmon sandwiches . . . which was at least progress. A Jerusalem coffeehouse^which caters mainly for.tourists makes the con-cession of toasting tuna fish sandwiches as well as cheese sandwiches, but refuses to add tomatoes'to/either. ;. Recently, in another coffee house, I or-., dered toasted cheese-, but because of the riumerQus diversions which the counter-hand found for himself, the toast burned, and I refused to accept it. Since the cheese in the burnt sand\ f ch was the'last piece of
cheese pn. the premises; he.could not make me another, so I asked for toasted tehina. He. thriew.his hands up in horror. "You can't have toasted tehina-sandwiches, we only make toasted cheese. .1 can make you plain toast, and you caii spread-the tehina on it later." I argued; but to no avail; He renialned steadfast in his refusal to place, a tehina sandwich in the toaster. "It'simpossible" he; said adamantly; and I left sans sandwich... ' ' . .
the argument against putting tomatoes or Otherbozihg foods in toasted sandwiches would be yalid if .the toasters were vertical; but alniost everywhere one^ goes in Israel to purchase a toasted sandwich, one sees a. horizontal toaster. The only, solution is for me.to open my own coffee house or.to wait for some enterprising American to settle ih Israel and open a coffee house which toasts anything and everything.
Until then, I'll have to stick to a diet of cheese.
sparks 1
from ■
the
torah T ^
By RABBI MEIR GOTTESMAN Parshat Vayikra
Adam kee yakriv meekem . . . When any man. of you bring a sacrifice unto the L-rd .
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; What can a Rabbi do when parents walk intO'his study and cry about their teenage oradult son or daughter who is dating a non-Jew or is hooked on drugs or following some exotic religious cult ; . Is a. ■Rabbi a miracle workers? No— by then it is often too late. The time to start, teaching our children the Jewish way is from the moment thev can speak.
The most precious resource we Jews have is oor children. Our Rabbis taught us that the world would come apart were it not for the brachot and Torah study of little children . . What, they can accomplish with their prayers, not a hundred Rabbis or tzadikim can. .
Why? What makes them so. holy? The answer is — because they are innocent and pure, without sm. There is an ancient custom among Jews, that when a child begins studying the Torah, the very.first verses he studies are from this week's portion of Vayikra. Why?.Because the sacrifices mentioned m the parsha had to be offered in complete purity, and who is more worthy to study these laws.than a child who IS tahor, pure without sm . . . . BuU-the truth is, that the idea of tahara, purity of thought, speech.and action is not exactly in vogueWw. How can it be when disrobing for streaking makes headlines, but when it's done for the sake.of going to the mikveh it's hardly-mentioned.
There is another important reason why -a child begins by studying about thesacri-fices.It's an important reminder to the parent. In this world; everything costs. Food costs. Clothing costs. Vacations cost; . . . and teaching a child Torah must also cost; It costs quite a deal more to send a. child to parochial school than public school. Parents must be ready to sacrifice money from other areas, for the sake of Torah -- but it IS worth it.
After all, why did the Almighty give us money, if not in order to domitzvot?,They tell of a student of the-Chofetz Chaim who ran in excitedly to,his Rabbi^ndtold of a certain wealthy man who/had jiist passed away; "I hear he left behind huge factories, and hundreds of thousands of acres of valuable forest . . ."The Chofetz Chaim
mankind, why didn't hecreatethousandsof people at once, why did .he bake jUst one man,.:.Adam . . . And they decided, it was to teach us' tha-t from each human;being-can, dey.elop"" a whole-world of humanity,:'; ..
When G-:d blesses'parents with a cliild,. they must realize that they hold a.wprldin., their hands. HOW. they raise that child will not. only affect him: but countiess'genera-. . tipns after him. W'hen they give hirh a strong foundation in Yiddishkeit. they are asked, when the Almighty wanted to create .. .making a Jewish future. Shabbat Shalom-.
Ingathering of the exiles spread to nature reserves buUt for four-footed variety
calmed him: '•.Don't get so excited .... ; There's, a -poor Jew who died.in Radin today, and: he left behind :Moscow and-Vienna and Pans. It's not what vou leave behind. It s what you take . alon? with. ■ you■. .
The greatest asset a mother and father can take with them after .120 years is the knowledge that thev raised a dor yeshorim-— a righteous generation that follows m the Jewish way. ■ ;■' .
. It:&an interesting thing . . .our..Rabl>is
By NECHEMIA MEYERS CJN Israel Correspondent ^
JERUSALEM -
While the ingathering of Jewish exiles from the far corners of the globe continues to- be a central theme of Israeli life, ordinary Israelis are also "-interested in the ingathering of other ejciles, the four-,. footed variety. Their.absorption centres: are nature- reserves, run by Knesset member Avraham Yoffe. which contain both fairly common animals and biblical species only re-introduced recently after having vanished from this land.
The largest number of mgathered fauna are found at Hai-Bar, an 8,000 acresanc-tuary just north of Eilat.Hai-Bar, a project begun 10 years ago and eventually to be opened to the public, can so far only be -observed from the Sodom-Eilat Highway ^ as the Hal-Bar Society wants to allow.. J.he "exiles" a chance to re-acclimatize before they have to withstand the assaults of camera-toting tourists. .;
'Since Hai-Bar is located in a barren desert region, emphasis is initially beijg placed on animals accustomed to desert conditions, "returnees''. such as the.: onager (wild ass), addax (pale-colored antelope), oryx (a'large African antelope) ' and ostrich, as well as species still resident in Israel (in small numbers)like the Dorcas, gazelle, Arabian gazelle and Ibex Nubiana. Another Hai-Bar, now being set up on Mount Carmel; near Haifa, will contain, non-desert animals such as Carmel and roe deer, wild sheep and wild goats.
Just before the Yom Kvppur War, when diplomatic relations with Africa st^U— existed,, a special operation brought to.Uie Eilat Hai-Bar (aboard Israeli Air Fdrce jets) 12 rare Somali wild asses from Ethiopia, where they had been captured by an American conservationist team/ The Americans sold them to Israel because they thought the animals would feeL at
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Nechemia Meyers
rhome in a land where tjyeir ancestors_ oncedwelt. ^
r.The man in direct charge of theETTat^ reserve is"M"ike van Gravenbroak, a non-Jewish JOutchman who first came to^the -country'after the Six Day War to work as^ a volunteer in a kibbutz. Mike has a remarkable way with.animals, with whom, so he says, he speaks in a variety of languages, including Hebrew/
Animals named in the Holy Book are also ' on view at Jerusalem's Biblical Zoo, where visitors cannot only see them, but also, read the appropriate quotation. A sign on the fox cage, for example, reads: "Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that -spQiUhe vineyards" (Song of Songs 2:15).
All;/ this is certainly educational for visitor^Si but as far as the animals, are concerijied,. the environment leaves something to be desired: Given the choice, they would Undoubtedly prefer to be"ingather-ed" to an a,QOO-acre sanctuary than to a tiny dage. /