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Unearthing deeper roots
Jewish fur traders inspired bool< on pre-Confederation Jewish life.
BAIU LAZARUS STAFF REPORTER
Think back to classes you might have had on early Canadian history and names like William Lyon Mackenzie, the Hudson's Bay Company and Sir Guy Carleton
tory. Judith recently retired as vice-chair of Ontario's Conservation Review Board. Together, besides co-authoring books and articles on Canadian history, they research and restore his-
Award-wfnning Canadian autliors Sheldon and Judith Godtrey.
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spring forward — even if they are a bit faded.
On the other hand, names such as Ezekiel Solomons, Ger-shon Levy and George Benjamin generally don't stand front and centre on the historical Canadian landscape. Well, Judith and Sheldon Godfrey of Toronto are trying to change that.
The Godfreys' newest book, Search Out the Land: The Jews and the Growth of Equality in British Colonial America, 1740-1867, is a comprehensive look at Jewish life in pre-Confederation Canada. The book recently won the Joseph and Faye Tanen-baum Foimdation Awaixl for Canadian Jewish History. The husband-and-wife team were in Vancouver recently to promote this book.
"What we foimd was the Jews in Canada and the entire British colonial system had very deep roots," Mrs. Godfrey explained, "and were very necessary to the development of the colonies. They were here in rather large numbers relative to the population of the time. This was really quite a surprise to us."
Sheldon is a lawyer with a master's degree in Canadian his-
torical buildings. It was while visiting a site excavation that they were given their first clue which led to a trail they would follow for the next 10 years.
"We were in the centre place of the British fur trade after the fall of France, which was near Sault Ste.Marie (in Ontario)," Mrs. Godfrey explained,"... and I said, T wonder if there were Jews in the fur trade?' And we went to the fort and they were excavating the house of two Jewish fur traders.
"We spent a lot of time in the next year or so just researching ... and there was nothing in historical sources that mentioned these people. We discovered, by putting facts together, that this group of fur traders had a tremendous role at the beginning of the British fur trade."
The house that had been excavated belonged to Ezekiel Solomon who, with four other Jewish merchants, set up one of the first organized fur trade companies on the Great Lakes after the British conquest of New France. From 1761-63, they were responsible for half of the British fur trade in the area.
"By and large, the early peri-
od has been ignored, so there was a lot (of untouched archival material) there," said Mr. Godfrey. "The general feeling was that Jews came to Canada after 1882 when the pogroms started and it wasn't really our country, we weren't here from the beginning."
Their book's theme didn't come up imtil the end, the CJod-freys remarked. 'We were find-
Search Out the Land
by Judith and Sheldon Godfrey, a 237-page, hard-bound book is published by McGiU-Queen's University Press.
ing a little bit of this and a little bit of that, and slowly building a picture of what it was," they explained.
"Sheldon has always been interested in the kind of roles the country has allowed the Jews to play, in terms of equality," Mrs. Godfrey said, "and what we found was that Jews were treated exceptionally well, particularly in the colony that became Canada."
Because the Jews were successful entrepreneurs, they were welcomed into the colonies. And in order to make it easier, officials gave Jewish merchants special rights.
"There was a special provision for a Jew to take office," Mrs. Godfrey gave as an example, "and swear on 'my faith as a Jew.' This was unheard of, ever, in the whole British system ... This gave us an inkling of how different Canada was as a nation, the way it looked at minorities, right from the very beginning."
Search Out the Land also chronicles situations where officials bent rules so they could be fair to the Jews, encouraged Jews to come to their colonies and passed statutes granting equality to Jews against the objections of British governors.
The importance of these discoveries, the Godfreys say, is to recognize that Canada's heritage is based on a tradition of rights for minorities, not just tolerance. □
A legacy of hope
Loving memories of a grandfather taken too soon
NAVA MIZRAHI SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
In the Name of Sorrow and Hope,
Alfred A. Knopf 181 pgs., $25 Cdn
In the Name of Sorrow and Hope.. .in the need to understand Yitzhak Rabin's life while trying to accept his death.. .in her grief of her loss and realization that her childhood was now over.. .in the determination to collect her
n the NaMETOF
Sorrow and Hope
NOA BEN ARTZI-PUflSSOF
precious memories of her safea (grandfather) and remind people of his legacy that he left for us to continue.. .this is what Noa Ben Artzi-Pelossof s book is about.
When Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated November 1995, the world was in shock. He was both a politician and a peacemaker. But he was also much more than that. He was in every sense "Mr. Israel," a symbol for all Jews. The story of his life is, in many ways, the story of the State of Israel.
Yet there is a side of Yitzhak Rabin that many of us never had the opportunity of knowing. He
HanfmnaM, 17, lives in Vancouver. She is a graduate of Eric Hamber, a BBYO International leader, and winner of a 1995 YWCA Young Woman of Distinction Award.
was never too busy for his loving family and impacted and made a difference in their lives as well.
In the Name of Sorrow and Hope is written by Yitzhak Rabin's 19-year-old granddaughter, Noa Ben Artzi-Pelossof. She opens up her heart
___ and shares with
the world her memories, not just of Rabin's role as Israel's prime minister, but as her loviiig grandfather.
I have to admit that as a teenager and as a person involved heavily within the Vancouver Jewish community, I have not had time to pick up a book and read. Little did I know that once I picked up In the Name of Sorrow and Hope, I would not put it down for a second. This book not only captured my attention, but my emotions as well. Maybe it was because of Noa's passionate words and sincerity. Perhaps it was her ability to not only speak about her memories, but about the challenges that she faced. She does not just write as Rabin's granddaughter, but as a teenager growing up facing many of the same things that every teenager faces. I could relate to her experiences, whether it was the loss of a grandfather, feelings encountered when visiting the concentration camps in Eastern Europe or the expectations that people have of you. I felt as if we were going through the same thing, just in a different way.
Noa reminds us that although Yitzhak Rabin was a politician, he was stiD a soft, loving grandpa; that despite all of his life experience and public toughness, he remained a shy person.