Page Six
JEWISH WESTERN BULLETIN
Friday, October 12, 1956
SS AMU im irwicu rAMiuiiiMiTy
S. HATES
• By SAUL HAYES
National Executive Director, Canadian Jewisli Congress This article was talcen from tbe paper presented by Mr. Hayes at flie' last plenary session of Congress lield in October, 1953.
THE role of the Canadian Jewish Congress cannot be understood without spending a few minutes in trying to analyze the posi-. tion of the Canadian Jewish community itself. The Canadian Jewish community arose after the period of enlightenment in the 19th century and it is most important to remember that no ghetto ever existed in this country. '
In fact Canada can serve as an outstanding example of the preservation of cultural, linguistic and educational integration. The very settlement of Canada by the British in 1759 after the capture of Quebec, the capitulation of Montreal in 1760; the treaty terminating the war, as well as the Constitutional Act following it, all lay down a cardinal principle of protection of these rights to the French-Canadians. Herein ^. lies the cultural pattern of Canada.
The Jewish people of Canada, therefore,* always found it fairly simple to continue these traditions of integration without in any way giving up their ethnic or cultural integrity. Bezalel Sherman pointed out in "Frontier" that the Jews of the United States have never been a superfluous element economically as they had been in Europe. This Is equally true of the Jews in Canada. Canada has always been a home for the Jews , and one where they know that they are an economically im^rtant ele< ment who live as of right and not on sufferance. Additionally, it fshoiild be observed that there have been no great historical incidents which have driven a wedge between the Jewish . community and Its neighbours s>^:h as the social and political aati-seffli-tism of Austria and Germany did in the latter half of the 19th century and, of course, again in Hitler's days, or as it did in France with the bitter anti-semitIsm leading to the trumped up charges against Captain Dreyfus which divided France into Dreyfus-ards and antl-Dreyfusards. Nor am I forgetting the tin pot fuhrer Adrian Arcand. What the Canaidian Jew has had to contend with has been simply: a) His own integration and visualization; and
b) Social discrimination where he has been exposed to the ill effects which America generally developed regarding members of minority groups such as the Irish ln»Boston, the Poles -in Pennsylvania or Michigan, and in-, numerable other illustrations.
The facility of settlement did in no way, however, attentuate the characteristics which make Jews easily ' identifiable. Religion is the principal factor in this identification. It is idle to ^debate whether the Jews as a whole are religious, or a minority are, or to discuss the extent of their orthodoxy. The fact remains that from the non-Jewish point of view they are Identified as members of a religious community and they are not regarded as an ethnic group, e.g., Ukranians, Poles. The many secularist trends have failed to dislodge tfiis primary aspect and asset of Jewish life; the identification of Jews, with Jewish religion is Inescapable.
pating citizens and all significant agencies.
Secondly, in the local .cominimi-tles. Congress is not, nor should it be, an external organizatiGn. It is an integral part of the local community. We must define what wiei mean by community organization. There is a considerable amount of local organization and very good it is too— community councils ' in Windsor, Hamilton, London, Halifax, Calgary, Vancouver; welfare funds in Toronto, Winnipeg and elsewhere^ which indicate a serious and useful step in sotaie areas of community organization.
Thu-dly, the real question is. whether there Is to be mere lip service to the ideal of planning and coordination or whether it is to be undertaken seriously and effectively. If the community means business, who is to be entrusted with the difficult and often invidious task of incurring the displeasure of vested interests in order to bring about the necessary changes and who is to decide the priorities. Congress ought not to, nor Indeed can it, impose rules and regulations. Congress' role is to work out these relationships in consultation with the various communities.
THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
As I see the picture today, Canadian Jewry shapes lip as follows:
A. TTie majority of Canada's Jews are not awaiting assimilation at all but want to remain as Jews. Consciously or subconsciously, they are dedicated to the prevalent theory of the recognition of multicultural patterns.
B. Most Jews look for identification and the synagogue and Jewish education are symbols of identification.
C. There is a considerable Influence in Canada of the French-Canadian devotion to its culture. Its language, and its religion.
D. Many Jews—^far too many— are apathetic. A considerable devotion to Jewish education may influence the next generation. The lead-
ership of our generation must work for this next generation.
E. There are thousands of people who have come here since 1933. Many have come since 1946. Yiddish Is to some considerable extent their cultural expression. Canadian Jewry has to recognize this.
F. Basically all Jew«, the apathetic, the antagonistic; the community leaders, are all regarded by the non-Jewish world as members of a group practising Judaism.
What does all this mean to us in Congress?
First, we cannot remain passive if Canadian Jewry is to flourish. United States Jewiy, with Its millions of members, can afford not to concern itself if several scores of thousands do not partake in commoii interests and activities; indeed, in view of the mechanics of the situation, it can perhaps afford no other attitude. But Canadian Jewry, with but 220,000 members cannot j^ermit any considerable proportiMi to remain disinterested. Necessarily it has to labour to maintain an organization that would tie together all groups in the country.
iHence, the problem of community organization is of prime concern. On the national level, this is .translated into the search for a form of organization or co-operation which will tie In all the communities across .the nation, the large with the small; and the search for instruments whereby common consultation can be developed and the consequent means of implementing the decisions thus reached. Here there are specific problems of day-by-day Jewish Hying, the nature of the synagogue to be maintained,^ what type of teachers to be hired; which local institution to have priority, for what causes campaigns to be conducted and when; how to interest the young In community affairs and how deeply—^not to speak of the basic question of who shall be who. The area of community organization has become a catchall for the assorted wishes and ideals of all who are devoted to community work.
With the growing imporlance of fund-raising for Israel and for overseas relief needs, a serious effort is being made in Canada by the Congress together with the Zionist movement,^^ the welfare funds and the B'nai B'rith to tighten up on the
PARTNERSHIP IN A HERITAGE
Now then, are we meeting the challenge. We in Canada: do not believe in a monolithic structure, and, in fact, the theme of the last Plenary Session was "Partnersfhip in a Heritage." It is this partnership which makes a unique experiment and which leads us without too much self-righteousness or complacency to believe that we have made a contribution where others have failed. We have created unity where others have
struggled; to. haye a '90lnjaipn dlenom-inator, and we have engaged ourselves in a common enterprise where others are engaging in a battie of words. The community bears ample testimony on all sides to the partnership in a heritage but it would serve some useful purpose to document the theme. ,
A—IN PUBLIC RELATIONS and Group Relations, the Canadian Jewish Congress and the B'nai B'rith of Canada Joined many years ago in an operation to conduct public relations in a partnership arrangement. It woul4 make an interesting and worthy article in some feature Anglo-Jewish magazine to indicate how Canadian Jewry without strugjgles, without tearing itself apart, without undertaking a sociological study . and without producing a by now famous Maclver Report, was able to map out the area of Public Relations hnd Group Relations. It accomplished this by a simple process of •give and take, assessment and analysis, a system of partnership was devised avoidiiig duplication, avoiding struggles for ascendancy in power, avoiding useless techniques.
B—IMMIGRATION has been a matter of the greatest interest to Canadian Jewry from the days of its earliest settlement. This field is particularly complex and the Canadian Jewish Congress for some years has had excellent arrangements with the Jewish Immigrant Aid Society of Canada so that Canadian Jewry 6ould obtain the best possible results. This has proved most effective. We in Cainada have enjoyed the blessing of an orderly procedure in immigration with an excellent reputation provin-claily and federally whicii, in my judgment, could only be brought about by the type of partnership that I allude to.
-Immigration is one thing, the integration of. newcomers is another. At the peak of Canadian immigration which occiured in the years from 1946, it was recognized that joint effort was necessary. This cpuld^ only be done through the nationsil, representative body, being the Canadian Jewish Congress and the welfare agencies such as the Fami^ and Child Services of Montreal, Toronto and Winnipeg; the JVS of Montreal and Toronto; the JIAS. The Canadian Jewish community did not go through the imfortunate division which characterized the whole story pf integration of newcomers in the United States nor did it suffer from the enormous cost which such a division necessarily entailed.
D—EDUCATION. The Canadian Jewish Congress has been committed to the theory that the crowning glory of 'the Jewish* community must be its knowledge of its he;^tage and traditions and the guarantee that the fa-ture generations will have the equipment necessary for it to retain its position as a dignified group; In this connection, the Canadian Jewish Congress has had another experiment in partnership in heritage.
It has worked in agreement with the IGUD of Hebrew Schools for a number of years, and in fa6t, created it for the purpose of the accomplishment of the tasks facing the Jewish community. It works closely with the Bureau of Jewish Education of Toronto and is in a partnership arrangement with it for the best possible service to the Jewish communities of Ontario. It has fostered arrangements with the seminaries (Continued on Page 7)
JEWISH BOOK MONTH BEGMS OaOBER 26
NEW YORK—The 13th an-
•furijl _ «• o i c in or * --— a
throughout the community. Uniform forms of giving and procedures or campaigning are.being developed. In general. It can be asserted that a basic Instrument In community organization In each centre Is the central fund-raising institution which necessarily knits together all particl-
hual n a't i o n a 1 observance of Jewish Book Month will be celebrated this year from October 26 to November 26,. it (^as an-nouhced recently by Rabbi Ely E. Pilchik, l^ewark, president of the National Jewish Welfare Board (JWB)-sponsored Jewish Book Council of America. (Sponsored in Canada by the program service department of Canadian Jewish Congress).
Local Jewish book councils, Jewish Community Councils, Jewish Community Centres, libraries and .Jewish schools will mark the Month through exhibits, lectures, book fairs, authors' receptions, book dramatizations, book reviews, sermons on Jewish Book Sabbath (Nov. 3), library programs and.radio and television events. Rabbi Pilchik said.
The Jewish Book Council of America, as co-ordinator of Jewish Book Month, aims "to extend the circle of readers of Jewish books, to revive the traditional zeal for Jewish knowledge, to foster the practice of augmenting the libraries of synagogues, Jewish Community Centres and other Jewish institutions, and to promote Interfalth understanding through books of Jewish interest."
In the Council's miniature library of program aids available to participants in Jewish . Book Month cele-r brations are: "Jewish Book Programs," a guide to community organization and group activities; "Jewish Book Month in Public Libraries," by Gertrude Finkel, and "Jewish Book Festival," (published in English and Yiddish editions) virhich offers guidance on setting UD a book program in the home.
Practical hints on setting up a Jewish library in a Jewish Community Centre, Jewish school or synagogue are found in "The Jewish Library," by Jacob S. Golub. For those planning to organize and conduct a Jewish book shop there is
"The Jewish Book Shop," by Isidore Cooperman. ,
Also available from the Jewish Book Council are: a newly-issued annotated list of Jewish periodicals, a guide to organizing and conducting reading circle for women, a series of plays, booklists for children, a booklist of the Jewish adult containing 125 tides, two posters Jieralding the Month, and a life-size photographic reproduction of a four-shelf bookcase of Jewish books in..English, Yiddish and Hebrew.
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