Thursday, October 20, 1949
JEWISH    WESTERN BULLETIN
Pag* 6
Views and Reviews-
By A. J. ARNOLD
LOCAL JEWISH LIFE ON FILM
EVER since becoming closely acquainted with Jewish community life in Vancouver we have held the view that one of the groups which makes a positive contribution to our local cultural activity is the Dagama Chapter of the Labor Zionist Organization. We have on previous occasions discussed the radio program "T!m is Our Story" vMch is sponsored by the group. This program serves a wordiwhile purpose in broadcasting news and views of Israel, dramatic presentations ai^ other programs in the interest of Zionist and general Jewish causes. It also serves as a convenient oul|et whereby visiting personalities and outstanding spokesmen of the Jewish world may be heard by the I whole community and all Vancouver. There remain^ of course, considerable room for improvement in ithe content, consistency and presentation of the program, and we would still like to see a broader ijeservoir of talent built up around it. !
We shall not discuss the rajjio program any further at this writing, however, as*we want to consider another cultural project which, while bang m the main the work of an individiiiJ. rather than a collective effort, nevertheless would seem to stem from the aims and purposes of thje Dagama group as a whole. The project we are fefomng to is tte filming of the recent Histadrut conference, wluch was undertaken by Julius Shore, a metmber of Uag-
ama.
Last week we had the pleasure of sedhg a preview screening of this film and we can say that the results were well worth thie effort. The starring role in the film is taken by the people who were present at the conference. Wei consider it a most creditable feature that Mr. Shore succeeded in getting into the movie ahnost everyone who participated in the proceedings df th^ confeireaoe in any way. The proceedings are diligently recorded in chronological order from the opening reception for the delegates to the closing public rally. Included are every session
of the conference proper, as well as the smaller committee and group meetings. One of the more colorful scenes shows the -Habonim youth in folk dances. The various guests..and dignitaries who addressed the conference all make their appearance, and the participants in the radio programs that were a part of the conference also appear.
Seen in assisting roles in tiie Shore-produced saga are some of the beautiful sights of Vancouver which the delegates sav/ on their tour of the city, and the varioiis buildings which house the synagogue, schools and organizations of the Jewish community of Vancouver. The Jewish buildings exe particularly impressive and may even tend to make the Jewish community of Vancouver appear larger than it is.
The content of the film might be criticised on two pbints. One is that it can do without some of the.duller scenic views and the other is that it might have been broken up by more captions and scene titles, particularly before the Jewish buildings which do not have title-signs or name-plates.
. Technically the film also has a number of ihws and weaknesses but this is due mostly to the fact that it was filmed under difficult conditions and lacking many of the proper light facilities, etc.
On the whole, however, we believe that the movie adds to the sigtiificance of the Histadrut con-feraice which was held here. It is a boost for Vancouver and the local Jewish community, and represents a pioneer effort in recording on film Jewish
life in Canada.
* * *
CONGRESS HISTORY IN B.C. — We would like to draw the attention of pur readers to the article on the history of Canadian Jewish Congress by H. M. Caiserman starling on page 4. We felt that we should carry a review of congress liistory in B.C. in conjunction with it. The pressure of time however made it impossible to have this piece ready for publication in this issue. It will be published shortly, however.
distin^lshed works of literature and reaming by Canadian writers on broader' subjects. Thus, the Congress has subsidized and brought the Lamed Prize for Jewish Literatui«3 to Canada on three successive years.
vii. community Organization
Community organization was one of the first problems with which the Canadian Jewish Congress dealt when it was first organized. At the, time, the thinking was in terms of the religious communities. Progress was veiy slow at first but the continued contact which the Congress maintained with all these communities throughout the years, the organization of fund mlsing, the educational work, the steady flow of informational material which emanated from Congress offices, the statements of our national president on important occasions and the frequent conferences and meetings have bound
the Jewish communitiea of Canada closely together and have imprest* ed upon each of them the ini^it^-ance of true representation and! of sound organization.
Oui> approach to community or^ ganization today is much inore complex than it was, A great deal of progress has already been ma^e. Most communities already have quite a sound form of organization. The smaller communities are not quite so well organized as yet.
The Canadian Jewish Congress, will in all likelihood, devote considerable effort to this task in the months to come. It is an urgent task whose continuing character makes it difficult to classify as an emergency.
It is one of the many activities which Congr*e3s is carrying out to place Canadian Jewry in a position to carry out Its mission as an important element of the Canadian nation and as a central community in world Israel.
Gonlinned feem Pag» 4
CONGMSS HISTORY
ried out ' tb'^ether 'with the chai»< lains constitute > ;a ^ -^remarkable chapter in Canada^ {aimals. .
V. JEWISH ^VCATiON
From therbeginning, the Congress recognized the dangers to the Jewish community in Canada inherent in the conditions of education in this country. It was a: difficult problem and trie Congress spent ;maiiy years in ex-
ploration and in research. Many conferences of teachers and laymen were convened and leading educators from the United States and elsewhere were consulted.
The Congress exerted every effort in urging Jewish parents to. enroll their children in Jewish schools.
In the course of time, the teacher problem : became a near
—courtesy. Daily ;proviriceJ
Canadian JenvishCi^gr^^ helps people like this moflier and daughter who arrived iii Vaacoover from Shanghai in a group of 176 Jewish refugees. They are jseen waldng at the station for a car to i^c&ke tiaem to the Commualty Centre.
catastr*ophe as 'teachers fifom other countries were found to be increasingly unsuited for Canadian schools and as the supply of such teachers was practically cut loff by the tragic events overseas. The Congress urged the setting up of teacher training facilities in this country. It helped the schools of this country to organize in federations and undertook to maintain a teachers' training seminary. The plenary session even provided fbr a budget for such a seminary.
It. was not considered possible at the time to provide for the training of teachers for all types of schools in one institution and two separate seminaries were set up. The Congress supported both of them but strongly urged their unification, which is now coming about.
At the same time the Congress provided the bulk of support for the Canadian Association of Hebrew Schools (IGUI» which is doing valuable work in facilitating the education of Jewish children in Talmud Torahs.
It cannot be said that the Jewish community has completely met the challenge of Jewish education in Canada. This is a problem that will doubtless engage our efforts for many years to come, but Congress did deal with the problem energetically and constructively and is helping to normalize the education of Jewish children in Canada and to maintain all the high standard which is one of the boasts of our community. VI. BSSEABCH PROJECTS
Another challenge which almost assumed a form of an emergency is the ascertaining of the basic facts of our community. In order to sei've this vital purpose Canadian Jewry has set up a reseai'ch bureau which is unsurpassed in world Jewry outride Israel. Dozens of factual ^studies of high standard and unquestionable validity have been prepared on various subjects with which the Jewish community has had to deaJ. The studies of Canadian Jewry, of the Jewish communities of Montreal, Toronto and of Winnipeg and other analyses are recognized throughout the sdientlfic world as models of theip type.
As part of the same program the Canadian Jewish Congress has made possible the publication of
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