We direct readers’ attention, once again, to the insights of Adam Hummel, a GTA lawyer and human rights activist. Last month he addressed a gathering at a Toronto synagogue in which he propagated seven duties to guide the community’s next steps going forward “at this turning point in Jewish history” in the post-October 7 world.

It must be pointed out that all of the duties that Hummel articulates are the offspring of Judaism’s values. Those values emanate from the widely-based, multi-level, self-supporting, luminescent and prismatic architecture we call Judaism. It is for this reason that we point to Hummel’s suggested seven duties. For it is through Jewish education and the example that flows from a life lived supported by Jewish education that our children acquire the values that will fortify them all their life-long. Despite and through all storms.

The following are Hummel’s proposed duties and a mini-explanation of their meaning.

Duty to our Judaism

“If we are particular, and we do not stray from what makes us Jewish, then we will be heard around the world – people will know who we are, and what legacy we come from….[K]indle the flame and pass it on. “

Duty to each other

“[W]e are Jews. We have a duty to one another, and we cannot let minor differences separate us, or pull our community apart. We are frankly too small and we cannot afford these rifts.”

Duty to Israel

“(Israel) has to fight to defend itself from countries like Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, Syria, Yemen, and Lebanon. From terror groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, Al Qaeda, and ISIS. From multinational groups like the UN and UNRWA, from student groups on campus, and yes, from misguided Jews themselves…These entities seek the dismantling of the world’s only Jewish State, and they must be opposed…[In] our lifetimes we have witnessed the establishment, development, and flourishing of our Jewish State…[W]e have a duty to safeguard and keep strong the State of Israel.”

Duty to history

We have a duty … to remember where we come from…to remember the strength that we brought to each generation’s challenges, and to ensure we demonstrate that strength – that certain something – again and again.”

Duty to stay informed

“We have a duty to stay up to date and informed about the condition of our brothers and sisters in Israel, about the challenges we face as Jews in Canada, and about what the world is saying about us today. We can only effectively respond when we are adequately informed.”

Duty to the truth

“[Our] enemies are good at lying. They lie effectively, and often. They lie about our motives, our actions, our history, and who we are. Of course, they do so because it is easier to lie than to tell the truth…We have the truth on our side, and even though it sometimes seems like telling the truth may be a losing battle… our narrative can only be consistent, and our fight can only remain virtuous if we stick to the truth.” 

Duty to rebel

“We have a duty to ask questions, to push back, to take nothing for granted…[S]tand your ground, own your position, and do so unapologetically. We have a duty to rebel, but only with a purpose in mind. We come from a long line of nudniks, and push back is what our people need.”

Hummel concluded his remarks by encapsulating the purpose of Jewish life, although he did not say it in those words. “Let’s draw strength from our community, pride in our collective actions, and remember that we have a duty to our legacy, to our people, to Israel, and to our children’s future. Am Yisrael Chai”  

Hummel’s full remarks can be found at:

https://catchjcp.substack.com/p/on-duty?utm_medium=reader2

•••

June 11, 2024 has been set for Ontario’s appeal of the 46-page decision by Judge Eugenia Papageorgiou denying the province’s request to dismiss GAJE’s application for fairness in educational funding before it has actually been argued in court. If the appeal fails, the application proceeds to a hearing on its merits. If the appeal succeeds, GAJE will appeal.

If you wish to contribute to GAJE’s lawsuit, please click here.

For further information, please contact Israel Mida at: imida1818@gmail.com

Charitable receipts for donations for income tax purposes will be issued by Mizrachi Canada. Your donations will be used for the sole purpose of underwriting the costs of the lawsuit.

•••

Shabbat shalom. Am Yisrael Chai.

Grassroots for Affordable Jewish Education (GAJE)

April 5, 2024

In September 2021, Cardus, a non-partisan, faith-based think tank, published a study of the potential cost to the Government of Ontario of funding Ontario’s independent schools. (Funding all Students: A Comparative Economic Analysis of the Fiscal Cost to Support Students in Ontario Independent Schools) Cardus examined a range of cost models for funding education in Ontario.

In addition to presenting actual possible costs for a fairer educational system, Cardus pointedly, explains why it is good policy for Ontario to fund independent schools at least to some extent.

The authors observed that “Ontario’s lack of funding is anomalous in both a global and Canadian context.” And they concluded “that Ontario’s lack of financial support for independent-school students is an unjust and inequitable policy—uncharacteristic of a democratically elected government, especially in an advanced economy—that further disadvantages the already disadvantaged.”

The authors explained their approach to their research.

“To rectify [Ontario’s] eccentric and unjust policy, there are seven funding schemes, all taken from actual practice in Canada, to estimate the cost of funding students in Ontario’s independent schools. The first applies full government funding to Ontario’s independent sector. Alternatively, Ontario can partially fund independent schools using a similar approach as any of the other provinces that partially fund this sector—from west to east: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan (two models), Manitoba, and Quebec. (In each of the seven funding schemes, the model recognizes that not all independent schools would qualify for or accept government funding, and this fact is accounted for in the analyses.)

“Each cost estimate factors into the respective model three plausible enrolment scenarios— our best estimates of the lower bound (scenario 1), most plausible case (scenario 2), and upper bound (scenario 3) of first-year enrolment levels that will result from implementing any of the seven options. Scenario 1 is based on no change in enrolments. Scenario 2 assumes a 7.8 percent first-year increase in enrolment, based on the experience of a short- lived Ontario policy introduced twenty years ago. And scenario 3 assumes an 18.3 percent first-year increase in enrolment, based on the most recent Canadian experience of a similar policy change—Saskatchewan’s expansion of funding for independent schools through the creation of the new Qualified independent school category.

“Applying these three scenarios to each of the seven provincial funding schemes results in twenty-one cost estimations, ranging between $535.2 million and $1.539 billion in net annual cost to Ontario taxpayers. (W)ithin the scope of Ontario’s $186 billion annual budget, this is around 1/3 to 4/5 of 1 percent (0.3% to 0.8%) of the budget…Any of these funding options is a relatively minimal cost to substantially benefit the families who need it most.”

Cardus published its findings on the basis of a provincial budget of $186 billion. Earlier this week, Queen’s Park announced a budget of $214 billion, of which the deficit was $9.8 billion.

GAJE offers no objections to any of the government’s proposed expenditures in the upcoming budget. We have neither the expertise nor the intention to do so. However, we do express our disappointment that the government did not find any funds to designate for independent schools. Nor did the government even mention the possibility of future fairer funding in the budget speech. As Cardus has carefully pointed out, the range of the total cost of fairness in educational funding, depending upon the funding model, would be 0.3% to 0.8% of the budget, or as Cardus’ words, “a relatively minimal cost to substantially benefit the families who need it most.”

The disappointment is deeper in light of the fact that the government delivered its budget during a unique period of the calendar in which Ontarians of the three monotheistic religious communities commemorate significant religious holidays. Moslems are observing Ramadan. Christians mark Easter this weekend and Monday. And Jews celebrate Passover in three weeks.

And yet, for some reason, the Government of Ontario persists in funding the religious schools of Catholics only. Why? What are we and Ontarians of other monotheistic faith groups to understand by Ontario’s ongoing discrimination? Why does the government offer no explanation for its policy? This week’s budget announcement was yet another lost opportunity for the government to do the right thing. Alas.

•••

June 11, 2024 has been set for Ontario’s appeal of the 46-page decision by Judge Eugenia Papageorgiou denying the province’s request to dismiss GAJE’s application for fairness in educational funding before it has actually been argued in court. If the appeal fails, the application proceeds to a hearing on its merits. If the appeal succeeds, GAJE will appeal.

If you wish to contribute to GAJE’s lawsuit, please click here.

For further information, please contact Israel Mida at: imida1818@gmail.com

Charitable receipts for donations for income tax purposes will be issued by Mizrachi Canada. Your donations will be used for the sole purpose of underwriting the costs of the lawsuit.

•••

Shabbat shalom. Am Yisrael Chai.

Grassroots for Affordable Jewish Education (GAJE)

March 29, 2024

It is on many minds this year that celebrating Purim with its customary joy and child-orientated jest, will be somewhat difficult.

The events of October 7 were too horrific.

In defence of their right to live sovereign, in their ancestral homeland, the people of Israel, the only Jewish state on our planet, are once again at war.

The enemy, this time, is Hamas, part of an Iran-funded and Iran-directed alliance of armies, intent on killing all the people of Israel.

As Israel defends itself, well-organized armies of pro-Hamas demonstrators pour onto the streets in cities around the world accusing Israel of genocide while they shout for the elimination of all the people in Israel.

In these circumstances, many of us simply feel that a typical Purim celebration might be odd, if not also disrespectful. But we would be wrong to feel that way. We would fail our commitment to our people and to our history and misplace our sense of empathy were we to “curtail” Purim.

This conviction was emphasized in remarks by a mother to her daughter on the occasion of the young girl’s bat mitzvah last week.

“How can I convey–and frankly, how will I experience– the emotional joy of this incredible simcha amidst what has been the most heart-shattering, destabilizing period of time for Jews in our generation. In short, how do we celebrate in a post- October 7th reality?

“The answer, of course…is that it is possible, and in fact, very Jewish, to hold both truths at the same time. The pain of loss, the pain of feeling besieged as a people, the pain of praying for the safety and return of our hostages, the pain of a bloody war that continues to take immense tolls.

“Those truths of pain can, and do, live alongside the absolute, indescribable joy and complete pride in watching our daughter, step into Jewish adulthood….As Jews, it is not just a frivolity, but it is actually a mandate, to focus on, to cultivate, and to choose joy–even when it might be hard to do so….

“Being a Jew means being responsible toward others,” she told her daughter. “We live in a world in which it might be easy to think that the point of life is for us to care only for oneself– to advance in power and privilege for the sake of our own advancement as individuals. What Queen Esther reminds us is that all the power and glory in the world are meaningless if we lose sight of who we are, and the community and values that we are tethered to. To be tethered to a people and a set of values comes with great responsibility but it is also a great privilege.”

The set of values to which GAJE is happily tethered are those that the Jewish people have brought to the world. Celebrating Purim this year with our children, despite post-October 7 life, affirms for them the pre-eminence of those values.

The foundational step for children in helping them discover and feel at home in those values, is through Jewish education.

•••

June 11, 2024 has been set for Ontario’s appeal of the 46-page decision by Judge Eugenia Papageorgiou denying the province’s request to dismiss GAJE’s application for fairness in educational funding before it has actually been argued in court. If the appeal fails, the application proceeds to a hearing on its merits. If the appeal succeeds, GAJE will appeal.

If you wish to contribute to GAJE’s lawsuit, please click here.

For further information, please contact Israel Mida at: imida1818@gmail.com

Charitable receipts for donations for income tax purposes will be issued by Mizrachi Canada. Your donations will be used for the sole purpose of underwriting the costs of the lawsuit.

•••

Shabbat shalom. Chag Purim Samayach. Am Yisrael Chai.

Grassroots for Affordable Jewish Education (GAJE)

March 22, 2024

A date has been set for Ontario’s appeal of the 46-page decision by Judge Eugenia Papageorgiou that denied the province’s request to dismiss GAJE’s application seeking fairness in educational funding before it has actually been argued on its merits.

The appeal will be heard on June 11, 2024 at Osgoode Hall in Toronto.

If the appeal fails, the application proceeds to a hearing on its merits. If the appeal succeeds, GAJE will appeal.

•••

An article entitled, BBYO survey finds most Jewish high schoolers experienced in-person antisemitism since Oct. 7, appeared this week on the eJP website. Its findings document what most Jewish parents and grandparents have feared. In the post-October 7 world, intimidation of young Jews is not restricted to post-secondary school sanctums. Jewish teens at high school are also being harassed because they are Jews.

According to the article, “more than 7 in 10 Jewish high school students report experiencing antisemitic harassment either in person or online since Oct. 7, a new study conducted by BBYO found. The survey is the first of its kind to look at the impact that the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel and the subsequent rise in antisemitism across the world has had on high school students.”

Matt Grossman, the CEO of BBYO, said that antisemitism is having an impact on students’ mental health and friendships and the feelings they have about going to school.

Grossman noted that “the survey — conducted in partnership with First International Resources and Impact Research between Jan. 23 and Feb. 5 — polled 1,989 public, private and day school students in ninth through 12th grades across the U.S. and Canada. It found that 71% of Jewish teens have experienced antisemitic harassment or discrimination, with 61% experiencing the bias in person, 46% experiencing it online and 36% experiencing antisemitism both online and in person. Nearly half of the students surveyed reported being harassed for wearing visibly Jewish clothing or symbols, such as Jewish camp/youth group apparel, a kippah or a Star of David. More than 40% reported that someone attempted to intimidate them for wearing or owning pro-Israel items.” 

The survey’s findings are, once again, enraging. But we ought not be surprised. We ought to be resolved – more than ever – to fight back. How we fight back is by helping fashion our children into strong believers in themselves as Jews.

If GAJE’s application succeeds more families will be able to provide a Jewish education for their children. As our history has shown, that is the best – though not the only – way of building strong, self-confident, assertive, caring, community-minded Jewish men and women.

The study is available at:

Click to access bbyo-antisemitism-survey-summary-feb-2024.pdf

•••

If you wish to contribute to GAJE’s lawsuit for fairness in educational funding, please click here.

For further information, please contact Israel Mida at: imida1818@gmail.com

Charitable receipts for donations for income tax purposes will be issued by Mizrachi Canada. Your donations will be used for the sole purpose of underwriting the costs of the lawsuit.

•••

Shabbat shalom. Am Yisrael Chai.

Grassroots for Affordable Jewish Education (GAJE)

March 15, 2024

Earlier this week, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt delivered the 2024 State of Hate address at the “Never Is Now” Conference in New York.

In just over 31 fiery, unapologetic minutes, Greenblatt chronicled the difficult truth of life for Jews in, what columnist Bret Stephens has called, “the October 8^th world.”

Greenblatt pointed out the vile hatred and shameless amorality of the supporters of Hamas who denounce and demonize Israel. He pointed out the dishonesty of the so-called neutral men and women who enable the demonizers of Israel through their feigned neutrality or transparent biases.

Greenblatt pointed out how the tactics of the supporters of Hamas have changed. Until now their approach was “one of isolation or “anti-normalization,” as they call it — focused on boycotts, divestment, and urging progressive groups and all Americans to shun and ostracize their Jewish neighbors.”

Since October 8 however, Hamas supporters have spelled out new strategy of “confrontation to, in their words, “dismantle Zionism.” The hallmarks of the new strategy are intimidation, bullying, massive thuggery, the threat of violence and in some cases, actual violence.

“Facing these threats,” Greenblatt wrote, “it seems that the Jewish community in the United States has two choices: flight or fight.”

Some of our co-religionists, understandably, have chosen to flee – to hide their identity – to wear a baseball cap instead of a kippah, to remove the mezuzah on their doorpost. But others, Greenblatt noted, have chosen to fight back, to assert their identities, to speak truth to the haters of Jews and to the world about who they (we) are: members of a people and a faith that have been part of the very backbone of western civilization and its ongoing advancement.

Greenblatt spoke about the rising of a new, Jewish grassroots…in community after community…that gives him hope. For, like GAJE, the grassroots of which Greenblatt spoke so proudly, upholds Jewish dignity even as it defends Jewish peoplehood and aspires to secure the Jewish future. These Greenblatt’s words:

“It shows me and it shows all of us that the time for complacency is over. We can’t assume American Jewish life will continue to be a comfortable life – unless we do something now…unless we transform ourselves from observers to activists, from onlookers to advocates.

Our community has accomplished so much in this country – and contributed so much. No one can take that away from us – and it’s time we stopped letting them think that they can do so.

“The Jewish community has been an indispensable part of this country since its earliest days.

We have overcome discrimination, broken barriers and exceeded expectations. We started companies, founded labor unions and cured diseases. We built schools, funded universities, and started hospitals. We created theatres, launched studios, and started charities. We changed norms, passed laws, and secured judgements that made this country better for its Jewish people and ultimately better for all of its people.

“You see, the bottom line – there is not a part of American life that the Jewish community has not touched and impacted for good. And so, the time has come to say: The harassment and the attacks must stop. Explaining away your antisemitism will no longer be tolerated. Refusing to prosecute the laws or to enforce the policies of your institution when the perpetrators are targeting Jews, must cease.

“The twisting of language…the moral cowardice…the blind eye toward antisemitism must end now. If not, you will hear our voices. You will see us outside your doors. And we will see you in court. Our donations that you relied on – gone. Our votes that you seek – forget about it.

Our friendship or alliances – no more.

“At this moment…in this October 8^th world, we will not be silent. We will not let our country be lost to the antisemites and bigots.

“We will not flee. We will fight. And we will win. Am Yisrael Chai.”

Greenblatt’s words apply equally in Canada as they do in the United States. The situations are entirely similar. In both cases, we must fight back by knowing who we are as Jews, and then, by “doing Jewish”. And that requires that our children have the benefit of a Jewish education.

Greenblatt’s remarks can be read at:

https://www.adl.org/resources/press-release/adl-ceo-jonathan-greenblatt-delivers-2024-state-hate-never-now

•••

If you wish to contribute to GAJE’s lawsuit for fairness in educational funding, please click here.

For further information, please contact Israel Mida at: imida1818@gmail.com

Charitable receipts for donations for income tax purposes will be issued by Mizrachi Canada. Your donations will be used for the sole purpose of underwriting the costs of the lawsuit.

•••

Shabbat shalom. Am Yisrael Chai.

Grassroots for Affordable Jewish Education (GAJE)

March 8, 2024

This week’s update brings the same message as that of last week: deeply rooted Jewish education helps Jewish youth withstand and even push back through the maelstrom of anti-Israel and anti-Jewish hatred on campus. This week, however, the message emanates from a professor of Jewish history based upon his actual experience two weeks ago at a university in California.

Prof. Jeffrey Blutinger, the Barbara and Ray Alpert Endowed Chair in Jewish studies and a professor of history at California State University, Long Beach, wrote of his attempt to deliver a lecture at San Jose State University on the subject of a two-state solution to Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians. “I tried to speak….the police had to evacuate me,” Prof. Blutinger titled his report of the experience.

Blutinger has been teaching the subject of Israel and the Middle East for 22 years. “I have never seen campuses as threatening to Jewish students and faculty as today,” he writes. Police were need to evacuate him from a building because anti-Israel protesters had poured into the hallway adjacent to the lecture room and created what university security deemed to be an “imminent danger” for the professor and everyone else attending the lecture.

Blutinger had been invited by SJSU’s director of Jewish studies to speak to a class about the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. His plan was to discuss with students how the two sides were achingly close to a solution, between Oslo in 1993 and Taba in 2001.

About 20 minutes into his talk, the campus police and the San Jose Police Department interrupted the lecture to tell Prof. Blutinger they had to evacuate him immediately. The mob in the hallway was bordering on violence. He did not want to leave but he had no choice. 

Most of Prof. Blutinger’s op-ed is a lament for the future of American colleges in general and for “the future of Jewish scholars and scholarship in American higher education”, in particular.

He confirms the importance of “safe spaces” for Jewish students on campuses because of the proliferation of virulent anti-Israel, anti-Jewish protests. But Prof. Blutinger adds the following broad instruction for the parents of prospective campus-age children. Within the broad instruction, Prof. Blutinger, includes a narrower, more pointed statement about Jewish education.” It is this latter statement, of course, that GAJE wishes our readers to know.

“Parents want to shelter their children, but today’s antisemitism on campus shows us that these students will not benefit at college if they are thrust into it from a cloistered background. It is crucial for Jewish students to understand what it means to be Jewish and all the nuances of events in the Middle East, so they have the confidence to advocate for themselves.  (Our emphasis) It is equally crucial that well before arriving at college, parents ensure their children are exposed to myriad opinions on all sorts of issues, not just Israel and Judaism. If students aren’t raised to hear opinions that may make them uncomfortable, they will never be prepared for higher education and certainly the wider world. They must have the basis of resilience and self-confidence when they graduate high school so they can further develop those qualities at college.”

•••

To help our children on campus have the resilience and self-confidence that flow from understanding what it means to be Jewish and all the nuances of events in the Middle East, they must have access to Jewish education. And that is why GAJE is trying to help make Jewish education affordable to all Jewish families in Ontario that seek it for their children.

•••

Prof. Blutinger’s article can be found at:

I tried to speak about a two-state solution at a university. The police had to evacuate me. 

•••

If you wish to contribute to GAJE’s lawsuit for fairness in educational funding, please click here.

For further information, please contact Israel Mida at: imida1818@gmail.com

Charitable receipts for donations for income tax purposes will be issued by Mizrachi Canada. Your donations will be used for the sole purpose of underwriting the costs of the lawsuit.

•••

Shabbat shalom. Am Yisrael Chai.

Grassroots for Affordable Jewish Education (GAJE)

March 1, 2024

Anyone who tries to help bring Jewish education to Jewish children is actually helping to try to secure a Jewish future. This is a “large” proposition and has the ring of overstatement. But it is true at every level of examination, starting with its elemental core that a Jewish future requires Jewish education.

The nature and extent of one’s embrace of Judaism, of course, will determine the nature and extent of the life that is lived Jewishly – meaningfully Jewishly. And so, to live and to lead a meaningfully Jewish life, one must choose the Jewish education that fits best.

The perpetually rewarding truth of Jewish education is that – when it works and clicks in for the individual – it begins a journey of lifelong learning. One never arrives at the destination, for the destination has no final stop. One is always searching, stopping, digging, and then moving forward on the never-ending path of discovery, faith, history, peoplehood and connection.

When the education works and clicks in, it also fortifies. Knowledge, understanding and awareness help foster the inner strength required of all individuals to help them withstand life’s inevitable buffeting and jostling from adversaries and foes. And as we all know, when our children leave the more sheltering environment of their homes for the wider demographic mix of university or college, the buffeting begins in earnest. And it takes a great deal of inner strength and self-assurance, especially these days to stand against the shameless bullying of the anti-Israel zealot.

Since October 7, to our ongoing disbelief and anger, we have seen manifestations of hatred toward Israel and toward Jews that we had never thought to see again, except perhaps in historical documentaries and film newsreels of last century’s wars. Campuses have become the epicentre of the struggle to save law-abiding, democratic society from the thugs who undermine it from the ramparts of their battle to bring down Israel.

The Abraham Global Peace Initiative (AGPI) recently published a report on the state of antisemitism at Canadian universities. Entitled, The Canadian Universities Antisemitism Report 2024, it was co-authored by Neil Orlowsky, PhD, Director of Education, The Abraham Global Peace Initiative; Danielle Legerman, Education Consultant, York University and Karen Cheung, Education Consultant, York University.

The report “delves into the alarming rise of antisemitism on Canadian university campuses, shedding light on multifaceted challenges faced by Jewish students and faculty. The surge is particularly notable in the context of debates surrounding anti-Zionism, free speech protections for professors, student union activities, the role of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) departments, and the pervasive sense of insecurity experienced by Jewish members of the campus community.”

The authors provide a grade to Canadian universities based upon a uniformly applied set of criteria. The three universities assessed as the worst from the point of view of the pervasiveness of an atmosphere of antisemitism on campus and for not providing safe learning space for all of the students were: Concordia University, University of Toronto, and York University. The report is available at:

https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/fbc9d4fc-0bc8-4e11-acb8-d9ddd12b9bc0/AGPI Campus Report 2024.pdf 

The AGPI report appeared merely days before Hillel International CEO Adam Lehman told an Knesset committee at a meeting in Jerusalem between Israeli parliamentarians and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, that the 44 physical antisemitic attacks on campuses to date since Oct. 7 are more than in the past 10 years combined. Lehman described the situation “as truly a catastrophe” and noted that the total number of antisemitic incidents on campuses since Oct. 7 has surpassed 1,000.

According to a new survey by Benenson Strategy Group on behalf of Hillel International, 56% of the 300 Jewish college students who were polled said they have been directly affected by antisemitism on campus since Oct. 7, with roughly a third — 32% — saying they have experienced antisemitic violence or acts of hate. In addition, 37% have said they felt the need to hide their Jewish identity on campus and 7% said they have considered transferring or leaving their school because of the climate for Jewish students. The survey has a 5% margin of error.

This recently compiled empirical data confirms what we have seen on the news, what we read in our various news sources and what we know in our hearts. Alarm is an appropriate emotional reaction to the situation our children face on university campuses today. The aggression, name-calling, accusations, confrontations and protests aimed at them will hit hard. But summoning upon their inner strengths, deeply rooted by their respective Jewish educations, will help them withstand and even push back through the maelstrom of anti-Israel and anti-Jewish hatred.

And that is why GAJE is trying to help make Jewish education affordable to all Jewish families in Ontario that seek it for their children: to help families plant deep Jewish roots in our children.

•••

If you wish to contribute to GAJE’s lawsuit for fairness in educational funding, please click here.

For further information, please contact Israel Mida at: imida1818@gmail.com

Charitable receipts for donations for income tax purposes will be issued by Mizrachi Canada. Your donations will be used for the sole purpose of underwriting the costs of the lawsuit.

•••

Shabbat shalom

Am Yisrael Chai

Grassroots for Affordable Jewish Education (GAJE)

February 23, 2024

In the ongoing, continuing-to-be-appalling aftermath of October 7, Israeli media carried a small news item last week concerning the country’s women’s national basketball team playing an International Basketball Federation (FIBA) 2025 EuroBasket qualifiers’ game. No Canadian media outlets appeared to report the story. It was a small story with a very large message.

For security reasons due to the war, the Israeli team played the game in Latvia as the home team. Israeli’s opponent was the women’s team from Ireland. At first, the Irish team refused to play the Israelis, preferring instead, to withdraw from the qualifying game. To its credit, FIBA warned the Irish squad that it would face severe monetary and other penalties if they did not proceed with the match. So, the team changed its stance. The game was played as scheduled.

But the Irish took umbrage at a statement by one of the Israeli players, Dor Sa’ar, that the Irish team was antisemitic. The Irish basketball authorities filed an official complaint with the organizers of FIBA Europe. “Basketball Ireland is extremely disappointed by these accusations, which are both inflammatory and wholly inaccurate,” the complaint said.

Cheryl Levi, an Israeli writer, shared her views of the Irish complaint and their feigned offence. “So, the game was on. The Irish team refused to exchange gifts and shake hands with the Israeli team (a decision that was fully supported by Basketball Ireland). They also sat on the bench instead of standing center-court during the playing of Israel’s national anthem. It was a show of supreme unsportsmanlike behavior. In fact, let’s just call it what it was: antisemitism.”

The Israeli team defeated the Irish team 87-57.

Levi further noted what most of us know also to be true. “The refusal of the Irish women’s basketball team to play against Israel is indicative of an even bigger problem. It’s a sign of the antisemitic rot that has been eating away at countries like Ireland for decades.”

She asked the important question: “So how do we stand up to countries – [we can add individuals, groups and organizations] – that have become synonymous with antisemitism?”

Levi’s question is, essentially, the very same one most of us have been asking ourselves these past four months.

One answer came from Dor Sa’ar, the Israeli player who commented on the Irish team’s prior disposition towards their Israeli counterpart. The day before the match she explained her motivation and that of her teammates. “Since October 7th, our lives have all changed, so since then it’s important to represent our country with dignity, fight on the field, and show that we are good and capable, and I believe that we can do it.”

Sa’ar’s example is one of plain courage. We should follow it. We should heed her words and take them to heart.

Of course, we do not “represent” the State of Israel – except in the eyes of the antisemites who draw no distinction between Israelis and Jews. But we can and we must “represent” and act in defense of our people, our faith and our history.

And how do we “fight”? We “fight” by being demonstrably Jewish. In the process, we “show that we are good and capable.” We are proud, grateful members of our Canadian Jewish community.

And just as Sa’ar promised, we “can do it” too. And we shall.

To ensure that our children and grandchildren will be able to join the battle, in their turn, we must try to help make affordable the education they will need to immerse themselves in the exceptional depth, beauty and sustaining strength of their faith and their history.

Kol hakavod to the Women’s National Basketball team of Israel.

Levi’s article can be found at:

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/bringing-the-battlefield-to-the-basketball-court/?_gl=1*1rawxty*_ga*OTgzMzg3MTA2LjE3MDc5NTAzMTQ.*_ga_RJR2XWQR34*MTcwNzk2NTAxMC4yLjEuMTcwNzk2Nzc0MS4wLjAuMA..

•••

If you wish to contribute to GAJE’s lawsuit for fairness in educational funding, please click here.

For further information, please contact Israel Mida at: imida1818@gmail.com

Charitable receipts for donations for income tax purposes will be issued by Mizrachi Canada. Your donations will be used for the sole purpose of underwriting the costs of the lawsuit.

•••

Shabbat shalom

Am Yisrael Chai

Grassroots for Affordable Jewish Education (GAJE)

February 16, 2024

Four months after Hamas’ ghoulish celebration of its barbaric slaughter of some 1,200 Israelis and other nationals, Israel is still at war.

Israelis and Jews around the world have witnessed the battlefield expand from the rock, sand, alleyways and dense urban clusters of Gaza to include the streets and commercial centres of large and small cities around the world, college campuses and professional associations throughout the West, non-governmental international fora, and even the wood-panelled chambers of international courts of so-called justice.

Israel and Israelis were assaulted in the vilest manner possible on October 7. Since then, Jews – wherever we live – have felt under assault as well. And it has been shocking as well as enraging.

Many observers have written about the phenomenon of Israel losing the public support it has enjoyed for most of its 75 years since its birth as a fellow democratic country. Indeed, already one month after the October 7 Hamas onslaught, veteran CBC reporter Evan Dayer wrote a story under the headline: A generation gap in attitudes could be undermining support for Israel in the West.

Dyer noted that “Canadians under age 30 tend to hold views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that are dramatically different from those of Canadians aged 55 or over.” What he meant of course, is that many, if not most, young Canadians harbour downright hostile opinions of Israel. We have seen for ourselves, in every sphere of modern Canadian life, the stunning evidence of Dyer’s observation. We are shocked – and then angered – by the extent and the nature of the support we are witnessing here for Hamas.

It is shocking because support for Hamas’ cause means support for the elimination of Israel and of Jews wherever we reside. Hamas’ worldview and chief purpose hold no place for a sovereign Jewish State. Indeed, they hold no place for Jews. Period. How, we ask ourselves, can supporters of Hamas not know this? And if they do know this and yet still support Hamas, who and what are they some of them our neighbours; many of them our children’s and grandchildren’s classmates in the universities and schools they attend.

It is precisely for this reason that shock yields to anger and anger to concerted, pointed action.

Yaakov Katz,a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) and the immediate past editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post commented on this very aspect of the world’s reaction to Israel’s war with Hamas.

In an article for the Jerusalem Post, he wrote that the war has shown “that no matter where a Jew lives, their identity and feeling of safety is connected to the State of Israel.” To be sure, the war is being fought by Israel to secure its right to live, sovereign, in the land of its ancestors. But Katz also makes the point that as Israel fights, it also holds tight to the steel hard tie of peoplehood that binds all Jews around the world to it, the only Jewish country on earth.

“All Israelis have been moved to see how Jews from around the world have stood up to assist Israel during this difficult time….They [Jews around the world] have done so despite the explosion of antisemitism and the risk that it now poses to the future of American, British, and European Jewry. While Jews in Israel are obviously most at risk of physical harm, the killing of Paul Kessler at a pro-Israel rally in Los Angeles, and the death chants against Jews in Dagestan, as well as on the streets of London, indicate how antisemitism shows, to some extent, how all Jews are in a similar situation.”

“What we have to keep in mind is the objective of the protesters against Israel and the threat it poses to Jews. They want people to be afraid to speak up, to appear in public in support of Israel and to proudly identify as Jews. They want Jews to be afraid.”

Of course, in some situations, it makes sense to be afraid. But what sort of life is lived in or by fear? No. We must react and respond to champion Israel’s right to exist as a sovereign Jewish state and our own individual and collective right to live meaningfully as Jews and as a Jewish community, without fear, here in Canada. 

To be such champions we must feel deeply Jewish in our souls and in our bones. That means we – our children and our grandchildren – must have access to affordable Jewish education. They must know that they are Jews. And they must know what it means to be Jews.

Katz’ article is available at:

Israel-Hamas war isn’t just about security, it’s about Jewish peoplehood

•••

If you wish to contribute to GAJE’s lawsuit for fairness in educational funding, please click here.

For further information, please contact Israel Mida at: imida1818@gmail.com

Charitable receipts for donations for income tax purposes will be issued by Mizrachi Canada. Your donations will be used for the sole purpose of underwriting the costs of the lawsuit.

•••

Shabbat shalom, Am Yisrael Chai

Grassroots for Affordable Jewish Education (GAJE)

February 9, 2024

Last week the Divisional Court allowed the Attorney General’s motion for leave to appeal the 46-page decision of Justice Eugenia Papageorgiou that prevented GAJE’s application for fair educational funding from being thrown out of court. 

The Divisional Court attached no reasons to its decision. The endorsement on the record reads: “The motion for leave to appeal the order of Papageorgiou J. dated August 21, 2023 (2023 ONSC 3722) is allowed. Pursuant to the agreement between the parties, no costs are ordered.”

Of course, GAJE is disappointed. Moreover, without an explanation of the court’s reasoning, we are also puzzled.

Justice Papageorgiou’s 46-page decision is a landmark. Granting leave to appeal it does not mean that the Divisional Court judges considered it to be wrong, only that it raised significant, issues for further argument. We do not believe the ruling by the Divisional Court should be read as a rejection of Justice Papageorgiou’s decision. Her decision dealt with important constitutional issues that the Court obviously felt required further consideration.

It is important to remember that the decision being appealed is the one that allows GAJE’s application to proceed through the courts. Justice Papageorgiou’s decision made no ruling on the merits of our application for fairness in educational funding.

Our disappointment, however, does not deter us. Nor will it ever. GAJE is guided by our belief in the importance and in the correctness of our cause. It is we – all of us – who must try to bring about the future we wish for our children and for all generations thereafter. We will not be passive to events unfolding around us. 

We paraphrase Rabbi Tarfon’s wise counsel so very long ago: “The time is short. There is so much work ahead of us. We may not be able to finish it. But we are not permitted to stop trying.” And as Hillel would have likely added: “If not now” – especially during these difficult times for the Jewish people worldwide – “then, when?” 

We now await a hearing date for the province’s appeal. We will not stop.

•••

If you wish to contribute to GAJE’s lawsuit for fairness in educational funding, please click here.

For further information, please contact Israel Mida at: imida1818@gmail.com

Charitable receipts for donations for income tax purposes will be issued by Mizrachi Canada. Your donations will be used for the sole purpose of underwriting the costs of the lawsuit.

•••

Shabbat shalom

Grassroots for Affordable Jewish Education (GAJE)

February 2, 2024

Am Yisrael Chai