MONTREAL — At least 65 rabbis across the country will use the power of the pulpit this Shabbat – Dec. 6 – to launch a campaign calling on the Canadian government and parliamentarians to step up efforts on behalf of Gilad Schalit, left, the Israeli soldier who was taken captive by Hamas in a cross-border raid on June 25, 2006.
Schalit, now 22, is believed to be alive and in captivity in Gaza.
Rabbis from Halifax to Vancouver have agreed to exhort congregants on Dec. 6 to write letters to their MPs and relevant parliamentarians, such as the foreign affairs minister or those in opposition, urging them to bring up Schalit’s case in Parliament and at international forums such as the United Nations.
“This is an initiative starting with rabbis and synagogues,” Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz of Montreal’s Tifereth Beth David Jerusalem synagogue told The CJN, “but we’re planning to spread it to campuses, federations, and eventually as a lobbying mission to Parliament Hill.
The mobilization effort started in mid-November with letters to Canadian rabbis co-signed by rabbis Steinmetz and Reuben Poupko, spiritual leaded of Montreal’s Beth Israel Bath Aaron Congregation.
They co-chair the Canadian Rabbinic Caucus (CRC), described by Rabbi Steinmetz as the “rabbinic arm” of the Canada-Israel Committee. Another “major partner,” Rabbi Steinmetz said, has been the Canadian Jewish Public Affairs Committee (CJPAC), which advocates for Israel on behalf of its membership, and whose state-of-the-art computer software is being utilized for the lobbying campaign.
“What we really want is for the Canadian parliament and government to speak out at the United Nations, the Red Cross, even to the Egyptian government, to take up Gilad Schalit’s case.
“At the very least [we’d like to see a] visit [to Schalit] by the Red Cross,” Rabbi Steinmetz said. “This is the beginning of a co-ordinated campaign.”
Rabbi Chaim Strauchler of Toronto’s Shaarei Shomayim Congregation, who will address the issue from the pulpit as part of the initiative, told The CJN he believes rabbis, as communal leaders, “need to speak to our people to rally their consciousness and engage in what’s crucial to our people.
“We pray for [Schalit] all the time, that he should return safely,” he said, adding that not just prayer, but “constructive action” is warranted.
Rabbi Wayne Allen of Beth Tikvah Synagogue in Toronto said that his goal in participating in the project is “to make people think about the freedoms we enjoy here… and that we have an obligation to our people, wherever they may be, to rescue them from captivity.”
“There is a real feeling that we as a Jewish community have not paid enough attention to Gilad Schalit,” said Rabbi Steinmetz.
“I think there has been a little bit of a laissez-faire attitude. But I think this [campaign] can have a serious impact. This is a critical cause and we take it very seriously. Canada can make a big difference in Gilad Schalit’s life.”
Rabbi Steinmetz said he had been mulling over the idea to do more for Schalit since Rosh Hashanah, and he believes the initiative represents perhaps the first time rabbis anywhere have been galvanized in this way for his cause. The CRC is also supplying participating rabbis with backgrounders for their sermons and flyers to distribute to congregants.
“It is a large complement of the Canadian pulpit rabbinate,” he said.
Rabbi Steinmetz also remains convinced that pressure by Canada and other international actors on Hamas could “make a difference,” despite the terror group probably being “somewhat averse to listening to the international community.
“Pressure can work everywhere, even with Hamas.”
Rabbi Steinmetz said he finds it “somewhat sad” that the Schalit case has not been taken up more by the grassroots of Jewish communities around the world, perhaps out of sentiments of “leaving it to Israel” or that if things “are quiet, why push?”
He could not disagree more.
“I have to emphasize, this is just the beginning,” he said. “It’s critical we start here. You’ve got to start somewhere, and this is where we start.
Rabbi Poupko agreed, calling it important for Canadian Jews and parliamentarians to “be engaged” in the case and that Schalit should not be forgotten.
“They have to remember that there is a young Jewish man still being held hostage.”
With files from Frances Kraft
