September 24, 2009 Letters

Rabbinical ‘brain drain’

As an American-trained Canadian rabbi who chose to return to Toronto upon ordination, I was struck by Daniel Held’s column “Where have the Canadians gone?” (Sept. 10). Held correctly notes the disproportionately high number of Canadians, himself included (“Cdn. fellows named,” Aug. 13), in American-based Jewish professional training programs, and especially in the prestigious Wexner Graduate Fellowship. Our community should be proud.
Of Canadians who go to the United States for Jewish training, he writes: “These young leaders don’t come back.” Unfortunately, he overstates the point. It is wonderful, and Held would argue remarkable, that both Canadians in my graduating class from the Rabbinical School of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America – Rabbi Jarrod Grover of Beth Tikvah Synagogue being the other – took jobs in Toronto upon ordination this past May. I like to think here that Canada has not lost, but has rather regained the “best and brightest of our professional Jewish minds.”
Notwithstanding our experience, beyond familial attachments and the usual “Canada is better than America” shpeel, there is little incentive for Canadians to return. Held’s proposed solution to the declared “brain drain,” more scholarships with return-to-Canada-upon-graduation stipulations, while commendable, is only partial and not appropriate for more specialized fields such as the pulpit rabbinate, where each denomination has few and oftentimes no openings for newly minted rabbis.
I challenge our community organizations to develop more summer and year-long internships, much as law firms do, aimed at Canadians, where, if everyone is happy, upon graduation, the internship develops into a full-time job. Ultimately, however, I am less concerned about Canadians returning than about how we promote ourselves to all Jewish professionals. While a Canadian comes with insider knowledge, she is not always the best person for the job. The number of non-Canadians in my class even considering coming to Canada was decidedly small.
Rabbi Adam Cutler
Beth Tzedec Congregation
Toronto

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Cotler vs. Kenney

Why does The CJN give member of Parliament Irwin Cotler better coverage by placing him on page 1 than it gives cabinet minister Jason Kenney, placed on page 56, denouncing Hamas and Hezbollah as anti-Semitic? (“Cotler briefs South African leaders on Iran” and “Kenney denounces Hamas, Hezbollah as ‘anti-Semitic,’” Sept. 10)
Cotler is nothing but a backbench MP of a party that when in power, never placed either of those groups on the government’s terrorist list and who consistently voted against Israel at the United Nations.
Meanwhile the Conservative party is the strongest supporter of Israel since former prime minister Brian Mulroney, yet your paper continues to favour the Liberals. Get with it.
Sam Goldstein
Toronto

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UJA financial information

I have recently received a richly illustrated brochure of UJA Federation of Greater Toronto’s many activities, together with a solicitation to contribute to this year’s campaign. I do not doubt UJA’s important role in the life of the Jewish community, here and overseas, nor of the many institutions and programs that rely heavily on its support for their activities.
I am, however, troubled by a critical omission in the UJA brochure or other literature that I have received. There is no accounting worthy of the name of how the funds collected by the UJA in the past year have been disbursed among the various beneficiaries, how much has been retained as a reserve fund, or the size of administrative expenses incurred by the organization in absolute terms and as a ratio of the collected funds.
I recently received the annual report of the president of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. It contains a separate section providing a considerable amount of detail about the the university’s income and expenditures, as is to be expected from an institution of this importance. We know, too, of course, that securities regulations in Canada and the United States require the issuers of publicly traded securities to provide their shareholders with regular financial reports.
Those who support the UJA are also “investors” in an enormously important enterprise and deserve to be treated no less seriously. By providing the missing financial information, the UJA could also serve as an important role model for other fundraising institutions in the Jewish community that have been similarly deficient in reporting on the financial aspects of their operations.
Jacob Ziegel
Toronto

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No lack of information about Machal

I was quite astonished to read in the interview with Immanuel Braverman about what he feels is a lack of knowledge about Machal, the volunteers who fought for Israel in the War of Independence (“Important to tell people about Machal,” Sept. 3). I would draw Braverman’s attention to David Azrieli’s book Rekindling the Torch (I was co-author), which includes a massive section on Machal. The book includes an authoritative list of every Canadian who volunteered – including Braverman – plus pictures and stories. We worked with Machal’s archivists in Canada and the United States (at the University of Florida). At the book’s launches in Montreal and Toronto, invitations were sent to all Machalniks we could find and many attended these events. Furthermore, my own new history of Jewish Montreal, Fabled City, also has a substantial section on Machal.
Joe King
Montreal

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Free Gilad Schalit

Aug. 26, Gilad Schalit’s birthday, was marked by human rights champions who have been struggling to free the wounded Israeli soldier since his kidnapping by Hamas in June 2006. His fate is a litmus test for the international human rights community. The Raoul Wallenberg International Movement for Humanity (RWIMH) insists on some efficient, punitive economic sanctions of Hamas that would secure Schalit’s freedom.
Vera Parnes
President, RWIMH
Montreal