The church representing more than one million Anglicans in Canada has voted to formally replace an old prayer calling for the conversion of Jews, even though it is rarely still used. During a synod that ended over the Canada Day weekend, Anglican officials voted to expunge it from the Book of Common Prayer. They replaced it with a new prayer for reconciliation with the Jews.
While Jewish leaders welcomed the gesture, they are upset with a second resolution, adopted at the same meeting, which is strongly critical of Israel, the occupation of the West Bank and the blockade of Gaza, and also what the Church sees as “systemic” human rights abuses against Palestinians.
The resolution was initially going to be even harsher, until a Canadian rabbi addressed the meeting and explained why they had to change some wording: that compared Israeli treatment of Palestinians to how colonialists treated Canada’s First Nation communities.
On The CJN Daily, we speak to Rabbah Gila Caine of Temple Beth Ora in Edmonton about how she found herself teaching Judaism and Israel to the third-largest body of Christians in Canada.
What we talked about
- Find out more about Rabbah Gila Caine of Temple Beth Ora in Edmonton, at her website
- Read our past coverage of the Anglican Church mulling removing the prayer for conversion of Jews in The CJN, from 2019
- Learn more about how the United Church of Canada’s harder stance on the Middle East angered Canadian rabbis in 2022, on The CJN Daily
Transcript
Rabbah Gila Caine:
But I’m not here to expand on sections we agree on, rather to call your attention to some language and concepts which have been used and which are guaranteed to be offensive to Jews, in the sense that they negate our identity and our very place in the world. So I’m referring, of course, to section 4 of the proposed resolution where we read, and I’m quoting now, “we ask our churches to study and reflect upon the parallels between the dispossession of Palestinians from their homes and lands and the experience of broken treaties and the occupation of unseeded territories of indigenous peoples in Canada.”
Ellin Bessner:
That’s the voice of Rabbah Gila Caine. She’s the spiritual leader of Edmonton Temple, Beth Ora, and she was speaking a couple of weeks ago at the policymaking gathering of the Anglican Church of Canada. They’re the third largest Christian denomination in the country with over a million followers. So why was a Jewish rabbi speaking at a keynote speech about Israel and Judaism at the Anglican Synod, which is where their bishops and clergy and lay leaders set down policy every couple of years? Well, because the Anglican Church was about to debate a resolution number A160, about Peace and Justice in Palestine and Israel. That’s how they call it. And Canada’s rabbis, and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs had got wind of it in advance, and they were not happy with it, because it blames Israel completely for all the trouble without saying a word about Palestinian terrorism against Israel. And the resolution calls on Canada to monitor why Israel, it says, is jailing and also killing Palestinian children. The resolution describes systemic discrimination against Palestinians. And there’s a lot more, such as welcoming reports by groups such as Betselem and Amnesty International, which the Israeli government sees as totally one sided. And although the resolution does support Israel’s right to exist and condemns antisemitism, there’s also a comparison between the Palestinian people and First Nations in Canada, which is where Rabbah Gila Caine came in.
Rabbah Gila Caine:
In response to that I would like to remind us that the whole world is not Canada and cannot be read through the Canadian experience. A letter sent to you by the mainstream Canadian Jewish organizations just a few days ago explains this clearly, to call us colonizers delegitimizes Jewish history and self determination, and quote, “it also attempts to undermine our core identity as Jews and to shatter our connection to all that is sacred and life giving.”
Ellin Bessner:
I’m Ellin Bessner and this is what Jewish Canada sounds like for Monday, July the 17th 2023. Welcome to The CJN Daily a podcast of the Canadian Jewish news sponsored by Metropia.
Music
Ellin Bessner:
The Anglican Synod had another resolution on the books about Jews, which just passed a day or two earlier where they got rid of a long-standing prayer in their official hymn book that called for the conversion of Jews and instead, they replaced it with a new one calling for reconciliation with the Jewish people. So that resolution prompted a nice press release from CIJA the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and was a gratifying moment also for Vancouver Rabbi Adam Stein, who’d played a key role in getting that done over the past three to four years. So fast forward the next day when CIJA and Canada’s rabbis fired off a critical news release over the resolution about Peace and Justice in Palestine in Israel, because it passed. And even though there were some Anglicans who tried to have the resolution put on hold until they could have more talks with Jewish leaders, the Anglican primate herself, Archbishop Linda Nicholls urged the gathering to adopt it now. Still, the final resolution did get amended a bit, thanks to a powerful and heartfelt speech by Rabbah Caine. She was born and raised in Jerusalem. She serves as the rabbi at Edmonton’s Reform congregation Temple Beth Ora, and she joins me now to explain what she said, and what happened.
Rabbah Gila Caine:
Shalom. Thank you for the invitation.
Ellin Bessner:
Thank you for getting up so early to be on our show. I want to talk to you because you were just at the Anglican Church /Lutheran Synod in Calgary and spoke and addressed the members there. And I think it’d be really helpful for us to hear first of all a little background and how that came to happen, that you actually were there.
Rabbah Gila Caine:
Reverend Scott Sherman, who was one of the people who was involved in creating a certain resolution that I was actually going down to address is someone I know here from Edmonton, and I have a few colleagues, friends, people, I’m in some contact with the Anglican Church. And he approached me a few months ago to ask if I or someone else some other rabbi from Alberta would be able to come down and address the Synod relating to this resolution that was in the pipelines, and they wanted to receive some feedback or thoughts from the Jewish community.
Ellin Bessner:
All right, so you had seen the resolution too before you decided what to say. Let’s talk about what was the resolution and what was problematic about it.
Rabbah Gila Caine:
Okay, so I think various sections of the Jewish community would have various problems or issues or questions about this. It’s not the first such resolution. We know that the United Church had a resolution a couple of years ago, and I’m sure other big religious bodies have these kinds of resolutions coming out now. And it’s a resolution on Peace and Justice in Palestine and Israel. And it’s from specifically from a Christian perspective, relating to the… generally through the situation in Israel and Palestine. But as I was listening to them, actually, at the Synod, it was really interesting to see their focus on their Christian brothers and sisters in Israel, right? So that was actually a perspective that I haven’t heard before. It was very interesting for me. My main problem with the resolution, like the biggest problem that I had, and that’s the one I addressed when I was speaking to them, was a section talking about our parallels between the dispossession of Palestinians from their homes and lands, and experience of broken treaties and occupation of unseeded territories of indigenous peoples in Canada and it goes on a bit.
Ellin Bessner:
Okay. I mean, on that point they basically equated white supremacy and colonial settlerism with those languages. Right. Those are the words the settler colonial language, about Canada and the European settlers dispossessed the First Nations here to Jewish settlers and dispossessing the Palestinians. So how did you tell them these were offensive?
Rabbah Gila Caine:
So, I knew I was addressing, I’m a rabbi, I told them very clearly that I am speaking as a rabbi and not as a politician. And I knew I was addressing a room of religious leaders. So, the language I used was religious. And I just gave them a little yort, dyar Torah about the connection between the Jews and Eretz Yisrael. And it was very clear to talk about Eretz Yisrael because I’m not going into this hole, which what government is doing what, okay, but the connection between the Jewish people and Eretz Yisrael precedes the State of Israel. Okay. That’s the reason why there is a state, but we’ve had a connection for a few thousand years. And I spoke to them not only, not only gave them a few examples, just because they’re religious people to understand, you know, how our synagogues are oriented towards Eretz Israel, about the prayers for rain that are always in alignment without the soil. But I specifically (she said mamash which is Hebrew) much talked about how Jewishness is a land-based identity and spirituality. And that’s, that’s what I the whole talk was unpacking this statement of what it means to be a land-based identity and spirituality and how it plays out in Jewish culture and tradition. And it’s so much a physical thing with us that our physicality is so much connected to the land at a used I specifically use language that Canadians can understand. Okay, so land-based identity is something Canadians can understand. And I showed them how this appears within Jewish culture. And that it’s not a political thing. It’s a religious, spiritual, cultural part of who we are. And I think most Jews can agree on that.
Ellin Bessner:
Right. Even the ones who would agree with some of the language in these resolutions, such as opposing the occupation – their words – in this resolution, opposing what Israel’s blockade of Gaza and all that. So, what did they do? Did you succeed in watering down some of the problematic language?
Rabbah Gila Caine:
Yes. So first of all, I would like to say that the whole assembly was extremely friendly and welcoming. They wanted to hear what I had to say. They were listening. And I know they were listening. Because after, so we had three, there were three people talking. And then there was time for two priests and then myself, one for the Anglican and one from the Lutheran traditions. And then I spoke, and then they were all a table. So, they had time for conversation in their tables. And then they came back. And as they came back, they already told me that they were probably going to change the language. And then I heard later on that they actually took out the whole section relating to the whole settler colonialism language. I’ll just go a step back and say, from the very start, they told me that they really want to have an open conversation with the Jewish community, and they missed the time. There used to be a time way before I came to Canada, so I don’t know much about it. There used to be a time when there was actual ongoing meetings between the churches. And now I know we have it with the Catholic Church, but we don’t have it with many of the other churches,
Ellen Bessner:
Right because the rabbinical Council as far as I remember, hauled out of this body because of their position on BDS and boycott, divestment, sanctions and on Israel. And that’s why there is, as you said, one at the local level, interfaith ecumenical stuff, but not at a national level, especially with the United Church, that’s for sure.
Rabbah Gila Caine:
But they did say that they to renew, they want to have this relationship. And they were listening, they said, this was helpful for them to understand the language. And I told them, this sort of language, I very clearly said that the language was this sort of language is offensive. So, so they, I hope that they listened. They took it out. And I think, at least, and I think the welcoming feeling there was because they want to have a conversation. What I understood. Now, they didn’t change the whole resolution. And I think I was able to express that. Not that I agree with the resolution, but that this is a conversation that some of us are having, for our own sake, right, for a Jewish sake, for the sake of you know, our identity and our behavior as Jews and the way we live within a framework of Torah and mitzvot. And I think that this sort of language of saying, okay, as religious people we have, we have a space for conversation about this might have been useful. I don’t know,
Ellin Bessner:
They sent in a ringer. That’s it. The rabbinical political strategist sending the right person, obviously, because you speak the same language, although there are other things that you didn’t talk about which I know that, for example, CIJA, and the rabbinical Council of Canada, of which they are an offshoot is very upset about and that is that the Palestinians do not have any agency in this resolution. In other words, everything is Israel’s fault. Everything is the Jewish state’s fault. And there’s no agency at all, no blame, they did nothing wrong. It’s all only the Palestinians, poor Palestinians, which that is another issue we didn’t talk about. But I want to know what did you tell them that that there’s some missing parts and who’s to blame?
Rabbah Gila Caine:
I didn’t, I didn’t go into the whole resolution, not because I disagree with what you just said. But because I thought I had 10 minutes to talk, I wanted to be very clear about the point I am making and have enough time to develop that point in a way that they understand. Because I think a core problem like a lot of core problem may be like the biases, like the basic problem, in many of these conversations is that Christians and people of European descent, for some reason, use this equation. And then, because they use this equation of Jews with settler colonialists and other places, they can then develop it into a story they already know in their heads. But it’s a different story. It was really important for me, to help them understand our perspective, that it is absolutely a different story. And once I think you understand that, you can already develop the conversation in other ways, right? But as long as we’re within this sort of framework of you know, absolute victims and absolute perpetrators, which is the story of settler colonialism, the way they’re developing it, then then we can’t move. They’re like, we can’t move. There’s no so I made a very conscious decision of focusing on one subject,
Ellin Bessner:
You pick your battles. ‘
Rabbah Gila Caine:
I absolutely pick my battles. You can all that’s what you can only ever do. Yeah. And that was my battle.
Ellin Bessner:
There are other issues that are curious to me in this resolution that they decided they don’t want to have. They want to root out Christian Zionism, from their party, from their, from their politics from their, from their membership. They want to support Palestinian and Christians more than Christian Zionists. And I thought the current Israeli government welcomes Christian Zionists, they came to Canada I mean, Amichai Chikli came to Canada, the Diaspora Minister recently, and he met with several 100 of them, maybe 1000 Christian Zionists who believe in a full biblical state of Israel, including all the occupied territories, West Bank and Gaza as one nation and so.
Rabbah Gila Caine:
I understood this section more as an as an inner Christian conversation of some of the more liberal parts of Christianity or some Christian theology, which is embedded in, you know, Anglicanism and Lutheranism relating to some more extreme parts of the Evangelical Christian movement in it, you know, we have our differences within the Jewish community, and I’m sure the Christians have their own differences and their own inner conversations that have nothing to do with us, in which we might be a tool, or we might be a name to be used, but it’s about their own theological questions.
Ellin Bessner:
So, it’s very interesting. And then the next part is we want to reflect this is interesting, we want to reflect upon the long-standing history of antisemitism and Christianity, and the legacy of it in our biblical interpretation and theology. So that brings us to the next major development in this Synod, which is there used to be this very problematic prayer about “We’re going to convert all poor Jews, they refuse to become Christians. And now we’re going to pray and try to convert them.” And that’s gone. And so, I wonder your thoughts about that movement, that development from this coming out of this conference, how important is that?
Rabbah Gila Caine:
So, they’re not just eliminating something, they brought in a new prayer and a new hope of reconciliation? And that was another piece of language that I used. Because I think I’m hoping, right, that this is an actual intention of theirs of how do we do reconciliation work? From what I understood I think they are worried. Okay. And they were talking specifically, it was interesting was the first time I heard people like no Christian people talking specifically about the Christian Palestinians, which is a very again, it’s a very specific intersection. Okay, a very specific place in society. They were talking about them. They were talking about them, of course, only from the perspective of how the Jewish state is harming them and not how maybe living within Muslim Palestinian space might be difficult for Christians. Nachon, granted.
Ellin Bessner:
Right, there was a cemetery on Mount Zion that was recently desecrated, and they’re worried about that.
Rabbah Gila Caine:
So, I think, you know, there is a solution comes from their own worries and fears. But it was, again, as you said, it’s at the same moment where they’re asking for reconciliation with the Jews. Okay. And I’m not sure it negates each other. And the question is, how, how are we able, as a Jewish community, and want as a Jewish community to be part of this reconciliation work? And come to it with, you know, with an open heart and open mind saying, “Look, we have disagreements, on many points in this resolution.”
But at least, and contrary to other resolutions that have happened over the past few years, at least, they did come to us to hear our voice. And, you know, it was for me, you know, it was scary, but also an honour to be there, to speak to all these people and to be listened to and to have them listen, and, you know, be open to learning a Jewish perspective on our relationship to the land. I think it’s ongoing work. But you know what, I’m talking to the Jews now. Self, because this is my this is who I’m talking to always to us to ourselves. How are we open to this conversation? And where do we want to be part of it?
Ellin Bessner:
Do we? So where do where does the Jewish community now go forward. Speak from the rabbinical council. So now what happens? The resolutions are passed. One is a good one. One is not so good. There are some issues with it. What do you guys have to do? Are you writing a letter? Are you meeting with the primate? Again, what’s the plan?
Rabbah Gila Caine:
Well, I’m not I’m not under, you know, Canadian rabbinic caucus. I am within the, you know, within the Reform Movement in Canada. I don’t know what we’re going to do yet. But I think there’s good intention here. And good intent. Okay. I think people came to us wanting conversation. I don’t know if everyone in the Anglican Church, but some people in the Anglican Church, some people in the Lutheran church, one conversation, we’ll see. I don’t know, I won’t speak for institutions, because I’m not part of the big institutions. But I think they did you know, they extended a hand. We extended a hand back, maybe we can go from there. Who knows? It’s always worth a try.
Ellin Bessner:
There was a thing that they talk here. They affirm the state of Israel’s rightful place in the community of nations and recognize its legitimate security needs. So, they’re not saying Israel has no right to exist. So that’s, (take out second that’s) that’s a win. That’s something that other critics would be watching for if it’s in there. And that wasn’t. And they also talk about, at the bottom, we joined the World Council of Churches in recognizing that Israeli discrimination against Palestinians is overt and systematic against human dignity and 2022 suppression of some NGOs by a Netanyahu government. They didn’t mention it, but we know what they mean. Without effective opposition is a bad example of human rights. So, anyway those are some good things but also problematic things. I don’t know if you want to talk about those at all.
Rabbah Gila Caine:
Again, I am only talking form a Jewish perspective and to us and ourselves. I think we need to ask ourselves some questions about the way the state of Israel is representing us. I think we have a right as Jews to ask these questions because it’s our country. It’s our land, it’s our country, we need to ask questions. And, when certain government behave in certain ways, we are allowed to ask questions about it. It’s our people, not because other people are asking questions because it’s us, it’s our home. We need to keep our home clean.
Ellin Bessner:
You did not go as a representative of the rabbinical council of Canada or CIJA didn’t send you? This was your own initiative or there was?
Rabbah Gila Caine:
They knew I was going. I was in conversation with CIJA. They knew I was going. But the peoplewho approached me to go was the Anglican church. They asked me and then I was in conversation with my colleagues and with everyone. Everybody knew I was going, and I think I got Birkat HaDerech to go because I asked very specifically. But the invitation came from that side and not from.
Ellin Bessner:
Did the Synod give you any gifts? Or did you bring any gifts for them? Tell me what that was about.
Rabbah Gila Caine:
Yes, I actually got a gift. They were lovely. Thank you card. I got a beautiful little picture of Pigeon Lake, which is a lake here in the area between Calgary and Edmonton. And they were just very welcoming. They were mamash thankful. Like they were actually thankful that I came. They said they wanted to hear what we were saying, what Jews were saying. They listened. They were in conversation. So, it felt very safe to be there.
Ellin Bessner:
Really appreciate you being on The CJN Daily. It’s been great to meet you.
Rabbah Gila Caine:
Thank you very much.
Credits
The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our intern is Ashok Lamichhane (@jesterschest on Twitter).Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We’re a member of The CJN Podcast Network. To subscribe to this podcast, please watch this video. Donate to The CJN and receive a charitable tax receipt by clicking here.