Week of Aug. 13, 2015

The right to vote

The many Israelis who live in Canada do not have the right to vote in Israeli elections, as they do not have to live with the electoral results (“Canadian Israelis lose the right to vote – again,” July 30). 

Similarly I do not think Canadians who choose to live in Israel, or elsewhere, should expect to vote in Canadian elections.

Ezra Franken
Montreal

Pollard case a travesty 

The news that convicted U.S. spy Jonathan Pollard may be released in November is an announcement that is long overdue (“Jonathan Pollard set for release?” July 30).

Some time ago, I was retained as Canadian counsel for Pollard. I delivered many speeches on his behalf in Canada and in Israel. I once received a letter from then-U.S. president Bill Clinton saying that he would look into the matter. 

The tragedy of Pollard is that he has served more time in jail for supplying state secrets to a friendly nation than any person ever convicted of supplying state secrets to an enemy. His original trial was flawed when then-U.S. secretary of defence Caspar Weinberger sent a note to the trial judge asking that a plea bargain that had been in place be rescinded. Such an intervention in Canada would have amounted to a mistrial. 

His appeal was dismissed in a 2-to-1 decision, with the dissenting judge saying his conviction was a gross miscarriage of justice. 

It has been widely reported that if Pollard is released, he will not be allowed to visit Israel because his presence would result in a huge public demonstration that would cast the United States in a negative light. The Pollard case will forever remain a blight on the American justice system.  

Bert Raphael, president, The Jewish Civil Rights Association
Toronto

Hope for infertility 

My heart went out to the couples struggling with infertility issues, especially to the woman named Tikvah (“A reflection on heartache, hope and boundaries,” July 23). I’ve been where she’s at, and I would like to say to her: don’t lose tikvah (hope in Hebrew).

After five miscarriages I was treated in Israel and now have three wonderful children. The treatment included receiving white blood cells from my husband, because it was concluded that my immune system attacked the fetus, one of the lesser-known reasons for having a miscarriage (another is a tendency to develop blood clots, which can be treated with blood thinners).

This is an opportunity for me to hail the level of Israeli medicine and its doctors, way and above anything I’ve encountered anywhere else. Needless to say that fertility is of the highest importance in the Holy Land.

I hope Tikvah and others in her state read this and take it up with their doctors. It could mean the difference between being barren and being a parent.  

Michelle Lahav
Thornhill, Ont. 

Leaving the fold 

I am surprised that Shulem Deen does not realize that the high rate of suicides of those who have left the fold is not so much because they were shunned by their families, but because the culture shock of integration to secular society was in contrast to everything they believed in until now (“Suicide is a Jewish, not just a haredi tragedy,” July 30).

There is a story of a yeshiva student who decided to become an apostate. He said he will do three great transgressions, all in one. He will eat on Yom Kippur, which came out on Shabbos, which is two great transgressions. It is also forbidden to eat chailev (Hebrew for fat), which today could mean candle wax, so he thought he will try to do three sins at once.

He waited until everyone left the shul, then went over to where the candles were lit, took a handful of wax and threw it into his mouth. As he was nearly choking on it, he said “In vos zai kochen zich.” Loosely translated, this means, “This is what they get excited about?”

Let us hope that they will realize (and I quote) that home is not just a place to go back to when things don’t go as planned, but to cherish the faithful embrace of those who worry from afar and are ready to hold you close when you return.

Rebecca Aisenbach
Montreal

More women cantors

We were both pleased and dismayed at your cover article on female cantors and cantorial soloists, many of whom we have worked with as colleagues for a number of years (“Canada’s female cantors come into their own,” July 2). 

We were pleased, because of the progress many Canadian congregations have made in hiring clergy and Jewish professionals without regard to gender, and at how inclusive the liberal Jewish community has become over the years. But we were dismayed at the glaring omission of our cantorial soloist, Tara Abrams, who has been serving Temple Har Zion for 14 years full time. In addition to co-leading all worship at our shul, Abrams trains every bar/bat mitzvah student, teaches trop to adults, co-officiates at all weddings and funerals, and makes visits to hospitals and shivah houses. 

Abrams also is very active in the Toronto Council of Hazzanim and was the lead organizer of the Kol Isha concert in 2008.  She leads residents in song at Baycrest on Friday afternoons. She has been a participant in the Eilu ve’Eilu pluralistic prayer group in Toronto, and has brought musical scholars-in-residence to Temple Har Zion, including Josh Nelson, Alan Goodis, and Rabbi Ken Chasen. Her knowledge of hazzanut and ta’amei hamikra is extensive, and we are honoured to call her our partner in the spiritual leadership of our synagogue, the third-largest Reform shul in the Greater Toronto area.

Rabbi Cory Weiss, Rabbi Michael Stroh, Temple Har Zion 
Thornhill, Ont.