In The Ottawa Community
* = New item this week
Community Events and Announcements
*Mary Jane Ainslie, “Challenging Antisemitism in Contemporary Maylasia,” Wednesday, March 10 at 7:30 pm EST. To attend, email michaelabaxleaney@outlook.com for Zoom link.
*The Jewish Studies program and the Center for Israel Studies at American University presents, “The Ravine: A Family, A Photograph, A Holocaust Massacre,” with author Wendy Lower. March 11, 11:20 am EST. Wendy Lower's extraordinary detective work identifies a Jewish family, their Nazi murderer and the photographer who caught the image. RSVP here.
*Ottawa Virtual Limmud. We wish we could Limmud with you in person but here is the next best thing… Limmud virtual sessions! We will be bringing high quality learning opportunities over 2021 in virtual format. The first session takes place Sunday, March 14, 2:00-3:30 pm EST, “Shira Tzefonit/Northern Poetry: An Online Anthology of Jewish Canadian Poets,” featuring, Karen Shenfeld, Rona Shaffran, B. Glen Rotchin, and Seymour Mayne. Free, but registration required at http://limmudottawa.ca/.
Invitation from KBI to demonstrate on behalf of the Uyghurs. This year, between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, members of Kehillat Beth Israel (KBI) demonstrated every weekday afternoon opposite the Chinese embassy on St. Patrick Street on behalf of the oppressed and
persecuted Uyghur population of China. At the conclusion of the week they decided to continue the demonstrations and protests on a weekly basis – they continue to meet and demonstrate one day a week, on Thursday afternoon. They have also reached out to other faith communities to join them in this stand and their numbers have grown over time.
The mistreatment of the Uyghurs, including forced labor and “re-education” camps, is reminiscent of the Jewish experience with concentration camps of the Second World War, in the opinion of campaign organizer Andre Brantz, which inspired him to start the protests in September. Since then, a committee of the Parliament of Canada has described the Uyghur persecution as a form of genocide.
This week, the Guardian newspaper published an article by Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis: "As chief rabbi, I can no longer remain silent about the plight of the Uyhgurs." The subtitle is: "An unfathomable mass atrocity is being perpetrated in China. The responsibility for doing something lies with all of us."
(https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/15/chief-rabbi-silent-plight-uighurs-atrocity-china)
We invite all members of the Ottawa Jewish community to join us on Thursday afternoons at 3 PM opposite the Chinese Embassy on St. Patrick Street. It is our hope and our prayer that this action, taken in conjunction with other political and economic actions, will raise awareness and will lead to the end of these atrocities.