In The Ottawa Community
* = New item this week
Community Events and Announcements
* "NOTIONS OF COMMEMORATION" with guest speaker, Dr. Rachel Korazim, Wednesday, April 7 at 7:00 - 8:15 pm. Hosted by the Jewish Community of Amherst and Temple Beth El, https://zoom.us/j/94267680861
During this online program, Dr. Rachel Korazim will guide us through a tour of Yad Vashem, the museum in Jerusalem that commemorates the Holocaust. Rachel will discuss reading the site of Yad Vashem as an open textbook written in stones, trees and artwork. How do we remember - the one and the millions, the evil and the righteous, the heroes and the victims? The memory of the Shoah is intertwined with the creation of the State of Israel. Yad Vashem is a reflection of the struggle to shape Israel's way of remembering.
Dr. Korazim is a freelance Jewish education consultant in curriculum development for Israel and Holocaust education. She engages audiences worldwide through innovative presentations built around the stories, poems and songs of Israel’s best writers. Her thought-provoking talks open a window onto Israeli society, inviting listeners to engage with the country and its history in new ways. She teaches at Israel’s well-known learning centers such as Pardes and the Shalom Hartman Institutes, as well as in numerous Jewish communities worldwide.
* Funny – You Don’t Look Jewish!
A Zoom program by the co-authors of JewAsian: Race, Religion and Identity for America's Newest Jews. Thursday April 8 1:30-2:30 pm
For more information click here.
This event is part of the Jews, Race, and Religion series at the Katz Center of the University of Pennsylvania and is co-sponsored by the Center for Jewish Ethics at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. The series examines research and conversations about race, racism, and anti-racism along with the Jewish experience. The event will be recorded and available on the Katz Center’s YouTube channel.
* Cross Canada Virtual Yom Ha'shoah event. The Centre for Holocaust Education and Scholarship (CHES) is pleased for the 2nd year to partner with other Canadian Holocaust organizations for a Cross Canada Virtual Yom Ha'shoah event. April 8, 2021, 7:00 pm. REGISTER FOR THE EVENT AND TO RECEIVE THE PROGRAM LINK at: https://form.jotform.com/21063635284024
Upcoming free webinars of the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism at Indiana University:
Yana Grinspun, “New Forms of Antisemitism in Contemporary France,” Sunday, April 11, 2021, noon EST. Registration
András Kovács, “Antisemitism in post-Communist Hungary,” Sunday, April 18, 2021, noon EST. Registration
Anthony Julius, “Anti-Semitism as a Hostile Environment – Theory and Contemporary Instances,” Sunday, April 25, 2021, noon EST. Registration
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.
