Free advice for the federal Liberal party
Well, well, well: it appears that Bob Rae has decided not to run for the federal Liberal leadership after all, despite rampant speculation over the past year that he would if the party let him. This has to be a relief for people who’d like to...
‘Israeli apartheid’ is a slur that does no one any good
Campuses around the world are beginning to witness a series of annual events known as Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW), and it’s a particularly depressing time of the year to be a progressive Jew. That’s because when you call Israel an apartheid regime, as many on the...
Linsanity and some personal soul-searching on race
The New York Knicks and Asian-American rookie phenom Jeremy Lin were in town last week to play the Toronto Raptors, and it led me to some personal soul-searching on race, particularly when it comes to Asians and Asian-Americans and Canadians. By now, many of you already know Lin’s...
Some interesting firsts in Canada’s Jewish community
A couple of noteworthy firsts passed with little fanfare this past December that are unusual in Canada’s religiously (and increasingly politically) conservative Jewish community. First, Temple Emanu-El Beth Sholom in Montreal named Rabbi Lisa Grushcow to succeed Rabbi Leigh Lerner, who will become rabbi emeritus of Canada’s...
A disingenuous piece of ‘news’
Over the weekend, I happened to visit the website of the Kashruth Council of Canada, the country’s largest kosher supervisory agency (yes, I lead a very exciting life), and I noticed that it contains the following helpful item in its news section — the place where...