Letters to the editor
Congregation Emanu-El is a Home for All
Rabbi Harry Brechner
Volume 28 Issue 7, 8 & 9 | Posted: September 18, 2014
Dear Congregants,
This is a letter from our congregational rabbi and president. The many difficult events of this summer affect us all. There is a feeling of fracturing within our community. The anxiety fuelled by the war in Gaza combined with an emerging fear of anti-semitism are troubling as well as alienating.
We watched anti-Israel demonstrations turn ugly and hateful not just on the streets of Paris and Antwerp but in Calgary, Toronto and Montreal. During the heat of unfolding events and in light of the emotional import that these events hold it is paramount that we maintain a sense of unity and connection.
Dear Congregants,
This is a letter from our congregational rabbi and president. The many difficult events of this summer affect us all. There is a feeling of fracturing within our community. The anxiety fuelled by the war in Gaza combined with an emerging fear of anti-semitism are troubling as well as alienating.
We watched anti-Israel demonstrations turn ugly and hateful not just on the streets of Paris and Antwerp but in Calgary, Toronto and Montreal. During the heat of unfolding events and in light of the emotional import that these events hold it is paramount that we maintain a sense of unity and connection.
In our weekly newsletter there was an article/invitation regarding a new Jewish dialogue group “If Not Now When.” Numbers of congregants felt that this new group holds a message that is politically charged. Readers of the newsletter also misconstrued that the congregation endorses “If Not Now When.”
As a congregation we do not endorse any political group and this article/invitation was the initiative of a member. Clearly this should have been noted since “If Not Now When” is something new and now we know for some of us hold ideas that are loaded and controversial.
We want you to know that Congregation Emanu-El does all that we can to ensure that our congregation is a home for all of us. We do our best to transcend politics ensuring that all of our family members feel safe, heard and welcome in our collective home. Our newsletter has always been a forum for publicizing Jewish opportunities in our greater community.
Our shul is a place where we practice tolerance, understanding and collaboration. Our shul is a community of Ohavei Shalom and Rodfei Shalom, lovers and pursuers of peace. We reject poisonous ideologies that are racist and insist on dehumanizing the other.
In light of the fracturing that feels like it is happening all around us it is important that we treat each other with tenderness and care. We are in the Hebrew month of Av – a time when we deeply request comfort. We believe that the foundation for comfort is compassion.
B’virkat Shalom
With blessings of peace and wholeness
Rabbi Harry and Aharon Ittah
Rabbi Harry Brechner