Last month I planned a Happy Hanukkah letter, but after these military operations, that look much scarier from here, I felt it wasn't the right time. But maybe it is time to write about the Jewish community and its relationship with Israel. Toronto's Jewish community is spread over the city, so it takes time to find them. For example, a couple of years ago I saw a one-person tent in front of a house on my street. It looked strange, since it was snow all around. After few days that the tent stayed there, I realized this tent was a sukkah.
From the outset, places like the Jewish community center look like a fitness club, and everybody is welcome, the same way Jewish and Muslims go to YMCA. Their cooperation with other religions is something worth bringing to Israel, like at the university's multi-faith center. But digging deeper you find that Judaism is much more than a yoga club.
In general American Jewish don't like Israelis writing about them, so I should say that Jewish Americans are very diverse, from people who have relatives in Israel and visited there, to people for whom Israel is the first place they will visit, after Antarctica. Their reactions can range from "Israeli hero!" to "Israeli, what are you doing here?". Sometimes it feels like Jewish were working very hard to build their reputation, which Israelis with their aggressiveness are working very hard to destroy. And sometimes I realize Israelis are completely unaware how much support they get from Jewish Americans, in various forms at unexpected places. For American Jewish, Israel is always present in their life to some extent, but Israelis don't bother about American communities.
For example, American may check an Israeli newspaper website, whereas Israelis seldom check Jewish American sites. If they do, they find them unrelated to their world or boring.
Language is a big barrier between the communities. For Americans, every Jewish they know speaks perfect English, and they simply can't understand the English spoken in middle-eastern deserts. Why can't these people pronounce "R"? For Israelis, it is strange there are Jewish that don't speak Hebrew, never read Hebrew newspaper or watched Israeli television. I must admit I was surprised by the level of Hebrew they teach here at schools, and in my opinion the Canadian Hebrew accent is softer and clearer than US accent.
Israel is similar to an Island. People got there and their culture started to evolve, to the good or bad. American Jewish culture didn't follow the same route, and therefore it is becoming more and more difficult for them to understand what is going on in Israel (America is also complicated, but due to its size, while its components are relatively simple). Events in Canada don't occur that fast. For example, for Israelis, Arafat and Sharon are already history. Jewish Canadians have much longer historic memory. It is very much reflected in their traditional names, which have very little intersection with contemporary Israeli names.
To bridge these gaps, Americans started the Birthright program (the Hebrew name is discovery), where students get a free trip to Israel. Although for Israelis these programs look like "old Israel we show to Americans", participants experience great revelation. On the other side, in Israel traditionalists propose returning to traditional values as a cure to cultural problems, while liberals call for reconnection to the western culture. I think these are two sides of the same coin, because traditional Judaism has always been an integral part of the western culture. In a paraphrase on Netaniahu, many Israelis, including the religious ones, forgot they are Jewish. Maybe Israelis need a reverse discovery program.
