State v. Religion

cross-posted to Jewschool

The separation of church and state is complicated in Canada, thanks to the notwithstanding clause in our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Nonetheless, the courts and (most) governments take strides to keep the two separate.

Recently, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in favour of Stephanie Burker, who had been trying to get a get from her ex-husband for 15-years. (If memory serves, hers is one of the stories in the documentary film “Untying the Bonds: Jewish Divorce.”)

“The fact that a dispute has a religious aspect does not by itself make it non-justiciable,” Judge Rosalie Abella wrote for the majority. Denying the woman the ability to remarry was “an unjustified and severe impairment of her ability to live her life in accordance with his country’s values and her Jewish beliefs.”

I find it encouraging, then, that the court was able to take a specifically religious issue - that of Jewish women, gets, and agunot - and examine it from a purely legal vantage - contract law. [Read more.]

In the wake of Quebec’s “reasonable accommodation” hearings, I’m curious to know if there has been any backlash against this ruling from the quebecois majority in Quebec, or from the Christian “majority” in the rest of Canada.

… And on “reasonable accommodation,” let’s speak to that for a moment. Over the last year, there was an increased backlash against Muslims and Jews in the [Catholic] province of Quebec. One small town outlawed hijabs and wrote a “code of conduct” instructing potential immigrants how to live “properly” in their town (the town has no immigrants). A young girl wasn’t allowed to play in a soccer tournament because she wore a hijab; her whole team walked off the field in protest solidarity. Teachers in Quebec declared it “unfair” that Jews could take days off for Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur, but they had to work on their Christian holidays (um, because apparently schools are open on Easter, Christmas, and Sundays?!). After Passover, a reporter urged patients, who hadn’t found the hospital’s policy problematic, to start complaining about having been served kosher l’pesach meals. The media urged the public to protest women being allowed to vote while wearing a niqab or burqa. And many, many, more examples.

The result was a whole lot of hatred towards non-quebecois residents/citizens of Quebec. The provincial government decided they needed to act, and quickly, so they set up a Commission. For those not aware of the procedures of a provincial Commission (or of a federal Royal Commission), they are anything but quick, and usually incredibly ineffective. Thus, the Bouchard-Taylor Commission set out to talk with quebecois and Quebecers about reasonable accommodation, immigration, racism, and related topics. From most accounts, the public hearings became venues for people to “legitimately” air racist, xenophobic, and otherwise bigoted opinions without fear of consequence. Few and far between were the positive accounts of what living in a pluralistic society can offer. [Listen here to CBC's Quebec This Week reporting on the first English hearing during the commission.]

It’s just sad that, in many ways, Quebec is so far behind the rest of Canada. Sure, it had legislation promoting equality between the genders decades before other provinces, but when it comes to racism, bigotry, religious and ethnic intolerance, xenophobia… Quebec is decades behind.

Good luck, Ms. Burker. I hope yours isn’t the only good religion-related news coming out of Quebec these days. Here’s to a hopeful 2008.

An Evening of Firsts!

Received my first “shneqel” coin in my change. That is, the recently introduced 2-sheqel coin. The design is interesting: looks like two shofars as cornucopia, with some of the seven species poking out, and a pomegranate in the centre.

For the first time since I arrived in August, I’ve seen an ambulance donated by Canadian Magen David Adom for Israel. But not just any CMDAI-donated ambulance - one I organized the fundraising for. It’s nice to see my work realised. (I know this as donors’ names are displayed on the doors of the ambulance, and these donors were folks I worked with.)

I read, and understood, tonight’s midrash! Well, 98% of the words. Woo! Previously, I’ve needed to look up waaay too many words, which makes learning a slow and frustrating process of read two words, look ‘em up, read two words, look ‘em up, try to phrase the previous words with the current words, read two words… repeat the process… Understanding what you read is a far superior method.

Building up the Settlements.

If the goal is peace, and if Olmert has acknowledged a two-state solution, then how can the government/army possibly think that building 740 new homes in settlements is productive?

“It is Israel’s duty to provide its citizens with a place to live.”

I agree, citizens need to have homes. But why do these homes have to be in East Jerusalem or the West Bank? And does this declaration mean that Arab residents of Israel will have an easier time acquiring the documentation to build/renovate their homes too? After all, they’re also citizens in need of places to live.

“Har Homa is an integral part of Jerusalem and Israel will not stop building there,” Mr Eitan said on Israeli Army Radio on Sunday.

Har Homa is only “integral” to extending the city limits of Jerusalem as far south as Bethlehem, cutting Beit Safafa and Sur Baher off from Beit Jala and Bethlehem. This is imperialistic, nothing but.

Frustration abounds. Read more (or here or here).

Graffiti: The Update

Shortly after arriving in Israel, I wrote about the rampant homophobic graffiti in Jerusalem, and posted some photographic evidence.

I’ve decided that it’s time for an update. This is best done, again, by sharing photographs snapped around town. Actually, these are all taken in a four block stretch of a major street that runs from my neighbourhood towards the city centre. Many of these have gone back and forth a few rounds (the original homophobic slur, a correction, reiterating the homophobia, a further correction…). In order to demonstrate that, I added notes to the photos on flickr, so I highly recommend you check them out individually there.

I like the alterations to the homophobia, and the different styles people are using to change the message. (Though, I admit that I don’t quite understand the squaring of the “h”.)

I’d like to thank the others who are helping with this project. I have my sharpie in hand every day, and there’s still more to do…

Singing and Dancing Yids

Has anyone else seen the television commercial for YES (an Israeli satellite station), wherein dozens of chareidi guys dance down the street to YMCA? I saw it on tv the other day, and thought it was great. Surprise, surprise, the chareidis aren’t impressed. (I especially enjoy the English sung with heavy Yiddish accents, and the line “it’s against the Torah!” being used as a selling point.)

And, I know I’m late with this review, but The Ten was sooo bad. And yet, I kept watching until the end. I’m not sure what was worse: seeing Winona Ryder sexing a ventriloquist dummy, the never ending anal rape scenes, or Paul Rudd’s introductions (and “singing!”). Or maybe it was the constant stream of B- and C-rate actors, reminding me of their potential and talents that weren’t be met in this movie. So, so bad.

Just four little girls

Taking the bus back to Jerusalem yesterday, something was amiss. It took me a while to realise that I was sensing the tenseness of my fellow riders and the driver. From my seat midway back, near the rear door, I could see that people kept checking over their shoulders towards something at the back of the bus. Eventually, that “something” revealed itself to be four young girls, sitting in the last row. Occasionally, they would say something really loudly, but I couldn’t understand what they were saying. Occasionally they would also burst into laughter. Occasionally they would sing a few lines of songs I didn’t recognize.

People started moving up to the first rows of the bus; eventually everyone was sitting in the first few rows except for me and a couple soldiers who remained seated two rows up and across the aisle from me. Around this point, the girls started shouting, singing, laughing, and, I think, taunting the driver and the passengers. (I really need to learn Hebrew slang, insults, and idioms.) I could see the driver watching the girls in his rearview mirror. One of the soldiers turned around and started talking to them, in a really calm tone. From the girls’ tones, and the soldiers’ reactions, they started insulting the soldiers. At this point, the second soldier became really angry and made to get up and go to the back of the bus, but the first soldier held him back.

I was starting to get nervous, and decided I should move to the front of the bus as well. Unfortunately, that was the point when one of the girls appeared in the seat next to me. I looked at her, then focused on staring out the window and ignoring her as much as possible. There was a lot of shouting, from the girls and soldiers, and more laughter from the girls. The soldiers got out of their seats - one pulled my neighbour out into the aisle and restrained her on the floor, while the second went to the back to keep the other three girls from moving forward to their friend. With the soldier holding the girl in the aisle, I was unable to move forward, as I couldn’t move out of my seat. About twenty minutes into my bus ride, the driver finally pulled over and we waited for the police. I took a good look at the girl who was still being held on the floor - she couldn’t have been more than 11- or 12-years old. The police arrived, came on board, pulled the four girls off - kicking and singing and laughing. I watched through the window as the police made them take their jackets and sweaters off. I suspected I knew why they were being made to do that, but I wanted confirmation so I asked the soldier in my broken Hebrew. He explained that the girls had said that our bus ride was going to end with a “bang” (he mimed an explosion and said, “ba-boom”). A police came on board, examined the area where they had been seated, spoke briefly with the soldiers and the driver, and then we were back on the road again. For the remainder of the ride, the atmosphere was totally relaxed, calm; the passengers were chatting away as if nothing had happened out of the ordinary.

… I realise I’m not in Canada. And I realise that bombs on busses are far more common here than at home. And I realise that I didn’t actually see a bomb, or proof that the girls weren’t just spinning stories. But… I just can’t believe how quickly everything was “back to normal.” The whole time we were stopped on the side of the highway was maybe five or six minutes. Were this Canada, the passengers would all have been removed from the bus, we would all have given statements, and the bus would probably have been kept as evidence. But here? After a few minutes we continued on our way. It didn’t even make the news.

I’m a little shaken, but okay otherwise. I did decide, however, to walk home from the Jerusalem bus station instead of getting on a city bus to get home.

The White Stuff

I could laugh, gloat, point out that I was wearing shorts today… But who am I kidding? I really miss it.

Save some for me? Make some snowballs and put them in the freezer?