Advocacy @ HBT: What you can do

Advocacy @ HBT: What you can do

The week of October 16, 2024

Deborah Lyons coming to HBT, Celebrating the Soviet Jewry movement, and grassroots advocacy success!  

• Wednesday, November 13 at 7:00 pm – Special Envoy Deborah Lyons will speak to Holy Blossom Temple about our fight against antisemitism in Canada.  
• Monday, October 28th at 7:00 pm, Holy Blossom will honour the work of the generation of advocates who mobilized to save Soviet Jewry! 
• Canada declares Samidoun a terrorist organization, grassroots advocacy at work! 

Please join us at Holy Blossom Temple for an important conversation with Canada’s Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism, Deborah Lyons on Wednesday, November 13th  at 7:00 pm. Special Envoy Lyons will inform us about her ongoing efforts to combat antisemitism, discuss the challenges faced by Jewish Canadians as they grapple with a historic rise in antisemitism, and engage in a moderated conversation with members of the Holy Blossom Temple Advocacy Committee. 

The advocacy work we do today is built on the shoulders of giants. On Monday, October 28th, Holy Blossom Temple will honour our member, Wendy Eisen, for her incredible efforts in the Soviet Jewry Movement. There will be special appearances from Irwin Cotler, Elaine Harris, and Natan Sharansky. Be inspired and draw strength, so that your advocacy work can make a difference! You can learn more about this incredible evening and register to join us at the link. 

Jewish organizations, and our allies, are celebrating a decision by the Government of Canada yesterday to declare Samidoun an illegal terrorist organization. You can read more about Samidoun, its link to Iran, and its glorification of terrorism in this brief from the UJA. The outcry to recognize Samidoun’s allegiances to terrorist organizations, would not have happened without significant grassroots pressure. Many of us wrote to our representatives about this issue, and it is a victory for Canada, the Jewish people, and all of our allies that the government was responsive to our collective efforts. Advocacy in action!