Advocacy @ HBT: What you can do

The week of September 27, 2024

Support the Jewish Educators and Families Association of Canada (JEFA) and learn about the advocacy that saved Soviet Jewry! 

• The Jewish Educators and Families Association of Canada (JEFA) needs your help with the TDSB and the Ontario College of Teachers. 
• October 28th, Holy Blossom will honour the work of the generation of advocates who mobilized to save Soviet Jewry. Join us! 

JEFA has been one of the loudest and most effective voices advocating for accountability in the TDSB. In regard to the “Grassy Narrows Field Trip,” which became, in part, an anti-Israel protest, they have several action items open to educators, parents, and members of the community. If you would like to make your voice heard, you can learn more and send a letter to the Ontario College of Teachers demanding that they take action.  

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

Advocacy @ HBT: Supporting Hillel, campus advocacy training, Michal Cotler-Wunsh comes to Toronto and commemorating October 7th 

• Sign Hillel Ontario’s Open Letter to University Leadership 
• Campus Advocacy Training on Sunday, September 22nd  
• Michal Cotler-Wunsh speaks on September 26th    
• UJA’s Community Wide Memorial Ceremony on October 7th 

Now that our students have returned to campus, our Holy Blossom Temple Advocacy Committee is highlighting an important initiative from Hillel Ontario. Add your voice in demanding that University Presidents protect Jewish students and hold demonstrators accountable. You can sign Hillel’s open letter to University Presidents here. 

On September 22nd, Hillel Ontario and Stand With Us are offering in-person training for university students who want to become campus advocates. Learn how, when and where to engage and disengage. Get advice from legal, security, and campus professionals on building alliances and finding allies. Please share with the university students in your lives! They can register here.  

On September 26th, The Canadian Friends of Hebrew University of Jerusalem are bringing politician and diplomat Michal Cotler-Wunsh to Toronto. Ms. Cotler-Wunsh was a member of the previous Knesset and, in a speech that went viral, powerfully defended Israel at the United Nations. You can learn more and register for the event here.    

Finally, please mark your calendars for the community-wide memorial on October 7th which is being put together by UJA. Holy Blossom Temple is one of the co-sponsors of the event. More details will be made available in the coming weeks. Register here.   

Advocacy Continues at Holy Blossom

Recently Holy Blossom Temple was honoured to welcome MP Anthony Housefather, the newly appointed special adviser to the federal government on Jewish community relations and antisemitism. MP Housefather spoke candidly with our advocacy committee and rabbis and over 150 members of our community about his work fighting anti-Zionism inside his party, building bridges and alliances that will help protect the Jewish community, and the cooperation with Deborah Lyons, the Special Envoy on Combatting Antisemitism. If you would like to watch the recording of this program, you can request access to the private video by emailing Kate Wooten at [email protected].   

This week, Canadian Women Against Antisemitism has shared a petition to be sent to Premier Doug Ford and the new Minister of Education, Jill Dunlop. In it, they are requesting that the Province ensure that the private opinions of teachers, and teachers’ unions, regarding the war between Israel and Hamas not be shared in primary and elementary classrooms. “Our schools are not obliged to provide a forum for advocacy for any issue,” they write, reiterating that partisan politics are to be kept entirely out of the classroom. If you agree you can read, and sign the petition, here.  

Also, CIJA has provided a security update for the Toronto Police Services Board. You can watch a detailed video and read the comprehensive FAQ here. Included are tools and ways for residents of Toronto to share feedback with the Police and the Police Board. We are incredibly grateful for the support we have received from our officers over the course of the last 10 months; submissions through this portal will only help to keep that relationship strong.   

Finally, we want to reiterate that your voice does matter. Several weeks ago, we shared CIJA’s criticism about the recently appointed head of the Canadian Human Rights Commission, Birju Dattani. Pressure from concerned Canadians has led to Mr. Dattani resigning from his position. You can read CIJA’s response here. Thank you for your activism and advocacy!  

Am Yisrael Chai! 

This week our Holy Blossom Temple Advocacy Committee brings you a variety of ways to get involved in advocating for the Jewish people across Toronto and Canada.  

• Join us in person at Holy Blossom Temple (or virtually) on Wednesday, August 7 at 1:30 pm, to welcome Member of Parliament Anthony Housefather, the federal government’s Special Advisor on Jewish Community Relations and Antisemitism. MP Housefather will share details about his new role and how the government plans to combat antisemitism throughout Canada. You can register for this event here.  
•  Show your solidarity with the hostages and with Jews worldwide by wearing “freedom tags”. No doubt you have already seen many friends and family wearing these symbols of support. While there are many places they can be purchased, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum sells them directly. Proceeds go to continue their efforts internationally and in Israel.  
•  Amplify CIJA’s good work by writing to your representative! CIJA has asked us to support two initiatives, first by advocating that Canada condemn Hezbollah as a terrorist organization and second by bringing attention to the University of Windsor’s capitulation to Pro-BDS protestors.  
•  Support Canadian Women against Anti-Semitism, who are educating and advocating against SAMIDOUN, a registered Canadian non-profit which has ties to Palestinian terrorist organizations and advocates for the globalization of the intifada.