Kehillah Kedosha-We are a Holy Community

I was in synagogue this past Saturday.

I was there, like I am on many a Shabbat morning, to study Torah with a group of regulars who over the years have become like family to me. Sometimes I stay after Torah study to daven and sometimes, like on this particular day, I leave before the service begins in order to observe my Shabbat in a variety of ways usually filled with Oneg and Menucha. (Joy and rest.)

We are Jews. We observe.

We, who are regulars, often joke about our routines and our repetitions. We find ourselves sitting in the same sections of the room, if not the same seats from week to week. We know instinctively who will be late, who will be early, and we worry when somebody is missing, often calling or texting to check on their well-being. We know who are the active talkers and who are the passive but intent listeners. We openly welcome the newbie, warmly inviting them to our table and encouraging them to participate and badgering them to return.

We are Jews. We badger.

We bring each other breakfast and we help with the set-ups beforehand and the cleaning afterward.

We are Jews. Eating is a major component of our DNA.

We leave our coffee mugs in the shul's storage cupboards, a sign of our permanency in this space and we take turns teaching when the rabbi is occupied elsewhere. We are a close-knit community, we who have learned together, celebrated together and too often cried together. These are my people, my synagogue, my Jewish family, my community.

We are Jews. We are communal.

As I left shul on Saturday, I was blissfully unaware of the horror taking place at that exact moment at a sister community in Pittsburgh. When my phone started vibrating with intent, I instinctively knew that it was catastrophic. We all know these people. We are these people and we all know the hate that inspired their murders.

We are Jews. We know.

When the carnage was over and the dead revealed, I could see in my mind's eye the longtime members, the regulars, who are the spine and structure of every congregation. I could see the retired teacher who lost her husband two years ago. She is a face I see every week across my Torah study table. I recognized the two brothers who did everything together. They are the siblings in my congregation who lovingly care for their aged mother. I know the longtime married couple who attended weekly. They are my parents.

We are Jews. We understand suffering.

On the Shabbat before this last one, my Torah study cronies discussed the story of the Tower of Babel and whether or not The Divine Spirit was indeed punishing us with the fracturing of language. As is often the case with our discussions, we headed off into a tangental talk of modern anti-Semitism in our own community. A young man of the age of Older Son, a millennial for whom I have great respect, stated quite forcefully that he has never felt uncomfortable or held back from opportunity in his city or country simply because he is Jewish. I wondered aloud if that was blissfully generational and asked if others around the table felt similarly. There were people there old enough to recall a time in Toronto when Jews were barred from country clubs and public beaches. My own mother was part of a quota of Jewish girls accepted into her nursing program in the late 1950s. To this thirty-something, those stories were historical and distant. I gently reminded this gentleman that an avowed white-supremacist was standing for election for mayor of Toronto a mere two days later and that her following was vocal and growing. He simply couldn't fathom it and dismissed her as a crackpot. On election day, more than 25,000 of my fellow Torontonians voted for a woman who wishes me dead.

We are Jews. We understand the hatred is always there.

So, we are now in mourning...all of us...all Jews. We will leave the debates about responsibility to others while we bury our dead, sit shiva, and comfort our mourners. It is what we do, what we have always done. We search for answers where there are none and we search for scapegoats where there are many. In Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5 we read, "Whoever destroys a soul [of Israel], it is considered as if he destroyed an entire world. And whoever saves a life of Israel, it is considered as if he saved an entire world." We have lost eleven souls. We will return to fight for our lives, for our very essence, for our very right to be. We are diminished but we are not defeated.

We are Jews. We survive.

Zichronam Livracha. May their memories always be for a blessing.

What I Want in My Mayor.

I had a conversation the other day with my hairstylist. This jabbering is something women tend to do with the people charged with the sacred duty of cutting our hair. I think that maybe we converse like this in order to distract us from the fact that the person holding the scissors standing behind us has the potential and ability to make us look like Pee Wee Herman. So we civilly engage in these banalities in order to avoid such a fate.

On this day we discussed the upcoming municipal elections. Since I still travel up into the suburbs for my haircuts, (I know it is ridiculous but the woman has been cutting my hair since before Younger Son was born) I was a bit surprised to realize how little she understood about the mess that was made of the Toronto civic vote by our vindictive and arrogant new premier. I get that she doesn't live in Toronto and will cast her ballot in a city north of us but she really didn't understand the subtleties of Premier DoFo's meddling in an already in process election and the chaos that this has caused to our rights as citizens to a free and informed vote. While we can argue the merits of reducing the number of councillors in the city, the craziness of doing this three months before the vote when it had been informed, studied, and approved three years ago was political malpractice. There was absolutely no disguising the motives of the premier and while he did win the legality argument in court, the resulting chaos and disengagement of Toronto voters have been palpable. Many council candidates and voters have been confused as to which riding they are a part of or where they are now running. Several incumbents have found themselves running against council colleagues and there have been no debates that have featured the two front-running mayoral candidates one on one. Our incumbent and uninspiring mayor has ridden the wave of apathy towards what looks like a landslide victory tomorrow. The whole mess has me thinking what I want in a mayor for this wonderful but still stagnating city. I will preface these comments with the fact that both of the front-runners are decent, educated, and kind people who I believe only have the good of the city at heart. For one of the only times in my recent voting history, the choice between the two candidates at the head of the pack doesn't involve a scum-sucking corrupt hack who is only interested in his/her own power that comes complete with the demonization of minorities, the disadvantaged, or the raiding of the municipal coffers.

And so...with that in mind.... 

I want a mayor who will stand strong for the city in the face of a meddling provincial government and a premier who wants to use the city as his personal Lego set. I want to see some passion when the mayor confronts DoFo and not total capitulation. When the premier comes for our subways, and make no mistake that is most definitely coming, will the mayor publicly defend this city and tell him to back off or will he/she call for some bullshit referendum?  The mayor of Toronto needs to lead this city in defiance and in a crusade against the damage that Queen's Park is already causing.

I want a mayor who relies on evidence-based and economically sound principals when planning for the city. I don't want back-of-the-napkin transit solutions dishonestly sold to the electorate because there are votes to be had in Scarborough or North York. We are all one city and the integration of transit must be done with all stakeholders in mind. 

I want a mayor who takes the Vision Zero strategy seriously and not in stages. It has been two years since council adopted it and so far this year, there have been more than 50 cycling or pedestrian deaths on Toronto roads. 2018 is on pace to be the deadliest ever. As a driver, transit user, and pedestrian, I have been in more dangerous situations this year than I can count. I want a mayor who understands that creating safe cycling, walking, and transit opportunities is the key to Vision Zero and that even one death on our roads is abhorrent. Worrying about an extra minute for drivers' travelling times is regressive. This city needs a transportation visionary.

I want a mayor who is progressive and sees the city's long game. I think that trying to find a compromise in many issues is commendable but often short-sighted. The east end of the Gardiner should be torn down in order to release the potential of the waterfront. Spending an extra billion dollars to maintain it in order to save drivers 3 minutes in travel time is regressive. Cities all over the world are removing elevated highways while Toronto is trying to save this crumbling and ugly piece of 1940's infrastructure. The Yonge corridor north of the 401 should be reduced to two lanes in each direction in order to create a walkable plaza in downtown North York. This plan has been championed by city planners and transit experts alike. The community wants it. I want a mayor who recognizes that cars are not king.

I want a mayor who will commit to and fight for our most vulnerable. I want funding restored for the safe injection clinics that are on the frontlines of the opioid crisis. I want funding restored for shelters for abused women and children. I want a mayor who recognizes that there are not nearly enough cold-weather shelters for those on the streets and doesn't need to be cajoled and embarrassed into opening up the armories when the temperature drops. I want a cohesive and immediate plan that sees the unlocking of city land to be used for affordable housing and not merely for the profit of greedy developers. 

I want a mayor who will champion programs for at-risk youth and commit to finding the funds. It is a fundamental step to helping curb the gun violence on our streets.

I want a mayor who will invest in green initiatives including demanding proper stormwater management and the greening of rooftops in all new condo buildings. 

I want a mayor who understands that all of this cannot be achieved without new sources of revenue and who sees property taxes as the communal fund that works for the betterment of this city and all of its citizens.

These are just a few of the things that I will be thinking about when I cast my ballot tomorrow.  Toronto deserves it all and not just a nice, decent guy.

Just Vote Already!

This is not a post about a political point of view.

This is not meant to divide the Conservative or the Liberal.

This is not about Republicans or Democrats.

This is a post about social action and civic responsibility.

Do you vote?

And if the answer to that question is no, then why the hell not?

Are you too busy? Too tired? Too angry? Too apathetic?

Do you live too far away from your poll? Are you physically unable? 

Seriously? What is your excuse?

In the last Ontario election, only 58% of eligible voters cast their ballots. This is the election that gave us Doug Ford. In the last presidential election, more than 100,000,000 eligible voters didn't vote. This is the Trump election. The numbers astound me.

Older citizens vote. They vote in huge numbers. Young people...well they stay home and let their grandparents' votes govern the communities in which they live and the issues they live by.

University students. I am speaking to you, now. Would you let your grandparents pick your clothes? Your music? Your partner?

No? 

So why are you allowing them to make decisions on the issues you say are the most important to you?

The environment. A woman's right to govern her own sexual agency. Gun control. Equal pay. Worker's rights. Net neutrality. Healthcare. 

This should terrify you all. (Start at about the two-minute mark.)

Parents, I'm talking to you now. Have you talked to your children about the dangers of drugs, alcohol, or unprotected sex? Have you lectured them about driving while under the influence? Have you taught them to have respect for others and to treat people the way they themselves would expect to be treated? Have you raised them to make informed choices?

Have you ever discussed with them the power and importance of voting? Have you taken them with you to the polls? Have you modeled voting behaviour by voting yourselves?

No?

I am constantly amazed at the number of people I know personally who don't believe that voting is a collective responsibility. It isn't merely that voting determines how we live our lives in our communities and how we protect the most vulnerable among us but that it sets the course to what kind of world we want to live in and what we will leave to the next generations. Are we willing to accept government by an invigorated minority or would we rather be on the right side of history?

Toronto residents, there is no doubt that our upcoming election is a mess. We still don't know who all the candidates in our ridings are, let alone where our polling places are located. There have been no voters cards mailed out because of the turmoil. But that is not an excuse to stay home on October 22nd or to not vote in the advance polls. Check out https://myvote.toronto.ca/home or https://www.thestar.com/toronto-election.html for all the information you need to vote with intention. You do *not* have to be registered to vote like in the U.S. to cast a ballot in the city election. All you need is to be eligible to vote and have ID with your address. Also from the city:

In addition, did you know that you can vote by proxy in Toronto? Here's how. https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/elections/voter-information/appoint-a-proxy-voter/

American friends, I have heard from many in the know that this November's midterms are possibly the most important since the Civil War. That is a stunning indictment on everything you all have been living through for the past two years. The world is watching. Get out and vote and then drive ten more friends and neighbours to the polls. Pick people up. Ensure your college kids are registered and that they are hounded and nagged by you until they cast their ballots. Go to seniors residences and take them to vote. Set up carpools through your church and synagogue groups. Stand in line and know your rights and what identification you need. Plan it and do it no matter what.

It isn't hyperbole to say that people have died to protect our right to vote in a democracy. We can argue about the candidates and we can argue about the platforms but we should NEVER use any excuse to keep us from exercising our franchise.


via GIPHY