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Defining antisemitism – a history of the “IHRA” definition

New IHRA picBy SIMONE COHEN SCOTT Late last year I was asked by The Jerusalem Report to interview the Hon. Irwin Cotler, upon his appointment by Prime Minister Trudeau as Special Envoy for Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism. His responsibilities will cover domestic and international antisemitism, and Holocaust education at every level.

 

His first assignment was to head the Canadian Delegation to the plenary of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, or IHRA, (pronounced eera). The meeting, hosted in Leipzig, Germany, was already in progress, but being virtual it was easy to jump in, except for the time difference. Until that assignment, the plethora of acronyms signifying organizations studying antisemitism and Holocaust had formed a sort of alphabet soup in my head. Ever since, like with a word you’ve just looked up, I notice references to IHRA all over the place, especially in connection with its definition of antisemitism. This is causing a lot of consternation among even more groups, with and without acronyms.

More about that later; first I’d like to focus on the two Winnipeg delegates at the plenary. When I spoke to Prof. Cotler, the meeting had just wound up, and when he learned I was from Winnipeg he mentioned how impressed he had been with Belle Jarniewski and David Matas. I made up my mind right then to pitch this article idea to Bernie; I believed it would be interesting to learn through these members of our community, what IHRA, the plenary, the definition, and the work, is all about.

David Matas, senior legal counsel at Bnai B’brith Canada, was one of the Canadian delegates at the original meeting in Stockholm in 2000, which drafted the founding document (Stockholm Declaration) that became IHRA. He attended again in 2007, 2008, 2018 and every year since. This recent plenary ran from November 24th to December 3rd, which meant attending a couple of weeks of meetings at 5:30 am Winnipeg time, 12:30 pm Leipzig time. Cotler joined the second week, from Montreal. Meeting electronically with the Canadian delegates was his first task as special envoy.

 

Belle Jarniewski, Executive Director of the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada, was part of the national group bringing Canada into the International Task Force for Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research, (which evolved to become IHRA). When Canada became the 27th member of IHRA, (on June 24th, 2009, according to the Canada and the IHRA websites), she became a member of that delegation.
When a country joins IHRA, among other criteria, it must establish a Holocaust Memorial Day, and commit to Holocaust education at a senior political level. Its archives for the years 1933-1950 must be open for research, allowing academic, educational, and public access to the examination of those years of the country’s history. IHRA currently has 34 Members, one Liaison country, seven Observer Countries and eight Permanent International Partners, studying the latest developments in the field of Holocaust education, remembrance and research. According to IHRA’s own report on the plenary, there were 250 delegates at the meeting.

I asked Jarniewski how she saw IHRA differing from all those other organizations (the alphabet soup). She explained “…IHRA is the only intergovernmental organization mandated to focus solely on Holocaust-related issues, bringing together government representatives as well as experts. In addition to the definitions on antisemitism, Holocaust denial and distortion, and anti-Roma discrimination, the IHRA’s academic research publications have contributed greatly to the field of Holocaust Studies. IHRA’s pedagogical experts continue to develop detailed resources in order to help educators keep abreast of the latest best practices in education on the Holocaust and antisemitism. IHRA also supports and helps fund projects and conferences in the fields of Holocaust remembrance, research, and education. This in turn provides guidance to policy-makers, educators, civil society, and researchers.”

Part of Cotler’s mandate in his new position will be to address Holocaust denial and distortion, together with enhancing the adoption and implementation of the IHRA definition. Anyone who has experienced antisemitism, even in a mild form, recognizes it and doesn’t need a definition, but so that scholarly folk can study and deal with it empirically, and so it can be applied in a practical sense, a working definition is necessary. The definition was first developed in 2005 by the European Union Monitoring Centre. After careful study and adaptation it was adopted by IHRA in 2016.
It consists of two parts. The first part reads as follows: “Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
The second part, accompanying the statement and forming an integral part of it, are 11 indicators of antisemitism. In total, the definition is meant to be a working tool, not legally binding, and it is gradually being adopted by governments, parliaments and communities at all levels, in efforts to combat this oldest hatred which irrationally metastasizes wherever it infects.
Recently in the JP&N, Jarniewski wrote an effective rebuttal to a complaint someone had sent the newspaper regarding some of the definition’s examples, which he said made it inconvenient for him to express certain of his ideas. In her rebuttal she stated… “The definition must be adopted holus bolus along with the examples”…a stipulation that she says has been “….repeated over and over again by the IHRA.” Here are the 11 examples, as stated on IHRA’s website:
—Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion.
—Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions.
—Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, or even for acts committed by non-Jews.
—Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers) or intentionality, of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II (the Holocaust).
—Accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust.
—Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations.
—Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.
—Applying double standards by requiring of Israel a behaviour not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.
—Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis.
—Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.
-Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel.
There they are! Taken together with the earlier section, they define antisemitism. It must have been an emotionally wrenching exercise, putting this list together.

In November 2019, Matas presented a paper entitled “The IHRA definition of antisemitism: criticisms and responses” for a seminar at the Kantor Centre on Contemporary Antisemitism, wherein he methodically set out the extent of official acceptance of the definition, criticism of that acceptance, and proposed responses to the critics. In it he urges member states of the European Union to encourages its members that have not done so yet to “…endorse the non legally binding working definition of antisemitism employed by the IHRA, as a useful guidance tool in education and training, including for law enforcement authorities in their efforts to identify and investigate antisemitic attacks efficiently and effectively.”
Several EU members have indeed done so, and in fact the EU has recently put out a handbook for practical use of the IHRA working definition. I further asked Matas if the United Nations had endorsed the definition. He referred me to the remarks in November 2020 of Miguel Moratinos, High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations: “I plan to work on having an agreement on a definition of anti-Semitism within the UN, based on the IHRA definition which constitutes a basis to start from.” (I suppose it would be too much to ask that he incorporate the part about Israel?)
According to Matas, any organization can accept the definition of antisemitism. He told me that Bnai B’rith is proactive in getting organizations to endorse the effort, but any association can introduce discussion and begin the procedure…. sports organizations, service clubs like Kiwanis and Rotary, Police Departments, Community Clubs, synagogues, community newspapers. Jarniewski pointed out municipalities in Quebec and Ontario that have endorsed the IHRA definition include: Westmount; Cote Saint-Luc; Aurora; Newmarket; Markham; and Richmond Hill.

Notably, one of the accomplishments of the plenary this year has been the definition of “anti-Roma”. Between 250,000 and 500,000 Roma perished in the Holocaust, out of a pre-war population of between 1 and 1.5 million. As special delegate Cotler never tires of pointing out “…while it begins with the Jews it doesn’t end with Jews, and antisemitism is the bloodied canary in the mineshaft of global evil today.” I asked if there were Roma delegates to IHRA and Jarniewski told me there were, including in the Canadian delegation.

 

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Features

Gary Bettman and his job at the NHL

Gary Bettman has been the commissioner of the National Hockey League (NHL) since 1993, a tenure that now spans over three decades. In that time, he has overseen numerous transformations in the league, from expansion to new markets to labor disputes and even a global pandemic.

Bettman’s reign has not been without controversy, yet he remains a pivotal figure in the league’s history, shaping the modern NHL in ways that fans and players alike continue to feel.
The Businessman and the Visionary
When Gary Bettman became the NHL’s first commissioner, his mission was clear: grow the sport. At the time, the league struggled with player disputes, low TV ratings, and a limited presence in the U.S. Bettman wasn’t a typical hire for the role. He wasn’t a former player or hockey executive but a lawyer with experience in the NBA and a strong reputation for his business skills.

He focused on taking the NHL into new markets, especially in the southern U.S. Cities like Nashville, Dallas, and Phoenix soon welcomed NHL teams. Many doubted whether hockey could succeed in these warmer areas, but Bettman stuck to his plan. Now, teams like the Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning have become successful, with both winning the Stanley Cup.

He also modernized the league’s business practices. Bettman secured important TV deals with networks like NBC, which increased the sport’s exposure in the U.S. Recently, he landed a new deal with Turner Sports, a smart move in today’s fast-changing media world.

Bettman has also pushed for a stronger online presence, using streaming and social media to keep up with how fans now consume sports.
Labor Disputes and Lockouts
While Bettman succeeded in expanding the NHL’s business side, his time in charge has also seen major conflicts with players. Under his leadership, the NHL has gone through three lockouts—in 1994-95, 2004-05, and 2012-13. The 2004-05 lockout was particularly damaging, as it wiped out the entire season, making the NHL the first major North American sports league to cancel a full season because of labor issues.

The core of these disputes was Bettman’s push to introduce a salary cap, which many players initially resisted. Team owners, however, supported the move, believing it would help small-market teams survive financially. After the 2004-05 lockout, Bettman succeeded in bringing in the salary cap.

While the decision was controversial at the time, many now see it as a turning point that helped make the NHL more competitive. Smaller teams, like the Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights, can now compete with big-market teams such as the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers.

Despite the long-term benefits, these labor disputes stained Bettman’s legacy. Many fans and players remain frustrated by the lost seasons, and Bettman is often seen as a tough negotiator who prioritizes long-term stability over immediate harmony.
Expanding the NHL’s Global Footprint
In recent years, Gary Bettman has focused on expanding hockey’s global footprint. The NHL now hosts regular-season games in Europe and China, part of an ongoing effort to tap into international markets and grow the sport beyond North America.

Beyond international games, Bettman has also embraced the digital age to further engage fans worldwide. Through online streaming platforms and social media, the NHL reaches fans who might not have easy access to traditional broadcasts.

In addition, NHL betting has added excitement for fans. Popular platforms like Fanatics Sportsbook, with promotions such as the Fanatics Sportsbook promo, have allowed fans to engage with the game on a deeper level. Betting has helped the league reach a broader, more global audience by making games more interactive and exciting for those watching

Despite these innovations, Bettman’s global efforts haven’t always been met with enthusiasm. The NHL’s decision to skip the 2018 Winter Olympics upset many players and fans, especially in hockey-dominant nations like Canada and Russia. Bettman and the league’s owners opted out due to concerns about player injuries and the disruption to the NHL season schedule.
Growth in Revenue and Franchise Values
One of Bettman’s most significant achievements has been the exponential growth in NHL revenue and franchise values. When he took over in 1993, the league’s total revenue was around $400 million. Fast forward to recent years, and that number has ballooned to over $5 billion annually due to lucrative television deals, expansion fees from new franchises, and increased corporate sponsorship.

Under Bettman’s watch, the league has added multiple franchises, including the Vegas Golden Knights and the Seattle Kraken. The introduction of Vegas in 2017 was particularly groundbreaking. Many doubted whether a professional sports team, let alone a hockey franchise, could thrive in Las Vegas. Still, the Golden Knights quickly dispelled those doubts, making a historic run to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season.
Final Words
As Bettman enters the twilight of his tenure, the NHL’s future seems secure, yet challenges remain. The league must navigate the evolving sports media landscape, where streaming services and social media increasingly dominate. The potential for further expansion within North America or abroad remains a tantalizing possibility. Bettman’s ability to balance tradition and innovation will be key to the NHL’s continued growth.

One thing is certain: love or hate him, Gary Bettman’s impact on the NHL is undeniable. He has transformed a league that once struggled for relevance into a global enterprise that continues to evolve under his steady if sometimes polarizing, leadership.

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Features

Filmmaker Shira Newman brings wealth of experiences to role of Rady JCC Coordinator of Arts & Older Adult Programming

By MYRON LOVE As with many people I have interviewed over the years, Shira Newman’s life journey towards her present stage as Rady JCC Coordinator of Arts & Older Adult Programming has encompassed a range of different areas, including: fine arts, filmmaking and teaching stints, working at the Society of Manitobans with Disabilities, and the Women’s Health Clinic and, most recently before coming to the Rady JCC, the Prairie Fusion Arts and Entertainment Centre (as program co-ordinator) in Portage La Prairie.
The daughter of Joan and the late Paul Newman began her life in River Heights.  After graduation from Grant Park, she enrolled in Fine Arts at the University of Manitoba.  In addition to painting and drawing, she took a course in film – and found that she really enjoyed it.
“I learned a lot about the art that goes into filmmaking,” she recalls.  “We watched foreign films and independent films. I fell in love with the ideas of creating this three-dimensiomal world on the screen.”
After earning her first degree at the University of Manitoba, Newman worked for a few years at the aforementioned Women’s Health Clinic and the Society for Manitobans with Disabilities before returning – in her mid-20s – to university, this time Concordia in Montreal – to study filmmaking full time. 
After completing the two year program Newman returned to Winnipeg and became involved with the Winnipeg Film Group and the Winnipeg film community.
Over the next few years, she taught filmmaking in Winnipeg School Division No. 1, and also began to get work  in our city’s booming film production industry, working in set design and costuming..
Her big break came when she was asked by local filmmaker Sean Garrity to serve as script supervisor on one of his movies.
(According to Wikipedia,  a script supervisor oversees the continuity of the motion picture, including dialogue and action during a scene. The script supervisor may also be called upon to ensure wardrobe, props, set dressing, hair, and makeup are consistent from scene to scene. The script supervisor keeps detailed notes on each take of the scene being filmed. The notes recorded by the script supervisor during the shooting of a scene are used to help the editor cut the scenes together in the order specified in the shooting script. They are also responsible for keeping track of the film production unit’s daily progress.)
“I knew Sean’s films and was excited that he asked to me to work with him,” Newman recalls.
That job led to many other assignments as a script supervisor over the next ten years. “I worked on a lot of Hallmark Movies being shot here as well as some Lifetime features,” she says.
The last movie shot in Winnipeg that Newman worked on was in 2018. It was called “Escaping the Madhouse: the Nellie Bly Story”.
It was about that time that Newman felt that she needed a change in direction.  “Making a movie is a world in itself,” she observes, “but the work isn’t steady.  I decided that I needed something more stable.”
Thus, she responded to an ad for a coordinator at the Prairie Fusion Centre in Portage. The Centre, she notes, has a gallery, a store and classes. She was responsible for educational programming.
Newman stayed at the Prairie Fusion Centre for a year – commuting every day from Winnipeg.  Then she saw the Rady JCC ad calling for a Coordinator for Arts and Older Adult Programming.
“It was a perfect fit for me,” she says.
Newman is now in her fourth year at the Rady JCC.  One of the first programs she introduced was a new social club for seniors – replacing the former Stay Young Club which had been disbanded some years before due to flagging attendance.
Club programs are Mondays at 11:00. “We have guest speakers and musical programs and we celebrate all the holidays,” Newman notes.
Last year, Newman introduced a new Yiddish Festival – picking up where the former Mamaloshen left off.  “While studying filmmaking, I developed an appreciation  for the 1930s Yiddish cinema,” she reports.  “In recent years, there has been a revival of interest in Yiddish culture, music and literature.”
For the first “Put a Yid in it Festival of new Yiddish Culture,” Newman brought in younger performers in the persons of ”Beyond the Pale”, a Toronto-based klezmer band that also performs Romanian and Balkan music – and, from Montreal, Josh Dolgin, aka Socalled – a rap artist and record producer who combines hip hop, klezmer and folk music.
“We had the concert at the West End Cultural Centre.” Newman reports. “We had a great crowd with people of all ages, including kids.”
For this second upcoming Yidfdish festival at the beginning of February, Newman is organizing three concerts featuring klezmer group “Schmaltz and Pepper” from Toronto;  “Forshpil”, a Yiddish and klezmer band from Latvia; and live music to accompany a 1991 movie called “The Man Without a World” – a recreation of a 1920s silent movie set in a  Polish shtetl.
This year’s festival will also include three movies and two speakers.  Among the movies is “The Jester”.  Co-directed by Joseph Green and Jan Nowina-Przybylski – who also made “Yiddle with His Fiddle” in 1936, “The Jester” is a musical drama involving a love triangle featuring a wandering jester, a charismatic vaudeville performer, and Esther, the shoemaker’s daughter, torn between her family’s desire for a prominent match and her own dreams.
“Yiddishland”,  by Australian Director Ros Horin,  focuses on the art and practices of a diverse group of innovative international artists who create new works about the important issues of our time in the Yiddish language, why they create in Yiddish, what it means to them personally and professionally, and what obstacles they must overcome to revive what was once considered a dying language..
“Mamele” is described as “a timeless masterpiece, brought to life by Molly Picon, the legendary Pixie Queen of the Yiddish Musical.  Picon shines as a devoted daughter who keeps her family together after the loss of their mother. Caught between endless responsibilities and her own dreams, her world changes when she discovers a charming violinist across the courtyard. Set in the vibrant backdrop of Lodz, this enchanting musical comedy-drama immerses audiences in the rich diversity of interwar Jewish life in Poland – featuring everything from pious communities to nightclubs, gangsters and spirited ‘nogoodnicks’’.”
The speaking presentation will nclude a talk by the University of Manitoba Yiddish teacher Professor Itay Zutra “exploring the resilience and survival of Yiddish art, from S. Ansky’s The Dybbuk to the demons of I.B. Singer, through the trauma of the Holocaust and beyond.”
There will also be a panel discussion highlighting the pivotal experience of the Jewish community in the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike, with a focus on Yiddish-speaking organizations and newspapers.
Back in late October, Newman organized our community’s first JFest – a celebration of Jewish Culture and the Arts – which highlighted the works of seven local Jewish artists.  She reports that the art exhibit was well attended.
She also mentions ongoing Rady JCC programs such as the long-running “Music and Mavens” and the annual Jewish Film Festival.
Returning to the subject of filmmaking, Newman has been a film programmer for the Gimli International Film Festival for the last four years. (The first years, she says, she served as the shorts programmer and the last three as the documentary film programmer.)
She adds that her first short film, “The Blessing,” which she made when she returned to Winnipeg from Montreal, was shown at various festivals, including the Toronto International Jewish Film Festival.It was also shown here in Winnipeg at the Winnipeg Jewish International Film Festival where it won the award here for “best short film by an  emerging or established local filmmaker.”
In her spare time, Newman reports, she has embarked on a new project.   “I am working on a documentary about Monarch butterflies and the community of people who are dedicated to preserving them. These are regular people who have become citizen scientists.  I am working with a  friend whose zaida was a biology teacher and instilled in his family a love of nature and conservation.  I have met people who have gone to Mexico to see for themselves where the butterflies spend their winters.”
Newman is anticipating that the new documentary will be completed within a year.

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Rabbi (to be) Lara Rodin

By GERRY POSNER In May 2025, the Jewish Theological seminary will welcome a new rabbi into the fold. A recent graduate of the seminary, she is a young woman from Western Canada with roots in both Winnipeg and Calgary. Her name is Lara Rodin.
Lara will be the new assistant rabbi at the Beth Tzedec Synagogue in Toronto (not to be confused with the Beth Tzedec Synagogue in Calgary, where her family still lives and where they remain members to this day). Her formal induction into the rabbinate will happen later this year, in May, in New York City.
Rabbi Rodin is a fresh, warm, and engaging young woman who already has made a difference in the lives of many families.
The jump from being Lara Rodin, daughter of Greg and Andria (Paul) Rodin, raised in a secular home, to a woman about to become a rabbi, was hardly preordained. Lara was born in Winnipeg, but she moved with her family at a young age to Calgary where she was a student at the Calgary Jewish Academy. Her connection to Judaism, though, was tenuous. Still, with her growing involvement in BBYO, also at Camps B’nai Brith at Pine Lake, Alberta and Hatikvah in BC, the seeds were already starting to grow and sprout. As well, Lara, had a strong Jewish influence from her maternal grandparents, Leonard and Elaine Paul, of blessed memory, both of whom were strongly centred in the Jewish world, particularly at the Bnay Abraham Synagogue in Winnipeg.

Lara was fortunate to attend McGill University in Montreal, where she obtained an Arts degree. Although her father Greg, a lawyer, had pushed her to study law, she was more interested in courses in philosophy and theology. She soon concluded that she need not focus so much on other religions, but work on the one she was born into.
That decision was the impetus for her to improve her Jewish learning. She even taught a class at the Shaar Hashomayim Synagogue in Montreal. That experience led to her seriously consider a career in teaching.
To proceed on a path to becoming g a teacher and also to further her Jewish education, Lara applied for and was accepted into the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. It was there that not only did she complete her Masters in Jewish Education, Lara came to realize that, while she wanted to teach, she wanted to do it within a Jewish framework. It was the intense learning at Pardes that stimulated Lara’s passion to begin the trail to the rabbinate.

Once you learn more about Lara’s family history, however, you can see how her becoming a rabbi wasn’t all that surprising. When Lara was born, she came along with a twin brother, Isaac. When her father came into the birthing room to see his newborn children for the first time, he said that he sensed that one of the twins was destined to become a rabbi, but it was Isaac, not Lara. Even as the twins grew up, Greg’s sense of a rabbinical calling for his son persisted. When Lara declared her intention to pursue a career in the rabbinate, Greg was ecstatic, stating he had it right all along – he just missed the correct gender. He likely deserves a pass on this one as back at that time, female rabbis from Western Canada were largely unknown and even to this day, a rarity.

Thus, it came to pass that Lara Rodin entered the Jewish Theological Seminary School in New York. She had to cope with the consequences of Covid and so part of her programme had Lara stuck in the basement of her parents’ home in Calgary. In 2021, while still a student, Lara was privileged to become a Tanenbaum Fellow.
Subsequently she developed a more formal association with the Beth Tzedec Synagogue in Toronto, where she has been for the past three years. In 2023- 2024, Lara became a Resnick Fellow. Both the Resnick and Tanenbaum Fellowships were highly valuable to Lara as she proceeded in her Jewish education.

Along the way, even as far back as her attending Camp Ramah, Lara met a boy there who became her husband: Jonah Levitt. They were recently married at Beth Tzedec on August 18, 2024 – another really good reason to send your children to Jewish camps!

Aside from her responsibilities at Beth Tzedec to date, Lara has been working as a Rabbi in Residence at the Robbins Hebrew Academy in Toronto. There she is putting her skills as a teacher to good use. On top of that, she is the go-to person for conversions within the Conservative movement among several synagogues in the Toronto area. In that way Lara Rodin has made contact with many young couples, all inspired to become Jewish and, in many cases, more Jewish. This is a part of her job that she says she finds particularly challenging, yet satisfying.

Of course, if you really want to check out the newest addition to Beth Tzedec, the place to be is at synagogue, where she can be found most of the time. Her smile, her genuine warmth, and her depth of thought will be obvious immediately. Or, if you like to hike or cycle, when not in the synagogue or classroom, you are likely to find Lara participating in those activities.

As the Beth Tzedec synagogue celebrates its 70th anniversary in 2025, so too it now celebrates the addition to the synagogue of Rabbi Lara Rodin. A blessing for all of us.

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