Connect with us

Features

Even though I left Winnipeg years ago, the Shaarey Zedek’s online streaming service keeps me connected

By GERRY POSNER

There I was planning to go to synagogue in Toronto in late December when my throat thought otherwise. I just was not up to it and I was worried that my cough might drown out the Torah reader.

 

 

I thus opted to attend shul in my apartment and watched the service at Shaarey Zedek as it streamed into my apartment. I was glad I did as this particular day was what I call a “Simcha” service. I was able to connect with all those called up for an honour, although none of them knew I was watching.

I cannot recall a service where everyone that went to the Torah had a specific reason for being there. The first aliyah was for Steven Cantor, who was celebrating his 60th birthday. And how did that happen? To keep it in the family, the second aliyah was for his parents, Allan and Gloria Cantor, who were recognized and blessed with respect to a pending trip. I am not sure that it was ever mentioned just where they were off to on this trip, but it sounded like a longer journey than to Gimli.

The third aliyah honoured Saul and Lolly Guttman on their 62nd anniversary. I realized they were married two years before Steven Cantor was born – which fact had little meaning back then, but now they were connected by their respective aliyahs.

Another couple celebrating an anniversary and were honoured with the fourth aliyah were Lorne and Louise Raber, who now count 42 years to their total. The Hamishi aliyah or the fifth was given to Larry Hecht, accompanied by two of his grandsons, Nathan and Zachary Bains. The aliyah was in honour of Larry’s birthday (his age was never mentioned) and also an impending family trip – again to an unknown destination.

The next aliyah was not on the birthday or anniversary track, but it was a tribute to the memory of Marshall and Phyllis Wilder, who died at this time of the year within two years of each other. Their son David had the aliayah and he spoke of the contribution his parents made to the synagogue. It was quite moving.

The last aliyah was handed to Lorne and Bonnie Cham in recognition of their 38th anniversary. For Bonnie, it was an opportunity to repeat the Haftorah of her Bat Mitzvah a few years ago or more. In short, it was quite the day and to finish it off, the person who had the privilege of “Glilah, tying the Torah mantle, was Chana Thau, who was up there in honour of the recent birth of a new granddaughter.

What was meaningful to me was that I knew all of those honourees in one way or another – and this is not a feeling I get in Toronto. That connection or ability to relate to those involved in the service or at some other kind of function is a gap in my life for sure. Thus, when I see this parade of my past on my screen, it is significant to me.
I was struck by the fact that if you added up the Steven Cantor years of 60, and the Guttman years of 62, and the Raber years of 42 to the Chams of 38, you had a total of 202. If you throw in the zero for the information provided re the trips planned for the Cantors and Hechts, you have 2020, which is coincidentally the year we just began. Just what the deeper meaning of that fact is will have to be an item for a rabbinical discussion. I might add there were no photos available for these honourees from this happy time as it was Shabbat. But if you get to Shaarey Zedek, you will likely see them again.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

Features

Understanding the Differences Between the Three Roulette Classes

Roulette is one of those games that denotes the world of casinos most iconically with its spinning wheel and suspenseful moment when people wait for the ball to land on a number. Not all roulette, however, is the same. There are three classes of roulette: European, American, and French. They have rules and variations that somehow make them stand out and give extremely different gaming experiences. Let’s take a look at some of these differences and understand what makes each roulette class special.


The Classic Choice of the European Roulette
The typical character of European Roulette is the presence of a single zero, thus making it highly favorable among players due to a very low house advantage of 2.7% and, therefore, higher odds of winning. It offers a number of inside and outside bets that can suit different players’ appetites for risk. The reason the players like European Roulette is that it is easy to play, and the odds are quite even.
This game of roulette easily finds its place on most online websites in several variants, from differently themed games to different betting limits to accommodate any type of player. Be it a new starter or a seasoned gamer, European Roulette offers them all a slick and smooth experience with good graphics and interaction that they would want more of.


The Elegance and the Strategy of the French Roulette
French Roulette is often touted as the most sophisticated style of the game. It shares this with European Roulette, which also has a single zero wheel; however, the features are different, with the inclusion of various rules termed “La Partage” and “En Prison.” These rules create such a drastic reduction in the house edge down to as low as 1.35% on even-money bets that it affords the player a number of options for a gaming experience. French Roulette also boasts an assortment of table layouts and special bets that give the game a strategic edge, intriguing experienced players.
Spin Casino roulette games offer a sophisticated, classic European casino atmosphere in the version of French Roulette. The detailed tutorials and user-friendly interface mean that new players will take no time to learn the nuances of this great game, allowing everyone to enjoy the strategic depth of this variation.


The American Roulette, With High Stakes
Another successful variant is American Roulette, most especially in North American casinos. The key difference between American and European roulette lies in the addition of a double zero slot on the wheel. This adds to a 5.26% house edge, thereby giving it a moderate advantage over its European cousin. This also contains an extra layer of unpredictability and fun with the double zero and lures players who like higher stakes and a faster-moving pace of the game.
The realness of the experience means that American Roulette fans will get a true taste of Las Vegas-style casino action. From this brand, high-quality American Roulette games are available for players to try their luck with the double zero in immersive graphics and sound effects that bring the excitement of the casino right to your screen.
Try these roulette variations and enter a whole new world of casino gaming, where each spin holds a new chance at excitement and rewards. Be it for the first-timer or a seasoned player, roulette is a game in which the thrill keeps one sitting on the edge.

Continue Reading

Features

Auschwitz Tours from Warsaw: Preserving Memory, Honoring History

Auschwitz is one of the most powerful symbols of the Holocaust and its lessons are as current as ever. As the world prepares for International Holocaust Day the need to remember and educate becomes even more urgent.

At Auschwitz Tours from Warsaw, our mission is to help you connect with this dark chapter in history. We offer guided tours to Auschwitz-Birkenau from Warsaw and Krakow so you can visit the largest Nazi concentration and extermination camp where over a million innocent lives were taken.

Why Auschwitz Tours from Warsaw?

A visit to Auschwitz is an emotional experience and we want you to get the most out of it. Our guides will walk you through the historical context, tell you stories of those who suffered, resisted, and in some cases survived. With respect and sensitivity, we will share the history that can’t be forgotten.

We offer full day tours from both Warsaw and Krakow so you can visit Auschwitz whether you’re coming from Poland’s capital or its cultural hub. Our tours include comfortable round trip transportation so you can focus on the experience without worrying about the logistics.

Extra Educational Content

Apart from the day trips, Auschwitz Tours from Warsaw also provides a lot of educational content about Auschwitz and the Holocaust. Our website is a resource for learning with articles and materials about Auschwitz’s history, World War II, and the long-term impact of the Holocaust.

For those who can’t visit in person, these materials are a window into this dark period of human history so the lessons of the Holocaust are available to everyone.

Honoring the Past on International Holocaust Remembrance Day

International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27th is a global moment of remembrance. It’s a day to remember the 6 million Jews and millions of others murdered by the Nazis during World War II.

It’s not just about the victims of the Nazi regime but about learning from history so we never repeat the mistakes.

January 27th is the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1945, a day of unimaginable suffering but also of survival. The site itself is closed on this day for commemoration, but it’s a place of great importance for those who want to reflect on what happened here.

Although the gates are closed to visitors on January 26 and 27, it’s a day of personal reflection and remembrance for those who have passed away.

But on January 27th, a special area will be open for those who want to mark this solemn day on the grounds of the Memorial. This is a unique opportunity to reflect and remember in silence, on the very ground where so many lives were lost.

If you can’t visit Auschwitz today, International Holocaust Remembrance Day is still a chance to connect with the stories of survivors and victims. It’s a day to educate ourselves and others, not just about the past but about the present need to face hatred, intolerance, and anti-Semitism in all its forms.

If you’d like to learn more about our tours or explore our educational content, visit us at auschwitztoursfromwarsaw.com. Join us in remembering the past and keeping the message of “Never Again” alive.

Continue Reading

Features

The Hurdles Facing Egyptian Intellectuals

Saad Eddin Ibrahim - leading Egyptian intellectual who, like almost all Egyptian intellectuals, became "an apologist for authoritarian rule"

By HENRY SREBRNIK In the twentieth century, many middle-class Egyptians adopted a cosmopolitan cultural style. They wanted to move the country toward a more liberal and secular state. 

But they always came up against, and were unable to surmount, the strength of a very strong Islamic religious culture. In despair, some, despite their own preferences, ended up preferring autocracy to what they considered a backward and dangerous ideology.

In 1952, a revolution brought the Free Officers movement, led by Gamal Abdel Nasser, to power. It seemed to have brought a secular quasi-socialist regime to power.

But the undercurrents of politicized religion, though banned by Nasser, did not disappear. The Muslim Brotherhood, which had been founded in 1928 by Hassan al-Banna and preached a fundamentalist Islamism guarded exclusively by the sharia, was outlawed. Its most prominent theoretician, Sayyid Ibrahim Qutb, was executed in 1966. 

But secular movements fell from favour following Egypt’s defeat by Israel in 1967, and the country was transformed into an autocracy following Nasser’s death three years later. From 1981 until 2011, Egypt was ruled with an iron hand by Hosni Mubarak, until popular unrest forced him to step down during the Arab Spring. 

Would this herald a new, democratic chapter in Egypt? Would free elections bring about a rebirth of secular politics? The answer was no.

Mubarak’s ouster cleared the way for the Muslim Brotherhood to participate openly in Egyptian politics, and to that end the group formed the Freedom and Justice Party. In April 2012 the party selected Mohamed Morsi to be its candidate in Egypt’s presidential election. Morsi defeated Ahmed Shafiq, a former prime minister under Mubarak, that June.

Morsi soon issued an edict declaring that his authority as president would not be subject to judicial oversight until a permanent constitution came into effect. Although he defended the edict as a necessary measure to protect Egypt’s transition to democracy, mass demonstrations were held against what many saw as a seizure of dictatorial powers.

Worsening economic conditions, deteriorating public services, and a string of sectarian incidents, including attacks on the country’s Coptic Christian minority, strengthened opposition to Morsi’s rule. Clashes between Morsi’s supporters and critics in late June 2013 culminated in massive anti-Morsi protests around the country. 

On July 3 the military under the head of the Egyptian Armed Forces, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, removed Morsi from power. A figurehead president, Adly Mansour, was installed, but it was clear that Sisi, who retained the title of defence minister, wielded power. 

Sisi claimed that the military had carried out the will of the Egyptian people, as expressed in the anti-Morsi protests, and that the Islamist-dominated administration led by Morsi had put the Muslim Brotherhood’s interests before those of the country.

A month later the Egyptian police and armed forces committed what Human Rights Watch deemed “one of the world’s largest killings of demonstrators in a single day in recent history.” 

Eleven years on, the murder of over 1,000 supporters of the deposed president, known as the Rabaa Massacre, has gone largely unpunished. The Muslim Brotherhood was formally outlawed that September and Morsi was jailed. Prison conditions were harsh, and he was denied adequate medical attention. He died in 2019. 

Sisi officially left the military to run for president and was elected in a clearly fraudulent manner in May 2014. He has been re-elected twice since, in March 2018 and again in December 2023, when he was reported to have won with 89.6 per cent of the vote after several opposition figures were prevented from participating. Under his reign, Egypt has degenerated into a police state even more repressive than the 30-year dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak.

Caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place, Egypt’s pro-democracy and civil society movements jettisoned their long-standing commitments to human rights and the rule of law and enthusiastically supported the return of military rule.

One of those civil society leaders, Saad Eddin Ibrahim, was among Egypt’s most influential intellectual figures. He had spent his career insisting that democracy is the solution both to political authoritarianism and to the allures of religious fundamentalism in the Arab world. 

Pushing back against the prevailing view that Islamist groups must be marginalized, he argued that they should be included in the democratic process. He even went so far as to advocate, in an article titled “Toward Muslim Democracies,” that “it will be better for us as democrats, for the Islamists, and for Egypt to enlist Islamists under the flag of democracy.” 

He encouraged Egyptians to support this vision and put aside common fears about Islamist movements and had been arrested for his views under Mubarak. Yet even he abruptly became an apologist for authoritarian rule.

The “problem” was that the bulk of the Egyptian masses were unwilling to part with their religious traditions or wholly consign them to the realm of the private. Put another way, if most Egyptians were given the choice between being liberal or being Muslim, they would overwhelmingly select the latter.

Faced with that reality, these intellectuals forged authoritarian alliances to forcibly impose their worldview on an otherwise unwilling populace. When Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood were in actual control of the state rather than at its fringes, the liberal secularists chose authoritarian rule. This is the same tragedy found in most of the Arab world.

Henry Srebrnik is a professor of political science at the University of Prince Edward Island.

Continue Reading

Copyright © 2017 - 2023 Jewish Post & News