Features
With Einstein and Darwin
By David R. Topper A significant part of my adult intellectual life has been spent studying and teaching about the life and works of Albert Einstein. This led to my publishing various works about this fascinating, often frustrating man. Just as fervently, but not nearly to the same extreme, I’ve studied and taught about Charles Darwin. But I never published anything on him.
Since Einstein came after Darwin, the question often occurred to me as to whether Einstein ever read, thought, or wrote about Darwin. Indeed, I’ve gone as far as posing the following proposition to myself: Maybe, if Einstein had read and absorbed Darwin’s discovery about the astonishingly dynamical and unpredictable way the natural world works, then he may have been less rigid in his thoughts about the order and structure of the universe. In fact, I could go so far as to conclude that, if he had, then in 1916 he might not have made the erroneous assumption in his model of the cosmos, which he later called the “biggest blunder of my life” (quoted in Topper, p.165).
But I’m getting ahead of my story and I need to start with some basic questions. Did Einstein know about Darwin, and if so, what? In searching through the literature on this possible juxtaposition of these two giants in their fields, as far as I can tell, I’m the first person seriously to pose this issue in some detail – which was a big surprise. It certainly gave me an incentive to pursue this diligently. Thus I did, and here is what I found – plus, at the very end, I add a zany speculation about the nature of the universe, as we know it today.
The names “Einstein” and “Darwin” are seldom juxtaposed, except in a general sense, such as when comparing Einstein’s theory of relativity with Darwin’s on evolution – as overall examples of major ideas in recent centuries. Going through all the indexes of the many dozen books on Einstein that I own, looking for “Darwin” – in the few times I found the name, the reference was always to a general comment about him as a scientist, with nothing about the content of his theory. At most, I found that Albert had read Darwin, which is important to know, but I found little information on what the theory meant to him or what he got out of it.
Hence, I began a journey to see if I could find more, since it seems that I’m the first ever to explore – or even ask – about Einstein and Darwin. My next question was: do we know when Albert was first exposed to Darwin’s theory, and what did he learn? The earliest time I found was during the school year 1895 to 1896, when he was in Aarau, Switzerland, taking remedial high school before enrolling in the Polytechnic in nearby Zurich. We know that the Swiss school he attended was very progressive and it taught Darwin’s theory of evolution. It’s worth quoting something he said much later, when looking back on those years:
“By its liberal spirit and by the austere earnestness of its teachers … this school made an unforgettable impression on me; by comparison with six years of schooling in an authoritarian German Gymnasium [i.e. High School]. … I became acutely aware how much an education directed toward freedom of action and responsibility is superior to an education resting on drill, imposed authority, and ambition (quoted in Ohanian, p.9).”
During his next four years in Zurich at the Polytechnic, we know that among the many physics and math books that Einstein read, he also read Darwin – but we don’t know the details (Pais, p.44). Thus, as we move into the 20th century, at least we can say that he knew something about Darwin’s theory.
My next source to explore was the Collected Papers of Einstein, which are at present up to May 1929, when Albert was age 50. Over all those years, there are only a few places where the name Darwin appears. There is a book review he wrote in 1917, where the author mentions Darwin. Next, is a letter from a colleague in 1918, who talks about Darwin’s theory in passing, while making comments on society and politics. The only place where Einstein himself talks about the content of the theory is in the Third Appendix to his popular book, Relativity: the Special and the General Theory, which he added around 1920. That’s all there is. Albert died in March 1955, so there are still 26 years to go for the Collected Papers, but I’m not optimistic that anything significant will surface therein. Yet, who knows?
Using what I have, let’s explore this topic further, beginning with this appendix. The title is: “The Experimental Confirmation of the General Theory of Relativity.” Einstein begins with a brief foray into epistemology in science: induction and deduction. As science progresses over time, the inductive accumulation of empirical data occasionally needs to be supplemented by deductive ideas logically based upon a few given axioms; and from this there emerges a “system of thought” or a “theory.” The justification for the very existence of the theory is the fact that it correlates with a range of observations (empirical data) and “it is just here that the ‘truth’ of the theory lies (Einstein, p. 124).” He puts the word ‘truth’ in quotes because, as is often the case, there may be several such theories competing for an explanation of the same data. The ultimate goal of this for him is, of course, the issue of his general theory of relativity to explain gravity, in competition with the old theory of Newton. But before he delves into that – which constitutes the rest of the Appendix – he makes this aside comment on biology.
“As an example, a case of general interest is available in the province of biology, in the Darwinian theory of the development of species by selection in the struggle for existence, and in the theory of development which is based on the hypothesis of the hereditary transmission of acquired characteristics (Einstein, p. 124).”
That’s it. As far as I know, that is the only direct statement about Darwin’s ideas that Einstein ever wrote. Let’s look closer at this, for we will need it later. First, I want to point out another way of putting this. Einstein is contrasting the difference between Charles Darwin’s random selection method of evolution, with Jean-Baptiste Lamarck’s developmental process, which had a predetermined direction or goal for the evolutionary process. Thus, Darwin’s “struggle for existence” revealed the dynamical nature of plants and animals as they change over a long time-period. I’m assuming that Einstein realized all this, along with the lack of a specific direction for the evolutionary process according to Darwin. I just wish Einstein had said more; but we go with what is given. Moreover, the stage has now been set for why I have raised the name of Darwin in the first place.
In 1915 Einstein published his landmark paper on the general theory of relativity, which was essentially an explanation of gravity. Whereas Newton had pictured gravity as an invisible attractive force between all the elements of matter throughout the universe (from rocks to planets and stars), Einstein pictured it as a four-dimensional curvature of space (or, more precisely, space-time) around all those elements. Although Einstein’s paper constitutes pages and pages of tensor calculus equations, the conceptual image is quite simple. A rock is not falling to earth by an invisible attractive power; rather, the rock is simply moving into a dimple in space.
After completing this arduous task of many years, Einstein immediately wrote the popular account of the entire theory of relativity for the general reader, with a minimum of mathematics. In his Preface to the first edition, dated December 1916, he ends with this: “May the book bring some one a few happy hours of suggestive thought!” It was the Third Appendix to that work that I quoted above.
Next, he made a prediction. Still in 1916, from his general relativity theory, he wrote another paper, predicting the existence of gravitational waves. Over his lifetime such waves were never found, and in his latter years he doubted that they ever would be – since they are so infinitesimal in nature. But in 2015, almost exactly a century after their prediction, gravitational waves were detected by the clever design of a very big experimental apparatus that was necessary to find these minuscule waves. The three scientists who designed and did the experiment got the Nobel Prize two years later.
Back to 1916, for Einstein was not yet done. The entire enterprise had triggered another thought, and yet another paper. It started with a question. If the space around all elements of matter is bent locally, what does this say about the universe as a whole? Thus, Einstein went back to those equations for locally bending space and – so to speak – he summed them up for the space of the entire universe. In doing so, he found that the resulting universe – unlike the infinite space of Newton and others after him – was finite, since all space curves back into itself. It was as if we were living on the surface of a four-dimensional sphere of finite size. This finite universe was okay with Albert; he saw it as just another discovery that he made.
Yet there was a problem: according to the equations, the whole thing was unstable, due to the gravitational attraction among all the elements of matter. Such a universe would slowly collapse – and that would not do. Surely, the universe was stable; and so, in order to save this theory – after all those years of gruelling work – he stabilized the equation by adding another term; this term symbolized another force, having an equal and opposite repulsive power that balanced the two, and hence stabilized the universe. He called it the cosmological constant. To him, this was another discovery; that is, it was just another constant in nature. All this he published in 1917, and it formed the basis of a new cosmology. Indeed, all modern cosmology goes back to these landmark papers on general relativity by Einstein. Over the next decade, there were a few challenges to his model; particularly around the cosmological constant. Einstein did not see all of them, but the ones he saw, he rejected – thus holding fast to a stable universe.
Also, around this time, Einstein had another bright idea. Since the first decade of the 20th century, when he published his first papers on relativity, he also published major papers on the parallel theory of the atomic constitution of matter; namely, the quantum theory. His other bright idea, which absorbed his scientific attention starting in the 1920s, was to unite the two (relativity and quantum) into a unified theory of everything. He eventually called it the “unified field theory,” and it became his key obsession for the rest of his life.
In the meantime, by the start of the 1930s, he was forced to reconsider his cosmological model. It began in the summer of 1930, when he received an honorary degree from Cambridge University, where he met Arthur Eddington – the astronomer who had led the solar eclipse experiments that proved Einstein’s relativity theory in 1919, by measuring the bending of light from a star around the sun, as predicted by Einstein. Eddington now was familiar with important results coming from American astronomers, such as the work of Edwin Hubble at the Mt. Wilson observatory near the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) – holding the largest telescope in the world at that time. The results, as Eddington interpreted them, meant that the universe was expanding. It was as if that four-dimensional sphere was a balloon being blown up. Since this model contained a force of expansion outward, then no cosmological constant was needed. The universe was, indeed, unstable – and as well, expanding over time.
Serendipitously, at this time, Einstein was on his way to Caltech for three winter sojourns (1930-1933). While at Caltech on his first visit, he therefore had to abandon his commitment to the static model. He was quoted in the American press as saying that his old model was “smashed … like a hammer blow,” and he swung his arm with a fist while declaring this (Topper, p 174). Never again did he bring up the cosmological constant. In the early 1950s, when the topic arose in cosmology again, he was questioned about it: and, as mentioned before, he called the use of that constraint “the biggest blunder of my life.” (I should note here that in recent years it’s been discovered that this expansion of the universe is, in fact, accelerating. Hence, another repulsive force must be added, which today is called ‘dark energy’. Ironically, this may be seen as just another way of bringing back Einstein’s cosmological constant. Perhaps it wasn’t a mistake, after all.)
It’s important here to remember that Einstein’s extraordinary contributions to physics, ranging from his own theory of relativity to a wide range of topics in quantum physics, lasted from around 1905 into the mid-1920s. By then he became obsessed with his unified field theory, and essentially ignored all other important new fields, such as nuclear physics. Although popular culture likes to juxtapose an image of him with his halo of hair next to a mushroom cloud from a nuclear bomb – for example, the cover of Time magazine for July 1, 1946 – in fact, he made nary an iota of input to the actual development of that important branch of 20th century physics. This runs counter to what you may be told in popular accounts of Einstein’s life and work, such as on TV and in the movies. (Yes, I know about that little equation about energy and mass that Einstein is famous for. It was there in those early years of the quantum physics of subatomic particles. Nevertheless, it’s a very long haul from that seemingly innocent equation, through decades of work in nuclear physics, and then designing technological contraptions to making a bomb or any other applications for nuclear energy. All of which was done without Einstein. Incidentally, in that famous Time cover, E = mc2 is embedded in the mushroom cloud.)
More importantly, as quantum physics evolved into quantum mechanics around the mid-1930s, Einstein vehemently rejected the statistical nature of the subject. Although he himself, starting around 1905, had published many important papers using statistics within the quantum world, he interpreted it as a limit imposed by the experimental tools that we have in probing the subatomic world. To him the statistical features were not a part of the world itself, which is – at least, potentially – completely predictable. Yet by the 1930s, especially as expounded by his friend the Danish physicist Niels Bohr and others, the quantum mechanical interpretation of the statistical nature of the equations was that the underlying subatomic world itself was statistical in nature, and had no predetermined or predictable order. Only probabilistic statements can be made about that minuscule world – and that was its fundamental nature, according to quantum mechanics.
Einstein would have none of this. To make an analogy that I believe he would like: consider the use of statistics in actuarial tables by insurance companies, in order to predict the behaviour of groups of people, since individual behaviour can’t be predicted. Using Bohr’s interpretation of statistics in quantum mechanics, there would be no real people – only probable people! However, for Einstein electrons (along with other subatomic particles), like people are real. And so, the fact that quantum mechanics must rely upon statistics to work, means that the theory is incomplete. The problem is with the theory, not the world. Indeed, he believed that one result of achieving his unified field theory someday, would be the deduction of a complete, predictable and real subatomic world. That was another reason to pursue his quest.
In the closest writing to an autobiography, which Einstein penned in 1946, he said this: “Beyond the self, there is this vast world, which exists independently of human beings, and that stands before us like a great, eternal riddle” (Topper, p.10, italics mine). Nonetheless, Bohr’s viewpoint prevailed amongst most physicists. Hence, Einstein fought a losing battle to the end of his life.
What all this shows is that throughout his life, the concepts of stability, predictability, and order were fundamental in Einstein’s picture of the universe – the way he believed his one equation for the unified field theory (if found!) would unite the worlds of relativity and quantum physics. He died in 1955 without finding this equation. Nevertheless, the quest continues, with myriad physicists today searching for, what they now call, a theory of everything.
Now back to cosmology. We now know – and by “now” I mean in only the last few years – that the universe is much more dynamical than it was ever imagined to be, even with all this expanding and accelerating going on. Stars group together as galaxies, and galaxies group together into larger clusters, due to their gravitational attractions. But – and this was realized with the help of the Hubble and now the James Webb telescopes – galaxies merge and interact in a process producing new galaxies. One might call it an internal dynamical change among the galaxies that we never knew about, until now. Closest to home, consider our Milky Way galaxy, where “we” – namely our solar system, with a star (our sun) at the centre – are near the outer edge. Being far from the black hole at the centre of our galaxy, it’s a rather quiet place (astronomically speaking) – and hence life was able to take hold and evolve into what we have today. This will go on until our sun runs its course. Our star is now almost halfway through its 10-billion-year cycle. In about 0.5 – 1.5 billion years, as it starts running out of hydrogen fuel for nuclear fusion, it will expand into a “red giant” that will encompass the orbits of Mercury, Venus, and our Earth – and hence all life as we know it will end. (Unless, of course, humans, with their nuclear weapons, hasten that event.) After that, the sun will collapse into a cold “white dwarf.”
Independently of all this, and on a larger scale, our Milky Way is part of a group of galaxies, the largest being the so-called Andromeda Nebulae, visible as a smudge to the naked eye. Due to gravity, these two galaxies are on a collision course, moving closer at the rate of 110 kilometers per second. They will meet in about 3.5 billion years, long after life has ended here. At the same time, a much smaller galaxy, M33 (also called the Triangulum Galaxy) will also take part, along with the Large Magellanic Cloud (another nearby small galaxy), which may join in on this merger. What happens next is not clear, since we need much more information from the Hubble and the James Webb telescopes. Even so, we will never know if any prediction is true or not, since no humans will be around to see all this happen!
Nonetheless, we do know a lot about such an event. Importantly, I need to clarify what we mean by a collision of galaxies. Or, maybe better said: what we don’t mean. There will be no fireworks, like clashing and exploding stars. To understand this, we must realize this fact: although from a huge distance, any galaxy looks like a compact mass of stars, in reality the individual stars are extremely far apart. As an example, consider our sun and the closest star, Proxima Centauri, which is about 4.2 light-years away. If the sun were a ping-pong ball, Proxima Centauri would be a pea about 1100 kilometres away. And so it goes throughout our galaxy and beyond, with all the other galaxies. In short, the universe is mainly empty space – strange as that may seem. Accordingly, when galaxies merge and form larger ones, there are no fireworks – just a different arrangement of the way stars group together. As for our Milky Way and Andromeda collision – along with the smaller ones – they may just pass through each other, and go on their astronomical ways. Or not. There are several possible groupings that may take place among these merging galaxies in the distant future. All this may be seen by some sentient beings on a planet in orbit around a star, both of optimum size, and in a quiet place similar to us in the Milky Way, such that a life-form evolved to our state of self-consciousness. What would they make of all this?
Now, bringing all this back to the present, and recent past: with Einstein & Darwin. So, here’s my bright idea. Thanks especially to the James Webb space telescope, and thus having this most recent information about how dynamical the universe really is – and, thankfully, not having an obsession with order and stasis – I find myself speculating about the process of galaxies merging and interacting, thus giving rise to new dominant ones and eliminating the old. As such, I picture this as an evolutionary process of survival and extinction – Darwinian in nature. A struggle for existence among the galaxies. A random process producing new galaxies throughout the universe, with no predetermined direction or goal. As such, it’s parallel to Darwin’s notion of natural selection. But now writ large (very large!), to encompass the entire universe and everything in it.
This, at least, is what all this information is telling me. Makes sense, I say.
What would Einstein say? Or Darwin? What do you think?
As a kind of footnote to this essay, I want to point this out: I know where most of Einstein’s commitment to the structured and ordered universe came from. It was his adulation of the Jewish philosopher Baruch Spinoza. I too read Spinoza’s Ethics, and was in awe of the depth of logic entailed in this incredible but difficult work. Unlike all other philosophers that Einstein read – and he read many; remember, he was educated in a 19th century German system – he never critiqued Spinoza. Rather, he absorbed the arguments from the Ethics for his views of the world, as well as for his theology. However, I, with my understanding of history, am able to see how Spinoza’s book was squarely centered in the world-view of the 17th century – not the present world that I live in. Too bad Albert didn’t do the same.
* * *
Bibliography:
Einstein, Albert. Relativity: the Special and the General Theory. A Popular Exposition. Translated by Robert W. Lawson. London: Methuen & Co., 1920. I’m using the paperback reprint of 1977.
Ohanian, Hans C. Einstein’s Mistakes: The Human Failings of Genius. New York: W. W. Norton, 2008.
Pais, Abraham. “Subtle is the Lord”: The Science and the Life of Albert Einstein. New York:Oxford University Press, 1982.
Topper, David. How Einstein Created Relativity out of Physics and Astronomy. New York: Springer, 2013.
#
David R. Topper writes in Winnipeg, Canada. His work has appeared in Mono, Poetic Sun, Discretionary Love, Poetry Pacific, Academy of the Heart & Mind, Altered Reality Mag., and elsewhere. His poem Seascape with Gulls: My Father’s Last Painting won first prize in the annual poetry contest of CommuterLit Mag. May 12, 2025.
Related
Review: Tales of an Unconscious Mind by Dr Nikhil Chandwani
May 23, 2017
In “Books Reviews”
The Dark Side of Albert: Einstein and Marie Winteler, his First Love
August 31, 2025
In “Essay”
A Very Famous Breakfast
April 20, 2020
In “Wellness”
Features
Modern Midrash
David the Dynamo
How can one person meaningfully pursue multiple passions?
Dear Ryan,
I often feel pulled in many directions, between trying to build a career, maintain relationships, pursue personal interests, and figure out what I want my life to look like. Recently, I graduated from college, got married, and moved across the country, and while I’m excited for this new chapter, I also feel this overwhelming uncertainty about what comes next.
Is it possible to pursue multiple passions and responsibilities without losing my sense of purpose or getting lost in the chaos of life? Can I have it all?
– Em
Dear Em,
I’m not sure if I’ve ever come across a prompt that spoke more closely to me. I’m a columnist, but I’m also a songwriter, poet, and musician; a booking agent, audio engineer, and producer; a Jewish educator and a student. It’s hard to balance, but it’s not impossible—nor is it novel—for the Jew.
I was recently studying Tractate Berakhot of the Talmud. The rabbis talk in depth about my Hebrew namesake—that young shepherd Elchanan who made great waves as a fierce warrior, composed the finest works of the Hebrew poetic tradition, and would ultimately be remembered as David HaMelech, the divinely crowned king of Israel. In Berakhot, the sages additionally recall David as a lifelong student, and as a judge, personally hearing cases and delivering verdicts.
Talk about someone who had it all!
It was not without sacrifice, though. It is said he hung a harp in his window to serve as an alarm clock. When the night winds blew, he would wake up and resume his work. He lived in constant doubt and questioning, at one point crying out to G-d, “Master of the Universe, I know you reward the righteous in the World to Come, but I do not know if I have a portion among them.”
And then, when it seemed as if the Shepherd King had his fill of responsibility and stress, David began his most ambitious project yet—the construction of the Jewish Temple.
I can imagine David now, hurrying out of an afternoon study session, jotting Temple designs on a large piece of parchment wedged between pages of poetry, tripping over his robe and falling as he races across the palace. Imagine his frustration, having to pick up and rebalance all of his reed pens and scrolls, only to make it a few feet down the hall before tripping again.
Hearing all the racket, one of his aides comes down the corridor, only to find a very flustered David sprawled out amongst his things.
“Why the rush, sir?” his aide says, leaning down to help him gather his scattered belongings.
“I have to be at court on the other side of the palace,” David replies. “If I’m late, it will throw my whole day off! If my day is thrown off, my week will be off as well! And if my week is off, my whole life will be too, and I may never achieve all my goals.”
The aide extends his hand, helping David stand up.
“All that rushing around,” he says, “and did it save you any time? Come, let me take a stack of your work, and let’s walk slowly together. That way, you do not trip, and you’re only late by a little, instead of by a lot.”
As Rabbi Tarfon taught—and as David came to understand—“It is not your responsibility to finish the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.”
David may have composed a beautiful collection of poetry, but only half of the Book of Psalms bears his authorship. David may have devoted his life to learning, but the Talmud only gleans a handful of insights from his teachings. David may have authored the Temple blueprints and gathered the materials, but it was his son, the wise King Solomon, who brought his work to fruition.
Em, you have a lot on your plate, but it’s not your job to finish the work—only to do your part to the best of your ability. It’s a lot of stress, I know, trying to be a good partner, a hard worker, and a productive member of your community, but don’t be afraid to take it slow and to just do what you can. David’s constant rush, his insistence on doing it all as quickly and efficiently as possible, caused him to stumble and fall. Take your time and, most importantly, seek a little help from those who love you. Who knows, you may find yourself having it all.
Mazel tov on your new life journey.
– Ryan
Have a question for Modern Midrash? Reach out to Glenn at Howdy@ryanglenn.online
Sources & Notes
Rashi’s commentary on II Samuel 21:19 — The traditional association of Elchanan with David. sefaria.org/Rashi_on_II_Samuel.21.19.1
Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 3b-4a — Depiction of David as a student and judge, the midrash concerning the harp suspended above his bed, and his uncertainty about his righteousness. English quotation adapted and modernized by the author from A. Cohen’s public-domain translation, Tractate Berakot (Cambridge University Press, 1921). sefaria.org/Berakhot.3b
Jerusalem Talmud, Berakhot 1:1 — The interpretation that David’s harp was played by the wind. https://www.sefaria.org/Jerusalem_Talmud_Berakhot.1.1
Mishnah, Pirkei Avot 2:16 — Rabbi Tarfon’s teaching about unfinished work. English quotation adapted and modernized by the author from Charles Taylor’s public-domain translation, Sayings of the Jewish Fathers (Cambridge University Press, 1897). sefaria.org/Pirkei_Avot.2.16
I Chronicles 22-28 — David’s preparations for the construction of the Temple, including the gathering of materials and the plans he handed down to Solomon. sefaria.org/I_Chronicles.22
Chabad.org, “14 Facts About the Book of Psalms,” by Menachem Posner — The traditional attribution of roughly half the Book of Psalms to David, with other psalms being attributed to additional authors or left anonymous. chabad.org, article 5567539
The encounter between David and his aide is an original midrash by the author of this piece.
Features
Two Homes, Two Tax Systems: Winnipeg and Israel
Plenty of Winnipeg families have one foot in Israel. Some have children who made aliyah, and some spend the coldest months in Tel Aviv or Rehovot. Readers who follow former Winnipegger Bruce Brown know how quickly a second life there can take shape. Long stays raise a quiet question that few people ask until a letter arrives: which country counts you as its tax resident?
Alt text: Families on a Tel Aviv beach with high-rise hotels along the shoreline
For anyone weighing dual residency Canada questions, Cardinal Point Wealth Management has published a plain-language guide to how the rules work. This article walks through the Canadian tests, the Canada-Israel treaty and the paperwork worth keeping. It is general information, not tax advice, and every situation turns on its own facts.
How Does Canada Decide Whether You Live Here?
Canada taxes its residents on their worldwide income. The Income Tax Act does not define “residence,” so the courts and the Canada Revenue Agency have filled the gap. The CRA’s guidance sits in Income Tax Folio S5-F1-C1, effective November 26, 2015.
The folio names three significant residential ties: a dwelling place, a spouse or common-law partner, and dependants. The folio treats these as the ties that almost always count, so keeping one in Winnipeg matters.
Secondary ties are weighed together. The folio’s examples include furniture and cars, Canadian bank accounts, a Canadian passport and provincial health coverage. It also lists memberships in Canadian recreational or religious organizations, which can include a synagogue.
A separate rule catches visitors. Someone who is not factually resident but sojourns in Canada for 183 days or more in a calendar year is deemed resident for the whole year. Any part of a day counts toward that total.
When Can Two Countries Both Claim You?
Dual residency happens when Canada treats you as resident and another treaty country does too. Cardinal Point’s guide points to several groups who often end up here:
- People with a second home in a warmer place.
- Landed immigrants who kept ties to their country of origin.
- Employees on extended foreign assignments.
- Remote workers whose jobs now cross borders.
The second group is larger than many assume. In 2022, the Federation’s then planning chief told this paper that immigrants made up around a third of the community. The Federation now puts Winnipeg’s Jewish population at 13,940 for 2021. Many of those families still hold homes, accounts or pensions elsewhere.
Israel applies its own residency rules, separate from Canada’s. Anyone with an Israeli home or income should get advice on the Israeli side as well.
How Does the Canada-Israel Treaty Break the Tie?
Canada and Israel signed their current income tax convention on September 21, 2016. Its Article 4 runs through a fixed order of tests for an individual resident in both countries:
| Order | Test | The question it asks |
| 1 | Permanent home | Where do you have a permanent home available? |
| 2 | Centre of vital interests | If both, where are your personal and economic relations closer? |
| 3 | Habitual abode | If that is unclear, where do you habitually live? |
| 4 | Nationality | If still tied, which country are you a national of? |
| 5 | Mutual agreement | If a national of both or neither, the two tax authorities decide |
There is a step before the table. The folio says you must first be “liable to tax” in each country, which generally means full tax on worldwide income. The onus is on you to show that for the other country.
If the treaty places you in Israel, subsection 250(5) of the Income Tax Act deems you a non-resident of Canada. Cardinal Point notes that a non-resident is generally taxable in Canada only on certain Canadian-source income. Owning a home in both places means the second and third tests often decide the case.
What Paperwork and Pitfalls Should You Expect?
The rules reward people who keep records and move carefully. A few points stand out:
- Form NR73 (leaving) and Form NR74 (entering) ask the CRA for a residency opinion. The folio says that opinion rests only on the facts you supply and does not bind the CRA.
- Cardinal Point adds that there is no legal obligation to file these forms unless the CRA asks, and that filing one could prompt a review.
- Anyone relying on the treaty should expect to show foreign tax returns and assessments.
- Amending past returns to claim non-residence can trigger other costs, such as departure tax.
- Under Article 23 of the treaty, a request for help with double taxation generally must be made within three years of first notice of the action.
- Article 17 generally caps the other country’s tax on periodic pension payments at 15 per cent of the gross amount, with conditions.
What Should You Do Before the Next Long Stay?
Start with a calendar. Log the days you spend in each country, with flights and receipts to back them up.
Next, list your ties on both sides: homes, family, accounts, health coverage and memberships. Seeing them on one page shows which way the tests may lean.
Then talk to someone who works in both systems before you change anything, especially if you draw Canadian pensions while living part of the year in Israel.
Points to Carry Between Two Homes
- Canada generally looks at your ties first, not just your days away.
- The 183-day rule deems visitors resident, so it matters for newcomers too.
- The Canada-Israel treaty settles dual residency in a fixed order, starting with a permanent home.
- Records of days, homes and foreign tax filings are your best defence.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Synagogue Membership Count as a Residential Tie?
It can. The CRA folio lists memberships in Canadian religious organizations among secondary social ties. Secondary ties are weighed together, so one membership rarely decides a case.
Can I Ask the CRA to Confirm My Residency?
You can file Form NR73 or NR74 for an opinion. The folio says the opinion is based only on the facts you provide and is not binding. Cardinal Point’s guide suggests weighing the risk of a review first.
What If Both Countries Tax the Same Income?
The treaty includes a mutual agreement procedure for double taxation. Under Article 23, an application generally must be made within three years of the first notice of the action. A cross-border adviser can help prepare it.
Can Six Months Abroad Make Me a Non-Resident?
Not by itself. Canada’s test turns on residential ties, and a home or spouse in Winnipeg usually keeps you resident. If Israel also treats you as resident, the treaty tie-breaker then applies.
Planning a Life Across Two Places
A life split between the Prairies and the Mediterranean is a gift many families have worked hard for. A little planning keeps it from becoming a tax dispute. Know your ties, understand the treaty order and get advice in both countries before the next long stay.
Features
Musings from Dizengoff Street – by Bruce Brown (updated Nov. 12)
(Posted Nov. 12) Another Israeli moment on Dizengoff Street. Still occasionally experience these. Even after living here almost 35 years. Sometimes with a smile. Sometimes with a scowl. Anyway, entered a makolet (corner store) to buy something sweet after enjoying one of Tel Aviv’s top burgers. Went to pay for my Kit Kat and the wife’s Twist (local chocolate bar). When the cashier gave me the famous Israeli ‘one moment’ finger symbol. She was talking on the phone. Hrmmph! A few minutes later she finished her call. And unapologetically told us she was speaking with her son -who was in the army- whom she hadn’t seen in several weeks and had only five minutes to talk. Ahhhh. That explains it. As the wife and I shared a compassionate smile. Where else other than in our little shtetl do we experience that.
(Ed. note:If you’d like to read an informative article about how dual Israeli-Canadian citizens’s tax treatment works, go to “Two Homes, Two Tax Systems.”)
(Posted Nov. 9) Dressed in a multicolored, sequined pantsuit and donning his signature, oversized, brightly colored bowler hat. Boy George – in his inimitable, flamboyant and somewhat gaudy manner- graced the stage of Tel Aviv’s Menora Mivtachim Arena for his second and final concert in Israel on Saturday night. And the wife and I were there. Amongst the almost sold out crowd of eight thousand fans.
Well. The crowd may not have all been ‘fans’ in the classic sense. But everyone was there in support of Boy George standing -or dancing- with Israel. He has been an outspoken defender of Israel for years. And now strongly and uncompromisingly bucking the latest trend of Israel bashing and boycotts that has become increasingly characteristic of the liberal, progressive nature of the entertainment industry. In fact, he had to withdraw from London’s East End production of Jesus Christ Superstar where he was slated to play. Yep, you guessed it. King Herod (but without the bowler hat which was not in fashion back in 20 BCE).
With his reggae song “We Will Dance Again”, released in July 2026, Boy George clearly comes to Israel as…well…one of us. His song is packed with emotional and caring lyrics. “You say genocide, I say war / When you’re attacked, that’s what the army’s for”.
Dedicating his second concert, not originally planned but quickly arranged to satisfy the huge ticket demand, to the Nova Festival. Surprisingly -and to his credit- Boy George did not milk his anti-boycott, divest and sanction position. He did not play the drama queen on stage, for which he is so well positioned and on so many levels. Rather he performed in his incomparable style. Although well into his concert he sang only one recognizable chart-topper, “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me”. And this sung as a duet with Israeli singer Ivri Lider -nice touch- in a rather different rendition from the 1982 breakout hit.
Making many pro-Israel -dare I say Zionist- references to being in Israel and the tsunami of resentment and hate he now faces. Essentially telling his detractors to ‘F—k off’ (Boy’s words). To a loud round of applause and cheering. He told a story of how many of his so-called, one-time ‘friends’ told him his departed, Irish mother would be disappointed in him and his stance. Boy George retorted, with his customary chuckle/cackle, that he was sure his mom couldn’t be prouder. To yet another rousing round of applause and cheering.
Now I must admit. Gotta’ come clean here. Ninety minutes into his concert the wife began feeling sick and wanted to leave. What! Seriously! There are still songs to be sung! Admittedly, she had to ask me three times before I’d move. Cause I really wanted to stay for the rest of the show. And especially see him perform “We Will Dance Again”. And hear his other recognizable classics like “Karma Chameleon”, “It’s a Miracle” and my personal favorite “The Crying Game” – all of which he may have been saving for the encore. Based on reviews from his first show – sorry this part not scribed firsthand- he did indeed play his hits. And the crowd predictably clapped and rooted when he sang “We Will Dance Again” towards the end of the evening. Even singing and dancing in their seats along with Boy George. A kind of unity in trauma.
During his stay in Israel Boy George toured the Nova dance festival grounds. Visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem. And met with President Herzog, who honored the singer by declaring that “Since October 7, Israel and the Jews…have faced an onslaught of attacks…(including) in the world of culture, art and music….However you stood up and said: ‘If you’re ever confused, I stand with the Jews’.” A most appropriate tribute to the extravagant and colorful performer.
I’ve never been a Boy George or Culture Club fan. Ya, I liked a few of his songs but not much more than that. However it was important to demonstrate my support to the bravery and solidarity that Boy George has shown Israel. And am now waiting for other performers to follow…. Jerry Seinfeld. Sarah Silverman. Barbra Streisand. Pink. Drake. David Draiman. Simon and Garfunkel (alone or together). Gene and Paul (revive one last Kiss concert). Israel is waiting for you.
(Posted Nov. 5) Was sitting in my saferoom the other day. Watching T.V. As the room also doubles as a den. And I noticed a kippa (or skullcap for you reform Jews or yarmulke for you true Yids) sitting on one of the shelfs. Guess I placed it there while preparing for another round of missiles during one of Trump’s infinite threats. Don’t remember doing that. But there it was. Knitted blue with white trim. If needed, only an arm’s reach from disaster. Then I started to muse. Like really muse. Why did I, a secularist and probably an agnostic (but not really sure – is that a pun?), bring a kippa into the saferoom. Mulled it over a few days. But it still bemused me. So I turned to a good friend. Who is a rabbi. And he provided a very profound response. “As the saying goes, there are no atheists in foxholes.” Thank you, Rabbi. For the wisdom.
(Posted Nov. 2) Wimpy from Popeye fame would have a gluttonously good time in Israel these days. The Israel street food culture has strongly shifted since McDonald’s opened its first branch here in 1993. I took my girlfriend -now the wife- to that grand opening. Waiting almost forty minutes (!) for a Big Mac. BTW, McDonalds now has 225 branches in Israel. Digressing…. There are just some really great burger bars in Israel now -Vetrina, Prozdor, Josef’s and America (what else?!), to name a few. For sure since McDonald’s grand opening, the Israeli street food palate largely moved from falafels to burgers. With the landscape changing from falafel stands to hamburger joints. Tel Aviv alone has ~ 110 burger places vs 35 for falafel. And, get this, the total annual Israeli burger market is about 2.5B nis. While the famous Israeli falafel is estimated at a paltry 1.8B nis. Disclaimer – while still a disputable fact, although largely associated with Israel the falafel has its origins in Egypt. Talk about food colonialism and here I totally digress. Anyway, as Wimpy would say while hanging on Dizengoff Street, “I’d gladly pay you Tuesday for a good Israeli hamburger today.”
(Posted Oct. 29) With a voter turnout of 77.7%. The highest in twenty-seven years and eleven election cycles. With neither block – the current coalition nor the opposition – able to form a stable majority. Nay, a simple majority. With each party having made goldarn, hifalutin campaign declarations about whom they won’t sit with. And now facing just such a choice. With each block comprised of several smaller parties -yep, Israel’s wonderful proportional representative democracy at work- having their own goldarn, hifalutin principles. And now struggling with comprise. How do you define deadlock. That’s precisely where our little shtetl finds itself.
(Posted Oct. 26) Trigger warning. Totally unscientific, totally subjective, highly generalized tour of Israeli electoral patterns musing ahead.
With election day upon us. The wife says if more of the same is voted in… she’s outta’ here. Somewhat extreme but I get her. A pretty common threat in the Shtetl these days. But that’s if you live in North Tel Aviv. While the word from stall owners of Tel Aviv’s HaTikva market and Jerusalem’s Mahaneh Yehuda market is somewhat different. While visiting the latter, the Prime Minister received a rousing chorus of the Israeli English version of Happy Birthday. Celebrating his 77th. I wish him the best… as he hopefully prepares for retirement. Which does not excuse a bottle thrown at his motorcade as he arrived – totally unacceptable! Meanwhile, those in areas like Bnei Brak, Bet Shemesh and Mea Shearim may be looking for something else. Voting for Shas, United Torah Judaism or the ilk to retain their status quo of not educating, not paying taxes and not serving. And those from the Settlements most likely casting their vote for Smotrich or Ben Gvir. Yikes! And double yikes! Our Arab co-citizens from Nazareth, Jaffa, and Umm al-Fahm most likely voting for Ra’am or the Joint List (comprising the three other main Arab parties). Speaking of which, I am pretty impressed with Monsour Abbas’s Ra’am; channeling a message of co-existence, cooperation and loyalty. Although a meaningful partner in the previous Bennett/Lapid government, still too extreme a ballot to cast. For me anyway. And supporters of the middle, -often veering to the right and comprising the current main coalition or opposition blocs- can be found throughout the shtetl. As for me. I still waver between Eisenkot or Bennett. Or perhaps Lieberman…but probably not. Message to myself – time to decide! All while under the threat of another skirmish with Iran. Who is looking to upend our democratic right but what do they know about democracy. My back-of-the-voting-envelope wisdom as we approach October 27. Vote. But vote for the right guy. Hmmm. ‘Guy’? All party leaders are men. Now where’s a good Golda when you need one. Sagacious indeed.
(Posted Oct. 22) Israel. Once famous for its Jaffa oranges. Has since offered the world so much more than just a tasty, vitamin C packed, citrus boost. We’re offering. And most of the globe is accepting. World class hi-tech, med-tech, agri-tech, def-tech (yes defense!) innovations that. Well. Simply make the planet a better place. From Intel Israel’s Pentium 4 and Centrino microchips. Where the ancient city of Jerusalem became the world’s first Wi-Fi-enabled city. How cool is that! To Checkpoint’s worldclass network firewall security systems. From Teva’s generic low-cost medications and schizophrenia and bone health treatments. To Given Imaging’s pain saving Pill Cams. To MeMed’s fifteen-minute blood tests distinguishing between infections. To Rafael and Elbit’s Iron Dome and Iron Beam anti-missile defense systems. To Ormat’s renewable energy solutions. From Netafim’s pioneering drip irrigation technology. To CropX smarter farming with less water. To Watergen and H20LL which. Now get this. Essentially turns air into drinking water. Hmmmm…. To Mobileye technology helping cars see. Yep, those dashboard beeps when approaching another car too fast was developed in our little shtetl. To Waze’s GPS navigation software. Without which we would probably make the wrong turn. And to Wiz’s cloud and AI cybersecurity platforms, sold to Google in 2026 for 32B$. In cash. The largest foreign acquisition of an Israeli company to date – not too bad! And many, many more ‘Froms’ and ‘Tos’. So now. A modest call out to all those BDS (Boycott, Divest and Sanctions) supporters. You probably don’t realize how embedded your daily lives are with Israeli invention. But don’t worry. Israel won’t sanction you. So remember. Buy Israeli!
(Posted Oct. 19) So, two runner up distinctions for my little shtetl. On the bright side. Israel is often considered to have the second highest number of listings on the tech heavy NASDAQ. Often jockeying for second place with China and sometimes Canada. The number one country, of course, is the U.S.. On the not so bright side. According to Microsoft’s 2026 Digital Defense Report, Israel was ranked the second most targeted county in the world for ‘observed state-linked cyber events’, at 210 events. The number one country here is also the U.S. (at 531 such events). Now this is a specific metric limited to particular and observed cyber activity. On a broader note, Israel’s National Cyber Directorate reported about 4,800 hostile cyber incidents in June 2026. Yes, in a single month! Somewhat daunting. And thank goodness for our esteemed IDF 8200 unit. I digress. And back to the NASDAQ listings and the MS Digital Defense Report. Guess we gotta’ take the good with the bad.
(Posted Oct. 15) Congratulations South African jurist Navi Pillay for winning the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize. Not. The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that she won the prize “for her efforts to promote peace and international law.” Now I admittedly don’t know much about Navi other than what I just googled. Our legal scholar defended anti-apartheid activists in South Africa including Nelson Mandella and was a Prosecutor against crimes committed during the 1994 Rwandan war. But. And here I tend to agree with the shtetl voices accusing Navi of bigotry and injustice. For heading a UN Commission of Inquiry that concluded Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. And for previously serving as a Judge at that bastion of ‘justice for all’, the International Criminal Court which later served arrest warrants for war crimes against Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant. Granted, not during her tenure but anyway kinda’ guilty by association – there’s a pun in there somewhere. Seriously. Am just so goldarn frustrated that now another anti-Israel voice will have its day on the international stage. To promote her version of ‘peace and international law’. And the beat goes on….
(Posted Oct. 12) Thirty-eight parties. That’s right. Thirty-eight political parties are running in this year’s national elections. Meshuga! Of course. The list includes those ‘far out’ groups, such as the Garden of Eden party or the Shema party or the Eternal Covenant party. All fringe messianic slates that don’t stand a chance of crossing Israel’s 3.25% electoral threshold. Thankfully. Of this very robust list there are about twelve ‘mainstream’ parties -yes, Israel has a very broad midsection- with a reasonable chance of winning a seat to Israel’s twenty-sixth Knesset. Compare this to Canada’s political map of sixteen national parties. That’s right. Sixteen parties. Meshuga! Of course. Surprising that stable, predictable and moderate Canada has so many political colors. Of this somewhat robust list there is but a handful of mainstream parties – a pretty narrow midsection. Back to thirty-eight and as the saying goes, ‘two Israelis three opinions’. With fifteen days remaining until election day. Let the mudslinging continue.
(Posted Oct. 8): The ‘negotiations’. And I use the term loosely. Between the U.S. and Iran. So goldarn random. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are playing a kind of remote game of rock, paper. Scissors. Just imagine them. President Trump for the U.S. And. Well. Someone for Iran. Hooked up via high security internet link. Throwing out their fists. Rock. Or paper. Or scissors. Lots of confidence, that.
(Posted Oct. 6): Commemorating Oct 7 2023
Shortly after that tragic day. Visiting the haunting display of despair and hope at Dizengoff Square. The wounds still raw. Was mainly despair. With only a glimmer of hope. Overcome by the collection of bloodied and blindfolded stuffed teddy bears strewn against the Agam Fountain.
Driving home afterwards. Two songs played on the radio. One after the other. As if the music score to a very sad movie. Even today, when hearing these songs. They conjure up memories of my mindset three years ago.
George Harrison’s ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’. “I look at the world / And I notice, it’s turning / With every mistake / We must surely be learning / Still my guitar gently weeps…”
Paul McCartney’s ‘Blackbird’. “Blackbird singing in the dead of night / Take these broken wings and learn to fly / You were only waiting for this moment to be free / Blackbird fly / Into the light of a dark black night…”
Always remembering. But looking forward.
(Posted Oct. 1): So my daughter told me about the new apartment rental she was considering for the upcoming academic year in Jerusalem. “Third floor. Three bedrooms for three roommates. Twenty minutes from the university. Close to the bus stop. Grocery store nearby.” She itemized. Then with her next breath, “Shetler in the next building.” Kinda’ took my breath away. Is that where we live? What we’ve become? What pre-occupies us? Yes. Yes. Yes.
Despite my recurring safe room musings. It still kinda’ shook my core. But once I regained my existential footing. I realized how lucky we are. We have a well-prepared wartime infrastructure. We are conscious of wartime safety and security. It’s become second nature. Even when choosing an apartment. Then I recalled how last year. When my daughter first moved to Jerusalem. I focused on the shelter thing. Even timed a dash to the nearest shelter. She cringed with embarrassment. As she does with much of what I do – dad stuff and I digress. Now here she is. One year later. Itemizing her well thought out considerations. Including the shelter. I guess she listens to me after all. Well…sometimes anyway.
(Posted Sept. 28) Caution. Caution. A very long muse ahead….
So Prime Minister Netanyahu made his fifteenth address at the United Nations General Assembly. I get excited with every speech. Preparing some lightly buttered popcorn and comfortably settling in front of the T.V. for some high-stakes geopolitical posturing. And this one didn’t miss the mark and the high bar Netanyahu sets for himself.
Liked when he referred to our ‘friends’ leaving the hall before he spoke. Asking. And smirking. At the beginning of his speech. If there are any other “moral cowards” who would like to leave. He could have said much worse.
Liked his strong defense against the acrimonious, hostile, and simply incorrect accusation of genocide. Insisting, with examples, of Israel being guilty of the opposite. Supplying a million polio vaccinations. Distributing two million tons of food. Providing warnings of pending attacks -leaflets, cellphone calls, ‘knocks on the roof’ (an IDF tactic of firing non-lethal projectiles towards roof tops as warning to noncombatants to evacuate before a pending airstrike)- in civilian areas where Hamas is inevitably hiding. Netanyahu also referenced Colonel John Spencer, head of Urban Warfare studies at West Point and the preeminent expert on, well, urban warfare. Who clearly defends Israel as having done more to prevent civilian casualties in war than any other military in history. That’s quite a claim! So yes. Israel can actually be guilty of ediconeg – the opposite of genocide.
Didn’t like Netanyahu’s Ben-Gviresque defense of violent West Bank settlers. Or is it Judea & Samaria. I admittedly struggle in geographically defining the area, I digress. And didn’t like him referring to these settlers as “juvenile delinquents”. They are much more than that! If not terrorists, they should at least be called -and treated- as violent criminals. I admittedly struggle with finding the appropriate label, again digressing. Overall, this struck me as pandering to his far-right electorate. Standing before the green marble wall of the UN podium…hmmm, not the most appropriate venue for local electioneering.
Didn’t like his beeper reference. While brilliant, the pager attack in Lebanon happened in Sept 2024. Was so taken aback by this reference that I fact checked the date between mouthfuls of popcorn. And Israel already took credit for this publicly and at several international forums. Just seemed a bit dated, forced and out of place.
Liked the swipe at our ‘friend’ Mamdani. On the podium of the U.N. in N.Y. No less!
Liked his call for Jews around the world to stand tall. “Raise your head high. Be proud. Be confident. Don’t be intimidated.” He admonished. Okay, confession time. I will not speak Hebrew with the wife when travelling overseas. Am a bit scared and maybe need to stand a bit taller. I digress.
Liked Netanyahu’s callout to the Iranian people. Declaring that “The power of the people will overcome the people in power.” Although he didn’t have to provide a public service announcement for Elon Musk’s Starlink, waving a Starlink device at the podium.
Didn’t like, as pointed out by the Jerusalem Post, that there was no complementary vision to his fiery, hardline and somewhat Sparta-like rhetoric. No mention of a more conciliatory, Athenia-like vision for the day after. Emphasizing Israel’s desire for peace and what it can and has offered the world.
Loved the overall theme. That Israel will survive. And thrive. Because, as he exclaimed several times, “We have no other choice!” This was based on a reference in his address to his older brother Yonathan Netanayhu who led the rescue at Entebbe in 1976 and was the only Israeli casualty. Netanyahu even thanked the Uganda government for recently erecting a statue dedicated to his brother. Thought this a nice, personal touch.
Loved Netanyahu’s passion. His fiery indignation echoing throughout his almost forty-minute speech. His fury at the goldarn outrageous, bigoted, noxious branding of Israel as ‘bad’ by much of the world’s useful idiots. Although should have channeled some of that ire to a more conciliatory day after vision.
Anyway. As for the United Nations. That bastion of partiality and moral cowardice. Think it should be renamed the United Naars. Again I digress.
(Posted Sept. 25) Looping back to an August 9 muse about my visit to Jerusalem’s Basimta Café and its dispute with the neighborhood ultra-orthodox for opening on Shabbat. Which I felt was a bit of a storm in a teacup as there wasn’t much protest action when I visited. But kerfuffles nonetheless. Unfortunately the café decided against remaining open on Shabbat. According to the café manager “…it will return to what it was intended to be: a calm, pleasant and open place for coffee, culture and dialogue.” As it turns out, the manager is also CEO of Jews for Jesus. Which is fine by me. Live and let live. But just wondering if this was also reason for the café brouhaha. As there are many other Jerusalem cafes open on Shabbat which the ultra-orthodox do not protest against. Not that I want to give anyone ideas. Just sayin’.
(Ed. note: Just to put Bruce’s latest musing in context, here again is what he wrote on August 9): August 8, 2026)
Outside Basimta Café in Central Jerusalem. Love the red shirt against a tiny sea of black. Not sure I am shrugging because of the ultra-orthodox uproar over a Jerusalem café operating on Shabbat or the lack of an ultra-orthodox uproar over a Jerusalem café operating on Shabbat. For the last six weeks Israeli headlines shouted about the cafe chaos. With the ultra-religious blocking entrances and storming the café. While shouting ‘Shabbos! Shabbos!’ Upsetting the secular amongst us just wanting to enjoy our Saturday iced matchas. So the wife and I thought we would check it out. And. Yes. Buy something to support the business. Uproar. Not. Blocked entrances. Not. Storming the café. Not. Albeit there were police barriers separating the devout protesters from the coffee drinkers. The protesters being just a few dozen black clad, pious Jews. Mostly teenagers. And yes. Shouting ‘Shabbos! Shabbos!’ Certainly underwhelming in its reported mayhem. Reminds me of the famous saying misattributed to Mark Twain – “If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you do, you’re misinformed.” But I did enjoy my iced matcha.
(Posted Sept. 22) Admire him or despise him. Love him or hate him. Commend him or vilify him. Praise him or criticize him. Respect him or disdain him. Believe him or doubt him. Vote for him or not. However you perceive him. And whether you support him. Wishing Prime Minister Netanyahu a successful visit to New York and the U.N. And that we won’t have to send him a cake with a hacksaw baked inside. Mamdani… stand down!
(Posted Sept. 18) Just wonderin’. When a tree falls in a forest and no one’s there to hear it, does it make a sound? And if Iran says it’s not enriching uranium and no one’s there to verify it, do they develop fissile material?
Now Iran just obtained a seat on the General Committee of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s General Conference – how crazy is that. Like letting the cat guard the milk.
(Posted Sept. 15) Apparently some superheroes are against us. But not really. Whewww!!! Fortunately it’s just the progressive actors who play them in movies. Such as Benedict Cumberbatch (Dr. Strange) and Mark Ruffalo (the Hulk) as well as other minor actors not worth mentioning. What are these misinformed thespians aligning themselves with. Not sure they really know. Well. It’s with The Freedom for Marwan campaign, which pushes for the release of convicted, arch-terrorist mastermind Marwan Barghouti. Convicted in 2004 and sentenced to five life sentences plus 40 years for orchestrating various heinous shooting sprees in Israel during the Second Intifada (2000-2005). Killing and wounding too many innocent Israeli civilians including a Greek Orthodox monk outside Jerusalem. As a comic book fan, and closet Batman and Aquaman (when I swim), it saddens me that these guardians of the universe can be associated with defending evil. But then I remind myself it’s only the actors -what do they know anyway- and not really the superheroes. Unlike our own Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman), Natalie Portman (the Mighty Thor), Shira Haas (Sabra) and Liev Schreiber (Sabretooth). All firmly on the side of good.
(Posted Sept 10) Honey cakes. Honey cakes. Honey cakes. It’s that time of year. Yummy! Here comes Rosh HaShana 5787. And its…. You guessed it. Honey cake season. That light brown loaf our baba used to make. Starting a few weeks before Rosh HaShana and extending through Yom Kippur – a first bite to break the fast and usher in a sweet year- honey cakes are found throughout the country. The familiar sight of the ready-made, pre-packaged, ‘assembly-line’ honey cakes wrapped in cheap cellophane found in Grocery stores. The freshly baked honey cakes adorning window displays at local bakeries. The exorbitantly priced, gourmet honey cake desserts offered at fancy Tel Aviv restaurants. And of course, honey cakes festooning the festive, colorful, Rosh Hashana dinner tables across Israel. I bake my own honey cake which is pretty good. My wife and kids would beg to differ. But these slightly glazed honey cakes -of my own culinary, shtetl inspired creation- are heartedly enjoyed by me as I gain several honey cake induced pounds. Shana tova!
(Posted Sept. 8) Hoarding. A combination of my own little wartime PTSD and some recent headlines about Iran trying to coordinate a multifront attack (is that capability still there?!) and October 7 like rumblings from the West Bank (or Judea & Samaria, depending if you wear a kippa and if its knitted and if it tilts to this side or that side -that’s a shtetl insider joke). I digress and Yikes! And we just had a nation-wide drill of the IDF’s top-level headquarters preparedness for such scenarios. Double Yikes! So ya. I’m always checking and rechecking that we have way more than enough of some things. The thought of entering another prolonged war and some stuff no longer available, even for a short time, scares the bejeebers out of me. Just writing about it triggers the ‘go and buy’ dopamine hit. Medications. Toilet paper. Bottled water. Canned goods. Also worried about the country running out of bullets. But I can’t hoard those.
(Posted Sept. 5) An open letter to the zany and zealous mouthpieces of those delightful, anti-Israel protests held regularly in Toronto. In the heavily Jewish Bathurst & Sheppard area no less. Fear and harassment in the community? Not by the hairs of our chinny chin chins.
Dear Friends.
Are you serious.
Sincerely,
Bruce Brown, a Zionist who does not rape children. Who does not murder children. Who does not eat children. And, get this, who lives in Israel.
(Ed. note: To better understand what Bruce is talking about, go to this story on our website: Police open hate-crime investigation)
(Posted Sept. 1) Can you be more of an international embarrassment and liability? Yes talking about Israeli’s antagonist extraordinaire and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
Declaring that Israel should kill ’30-40 Gazans a day’. Seriously?!?! His actual statement may have been more refined and qualified. But it doesn’t really make a difference. That’s the takeaway. Like whose side is he on anyway. Talk about giving our detractors ammunition to delegitimize our little shtetl. Hello?!?!
And a few days later. Showing off in front of a gallows site under construction at a high security prison. Seriously?!?! The death penalty for terrorists. Right or not – I think the former. But like can you give us reason to be compared to an extremist state. That’s the takeaway. Like whose side is he on anyway. Talk about giving our detractors ammunition to delegitimize our little shtetl. Hello?!?!
Serenity now!
(Posted August 28) Kites. Color. Childhood. Hamas and friends should watch Mary Poppins with the final kite flying scene. Remember that song, Let’s Go Fly A Kite. Ya, I know. Somewhat ethnocentric. But still…. I have fond memories of flying kites with my kids. Down the Mediterranean shoreline in Tel Aviv. At the Ness Tziona kite flying festival. Along the green grounds of the Weizmann Institute. Laughing and running. Looking to the sky with awe. Multi-shades and fancy. Kites.
With your fist ‘olding tight
To the string of your kite
…oh, oh, oh!
Lets go fly a kite
Kites. Fun. Laughter. Innocence.
Kites. Not an instrument of war.
(Posted August 25) How principled can you be! Ireland -one of the most anti-Israel and foggiest countries in the EU- insisted that its government’s new, 60$M executive jet NOT be equipped with Elbit’s FalconEye navigation system, which helps pilots navigate in fog -how ironic- and other difficult weather conditions. Without this unique system the plane must be diverted to alternative airports. This a part of the government’s official boycott of Israeli goods. So good luck to Prime Minister Michael Martin in landing his aircraft in Dublin.
And despite some negative sentiment towards everything Israel, Elbit achieved over 32$B in backorders with Europe driving much of its export growth. On a more personal muse. The morning after Iran’s first attack on Israel (April 13 2024), I woke up not with fear and panic. Well. Okay. Some of that. But also great excitement regarding an investment opportunity which developed overnight. Actually it was the wife’s suggestion. After Israel successfully intercepted over three hundred missiles and drones – showcasing the strength of Israel’s defense industry- my wife had a eureka moment. What better public relations for Israel’s defense industry. Let’s buy stock in Elbit, a key player in that ecosystem. We did. And about eighteen months later we cashed in. With about 150% profit. This is not an endorsement to buy… blah, blah, blah….
Again. Good luck to Prime Minister Martin.
(Posted August 21) Sometimes musings are terribly sad. But should be shared.
Happy belated birthday beautiful Ariel. Turned seven on August 5th. Thought about him and his younger brother Kfir and mother Shiri. All murdered by Hamas shortly after their unbelievable and surreal abduction on Oct 7 2023.
As I was driving home today. “I Thank You Child” by Zakk Wylde shuffled onto my Spotify. Always kills me, this song. It was played by Yarden, the father who himself was held hostage, at the funeral of his family. For Ariel and Kfir. The lyrics chilling. The frequent drum rolls haunting.
It was you who made living all worth the while
Oh, I thank you, my child
Comfort in your eyes
For the warmth inside your smile
Faith’s done gone astray
It was you who made living all the while
All my fears repressed
Oh lovin’ you child it’s the best
This song. Written almost thirty years ago. Finds its devastating meaning today. With the Bibas family tragedy.
How.
Listen to the song here:
(Posted August 18, 2026) And the beat goes on in the strait. A bit quieter lately although may be heating up again with the 60day ‘ceasefire’ officially expired. And while Iran occasionally lashed out over the last two months, they did not attack Israel. How do you spell deterrence. According to my Yiddisha mama, its spelled ‘Pftt. Pftt. Pftt‘.
(August 14, 2026) Despite three years of varying degrees of warfare. Moody’s biannual report of the Israeli economy was quite positive. Basically, the report saw no pressures on Israel’s credit rating. While the macro data remains strong, Israel still faces a complex geopolitical situation further complicated by upcoming elections (we pondered about how crazy that is in an earlier muse). And Israeli’s inflation rate for the first half of 2026 fell to a historic five year low of 1.2% (vs Canada’s 2.6%). As for my own pocketbook. Haven’t had an infamous Israeli bank overdraft in years. So all is fine.
If that’s not enough economic voodoo talk for one musing. According to one famous barometer. Israel moved to second place in the Economist’s Big Mac Index. Introduced in 1986, this tasty indicator compares the purchasing power parity across countries by measuring the price of a McDonald’s Big Mac -which most can relate to- against the benchmark U.S. burger. So while a Big Mac in the U.S. costs $6.22. In Israel it costs $7.67, the second most expensive place to buy the hamburger in the world, Switzerland being the most pricey at a whopping (no reference to Wendy’s) $9.04. While the cheapest Big Mac can be enjoyed in Indonesia at only $2.38. Canada ranked 22nd of the fifty-four countries considered, at $5.85. Parity. Smarity. I’m going for my Big Mac fix. Just after I finish writing this muse….
(August 11, 2026) Bravo Boy George. We certainly will dance again! And what better way than with his new reggae tune. Now Boy George is dealing with a hostile backlash against his just stand for Israel. Having to withdraw from London’s East End production of Jesus Christ Superstar where he was going to play – guess it. King Herod. Never a big Culture Club fan, but I am anyway -as a sign of support- going to download his greatest hits to my Spotify library. And hoping to have a chance to buy a concert ticket should Boy George perform in Israel. Kind of reminds me of Bob Dylan’s 1983 song Neighborhood Bully. Also in defense of Israel. I’m going to download that song as well. Although don’t think he was hounded the way Boy George is now. Sign of the times I guess.
+++++
Coming clean. I sometimes find myself chanting, to no one in particular, that snappy little ditty ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.’ Now why can’t we come up with something as catchy. With such an impressive gene pool of great Jewish songwriters. George Gershwin. Irving Berlin. Burt Bacharach. Carole King. Neil Diamond. Leanard Choen. Paul Simon. Gene Simmons, Amy Winehouse. Bob Dylan. And yes, even the Buddhist Boy George. And still… gurnish! No wonder we’re losing the global PR battle
(August 8, 2026) Outside Basimta Café in Central Jerusalem. Love the red shirt against a tiny sea of black. Not sure I am shrugging because of the ultra-orthodox uproar over a Jerusalem café operating on Shabbat or the lack of an ultra-orthodox uproar over a Jerusalem café operating on Shabbat. For the last six weeks Israeli headlines shouted about the cafe chaos. With the ultra-religious blocking entrances and storming the café. While shouting ‘Shabbos! Shabbos!’ Upsetting the secular amongst us just wanting to enjoy our Saturday iced matchas. So the wife and I thought we would check it out. And. Yes. Buy something to support the business. Uproar. Not. Blocked entrances. Not. Storming the café. Not. Albeit there were police barriers separating the devout protesters from the coffee drinkers. The protesters being just a few dozen black clad, pious Jews. Mostly teenagers. And yes. Shouting ‘Shabbos! Shabbos!’ Certainly underwhelming in its reported mayhem. Reminds me of the famous saying misattributed to Mark Twain – “If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you do, you’re misinformed.” But I did enjoy my iced matcha.
(August 6, 2026) Here we go again. Another round of forever negotiations. As someone who negotiates for a living. The way things are going in the straits. If I had to recommend a book on the subject to a new hire. Between The Art of the Deal, A Presidential Edition by Donald J. Trump or The Real Art of the Deal by the Mullahs of Iran with a special forward by the IRGC. Well. I would choose the latter.
(August 3) Bravo Yoav Segalovitz, Liberal Yesh Atid MK and Monsour Abbas, United Arab Ra’am MK and party head. For breaking a glass ceiling where a Jewish lawmaker joins an Arab political party. No less a political earthquake in my little shtetl. Which can significantly impact coalition block arithmetic and posturing and strategy in the upcoming elections. Now Ra’am can be considered a legitimate ‘Zionist’ partner when forming coalition blocks and potentially pushing the ‘center left/right’ party over the 60 seat majority threshold. In our crazy parliamentary democracy defined by a multi-party (about fourteen!!), proportional representation system. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, Israel’s proportional representation model of governance is the best parliamentary democracy system except for all other forms of working democracies. Stay tuned for more amateurish political musings as we move towards Israel’s 26th national election – five of them held since 2019.
(August 1) Although both sides say they are open to diplomacy. Neither really trusts the other. And American military action, or its threat, continues. I read headlines in the middle of the night -it’s a nervous habit lately– that the Dynamic Duo of Trump and Netanyahu may again strike in unison. Possibly this weekend. Yikes! Prompting me, at 2:30 AM, to dash around the house stocking my safe room. Bottled water. Canned food. Medicines. Documents. The beat goes on….
If it’s crazy here. It’s insane in Italy. With a recent online ‘Jew Hunt’ in the Milan area. Before being removed, the digital forms urged reportings of Israelis and Italian Jews staying in local hotels. The infamous Global Sumud Movement -yes, the one coordinating ‘peace and humanitarian’ flotillas to Gaza- was somehow connected. Although they deny involvement?! This deranged decree was looking to identify Zionist tourism and Zionist neo-colonization in Italy. I’ll stick with stocking the saferoom.
Then there’s New York Mayor Mamdani, a Global Sumud Movement supporter, threatening to arrest Prime Minister Netanyahu if he comes to New York. But since discovered he has no legal right for such a grandstanding, antisemitic, anti-Israel, anti-Western, anti-democratic antic. Maybe Mandami should be arrested! Or at least impeached. For being a grandstanding, antisemitic, anti-Israel, anti-Western, anti-democratic mayor.
Here’s a post Bruce sent us Friday, July 31:
WARTIME MUSINGS
Should credible threats against FLOTUS and ‘FSOTUS’ (first son..) not be justification to attack first.
As for yesterday’s summit. Netanyahu really can’t win. Explainer. If Trump now attacks without victory its ’cause of Netanyahu. If Trump now attacks with victory its ’cause of Trump. And, in Israel, if Trump doesn’t attack -victory or not- Netanyahu failed in his eighth meeting with Trump. And if Trump does attack -victory or not- half the country will vilify Bibi anyway. Missing a permutation?
Ya. I know. Kinda’ need a definition of victory for that musing to work.
And here in my little shtetle. We go to sleep unsure if there will be a code red in the middle of the night. And if not. We wake up thinking it will be tonight. How do you define stress?
Seemed like an appropriate way to end this musing.
Bruce Brown is a former Winnipegger who made aliyah to Israel over 35 years ago. Bruce first began writing for us – in his own inimitable style, in 2012, during what was known as “Operation Pillar of Defense.” His occasional musings on aspects of life in Israel that were far from what you’d typically read in other reports from Israel were hugely popular – both in the print Jewish Post & News and on this website.
We’re now glad to report that Bruce is back writing for us – this time on a regular basis. We will post Bruce’s reports as they arrive – with the date of each post at the beginning of that post.
Here’s some information about Bruce – and awards he’s received for his writing:
Bruce Brown. Canadian born. Now living in Israel (for a long time). Bruce works in Israel’s hi-tech sector by day and, in spurts, is a somewhat inspired writer by night. He received the American Jewish Press Association’s award for writing excellence in 2019 and 2025. And wrote the1998 satire, “An Israeli is….”. Bruce’s visuals are AI-assisted and created with ChatGPT under his inimitable visual concept and creative direction. Bruce’s musings are political, social, economic and personal. With lots of biting, contrarian, sardonic, irreverent and mischievous insights.
