Ha!
Don't know whether to laugh or cry that this is front page news in the National Post.
I think I will laugh, then I will snark.
I read the whole article and have a few comments and observations. Now, this comes from someone who has actually worked in the organized Jewish community, both here and in Israel.
I can also disclose that I am not very well liked in the organized Jewish community-imagine that!?!? I know KWAZY TAWK.
So, there are a few things at play here.
First of all-there is prestige. There is a Yiddish/Hebrew word called "yichus". That loosely means "standing", but it's also kind of like a measure of your all over prestige. It can be familial, or career related. It also refers to lineage-like for marriage purposes-what your background is.
There are a lot of people who are obsessed with yichus in the Jewish community. They want to be the voice of the community. Some people even get to the point where their entire identities are as Professional Jews. That is to say that they can spend their entire "professional" lives in the bubble of the Jewish community.
There are also turf wars over money. Big money. Millions of dollars. Well, more like tens of millions and for some projects-hundreds of millions. The money all comes from the same source-the Jewish community, and there is a lot of money at stake. There are little empires each battling it out for more yichus, more dollars and more recognition for good works both here and in Israel. And more photo ops with Prime Ministers, etc..
By the way-in Israel it's even crazier, because the money comes from outside of Israel. Not enough time here to go into it.
The other thing that is notable in my view, is that all the Big Fancy Executive President Hot Shots of the Official Jews quoted in this article are men. Don't you think that's weird? And it's always the same guys, year after year after year ZZZZZZZZZZZ.
There is very little "diversity" in the Official Jewish establishment and most of the establishment tilts left or moderately to the right but thrives on the non-existent antisemitism industry in Canada and misunderstands completely the idea of free speech.
CIJA is a bungling bureaucracy run by people who honestly do not have a clue, and I personally think they do more damage with their idiotic activism than good. They clearly do not understand the Middle East or Islam at all.
So-it's a mess! But nobody really asks for my opinion (IMAGINE THAT?!?!?!) and might roll their eyes up at this missive.
But-what if I'm right? What if Jews in Canada are sick of the pompous, stuffy, lefty, censorship mad, yichus obsessed, frightful shteltl and sha shtil mentality? What if?
Answers:
a) Who cares what you think?
b) Shut up.
c) We are totally awesome and know exactly what all Jews in Canada think and want-forever X eleventy million bazillion years.
d) Shut up because we all want our Order of Canada (see "yichus") above.
e) All of the above.
Correct! All of the above!
Mazel tov!
UPDATE: Scaramouche adds some great thoughts here.
