We are delighted to announce that CHES continues to spread its wings. We welcome three new partners: the Embassy of Israel, Liberation 75, and Equity, Diversity, and Training at the Ottawa Carleton District School Board. We look forward to working together with our partners on new and exciting projects in 2022. One such project is the Shoah Foundation’s Last Chance Visual History, an important initiative that aims to reach survivors who wish to share their stories and have not yet done so.
CHES joins other organizations in commending the Government of Canada for the pledges made on October 13th at the Malmö International Forum on Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism, as part of its commitment to fight antisemitism and promote Holocaust awareness.
“We need to attack directly the problem of antisemitism with increased urgency and focus all together, because antisemitism isn’t a problem for the Jewish community to solve alone,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the forum.
The Prime minister announced at the Forum that Canada will develop a national plan to combat hate with the help of its special envoy Honorable Irwin Cotler. He added that Canada will make permanent the special envoy for preserving Holocaust remembrance and fighting antisemitism and will bolster the position with more resources.
Holocaust Education Month 2021
As November nears, we embrace the fall season, and with it, the final stages of preparation of exciting and exceptional programs for Holocaust Education Month (HEM). See details and registration information below or click on the following links:
https://bit.ly/CHESnov9 ||| https://bit.ly/CHESnov14 ||| https://bit.ly/CHESnov24
The current climate of antisemitism requires effective training for educators. Thanks to a generous grant from the Congregation Beth Shalom Legacy Fund Committee, CHES will provide teachers with an exceptional interactive educational program that can help them to explore the important lessons of the Holocaust, examine moral issues, and provide their students with an opportunity to reflect on their learning using their choice of social media.
Two additional events will be offered in cooperation with the Zelikovitz Centre for Jewish Studies at Carleton University. The first, the launch of Morris Schnitzer’s book, Escape from the Edge, is also being supported by the Azrieli Foundation; the second is a lecture on antisemitism by Professor Susannah Heschel, the Eli M. Black Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.
Since May, concerned parents and teachers have reached out to CHES with reports of antisemitism and bullying in the schools. Jewish students deserve to be recognized and celebrated alongside their classmates and not stigmatised or singled out by hateful social media posts based on lies and distortion, not facts. This situation demands urgent attention. It is the school boards’ obligation to make sure staff and students are safe and not threatened by anti-Semites.
A meeting during Rosh Hashanah at Kehillat Beth Israel’s with a youth group reinforced the students’ preoccupation with antisemitism spread mostly on social media in their schools. Not being taught about the Holocaust in their Social Science courses was another concern they voiced. Our conversation confirmed what we at CHES have heard from students elsewhere in Ottawa and in Kingston, and that much work needs to be done to bring Holocaust education to the public school systems. CHES takes this situation seriously and will continue to advance Holocaust education and its role and relevance to antisemitism and racism in Ottawa-area schools.
CHES promoted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism as soon as it was published in 2016. In June 2019, the definition was adopted by the Government of Canada. CHES continues to advocate for boards of education to do the same and use it as an education tool throughout the school system. CHES will also cooperate with the Ottawa Carleton District Board of Education to advance the training of staff and administrator on antisemitism.
Financial Support Appreciated
We are grateful to all our supporters and HEM sponsors for their generous donations which have exceeded our most optimistic expectations. These donations will go a long way towards advancing our mission and will help us to produce new and advanced educational programming. Antisemitism is rarely an isolated form of hatred; it often paves the way for the escalation of bigotry and prejudice against other groups. We urge our readers to make a difference and support our fight against antisemitism and to keep Holocaust memory alive. To donate, please click on the donation button at the end of the Bulletin.
Another option: Consider donating through the Giving Tuesday campaign on November 30th. This will help us to reach our goal and kick-start an exciting new project. Details will be shared soon.
A gentle reminder: All our events are virtual. To participate, you will need to register. See links for registration below. Please invite a friend to join you for HEM programs.
Mina Cohn, CHES Chair
