Shimon Peres — the Eternal Optimist: Rafael Barak, National Post, Sept. 29, 2016— In April 1993, I got a phone call that would change my life. I was the deputy head of mission at Israel’s embassy in Belgium.
Remembering Shimon Peres, the Israeli Patriot: Yossi Beilin, Washington Post, Sept. 28, 2016 — Shimon Peres was an optimist.
Rosh Hashana 5777: Gratitude and Optimism: Isi Leibler, Candidly Speaking, Sept. 30, 2016 — We are confronted by a multitude of security threats and diplomatic challenges but the prophets of doom and gloom are selective and masochistic.
Rosh Hashanah: Do We Dare to Blow the Shofar?: Rabbi Dr. Nathan Lopes Cardozo, Times of Israel, Sept. 29, 2016 — Something strange happens on Rosh Hashanah.
5 Feel-Good Stories From Israel in 5776: Andrew Tobin, Times of Israel, Sept. 29, 2016
PM Netanyahu’s Remarks on the Passing of Former President Peres (Video): Breaking Israel News, Sept. 28, 2016
World Leaders Mourn Israel’s Shimon Peres, Praise Him as a Man of Peace: Danica Kirka, Globe & Mail, Sept. 28, 2016
This Toronto Doctor’s Holocaust Saga ‘Should be Remembered Forever’ – and Others Will Be Too: Tu Thanh Ha, Globe & Mail, Sept. 28, 2016
SHIMON PERES — THE ETERNAL OPTIMIST
Rafael Barak
National Post, Sept. 29, 2016
In April 1993, I got a phone call that would change my life. I was the deputy head of mission at Israel’s embassy in Belgium. On the other end of the line was my deputy minister, who shared a request from foreign minister Shimon Peres, asking me to leave my post and fly to Israel as soon as possible. No other details were given, but when Peres calls, you say yes and ask questions later.
I arrived back in Jerusalem to learn that I was to serve as chief coordinator for the Oslo peace talks with the Palestinians, which at the time were being held behind closed doors. For the next three years, it was my job to follow the agendas of the negotiating teams, which were led by deputy foreign minister Uri Savir and legal adviser Joel Singer, and inform our superiors, prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and Peres, on our progress.
This gave me a unique window into Peres as a leader and as a man. Although he was 70 years old, he exuded energy. I recall fondly how we ended long days of meetings by going back to his office. Everyone in the room, most of whom were 20 or 30 years younger than Peres, would fall back into the couches, exhausted and ready for bed. Peres, however, would stand up, ask us why we were so tired and then lead us through a round of jumping jacks.
My time with Peres was the formative period of my life. I am proud to call him a mentor and his vision inspires me to this day. He woke up every day of his life with one goal in mind: to serve the country he loved. In his early years, he helped lay the foundation for an independent, democratic Jewish state. His first priority was to build up Israel’s defence capabilities, so that we could live within safe, secure borders.
He was a leader who fought for Israel’s security, but he also became a champion of peace. He was a tireless advocate of peaceful coexistence with Israel’s neighbours. His Nobel Peace Prize was a testament to how his message of hope transcended Israel, affecting the hearts of Arab leaders in our region and inspiring people from around the world. In his pursuit of peace during his second term as prime minister, I had the privilege of organizing the first official visit of an Israeli leader to numerous Arab capitals and of travelling with him to Oman and Qatar. I will forever remember how our bodies shivered when Israel’s anthem, Hatikvah, was played by Arab military bands.
His vision also made him an early advocate of the important role of science and technology. He understood that innovation was more than just about improving the economy, it was about improving life for future generations. Well before the term “Startup Nation” became part of Israel’s daily lexicon, Peres inspired me to think about how new developments, such as nanotechnology and neuroscience, could improve Israel’s standing in the world.
When I was named ambassador to Canada in 2013, it was president Peres who handed me my credentials. This was only fitting, given our connection and his direct role in establishing the roots of Canada and Israel’s bilateral relationship, especially in the areas of science and innovation. It was foreign minister Peres whose initiative led to the Canada-Israel Industrial Research Foundation in the mid-1990s and president Peres who played a key role in connecting Israeli and Canadian scientists, especially in the area of brain research. Over my tenure, I am proud to have helped strengthen these ties. Today, it is hard to find a Canadian university that is not connected to Israel. And many of Canada’s top companies — including BlackBerry, MDA, Magna International and Bombardier — have some links to Israel’s innovation sector.
The pride that fills me when I reminisce about Shimon Peres’ impact on my career, the state of Israel and the Canada-Israel relationship is immediately followed by great sadness. He represented the vision, hope, courage, innovation and colourful vibrancy that is Israel. He was an eternal optimist, who was never discouraged, despite the political challenges he faced. I feel privileged to have known him and it is hard for me to think about a future without him. As we honour his life, I am heartened by the knowledge that his legacy of peace and his vision for a better future will live on forever.
REMEMBERING SHIMON PERES, THE ISRAELI PATRIOT
Yossi Beilin
Washington Post, Sept. 28, 2016
Shimon Peres was an optimist. Not somebody who believed that everything would be OK at the end of the day, but someone who trusted that if you do the right things, you can change a situation for the better. Not a daydreamer, not a detached visionary, but a shrewd politician who knew what he wanted and how to achieve it.
When I came to know him, it seemed to me obvious that he was a politician with an agenda, but it took me a while to understand that this was unusual. Today I can testify: most politicians come to office simply in order to be there. When asked why, they say vague things about making their country better. But Peres was in politics for a reason: to ensure that his Israel was safe, both by creating the best means of deterrence and by promoting peaceful relations with our neighbours.
In his youth, Peres was considered a technocrat. He was a member of a generation born in the 1920s who were sick and tired of the socialist ideology of David Ben Gurion’s generation. They were proud of being pragmatic. When he was much older, he was portrayed as a dreamer or even as naive. In the 1960s, he was not ready to use the label “social democracy” in the Israeli Labor Party platform, but in 1978, he became the vice-president of Socialist International. In the 1970s, he was a staunch supporter of settlements in the occupied territories. Later, as the leader of the Labor Party and the opposition, he became very critical of these settlements and was perceived by many as a dove, and by a few as a traitor. Yigal Amir, the murderer of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, testified that his next target was to be Peres.
In the ’90s, when I told Peres — I was his deputy in the foreign ministry at that time — about my secret efforts to negotiate an interim agreement with the Palestine Liberation Organization in Oslo, he could have easily told me that it was a rogue operation without his authorization. But instead he immediately hugged the embryonic idea and went to Rabin to get the green light to continue, because he believed that the project was in the Israeli national interest.
His attitude toward the country was different from mine. I was born in Israel a few weeks after its establishment; he was there at its cradle. For me, the military and economic achievements of my country, as its success at absorbing Jewish immigrants in a number twice the size of its original population in 1948, were a given. For him, everything was a kind of miracle. If my love for Israel is the love of a son, his was the love of a father, who admires every move made by his child — including those that may not deserve this admiration objectively. We had our differences. It was difficult for me to understand why he thought that the illegal settlements in the occupied territories could contribute to our security. I was very much against the Israeli Labor Party joining the government of Ariel Sharon — the settlements’ father — and refused to serve on it. But even during that bitter collision, I knew that it was not personal for him. He believed deeply then that joining the government, after Ehud Barak’s defeat, was the only way to save Israel from the kind of ultra-rightist government that we have today.
He was wiser than most people I know. He had a wonderful sense of humour, even about himself. He had a kind of self-assurance that was never smug but enabled him to take bold decisions, such as the economic plan of 1985, which saved Israel from out-of-control inflation, or the decision to leave Lebanon once we couldn’t find a Lebanese partner for an agreement. Ben Gurion’s grandson once told me that he thought that his grandfather was the most important Israeli leader, but that Peres was the best prime minister, because he was both a visionary and an executive who knew how to achieve his goals. He was right.
Shimon Peres led a full life of achievements, despite the many difficulties he faced, and became the most famous Israeli in the world. A short time before becoming president, he visited New York. One evening, as he entered a Broadway theatre to see a show with friends, there was a standing ovation. At first, he didn’t understand what was happening, thinking the audience was applauding the actors, even though the show hadn’t started. Then he understood that the people stood for him. Shimon Peres, “Mr. Security,” the Israeli patriot who believed in peace, surely deserved it.
ROSH HASHANA 5777: GRATITUDE AND OPTIMISM
Isi Leibler
Candidly Speaking, Sept. 30, 2016
We are confronted by a multitude of security threats and diplomatic challenges but the prophets of doom and gloom are selective and masochistic. Israel is a democratic oasis in a region that has reverted to the Dark Ages and barbarism. We face ongoing terror throughout the land accompanied by direct threats from Iran and its satellite, Hezbollah, and we are aware that the only factor deterring these terrorist entities is the power of the Israel Defense Forces.
On the diplomatic front, despite the renewal of crucial long-term U.S. defence support, the Obama administration — at best — continues to treat Israel and the Palestinians with moral equivalence. There is concern that after the presidential elections, President Barack Obama may enable the United Nations Security Council to pass a resolution that would undermine Israel’s central security requirements and negate her needs for defensible borders.
Many American Jewish leaders lack the will to resist and tend to be neutral. They feel that by criticising or distancing themselves from Israel, they will ingratiate themselves with their liberal friends for whom antipathy to Israel is a basic prerequisite. These trends also reflect the impact of intermarriage and confusion of Jewish values with universalistic rhetoric. Notwithstanding this disturbing trend, the overwhelming bulk of observant Jews remain committed to Israel. Unfortunately, any realistic hopes for a peace settlement are delusionary with the current Palestinian leadership. Yet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has made major concessions that even Yitzhak Rabin vowed he would never permit, is being blamed for not finding a solution.
Nevertheless, as we move into the New Year 5777, we must resist pessimism and assess our situation in the context of the dramatic overall progress we have achieved in nearly every field. A review of the rest of the world reveals that today, nearly every nation is facing threats from Islamic fundamentalist terror. The situation for Jews in Europe, which only recently boasted that it had erased the alleged evils of nationalism, is appalling. Jews, more so than their neighbors, are subject to abuse, violence and terror attacks from crazed Islamic fanatics heightened by the ISIS terrorists who are imbedded among the millions of Middle East “refugees.” Even in the U.S., the “goldene medina,” Jews, especially university students, are experiencing an unprecedented intensification of overt anti-Semitism.
What would the future portend for us today were we reliant on the “sympathy” of the world and not empowered with a Jewish state that fights the battles for Jews everywhere and provides Diaspora Jews with the assurance that even if their world collapses, they will always find haven in Israel? The reality is that few of us appreciate that we live in an age of miracles no less dramatic than our Exodus from Egypt. We must be grateful that within the relatively short span of 68 years, we have not merely resurrected ourselves as a state and grown tenfold, but achieved one of the greatest national success stories in recorded history.
Holocaust survivors, persecuted Jews from Muslim countries, Jews suffering oppression in the countries of the former Soviet Union, Ethiopian Jews and others from all corners of the globe have participated in the ingathering of the exiles and have miraculously been molded into the dynamic, pulsating and resilient powerhouse that Israel represents today. We take for granted that the IDF is, by far, the most powerful military force in the region, capable of deterring and, if necessary, defeating the combined forces of all our adversaries.
We have no illusions about the flagrant bias and pogrom atmosphere generated against us at the United Nations. But our alliance with the American people, based on shared values, remains as strong as ever. Admittedly, anti-Israeli hostility from the radical wing of the Democratic Party has been heightened by Obama’s obsession to “create daylight” between Israel and the U.S. in order to appease the Muslim world. Yet this did not inhibit the extension of a 10-year military aid commitment which reinforces the premier alliance we enjoy with the U.S.
But beyond the alliance with the U.S., Israel under Netanyahu has deepened its relationship with a wide spectrum of nations over the past 12 months. Ironically, there is a hope that the remarkable and unprecedented relationship with Russia’s Putin could even be an additional factor deterring Iran and Hezbollah from renewing hostilities. The relationship with India has never been as strong as it is today and we have developed solid economic links with China, Japan and other East Asian countries. There have been remarkable diplomatic breakthroughs in Africa with the potential for major economic and political development, as well as a strengthening of relations in Latin America.
The most incredible change has been in our relationships with the moderate Sunni states. We are partnering with Egypt against Islamic fundamentalists in the Sinai Peninsula and President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has effectively praised Israel and publicly condemned Muslim extremism. There is even covert cooperation with the Saudis and the Gulf states, which recognize Israel as a critical element in the confrontation with the Iranians seeking regional hegemony. This has yet to be reflected in the foreign policies of these countries, which still tend to engage in ritual anti-Israeli condemnations. But one senses that in the not too distant future, the winds of change will also impact on their public postures. Beyond diplomacy, in the midst of global economic chaos, Israel’s economy has been outstandingly successful. Our ongoing progress in high-tech and biotech and our global contribution to cyber defense and security represent our biggest exports.
Two recent developments are amazing. The first is the discovery of gas fields, albeit ineptly handled politically, but which nevertheless presents a fantastic opportunity for us in economic and politically strategic terms which will soon be realized. The second, which we take for granted, is the remarkable success of our desalination program which provides 80 percent of our water needs and far exceeds that of any other country. It also represents yet another major contribution by Israel to global welfare.
But the greatest reason for us to rejoice is that we, from all ideological streams, are privileged to bring up our children as proud and committed Jews living in a Jewish state that provides a Jewish education, and in which the Hebrew language, culture and festivals create a unique Jewish lifestyle. This is encapsulated by a pulsating modern Hebrew language, which is the lingua franca for Jews from totally different cultures; religious studies in schools and yeshivot with more Jews familiar with the texts and teachings of Judaism than at any time in our history; and the privilege of living in a Jewish state where our youth does not experience the anti-Semitism that their Diaspora counterparts must increasingly endure.
Yes, we have a dysfunctional political system and societal squabbles. But we remain a democratic state and today there is a greater consensus than at any time since the disastrous Oslo Accords divided the nation. The vast majority recognize that a one-state solution would destroy us but also realize that we cannot make further territorial concessions until we have Palestinian leaders willing to make peace. In the meantime, despite opinions to the contrary, Israel has managed to flourish with the status quo since 1967, with surveys ranking Israelis among the happiest and most contented people in the world.
Notwithstanding a bigoted and obscurantist Chief Rabbinate and extremist haredi political parties, Israelis overall have become more observant and respectful of tradition. There is also every indication that over the next decade, economic pressures will have a profound impact on the ultra-Orthodox and will gradually bring about their integration into Israeli society. Our grandparents would not have remotely dreamed that immediately after the Holocaust, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, a Jewish state would be created, and would within 70 years be the largest Jewish community in the world…
[To Read the Full Article Click the Following Link—Ed.]
ROSH HASHANAH: DO WE DARE TO BLOW THE SHOFAR?
Rabbi Dr. Nathan Lopes Cardozo
Times of Israel, Sept. 29, 2016
Something strange happens on Rosh Hashanah. We spend hours declaring God’s majesty, using poetic and unique phrases. We refer to Him as the Ultimate King and Mover of this world. We ask Him to strengthen and reinforce His relationship with us and show us His omnipotence. But the ultimate prayer of this day is a sound that carries no words, and it is the only biblical commandment of the day: the blowing of the shofar. What is there in a sound that words cannot express? And why do we have this sound only once a year, on Rosh Hashana, when we remind ourselves of the Creation and of the radical new beginning in our lives; when we repent, turn over a new leaf, and recreate ourselves?
The blowing of the shofar proves that we can surpass ourselves. On our own, using our vocal cords, we are unable to produce this sound – a terrifying penetrating resonance. People can scream, howl, and wail, but nothing more than that. Their reach is limited. Alone, they cannot produce a sound that comes close to the piercing and penetrating heavenly voice of the shofar, which can cause human beings to break down, pick themselves up again, and transform into new individuals.
Not even a chazan’s liturgical solo, or an opera singer’s aria can touch us where the shofar’s vibrations do. The shofar carries us to places unreachable by the human word. It ignores walls and other obstacles, simply forging ahead, long after the human sound has come to an end. The shofar and the human voice are completely different from each other. The shofar, like a knife, tears our hearts open – just as when the Children of Israel encountered the original shofar sound at Sinai, before God introduced the Torah to them. An experience beyond. No voice can produce this sound or deliver such a powerful resonance. The only way a person can do it is by blowing a not-too-strong puff of breath into a small hole at one end of the shofar, which widens to a larger opening at the other end. This produces a sound of overwhelming power that pierces the heavens.
Suddenly, we are able to reach unreachable heights, when we are humble enough to admit that we cannot do it alone and we need help. But it is we who must activate this help. The shofar will not blow on its own. It needs the human’s puff – our participation and our effort – before it can move mountains. Whether or not the shofar will blow is up to us, but whether we can reach our own potential will be up to the shofar. Our humility, combined with our capacity to move beyond ourselves, is what makes us exceptional.
This is our great challenge. Will we remain complacent and stagnant, letting the shofar sit in the cupboard, and never daring to go beyond ourselves? Or, will we have the nerve to blow the shofar and produce something more that will move us and the world forward? Will we leave Judaism where it is, or will we constantly blow new life into it, impelling it to surpass itself and open new horizons? On Rosh Hashanah, when we recall the greatness of God and the Creation, the shofar challenges us to dare and go beyond, creating ourselves and Judaism anew. If we don’t respond to the challenge at this crucial hour, the sound will fall flat and die before it reaches its destination. Tizku leshanim rabot!
CIJR Wishes all our Friends & Supporters: Shana Tovah & Shabbat Shalom!
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5 Feel-Good Stories From Israel in 5776: Andrew Tobin, Times of Israel, Sept. 29, 2016 —The Jewish state has nearly made it through another Jewish year and, as always, there was plenty to kvetch about in 5776. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is a time to take stock and celebrate.
PM Netanyahu’s Remarks on the Passing of Former President Peres (Video): Breaking Israel News, Sept. 28, 2016 —“We grieve today for the passing of our dear and beloved Shimon Peres.”
World Leaders Mourn Israel’s Shimon Peres, Praise Him as a Man of Peace: Danica Kirka, Globe & Mail, Sept. 28, 2016—Current and former world leaders mourned the passing of Israeli statesman Shimon Peres on Wednesday, praising him as a visionary who committed his life to the elusive goal of lasting peace in the Middle East.
This Toronto Doctor’s Holocaust Saga ‘Should be Remembered Forever’ – and Others Will Be Too: Tu Thanh Ha, Globe & Mail, Sept. 28, 2016—At age 93, nearly seven decades after passing his medical examinations and becoming one of Canada’s most prominent specialists in treating liver diseases, Saya Victor Feinman still works three days a week at his Toronto practice.
