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Have you ever felt
like you were part of history in the making? I don’t mean watching a
world event happen on TV. What I mean is just going about your regular
routine and suddenly it becomes part of history. Well that is exactly how
I felt on,
Friday June 11, 2007.
It started out a day
like any other. Matt and I had dinner together and onto the synagogue we
went. Instead of rabbi, Leigh Lerner, conducting his usual sermon, a
member of parliament was there to speak about a very prestigious award the
synagogue had won.
The Fain award is
named after Irving J. Fain and is given out every two years by the union
of Reform Judaism. This North American award is given in recognition of
outstanding social justice programs in reform synagogues throughout The
United States and
Canada.
Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom - Montreal,
Quebec, Matt’s synagogue was one of the 30 synagogues chosen out of a pool
of 900.
The actual awards
were presented to the recipients in April of this year. The Director of
the Commission on Social Action, Rabbi Marla Feldman, stated at the time,
“The congregations that win Fain Awards are embodiments of the passion for
social justice that spurred the prophets of ancient
Israel and inspired the founders
of Reform Judaism. They bring hope and healing to their communities and
fulfill the Jewish mandate "l'taken et haolam" -- to repair our broken
world."
http://urj.org/pr/2007/fain_awards/
Matt’s synagogue
Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom had won the
award for its work in the fight against Human Trafficking.
This Friday, June 11,
Manitoba Conservative MP Joy Smith, came to
Montreal, to congratulate the committee for
their outstanding work in this area. Joy Smith told us how she first got
interested in this issue through the efforts of her son in line of duty as
a RCMP officer.
“In a parliamentary committee meeting
this February it was cited that in 2004, the RCMP reported that 800 people
a year are brought into Canada, and that between 1,500 and 2,200 others
are moved through Canada into the United States for the purposes of human
trafficking.
While Ottawa has
already taken "important" steps, the report prepared by the all-party
Status of Women committee concludes more needs to be done to address
cross-border trafficking of people.”
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/186036
Woman and children
are abducted and sent to other countries to work in prostitution under
slave-like conditions. Many times they are lured to
Canada and other countries under
the pretense of legitimate job offers. The devastation to these young
women some men, and children is horrendous. The degradation, loss of
freedom, and loss of self respect destroys the human psyche. More often
than not, woman and children resort to a life on the street, complete with
lines of customers, alcohol and drugs. The psychological affects resulting
in emotional trauma are just as crucial as the legal ramifications against
their predators.
Joy Smith has devoted
her life work in Canada, Israel, Ukraine, and the
U.S.A. to combat this growing
universal concern. In that same
parliamentary hearing in February she stated, "Trafficking of women and
children is the most heinous of crimes. ... It's all about making money on
the backs of innocent victims,"
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/186036
So it was a pleasure
for her to congratulate the committee chairs, Peggy Sakow and Liliane
Kohl, and of course Rabbi Leigh Lerner.
“The Temple
Committee, under the leadership of Rabbi Leigh Lerner, has united a broad
coalition of religious groups in its efforts to educate Canadians of the
problem of human trafficking and is seeking to open the first shelter in
Canada for victims of human trafficking.”
http://www.joysmith.ca/news_details.asp?ID=407
The Conservative MP,
presented Rabbi Leigh Lerner and his committee with
the official Standing Order that recognized
the efforts of the committee in the House of Commons. Joy Smith said to us
that the Standing Order becomes part of Canadian history, it is never
deleted. She said the interesting thing is that is used for political
citations and occasional citations for organizations, but today for the
first time in history, an individual, Rabbi Leigh Lerner is mentioned in
the Standing Order.
On Friday I saw
history in the making, not by a famous person, but by a humble Rabbi and
his dedicated committee in a simple synagogue in
Montreal.
Carol Roach
winterose @ videotron.ca
Check out her newest book, Angels Watching Over
Me.
http://www.lulu.com/content/644485 |
