Feb 10, 2013
To the Editor,
What a moving editorial! Thank you, Rhonda. No one could have said it better!
Juxtaposing the once vibrant orthodox Synagogue in Brussels, Belgium,
(now a museum) with what is about to happen with Herzlia is a stark reminder
of what could very easily happen in Winnipeg! We could very easily do to ourselves
by neglect, what Hitler failed to do – destroy all vestiges of Jewish civilization.
Truth be told, the current revival of the Winnipeg Jewish community is owed to a
small group of committed community leaders who chose to change the history of our
community about 20 years ago. Without them, this community was heading toward extinction!
Right now, we are on the road back to recovery, but that recovery is fragile
indeed. If we are not careful, it too could fail. Success is not assured.
We are still facing several major challenges to our survival. Assimilation is rampant.
Rhonda Spivak has performed for all of us a very important task by reminding us of
the importance of children making contact with their Jewish roots as early as Day Care.
As luck would have it, there is an up-tick in the demand of children demanding Jewish
Day Care. The province has allocated 70 day care slots to fill that demand,plus a capital
allocation.
The reason given against it is that Federation should not back a synagogue. I believe that is a red herring! What is being proposed by the Rady Centre is really a business deal that is NOT a situation of Federation bailing out a synagogue (in fact, I would oppose that myself).
Indeed, it is a question of whether Federation should do what is necessary
to enable the Rady Centre to fulfill its mandate to provide 70 day care slots before the slots
and the capital funding goes elsewhere.
From what I understand, the objective is to get these slots operational for next fall. As far as I know, there is no other building in the south end that could better fulfill this requirement! The timing is such that the renovations could be done in time to avoid a loss of the slots and capital grant. A classic win win situation.
At this point, I understand from Ben Cohen that Herzlia has a plan B in place; it has raised $1 Million in capital funds in the last 6 weeks so they can now go it alone!
I appeal to the executive and directors to grasp this opportunity, since they
will be performing a major mitzvah for those in desperate need of Jewish Day
Care! Let us look after those who come after us, just as those who came before us looked
after us!
If it makes good economic sense for Federation, why would we as a Jewish community
discriminate against the only building in the south end that fits all the criteria?
What are we missing?
Sincerely,
Abe and Barbara Anhang