For Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, his speech at Concordia University was the first time he’s ever had security officers with him on stage. “Who would want to hurt me? Raise your hands please,” Boteach wondered. Boteach continued, “I assume that this [the security on stage] is the product of some earlier incidents at this University,” referring to previous visits by former Israeli Prime Ministers Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak, in which they were prevented from speaking.
In 2002, Netanyahu was forced to cancel his speech due to the now infamous riots, and two years later, Barak never even made it onto campus due to the discretion of Concordia University’s administration. Although he did not attract a single protester, Rabbi Shmuley used these previous events as the foundation for his speech.
The star of TLC’s Shalom in the Home came to the university to address the topic of contemporary co-existence within diverse university settings: sharing values and promoting tolerance. In doing so, he took a page from his television series where he spends his time dealing with various problems, as he connected the relationship between males and females to that between Jews and Arabs.
“Why did I start a lecture about tolerance and togetherness with relationships?,” Boteach asked, answering “the only proof that Jews and Arabs will one day live in peace is that something as different as masculine and feminine can prove that they have something in common…that marriages can be strong and children can be raised in a stable and secure home, in a stable and secure environment.”
According to Boteach, if males and females cannot only co-exist, but live happily together, then Jews and Arabs must take a page from their relationships and go beyond mere tolerance, as he believes that merely accepting someone is one of the highest forms of insult.
“There are those who believe that we should be tolerant, that Jewish students and Islamic students should tolerate each other at Concordia,” he said, noting “to tolerate someone is to believe that if they were hit by a bus tomorrow and no longer walk the earth, that you would not be poorer for it…we have to go beyond tolerance.”
Boteach said that he didn’t understand what the problem was between students at Concordia University. “What are university students so angry about?,” he wondered, asking “what happened to you guys, that on campuses throughout the world we see so much fighting?”
In his lecture, he pointed to overly-passionate students on both the Jewish and Arab side who are re-defining the term of hero to fit their respective causes. “We must have a new definition of heroism in our time,” he declared, adding “I hope the Jewish students advocate for Israel, I hope the Arab students advocate for their country… [however it is those] that can shake hands after that peaceful advocacy and still find something human in their adversary that’s the real hero…it’s the man or woman that conquers their passion, that is the hero.”
Although for the rabbi who spends his days as a marriage counselor there is not one simple solution, he said both Jews and Arabs on campus must start on a level playing field and begin re-defining their relationship from that point forward, and he once again drew on the connection between males and females to emphasize his point.
“Religions always emphasize heterosexual marriage so that it can show that opposites can come together as one because they come from the same origin” he said, asserting “when man and woman come together as one, they create the greatest equation ever known…not one plus one equals two, but one plus one equals one.”

Although Facebook has yet to grow into the same kind of phenomenon in Canada as it has in the United States, students at Concordia University are quickly following the footsteps of their peers down south, and hopping onto the bandwagon.
The Website linking college students together from all over the world is used for more than just reconnecting with long-lost friends, but as a powerful marketing tool for Hillel on campus.
By using the messaging service Facebook provides, Hillel executives at Concordia University are able to spread the word about events that might otherwise fall through the cracks of the weekly e-mails. “It’s a great tool,” said Daniel Blumer, co-President of Concordia Hillel’s Loyola Campus. “We use it to remind people and spread the word about some events we have going on, because I know people just sometimes skim our e-mails, or worse, just delete them.”
That service is not the only instrument that Facebook provides Hillel organizers. The events feature enables executives to post an event, and not only invite students, some of whom might not be reachable otherwise, but as well, they are able to see those who are attending and those who cannot. Additionally, the feature enables students to discuss the event with their peers, and allows other students to invite their friends who might not have been sent an invitation by Hillel.
“Basically, we create an event, and then we can invite who we want, and whenever they log into Facebook, they’re reminded of the event,” said Blumer, explaining “we hope those who RSVP actually do attend, but sadly, we’ve had the few who appease us online, and don’t show up in person, however, we know that attendance has increased due to the website, and our ability to spread the word.”

Amidst the hustle and bustle of the General Assembly in Los Angeles, Oscar-winning actor Jon Voight, the star of movies such as “Glory Road,” “Ali,” “Mission Impossible” and 2007’s “National Treasure II: The Book of Secrets,” took a few minutes to talk to CampusJ about how his religious beliefs fostered his love for Israel and the Jewish people.

Why did you take the time to come to the GA?

It’s a very important event. The whole story of the Jewish people and the Jewish faith is a story that affects all the world and has affected all the world since the beginning with Abraham. The basis of all laws [is] the Ten Commandments, and whether you’re even spiritual or not…the Jewish people have brought forth the columns that will eventually reveal peace on this planet. We are all indebted to the Jewish people and its history. I am very grateful to be here.

What does the State of Israel mean to you?

If you read Isaiah…the Jewish people believe that you always have to leave on a positive note, that you should never leave on a down note. In the end of Isaiah, it talks about all the terrible things that are going to be happening to the Jewish people of that time…and then he [says] that there is hope for the future.
Isaiah says: “Before the birth pangs are complete, a child will be born”…and [I believe that] he is talking at that time about Israel.
We have seen the nation of Israel come forth out of the Holocaust. I’m a poet, I appeal to poetry. I’m an actor and those words to me mean that the nation will be given back to the Jewish people at a time when there seems to be no hope, turmoil, great pain, all of a sudden the birth will happen. That’s why Christians are probably the allies at this time, because they interpret that the same way maybe as I do.

Have you ever been to Israel?

I was in Israel in the early ’80s only for eight hours. I really have to go back and experience it another time. Since then I have made many, many close friends in Israel. My heart is in Israel.

The first ever Middle Eastern Comedy night will take place at 8 p.m. November 15 in The Comedy Nest in the Pepsi Forum. Ticket prices are $35 and all proceeds benefit the Montreal Dialogue Group.

The group was created in 2003 uniting “Canadians of Palestinian, Israeli, Arab, Muslim, Christian and Jewish identities together in dialogue.” They hope to achieve “understanding and empathy within and between our communities…Through acknowledgement of the other as human and equal […] we strive to achieve balance and coexistence between our members and, ultimately, our communities.”

The Concordia Institute for Canadian Jewish Studies and the Jewish Public Library is set to re-release The Rich Man, a novel written by Henry Kreisel in 1948. The book has been revised by Norman Ravvin and will be released in a new edition.
According to Ravvin:

This new edition of a classic Canadian Jewish novel tells the story of Jacob Grossman, a middle-aged immigrant tailor who travels from Toronto to pre-World War Two Europe. The novel’s action opens in 1935, with a striking portrait of Toronto’s working-class Spadina Avenue district. Kreisel’s narrative leap of genius is his depiction of Grossman’s decision to return to reacquaint himself with his family and his boyhood home of Vienna. Wearing a new white suit, an extravagance bought especially for the trip, he is mistaken for a rich man, and the charade he undertakes to maintain this image complicates an already difficult visit. Grossman finds Vienna transformed by the rise of Nazism and the slow, inexorable deterioration of Austria’s prominent Jewish community. Kreisel’s insights into the forces that would lead the world to war are uniquely revealing. His portrait of prewar Jewish life in Europe and Canada helps us better understand the oncoming Holocaust.

The re-launch will be Monday, November 13th, at 7:30 P.M., at the Gelber Conference Centre at 5151 Cote Ste Catherine Road. Tickets are
$5 for members/students and $10 for non-members. Ravvin will be on hand to discuss and sign the book. Several of the book’s scenes will be performed by professional actors.
Ravvin is currently the Chair of the Institute for Canadian Jewish Studies at Concordia University.