Highly suspect that some people just get a high from violence and extremism, and then look for any possible way, no matter how illogical, to justify it.

Yeah, they react with “so let’s make contact and take notes”, rather than resentment. I believe a survey showed South Korea had some of this.

It’s incredibly harmful (a synagogue in my neighborhood was shot last week), but also an acknowledgement that it is harmful and counter-productive to their cause.

American/Canadian Jews are not the same as Israelis for the most part. Most Israelis never benefited from the era of open immigration that saved millions from the pogroms and had to seek refuge in Israel instead.

Spicier take: The US fought Hitler for its own reasons, there were a few Holocaust survivors but most European Jews were murdered and the U.S. refused to offer refuge. even after the war, DP camps operated because nobody wanted to take in all the survivors, eventually those left went to Israel. 1/

Is that the demographic it serves today though? When we used the YMCA, it was for its excellent multicultural and LGBT+ daycare and children’s programs, and its gym which offered subsidies for those who couldn’t pay full price.

I can’t picture how this would work in the burbs here. Kids had busy schedules on Sundays so it was usually only one parent driving to the party. You can’t drink if you are driving a toddler home, and parties are usually 2 hours max.

Maybe this reflects being GenX raised on Free to be You and Me, but I see gender norms as BS social constructs which have nothing to do with my core identity. If I don’t conform to some, the problem is with the norm, it doesn’t affect who I am.

I saw that he lost a niece and nephew, earlier this month in a Lebanon attack but his own children were here. Didn’t see anything about his Google search history, do you have a link to your source? Grief an anger would be expected but nothing about a psychotic break. Divorced a year ago.

Here’s what Temple Israel was doing this past Sunday: www.temple-israel.org/event/welcom...

That’s right - a talk about HIAS, the Jewish organization dedicated to helping and supporting refugees.

My pet theory is that this is like asking about the historicity of Sgt. Pepper. Because yes, there really was a Sgt. Pepper, a member of the Ontario Provincial Police, but he did not have a Lonely Hearts Club Band and wasn’t a fan of the Beatles.

Friends from different backgrounds where we said it’s awesome to live here, where we can be friends and live in peace. Obviously things weren’t perfect, but it feels like the ideal itself is being lost and this is becoming the new normal.

This isn’t about Middle Eastern politics. It’s about diaspora communities and the whole amazing idea of multicultural liberal democracies, where people can come from countries where folks are fighting and live in peace and security and freedom. It’s corny but we’ve had real conversations with 2/

For almost 52 years, I felt safe and blessed to live in a time and place where we could live free in a tolerant, multicultural society. I don’t feel that way now and I mourn that. Gunshots nearby and no reason to think it won’t escalate. At least my mayor shows up, Toronto’s doesn’t. 1/

Similarly, as a Canadian high school kid in the mid to late 1980s, we were obsessed with the 1960s psychedelic era and thought it was all about peace and love. It took surprisingly long to realize that the peace stuff was a reaction to the harsh reality of the Vietnam war.

I remember loving the 70s of my memory, because I was literally a child. It was only as an adult that I realized the impact of things like war and terrorism and economic issues. To me, it was just good music and no worries. 1/

I moved to downtown Toronto in the mid-1990s, pub on one corner and a coffee house on another, and I pictured New York sitcoms come to life (but with mostly friends of color). We really did hang out a lot with friends from our building at these places, that reflected our age and stage and the era.

I was in my 20s in the 1990s. I remember the hype around CBK, because she was seen as beautiful and marrying a rich guy who was basically American royalty. They were viewed like a prince and princess, not a typical example of New Yorkers in the 1990s.

But more seriously, there needs to be a category for “be strategic, have a workable plan, consider elements that don’t involve violence, protect civilians as much as possible, and again, have a real plan for what comes next.“

Found a Khazar theory guy who also posted how non-violent protest has never worked. Tempted to post “so you agree with my Pahlavi supporting friends now?”, but I don’t really want to be on his radar. 1/

Sounds like the song my kid learned back in Chabad nursery: up up, down down, right left and all around, here there and everywhere….

Rabbi Debra Landsberg was still in the building when the shots were fired. This is a fairly progressive Reform shul, the sort of place that sponsors Syrian refugee families.

Exactly. The whole thing about multicultural liberal democracies is that people come from different places and groups, which may be fighting elsewhere, but everyone has basic civil rights as framework so we can live together peacefully. Lose that and you get fascism.

Did the other group have a number in their name?

In Canada, maybe a comparison would be people of Indian descent who came from Trinidad or Uganda. Their families left India prior to Indian independence, they have cultural connections but no influence over Modi so their views on him don’t matter.

Keep in mind that most Canadian Jews aren’t Israeli and came to Canada from places other than Israel. We have very little influence over politics and policies there. By contrast, extended family ties are more common so we care about what happens but can’t control things.

I assume you mean non-Jewish Russian Canadians? Because a substantial chunk of the Jews that came in the big wave 1880-1914 were from the Russian Empire, and a lot of Russian Jews arrived here after 1991. There were some farming communities out west, but most ended up in cities.

Very much the case. Extremely loud debates within Israel, and also loud, vigorous debates in diaspora homes and communities. These aren’t done as performance to appease a hostile audience. In fact, discussions are far less persuasive if they are perceived that way.

But that said, Joel’s question is a bit like asking if giving tzedakah is useless if it doesn’t eliminate poverty. Yes, it’s largely a government and larger economic issue. But that doesn’t mean we do nothing to help.

You don’t need to agree with their religious rules to acknowledge that there’s something to their marketing. Giving active reasons to get involved and making it meaningful beats moaning. 2/