Friday, May 3rd, 2024

This past Wednesday, Cantor Simon became a Canadian citizen*. It was a remarkably quick response to the application which we only submitted in February. The citizenship judge overseeing the ceremony was Albert Wong, whose resume boasts such awards as the Chinese Canadian Legend Award, and who was named Diversity Magazine Person of the Year. Definitely a siman-tov, a good sign.  An encouraging sign.

As you might imagine, Judge Wong spoke about acceptance and inclusion and tolerance and all the wonderful buzz words you want to hear when becoming a citizen of a new country. Of course, everything was said in both English and French, as Judge Wong reminded us that those are the two official languages of Canada. At the end of the ceremony, Judge Wong added, “All the people working here are immigrants.  The man who directed you to your seat was an engineer in his country but couldn’t get a job as an engineer here.” Then he added, “When you leave, make sure you say to him ‘Shukran.’ “

Whoa!  Shukran?  That’s “thank-you” in Arabic, and last time I checked, Arabic is not one of the two official languages of Canada. This definitely ruffled my feathers.  If the guy had been Italian, would we have been advised to say to him “Grazie”? or Israeli, “Todah”? Isn’t the whole idea of citizenship to become Canadian, which includes speaking the language?! Previously happy and bubbling with excitement for Cantor Simon, I now sat there grumpy and offended. What is happening to Canada? Is this the direction we’re headed? Or perhaps, the judge is specifically saying this to fight Islamophobia, which was, curiously, the very first thing he spoke against in his opening remarks (anti-Semitism was fourth in the list). Would I have reacted this way pre-October 7? Cantor Simon later told me that I was over-reacting. Maybe I was.

And then. Cantor Simon was officially Canadian. Wearing a kippah, he was one of the two most conspicuous new citizens in the room, the other being a Polish woman who decked herself out – head to toe – in bright red and white.  As we stood on the line to meet Judge Wong, a young couple approached us. The man reached out to shake Cantor Simon’s hand, saying, “Hello. We are with your community.” That’s funny, I thought. You don’t LOOK Jewish.  He continued. “We are Christians from Iraq. When we saw the Jews leaving, we knew we had to leave, too.”

Ah! That’s what he meant. He is WITH our community. From Iraq, he recognizes injustice.  More importantly — and if only everyone saw this — it only starts with the Jews, but it doesn’t stop there. This, for me, was a meaningful sign, and a much needed reminder, that our community is not entirely alone. I look for these signs. Now, knowing that two Iraqi Christians, two of Canada’s newest citizens, are with us, behind us, on our side, sympathetic — knowing this, well, it was exactly the balm for my earlier disgruntlement. If there are two, there must be more. Let us hope that the citizens of this wonderful country, and the leadership as well, turn the corner and recognize what is actually happening. Let us pray that while police and university heads are finally addressing the illegal college campus encampments, others too, will open their eyes and start to change the climate.  And may the hostages be released, alive, able to reach a Refuah Shleyma, and ready to lead productive, rewarding, and fulfilling lives.

Am Yisrael Chai!

*It’s taking longer for me as I have to submit fingerprints. They tell me that it’s because I have lived abroad, but I find that a bit confusing. Isn’t Cantor Simon FROM abroad? Actually, isn’t everyone becoming a citizen from abroad?