Former Canadian Jewish Congress leaders from coast to coast met via Zoom on March 3 and expressed great enthusiasm that the legacy of the organization established in 1919 is not forgotten and perhaps even revived.
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| Some of the participants on the most recent Zoom call. |
From articles authored by former CJC Executive Vice-President and General Counsel Jack Silverstone and National Director of Communications Mike Cohen and published in the Jewish Standard Magazine and The Suburban Newspaper, a definite desire to bring back the CJC brand was created. The response was well beyond what could have been imagined. Joining us for the second call were some leading recent university graduates who expressed great interest in a CJC revival. We had so many CJC alumni eager to be part of the second call, we had to establish a waiting list.
Initially the consensus is to focus our attention on organizing a series of lectures related to themes from CJC’s decorated past. These can be organized virtually and we hope to roll some news out to that effect soon. CJC was an organization that truly had a voice in every corner of the country and we strongly believe that this is needed again.
CJC ceased to exist 11 years ago. The prevailing view, simplified but with legitimate resonance, seems to be that CJC was a grassroots, community based, consultative organization as distinct from others today which are top down.
" I believe that the loss of CJC has resulted in alienation, loss of direction and purpose, and in my community a loss of youth involvement," said lawyer Len Dolgoy of Edmonton. "CJC inspired and was brilliantly led by lay people and staff."
This ad hoc committee would like to bring back the Alan Rose Fund Human Rights Lectures. Funds were collected for this purpose by the CJC 25 years ago, but they seem to have disappeared into a black hole. Alan Rose was a senior CJC executive for decades.
Eric Vernon recalled CJC's social justice and human rights record, which created a contemporary agenda that captured the attention of both younger and older demographics, both within and outside of our community. By combining safe space for a wide range of views, inter-community dialogue and an agenda that reflects the day's priority issues we created a niche that was historically-respectful and currently relevant.
Stay tuned folks!
