Former CJC leaders spearhead the formation of the Canadian Jewish Community Forum

A group of former Canadian Jewish Congress senior leaders from coast to coast, as well as some new young leadership,  have come together to establish the Canadian Jewish Community Forum (CJCF).

Les Scheininger

For 92 years, until its dissolution in 2011, CJC was  recognized as  the Parliament of Canadian Jewry and served as the community’s democratic and grassroots voice, advocate and intervenor with governments, courts and other communities, domestically and internationally. Over the years, it was “the forum” where all issues of concern to Jews in Canada were discussed and debated, and appropriate action was determined while maintaining unity and consensus.

In its statement of purpose, it is emphasized that the CJCF will  provide a forum to educate, discuss and debate issues of interest and concern, both regional and national, that impact Canada, the Canadian Jewish community and the welfare of the people of Israel.

A national steering committee was established in January, as well as a larger advisory body, and meetings have been taking place virtually.

Renee Switzer

The group hopes to engage the former leadership of CJC and new young leaders to honour, learn and draw from the legacy of Congress, a body that worked and fought for social justice in Canada. The CJC understood that making Canada a peaceful, inclusive and just society is good for all of its peoples.

It is the prime objective of the CJCF to take lessons from the past and use them to inform communal policy in the present and future, to promote Jewish values of chesed, diversity, anti-racism and embrace harmony within a Canadian context. In  the spirit of the former CJC it wishes to create a forum for the greater Jewish community to provide input and determine what the current urgent issues are that our own community and society are facing and witnessing here in Canada and globally.

The CJCF is now a federally incorporated all-volunteer organization. 

Bernie Farber

Like CJC, the CJCF believes its strength will be in regional representation. Regional bodies are now being established. More details will follow on the new organization’s rollout.

Members of the steering committee are  Les Scheininger, Toronto (former national president); Bernie Farber, Toronto (former CEO);  Renee Switzer, Vancouver  (former National Executive Chair); Dr. Michael Elterman, Vancouver (former Pacific Region Chair);Dorothy Zalcman Howard (former National Executive Chair); Frank Schlesinger, Montreal (former National Legal Counsel);  Mike Cohen, Montreal  (former National Director of Communications); Israel Ludwig, Winnipeg (former Manitoba Chair);  Len Dolgoy, Edmonton (former Alberta Chair); Hal Joffe, Calgary (former National Community Relations Chair);  Jon Goldberg, Halifax (former Atlantic Jewish Council Executive Director); Ivan Levine, Fredericton (former Atlantic Jewish Council President); and  young leaders  Henry Paikin and Jimmy Gutman of Ottawa, both of whom were very active in campus life. A Saskatchewan rep will be named soon.

Dorothy Zalcman Howard

A website (cjcf.ca/fcjc.ca)  is in development. For now you can go to https://cjc1919.blogspot.com  for more details and email thecjcf@gmail.com.

Former CJC leaders continue to meet among great enthusiasm

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.

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!