Abrabanel: Musings on the Jewish condition

Canadian politics continue to produce silly Jewish stories. According to CTV.ca, some Canadians are distraught at receiving Rosh Hashanah cards from the Conservative Party.

While the Conservatives have said most Jews don’t mind getting the cards, Montreal native Sonia Zylberberg said she was “stunned” when she received one in the mail.

“I looked at it, and then I was offended and I sort of wanted to throw it out,” she told CTV Montreal’s Rob Lurie on Wednesday, adding she isn’t sure how Harper knows she’s Jewish.

It turns out the party doesn’t know she’s Jewish. They’re guessing.

While Karla Kaminsky, who lives in Montreal, wasn’t offended by the Rosh Hashanah card she recently got in the mail, she was a little surprised — after all, she’s not even Jewish.

“My reaction when I first got this was, ‘He’s a little late for New Years,’ and then when I realized he meant Jewish New Year, I though[t,] ‘Oh, he thinks I’m Jewish.”

Lord, may we all have the problems of these worried Canadians.

Update on this story: Harper helps Jewish Congress off tree

Aren’t politics funny? Canada’s prime minister is in hot water with the Canadian Jewish Congress for calling a federal election for October 14, the first day of Sukkot.

The CJC’s Bernie Farber sounds downright petulant:

“I want to emphasize the importance of that date as a holy day, especially in light of the fact that we did send a note to the Prime Minister’s Office about it.”

And Liberal MP Susan Kadis doesn’t waste any time, saying the date “would be inappropriate, insensitive and disenfranchise parts of the Jewish community.”

You’ve got to read down to paragraph 10 to discover that the prime minister isn’t exactly out to “disenfranchise” the Jews:

Moving the date from Oct. 14 could be sticky for the Prime Minister. By law, elections must be held on Mondays, or on Tuesdays in case of a holiday. Since Oct. 13 is Thanksgiving Monday, the election would take place on the 14th, the date of the Jewish holy day.

Postponing the election another week to Monday, Oct. 20th would force Mr. Harper to spend the last three days of the campaign hosting more than 50 world leaders meeting in Quebec for la Francophonie.

It’s a real conundrum – inconvenience observant Jews or be able to campaign during the last three days of a federal election. I suppose all sides are right on this one, but it’s still, well, funny.